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He stood there with his focus directly on her, trying to figure out what attracted him to the point where he wanted to strip her naked, right there in his kitchen

But not before he got to taste her again, to see if the flavor of her mouth had changed, and to see if she could still work her tongue as she had before.

His eyes slowly shifted lower to her chest, to the top she was wearing. He pulled in a choppy breath. He saw her nipples start to harden, right before his eyes.

Hell, if just a look could do that to her, he wondered what would happen if he were to touch her, taste her. He could feel his own eyes darkening with heat and knew the moment she saw it, as well. She continued to hold his gaze, then asked, “Is there something else?”

He couldn’t help the smile that touched his lips, a predatory one at best. She could ask the damnedest questions. This time he would give her an answer and he hoped she was ready for his response. “Yes, there is something else,” he said, walking towards her.

Dear Reader,

I love starting a new series! I can recall when I wrote the first books of my Madaris, Westmoreland and Steele series. It felt wonderful introducing my readers to a family I had created in my mind and held in my heart. I am proud to now introduce to you men whose ties that bind them forever were created by their fathers, best friends in college.

I envisioned close friends, deciding their lives would be connected forever through their offspring and making their firstborn sons godbrothers to each other. What also would be unique was that their first names would be taken from the last letters of the alphabet.

These guys, for various reasons, are members of the Bachelors in Demand Club, and are determined to stay single for as long as they can. It will be fun to see how many will retain their membership when the right woman comes along.

Book one, Bachelor Untamed, is Uriel Lassiter’s story and his leading lady is someone from his past, Ellie Weston. And although Uriel wishes otherwise, she is also someone for his future.

I hope you enjoy reading Uriel and Ellie’s story.

Happy reading!

Brenda Jackson

About the Author

BRENDA JACKSON is a die “heart” romantic who married her childhood sweetheart and still proudly wears the “going steady” ring he gave her when she was fifteen. Because she’s always believed in the power of love, Brenda’s stories always have happy endings.

In her real-life love story, Brenda and her husband of thirty-seven years live in Jacksonville, Florida, and have two sons. A New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author of more than sixty romance titles, Brenda is retired from a major insurance company and now divides her time between family, writing and traveling with her husband, Gerald. You may write Brenda at PO Box 28267, Jacksonville, Florida 32226, by e-mail at WriterBJackson@aol.com or visit her website at www.brendajackson.net.

Bachelor
Untamed

Brenda Jackson

www.millsandboon.co.uk

To the love of my life, Gerald Jackson, Sr.

To all the members of the Brenda Jackson Book Club.

This one is for you.

Apply your heart to instruction,

and your ears to words of knowledge.

—Proverbs 23:12

Prologue

“Go ahead and do it, El. You’ve been dying to kiss him forever. Do it. I dare you.”

Ellie Weston rolled her eyes at her best friend Darcelle Owens’s statement. She was used to Darcy getting them in trouble with her dares. But, this was one dare that she was more than tempted to carry through.

The two of them stood hiding in the thicket of trees and bushes while spying on the guy Ellie had had a crush on forever. It didn’t matter that Uriel Lassiter was twenty-one to her sixteen and a senior in college. All that mattered was how her heart started beating fast in her chest whenever she saw him.

“Come on, El. He’s leaving tomorrow to go back home, and you’re going to hate yourself for a missed opportunity. This will probably be the last time you’ll see him until who knows when. He graduates next spring and will probably never come back here for the summer.”

Ellie felt a thump in the pit of her stomach and pondered Darcy’s words. With Uriel graduating from college next year, he probably wouldn’t be coming back to the lake, at least not as often. Uriel’s parents owned a summerhouse right next door to her aunt’s home on Cavanaugh Lake, a few miles outside of Gatlinburg. For a entire month during the summer she would visit her aunt, and it was only then when she would see Uriel. The thought that she might not ever see him again was too painful to think about.

She could recall only one summer that he hadn’t come, and that had been last year. She’d heard that he and his five godbrothers had taken a trip abroad that summer. It had been the most boring summer of her life.

Ellie glanced over at Darcy and whispered, “If I take you up on your dare, what do I get?”

Now it was Darcy’s turn to roll her eyes. “I would think to lock lips with your dreamboat would be enough. But since you want to be greedy, if you take me up on my dare you can have my autographed picture of Maxwell.”

Ellie’s eyes widened. She had been scheduled to go to that Maxwell concert with Darcy, but had come down with the mumps and missed it. “You’ll risk the chance of losing that?” she asked, since she knew what a big Maxwell fan Darcy was. She probably sang “Fortunate” in her sleep.

“Yes, but only if the kiss lasts for more than a minute. I don’t want to see just a peck on the lips, El. You’re going to have to make him kiss you for a long time.”

Ellie was aghast. How was she supposed to do something like that, when she’d never kissed a boy before? “Any bright ideas how to pull that off?”

Of course Miss-Know-It-All Darcy would have all the answers. “You’re going to have to use your tongue. I heard Jonas tell one of his friends that he liked kissing girls who used their tongue.”

Ellie lifted a brow. Jonas was Darcy’s oldest brother, who was a senior in high school, so he would know. All the girls back home in Minneapolis just loved Jonas and he loved all the girls. “And he said guys actually liked it?” Ellie asked, to be sure.

Darcy nodded her head. “Yes, I heard him say it. He and Leroy Green didn’t know I was hiding under the bed.”

Ellie knew better than to ask Darcy what she was doing hiding under her brother’s bed. “Well, okay. But if he doesn’t want to keep his mouth on mine I can’t make him. But I’ll try.”

Darcy’s eyes brightened. “You’re going to do it?”

Ellie released a deep breath. “Yes, but you can’t make a sound.”

“Okay, but remember the kiss has to last for at least a whole minute.”

Ellie frowned. “You don’t have to remind me.”

Uriel glanced to the side when he heard the sound of footsteps crunching on fallen leaves.

Ellie Weston.

Good grief! She was only sixteen, but last week when he had arrived to join his parents at the lake, he hadn’t been able to believe how much she changed since two summers ago. She was no longer a tall, lanky girl, but now she had curves in places that he couldn’t help notice.

She had been wearing a pair of shorts and a blouse and she looked quite stunning. The fitted top she wore outlined breasts that were full and perfectly formed. She had the tiniest waist he’d ever seen, and her hips flared out rather nicely, to join a pair of gorgeous long legs.

He swallowed, trying not to notice how she was dressed now. She was wearing another pair of shorts and they were way too skimpy for his comfort. And the way her blouse fit exposed a sliver of her bare stomach.

He frowned, trying to deny the attraction. He was five years older than her, and shouldn’t be thinking about her this way. Damn, but he could remember when she was a kid in braces climbing trees. Now he could imagine them hooking up as a couple. He shook his head slightly to clear his thoughts.

“Hey, Uri. What are you doing?” she asked, coming closer.

He shifted his gaze from her legs to glance out over the lake. “Fishing. Where’s your friend?” He nearly let his fishing rod fall in the water when she came and sat on the pier beside him.

“Oh, Darcy’s taking a nap. We were both up late last night.”

He forced his gaze to stay straight ahead. “Why aren’t you taking a nap, too?”

“Umm, not sleepy. I was taking a walk, and then I saw you and thought I’d come keep you company.”

He was about to tell her not to do him any favors, but decided against it. She had no way of knowing he was seeing her in a whole new light. Her aunt, Ms. Mable, would probably kill him if she knew what kind of light that was.

“So, how is college?” she asked him.

He shrugged. “It’s okay. What about you? Are you looking forward to the end of the summer to head back to school?”

She giggled. It wasn’t a kid’s giggle, either. It had a sensuous twang to it. At least he thought so. “Heck no. I don’t like school. I can’t wait to get out,” she said.

He heard her words and recalled feeling that way when he’d been her age. “Don’t you have plans to go to college?” he couldn’t help but ask.

“No. I want to get married.”

Now that got his attention and he couldn’t help but glance over at her. Then he wished he hadn’t. She had brought her face close to his. Too close. He could actually see the dark irises staring back at him. That cute little mole on the side of her nose was even more visible. And the shape of her lips … When had they gotten so full? So well defined?

He swallowed, tried forcing his gaze back to the lake, but his eyes refused to budge. “Why do you want to get married?”

She smiled and his gut pulled so tight he could barely breathe. “I want to get married because …”

Her voice had lowered and he could barely hear her words. And was he imagining things, but had she just inched her face a little closer to his? Or was he the one leaning in closer?

“Because of what?” He somehow found his voice to ask her, and couldn’t stop his gaze from dropping from her eyes to her lips.

“Because I want to know how it is to sleep with the man I love. To feel his body beside me in bed. To become acquainted with his lips on mine.”

He felt himself leaning in closer to her. “Aren’t you too young to be thinking of such things?” he managed to ask in a voice so deep he barely recognized it as his own.

“No.” And then in a move that was totally unexpected, she leaned over and plastered her lips to his.

The first thought that came to his mind was to push her away, but her lips felt so soft and sweet that he found himself entranced. His body shuddered as he sank his hand into her hair, deepening the kiss.

“That’s it, El. Hang on in there! You’ve made the one-minute mark, so now you can go for the gusto!”

Uriel jerked up, and in the process nearly tumbled them both into the water. He had to catch his breath before he could say anything, and then he looked from Ellie Weston and her thoroughly kissed lips, to her friend, the one that should have been napping.

He narrowed his gaze, first at the other girl and then at Ellie. “What’s going on, El?” he asked in a rough voice.

Before Ellie could reply, Darcy spoke up, grinning proudly, “You kissed her for one minute and twelve seconds, so she won the dare.”

Those words hit him hard in the chest. That kiss had been part of a dare. He had been the butt of these girls’ joke? That very idea made his blood boil and intense anger rushed through him. He glanced over at Ellie. “Is that true, El?”

Her face had tinted in embarrassment, and she looked everywhere but at him, mostly glaring over at her friend. “I asked you a question, El,” he said, when she didn’t say anything.

She drew in a deep breath and then glanced back over at him and said. “I can explain, Uri.”

He shook his head. “No explanations. Just answer the question. Was that kiss about a dare between you and your friend here?”

“Yes, but—”

Not giving her a chance to say anything else, he snatched up his fishing rod and angrily began walking off the pier. He got halfway, turned back around and said directly to Ellie, “The next time I come to Cavanaugh Lake, I’m going to make sure that you aren’t here.”

And then he turned around and kept walking, while wishing that he could forget the sweet taste of her lips.

Chapter 1

Ten years later

“To Flame, with all my love. D.”

Ellie Weston studied the elegant sprawling handwriting across the bottom of a framed picture on the wall in her aunt’s bedroom.

She lifted a brow. Aunt Mable had probably purchased the painting at one of those garage sales she’d enjoyed getting up on Saturday mornings to drive forty miles into Knoxville to attend. In fact, Ellie had noticed several new paintings in all of the bedrooms, as well as the living room. However, this particular one caught Ellie’s eye because it wasn’t one she would have expected her unmarried seventy-year-old aunt to be attracted to.

Ellie studied the painting some more. It was a colorful piece of art that showed a faceless but very naked couple in a risqué embrace. So much in fact, that upon closer study it appeared they were having sex.

She felt a heated blush stain her face as she stepped back and glanced around. It seemed that rather recently her aunt had gotten a new bedroom suite—a king-size Queen Anne four-poster bed in beautiful cherry mahogany. The bedroom suite had a romantic flair that Ellie liked. And there was a matching desk in one section of the room with, of all things, a computer. When had her aunt entered the computer age? Ellie hadn’t been aware she’d owned one. If she’d known, they could have been staying in contact by e-mail.

To Ellie, her aunt’s two-story house had always seemed too large for one person. It had a spacious layout that included a huge living room, a bathroom, dining room and eat-in kitchen downstairs, and four bedrooms and three bathrooms upstairs. The wood paneling had been removed and the walls had been painted an oyster white. The bright color actually made the entire interior appear larger, roomier.

Had it been five years since she had last visited her aunt here? Although she had stopped coming to the lake house when she’d turned twenty-one, she and her aunt still got together every year when she could convince Aunt Mable to come visit her in Boston, where she had moved after college. It had worked well for the both of them. It gave her aunt a chance to leave the lake and visit someplace else, and it gave Ellie a chance to not dwell on the most embarrassing memory of all her visits here.

She had stopped speaking to her best friend Darcy for an entire month after that kissing incident with Uriel Lassiter, regardless of the number of times Darcy had told her how sorry she was for getting carried away with her excitement. In the end, Ellie had accepted full responsibility for ever accepting Darcy’s dare in the first place.

And it was her fault that Uriel had kept his word and had made sure their paths never crossed at Cavanaugh Lake again.

She had not seen him in ten years. He had been out of the country, unable to attend her aunt’s funeral last month, but her parents had mentioned getting a nice floral arrangement from him.

Ellie shook her head, remembering that Uriel’s parents had gotten a divorce two years ago. Who would have thought the Lassiters would ever split? And according to her parents, Carolyn Lassiter was now involved with a much younger man, one only a few years older than her own son.

The last Ellie had heard, according to Aunt Mable before she’d died, was that Anthony and Carolyn Lassiter were in court, battling over who would get ownership of the lake house. As a result of the bitter embroilment, the courts had ruled that the house should be put up for sale and the proceeds split. Aunt Mable had no idea who’d bought the lake house next door and hadn’t met her new neighbor before she’d died.

Deciding she needed something to eat before she began unpacking, Ellie left her aunt’s bedroom and began walking down the stairs, remembering how her aunt, who hadn’t been sick a day in her life, had died peacefully in her sleep. Although Ellie knew she would miss her, she felt it was befitting for her to go that way—without any type of sickness to destroy her mind and body. And from what she could tell, although Aunt Mable had probably been lonely at times living out here at the lake, her aunt was happy. At least she had appeared happy and content the last time Ellie had seen her. And she had left everything she owned to her one and only grandniece. Ellie was overwhelmed by such a grand gesture of love.

She walked into the kitchen and immediately noticed the new cabinets. It seemed her aunt had given the house a face-lift, one that had been beautifully done. There were new marble countertops, stainless steel appliances and polished tile floors.

The drive from Boston had been a long one, and Ellie had stopped by one of those fast-food places to grab a hamburger, fries and a shake before getting off Interstate 95. Then, once she had reached Gatlinburg, she stopped at a market to pick up a few things for dinner, deciding that later in the week she would take an inventory of what she would need for her month-long stay at the lake. It was a beautiful day, the first week in August, and the first thing Ellie intended to do tomorrow was open up the windows to air out the place. The living-room window was huge, wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling and provided a lot of sunlight and a beautiful view of Cavanaugh Lake, no matter where you stood or sat.

Crossing the kitchen floor, she opened the pantry and wasn’t surprised to find it well stocked. Her aunt was known to prepare for the winter months well in advance. Settling on a can of soup for dinner, she proceeded to warm it on the stove.

Standing at the kitchen sink, she glanced through the trees to look at the house that used to be owned by the Lassiters. She could easily recall how often she would stand in this very spot, hoping for a glimpse of Uriel when he would come outside. But she had discovered long ago that the best view from her aunt’s bedroom window was that of the backyard and pier.

A half hour later, Ellie had finished her soup and was placing her bowl in the sink when she glanced out the window and saw that a car was parked in front of the house next door. She lifted a brow, wondering if perhaps the new owners had decided to spend some time at their lake place.

Ellie had parked her car in the garage, so they would not know someone was in residence at her place. Her place. That seemed so strange, when this home had belonged to Aunt Mable for so long.

She was about to turn around and go upstairs to start unpacking when something caught her eye. She drew in a tight breath as she leaned closer toward the window to make sure her eyesight wasn’t playing tricks on her.

The man who had come to stand outside on the front porch, while talking on a cell phone, was older-looking now, but was just as handsome as she remembered. She was twenty-six now, which meant he was thirty-one.

She might be mistaken, but it appeared he had gotten taller. She figured his height to be at least six foot three. The T-shirt he was wearing covered broad shoulders and his jeans were molded to firm thighs. Her gaze slid to his face. The color of dark chocolate, his features were and always had been striking, a pleasure to look at.

Ellie scanned his face, from the thick brows that canopied a pair of beautiful dark eyes, to the long, angular nose that sat perfectly in the center of his face and more than highlighted the sensuous shape of his lips, to the perfect lines of his jaw. Strong. Tight. Every feature was totally flawless. Him standing there in his bare feet made her think of a chocolate marshmallow all ready to eat.

The thought of that made her stomach stir, generated a tingling sensation even lower, and it made the nipples of her breasts that were pressing against her blouse feel achy. She quickly moved away from the window, crossed the room and sat down at the table.

Uriel Lassiter had returned to the lake house, and the one thing she knew for certain was that he hadn’t made sure she wasn’t there.

Uriel threw his head back and laughed. He was still in shock. One of his closest friends from college, who was also one of his investment partners, had called to let him know he was getting married. He just couldn’t believe it. Who in their right mind would have thought that there was a woman somewhere capable of winning the heart of Donovan Steele. The Donovan Steele. The man who always claimed he wanted to be buried wearing a condom, because even then he knew he would be hard.

Uriel had the pleasure of meeting Donovan’s woman a few weeks ago. With a PhD and a professorship at Princeton, Natalie Ford had just as much brains as she had beauty. And she was a beauty. That was one of the first things Uriel had noticed that night when she had come storming into the Racetrack Café, ready to give Donovan hell about something. Evidently, their disagreement had gotten resolved, since Donovan was now talking about a wedding.

“Hey, Don, we’re going to have to get together when I return to Charlotte,” he said. “And we’ll make it one hell of a celebration. Have the two of you set a date yet?”

“We’re having a June wedding,” Donovan replied easily. “After we marry, she’ll take a sabbatical to write another book and work on several projects with NASA. You can’t imagine how happy my family is.”

Uriel could just imagine. Donovan, the youngest of the Steele brothers, headed the Product Administration Division of the Steele Corporation, and Uriel was Vice President of Lassiter Industries, the telecommunications company his father, Anthony Lassiter—CEO and president—had founded over thirty-eight years ago.

Although both he and Donovan had major roles at their family-owned businesses, years ago, right out of college, they had partnered in a co-op. They had started out by flipping real estate, and later moved on to small businesses. The co-op had proven to be highly successful, and they had moved on to even larger investments, like the publishing company they had recently purchased.

Two years ago, Uriel’s father had taken a leave of absence due to stress and depression brought on when the wife he’d been happily married to for over thirty-five years asked for a divorce. That had forced Uriel to take over the day-to-day operations of Lassiter Industries.

Uriel was glad his dad had finally snapped out of his depression, decided life was too short to drown in self-pity over a woman whom you still loved but didn’t want you, and had returned to Lassiter Industries sharper than ever. Uriel had quickly turned things back over to him and decided to take some much needed R and R. The lake house was his first choice. His parents had been forced to sell it, so he decided to be the buyer.

“While you were in Princeton yesterday, I signed my part of the paperwork, so that the consulting firm could proceed with our most recent acquisition,” he said of the publishing company they’d just purchased. “Now, you need to make sure you swing by their office on Friday to put your John Hancock on the papers, so they can officially begin going through the books to see what areas we want to keep and those we want to trim.

“I know Bronson has a race next weekend in Michigan, and I promise you’ll be out of Manning’s office in no time just in case you’re planning to go,” he added, mentioning their friend, Bronson Scott, who raced for NASCAR.

“Yes, I’m going and will be taking Natalie with me. I can’t wait to introduce her to the world of auto racing. What about you? Will you be there?” Donovan asked.

“Umm, not this time. With Dad back at the helm at Lassiter Industries, I’m staying here at the lake for an entire month, and plan on getting in a lot of fishing. And I did bring some papers with me on the publishing company, to do my own evaluation. I’ll let you know what I come up with, and I’ll compare it with the recommendations of those consultants.”

Less than five minutes later, Uriel was ending the call with Donovan. He slipped his cell phone in the back pocket of his jeans and decided to sit down on the porch swing his father had built for his mom years ago.

His mom.

Uriel could only shake his head with sadness whenever he thought of her and the pain she had caused his father. The pain she had caused him. When his parents had first told him they were getting a divorce, they’d shocked the hell out of him. All it took was to see the hurt and sadness in his father’s eyes to know that a divorce hadn’t been Anthony Lassiter’s idea.

Neither of his parents had wanted to talk about the reason for the divorce, and had asked that he simply accept their decision. It hadn’t taken long for him to find the reason. His mother had been going through a midlife crisis, which had been evident when she’d hooked up with a boy-toy within months of leaving his father. His mother, for God’s sake, was openly living with a man only six years older than him.

Carolyn Lassiter, he had to admit, was a beautiful woman at fifty. The first time Uriel had seen her lover with her at a restaurant, Uriel had wanted to smash the dude’s face in. No man wanted to think of his mother in the arms of any man other than his father.

Her actions had not only nearly destroyed his father, but had left a bad taste in Uriel’s mouth where marriage was concerned. That was the reason he had joined the Guarded Heart Club, a private fraternity he and his five godbrothers had established. Each had his own reasons for wanting to remain a bachelor for life.

He was about to get up from the pier and go inside, when he glanced through the trees at the house next door. He’d been sorry to hear about Ms. Mable’s passing and missed her already. Whenever his parents would arrive for their three-month summer stay, the older lady would be there ready to greet them with a cold pitcher of the best lemonade he’d ever drunk and a platter of her mouth-watering peanut butter cookies.

He pulled in a deep breath thinking how much he loved it here. Gatlinburg was less than ten miles away, and there were only two houses on Cavanaugh Lake. The only other homes were about five miles down the road on Lake Union. Both lakes were nestled in a wooded area within a stone’s throw of the Smoky Mountains.

The fresh August air filled his lungs. Nothing relaxed him more than sitting on the pier with a fishing rod in his hand and a cooler of beer not far away. As he’d mentioned to Donovan, he brought along some reading material, but he would work it in. At the moment, well-deserved R and R was at the top of his agenda.

He stretched his body thinking after taking a nap he would go skinny-dipping. It was something he could truthfully say he’d always wanted to do. Now he had the chance. With the house next door vacant, he didn’t have to worry about shocking the socks off anyone.

He lay back and looked forward to his naked swim, all alone in the lake.