Forced (1st book in The Forced Series)

Chapter Five *REVISED*

Chapter Five   

Hazel was once again feeling the weight of her decision. She was in the back of a nicely air conditioned BMW. When she had claimed her bags and had begun to make her way out of the packed airport, she had seen a man dressed in black, holding a card with her name printed in bold, standing with the receiving crowd. By what little she had been able to learn from him, he was to drive her to The Mr. Johnathon Steel's home. And there, she predicted, she would meet both the older and younger Mr. Steels.

The car ride seemed to be longer than her flight. Her brain bounced from one concern to another as if a professional game of baseball were being played in her head; with her thoughts substituting for a baseball. With each passing second, Hazel began to feel sweaty and itchy all thanks to nervousness. When the car pulled into a lengthy driveway, Hazel checked how she looked. First her face, a little flushed. Then her outfit. Determined not to betray the woman she was, she had chosen shorts and a tank top with a cropped top over it. Her legs were strapped in low platform heels and she had thankfully found a strong enough rubber band that could manage containing her hair in a frizzy ponytail.

It was the moment of truth. She took a deep breath and left all her uncertainties in the car as she stepped out, determined to stand tall and dazzle anyone that stood in her way.

The first person happened to be the older Mr. Steel, who smiled a gracious smile as she entered the room.

"My beautiful daughter-to-be. Let me get a look at you." Mr. Steel uttered calmly, staring at Hazel with a smile etched on his aging face.

"Yes. Breath taking." he said smiling even broader.

"My darling girl, how was your flight?" Lionel interjected, stepping toward her as if to hug her. Hazel took a sharp step to the side and met Mr. Steel's assessing blue eyes.

"Thank you for upgrading my flight but it wasn't necessary." Hazel responded, with practiced politeness.

Van cleared his throat from the corner of the room, bringing everyone's attention to him in a snap. Her eyes widen in the slightest fraction as she stared at a man fit for a magazine shoot. Even if she was successfully celibate for five years, she was still a woman and she felt like any other woman would in the direct attention of possibly the hottest male she'd ever laid eyes on.

"This, my dear is Van Steel, your husband-to-be."

So he's the one, huh, Hazel thought to herself. She quickly gave him an impassive once over, forming a stereotypical opinion of him. He was hot, simply put, and by the way the way he had the first two buttons of his white dress shirt causally popped open at the top, with the sleeves rolled up, and how perfectly the black dress pants fit his long legs, and the evidence of him running his hands through his neatly trimmed black hair, she knew that he knew that he was hot. His piercing dark eyes gobbled her up with reluctant admiration even as he gave her an icy glare that she knew rivaled the one she had aimed at him.

Hazel looked away, not because she was intimidated but because she was dismissing his presence. He, like her, was a toy in their fathers' game. And though he was being used just as she was, Hazel felt no affinity for him. If anything, she resented him more for being so spineless; like her.

Van felt his blood boil. Her message was loud and clear; she thought he was of no importance. As he had rightly guessed, she was a spoiled brat. A beautiful spoilt brat.

And she was very beautiful indeed. Even more so than the pictures he had seen. Her face was curved sweetly and her red hair, even though tied up above her head, was still framing her face in little frizzy curls that had escaped her control. The image she presented was contrasting and made his head spin in the most wonderful way.