Westmoreland Desires: Riding the Storm / Jared's Counterfeit Fiancée / The Chase Is On. Brenda Jackson
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“Well, yeah, but some things can’t be rushed. Just give me some time, will you.”
“Sure, if you think you need it, but from what I understand most men need time to get it up, not down.”
One corner of Storm’s mouth lifted. He was enjoying this turn in their conversation, but he knew if they didn’t get out of bed really soon, their conversation might turn into something else. Forcing himself to move, he slowly sat up. “I guess I need to go back to my room and take a shower.” He glanced over at the clock. “Do you want to meet me downstairs for breakfast?”
“Yeah, I’m starving.”
He nodded knowingly. “And after breakfast, how about if we do some more sightseeing today?” Anything to keep them out of their hotel rooms. “When does your flight leave tomorrow?” he asked. Suddenly, reality of how short their time together would be began to seep in. From the expression on her face he could tell that she felt it, too.
“In the morning, around eight. What about yours?”
“Tomorrow evening, around three.”
She nodded. “Too bad we aren’t on the same flight,” she said quietly.
He’d been thinking the same thing. “Yeah, it’s too bad.” But then, maybe it was for the best. Too much more of Jayla Cole would go to his head and right to a place he wasn’t quite ready for.
He sighed deeply. So much had happened between them in the last forty-eight hours. “Nothing has changed, right Jayla? Neither of us is looking for a serious relationship.”
Jayla glanced at him, understanding his need to reestablish ground rules. “Yeah, right, nothing has changed. Trust me, a serious relationship with anyone is the last thing I want or need right now. I’m going to be so busy over the next few months that an involvement of any kind will be the furthest thing from my mind.”
He lifted a brow as he slid out of bed. “Oh? What will you be doing?”
Jayla nervously licked her lips. There was no way she could tell him that she would be preparing for motherhood. “There’s this project that I’m going to start working on.”
“Oh, and what kind of project is it?”
She sighed deeply; he would ask. She decided to brush off his question and forced out a chuckle, saying, “Nothing you’d be interested in, trust me.”
He smiled as he studied her for a long moment, then said. “I might surprise you. If you ever need my help, don’t hesitate to call.”
She smiled. “Thanks for the offer, but I have everything under control.”
“All right. I’ll be back in a second.”
She watched as he walked into the bathroom and closed the door. She rolled over on her stomach and buried her face in his pillow, enjoying his lingering scent. Had she been dreaming or had Storm just offered to help with her project? She felt it was pretty safe to assume that the last thing Storm Westmoreland would want was to be a daddy. Besides, she had no regrets in going solo. A man like him as the father of her child would definitely cramp her style. He’d already stated his belief that a woman couldn’t work outside the home and raise a family. She didn’t envy the woman he would end up marrying, since it was evident that he would be a controlling husband.
She got out of bed, slipped into her robe, walked over to the window and glanced out to watch the impending sunrise. Tomorrow, she and Storm would bring an end to their short affair and she hoped when they returned to Atlanta that they didn’t run into each other anytime soon. It would be difficult to see him and not think about the intimacy they had shared here in The Big Easy. There definitely wouldn’t be anything easy about that.
Storm slid his hands around Jayla’s waist and pulled her snugly against him. “An hour?” he asked with a puzzled lift of his brow. “Are you saying it will take you an entire hour to pick out an outfit for tonight?”
She smiled up at him. “Yes. Already I see a number of things in this dress shop that I want to try on. It has to be just perfect.”
“Jayla,” he began, but she cut him off.
“Please, Storm. I want a new outfit for tonight.”
He studied the excitement in Jayla’s face, thinking she was even more beautiful than before, if that were possible. When he had met her for breakfast, he’d told her of the phone call he had received from his cousin Ian. Ian, a good friend of New Orleans’s mayor, had been invited to a huge gala being given in the man’s honor. Ian had invited Storm as his guest and Storm had gotten the okay to bring Jayla as his date. Instead of going sightseeing as they had originally planned, Jayla had insisted that the first thing she needed to do was go shopping for something to wear that night.
“All right, I guess I can find something to kill time while you shop,” he said releasing her. “But I’ll be back in a hour, Jayla.”
She grinned, nodding. “And I’ll have everything I need by then.”
A short while later, Storm took his time as he strolled around Jackson Square. It was a beautiful day and a lot of tourists were out and about. He smiled when he thought of how excited Jayla had been when he’d mentioned tonight’s affair. He had enjoyed seeing her happy. He was also enjoying her company…almost a little too much. She was definitely someone he liked being with, both in and out of bed. More than once he had to remind himself not to make more of what they were sharing than there was.
It was no big deal that over the past few days, they’d discovered that they enjoyed many of the same things. She liked jazz, and so did he; she enjoyed watching bone-chilling thriller movies and so did he. She was one of the few people who lived in Atlanta whose favorite football team wasn’t the Atlanta Falcons. His favorite team was the Dallas Cowboys and she was a fan of the Philadelphia Eagles.
It seemed the only thing they didn’t agree on was his belief that a woman’s place was at home raising her kids and not in an office all day. Jayla insisted that a man who held such traditional views would be too controlling in a marriage. He didn’t see himself as wanting to control, but rather he saw himself as someone who wanted to be the sole provider for his family in the purest sense of the word.
He glanced at his watch. He still had over forty-five minutes to go before he went back to that dress shop for Jayla. Damn, but he missed her already. A warning bell suddenly went off in his head. He’d never admitted to missing a woman before, so why was he doing it now? He sighed deeply, deciding to be honest with himself. The honest truth was he liked having Jayla around and for him that didn’t bode well.
He frowned as he continued to walk around Jackson Square, wondering what was there about her that was getting to him and playing games with his mind? They were games he had no desire to play. She knew the score and so did he. Neither of them wanted anything beyond what they were sharing here in New Orleans. Getting together and developing some sort of relationship when they returned to Atlanta was unacceptable, totally out of the question, a definite bad idea.
Then why was he allowing such thoughts to invade his mind?
“You’re confused, aren’t you?”
Storm turned to the sound of the craggy voice and saw an old woman sitting on the bench less than five feet from where he stood. He lifted a brow. “Excuse me. Did you say something?”
The old woman smiled serenely. “Yes. I said you’re confused. Nothing like this has ever happened to you before has it?”
Storm tilted his head to the side as he studied the woman, wondering if she was operating with a full deck. She was talking as if she knew him. “I think you might have me mixed up with someone else.”
“No, I don’t,” she muttered with a shake of her head. “And I’m not crazy,” she said, as if reading his mind. “I’d tell you more if you let me look into your future.”
Storm