Westmoreland Desires: Riding the Storm / Jared's Counterfeit Fiancée / The Chase Is On

“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 nodded as understanding dawned. The old woman was a fortune-teller. New Orleans was full of them. He crossed his arms over his chest amused. “And what do you think you can tell me that I don’t already know?”

“Oh, you’d be surprised.”

Storm didn’t think so but decided to humor the old woman. “Okay, then surprise me. What do you have to work with? Tarot cards or a crystal ball?”

The older woman met his gaze and looked at him with a scrutiny that Storm found unnerving. Finally, she responded. “Neither. I’m a palm reader.”

Storm nodded. That figured. “Okay, how much to read my palm?”

“Twenty dollars.”

He sighed as he reached into his pocket and pulled a twenty-dollar bill while wondering why he was wasting his time. He glanced at his watch. He still had a good thirty minutes left before Jayla was ready and having his palm read was just as good as anything else to pass the time away.

He sat down next to the woman on the bench and stretched out his hand to her. “Okay, what does my palm say?”

He watched as the woman took his hand into her frail one and studied his palm. Moments later, when she lifted her gaze, the intensity in the depth of her dark eyes almost startled him. She smiled sympathetically. “I can see why you’re confused.”

He frowned. “Meaning what?”

“You are about to make unexpected changes in your life and although you yearn for peace, turbulence is in your future. Keep your sights high, be patient and let destiny take its course.”

Storm’s frown deepened. He had just gotten a promotion three months ago, so what changes was the woman talking about? He had thought about moving out of his present house and buying a larger one, but what problems could a decision like that bring on? There had to be more.

He lifted his brow. “Is that it?”

She stared at him and sighed deeply. “Trust me, son. That will be enough.”

He shook his head, a part of him found the entire thing outright amusing. “Ahh, can you be a little more specific?”

“No, I’ve told you everything you need to know.”

He slowly stood. He couldn’t wait until he and his brothers had their next card game so he could tell them about this experience. Knowing them, they would probably find the whole thing hilarious. “Well, it was nice getting my palm read,” he said, not knowing what else to say.

She shook her head slowly. “I wish you the best of luck.”

Storm looked at the woman. She’d said it like she had truly meant it. “Thanks,” he said before walking off, not sure just what he was thanking her for.

“Tell her you like the red one.”

He turned back around and lifted a brow. “Excuse me?”

The old woman smiled. “Tell her you like the red one the best.”

Storm frowned, not understanding what she meant. He decided it would be best not to ask, so he nodded, turned back around and kept walking. Moments later, when he returned to the dress shop, he saw Jayla standing at the checkout counter waiting for him. His face lit into a smile as he walked over to her. “Did you find anything?”

“Yes,” she answered excitedly. “I found two really nice outfits and they’re both beautiful. I want you to pick out the one you like the best.”

He watched as she turned and grabbed two dresses off the counter, one blue and the other red. Storm blinked twice and his throat suddenly went dry when he remembered what the old woman had said. Tell her you like the red one. He stared at the two outfits that Jayla was holding up in front of her.

“Well, which do you like the best, Storm?” she asked, looking from one dress to the other.

“The red one,” he replied promptly, feeling somewhat dazed, like he was a participant in The Twilight Zone.

Jayla didn’t notice his consternation as she handed the red dress to the smiling saleswoman behind the counter. A huge grin touched her lips. “I like the red one best, too.”

Later that night, Storm had to admit that he definitely liked the red dress, especially on Jayla. His tongue had nearly fallen out of his mouth the moment she had stepped off the elevator to meet him in the lobby.

Instantaneous. Immediate. A jolt of mind-wrenching desire had shot straight to his groin. There was nothing like an eye-catching, incredulously sexy, tight-fitting dress on a woman who definitely had sleek and delectable curves. Her silver accessories made her look sophisticated, elegant and hot, all at the same time. The dress was short, really short, but then she had legs that transformed the dress from provocative to mind-blowing. Her breasts sat high and looked full, lush and ready to tumble out of the low-cut neckline at any given moment.

“I had a lot of fun tonight, Storm, and I like your cousin Ian.”

He glanced at her. They were sitting in the back of a cab on their way back to the hotel. It was dark, but the moonlight, as well as the bright lights from the buildings they passed, provided sufficient light for them to see each other’s features clearly. But even if he hadn’t been able to see her, he would have definitely been able to smell her. The perfume she was wearing was a luscious, blatantly sensual scent and it was doing downright crazy things to his libido.

“Yeah, and I could tell he liked you,” he responded huskily. Almost a little too much, he thought. He smiled when he remembered the look on his cousin’s face the moment he and Jayla had walked into the party. Ian’s expression of appreciation was also shared by most of the other men present. His heart had swelled with pride that she was with him.

And he couldn’t forget how Ian had pulled Jayla to him and planted a kiss on her lips when they’d been leaving. He grinned, knowing Ian had intended to give him a dose of his own medicine. Ian had wanted to get a rise out of him, the same way he enjoyed getting a rise out of his brothers whenever he kissed their wives. Now he knew how it felt.

“I can’t wait to get to the hotel to get out of these shoes. They are killing my feet.”

Storm smiled and was glad that because of the darkness, Jayla couldn’t see the heated gleam in his eyes. He couldn’t wait to get her back to the hotel to get her out of something else. The sight of her in that dress had nearly driven him mad all night. He couldn’t wait to see just what she had or didn’t have underneath it.

“Lift your feet into my lap and I’ll be glad to give you some temporary relief,” he murmured, wanting to touch her any way he could. She didn’t waste time taking him up on his offer and she shifted her body to slide her legs across his lap. He knew there was no way she could not feel the hardness of his groin with her legs resting across his thighs.

He went about removing the silver stiletto heels and began massaging her feet. Her panty hose felt smooth and silky to his touch, and the thought that he’d never pampered another woman this way suddenly hit him. He tossed the thought from his mind as he continued to gently and methodically stroke her feet, thinking there was nothing like a great pair of legs and she had a pretty nice pair.

“Umm, I could get used to this. You have gifted hands, Storm.”

He smiled. “Anything to make you happy.” He thought about what he’d said and shook his head. He wondered what it would take to make a woman like her completely happy.

“We got back too soon,” Jayla said, and he glanced out of the cab’s window to see they had arrived back at the hotel. He strapped her shoes back on her feet and felt an immediate sense of loss when she pulled her legs out of his lap.

He glanced over at her, determined to remove that disappointment from her voice. He leaned over, pulled her against him and captured her lips. The taste of her was arousing…as if he needed to be aroused more than he already was. In minutes, he had her groaning and liked the sound of it.

“My room or yours?” he whispered softly against her lips.

She stared at his mouth a moment before answering in a voice that increased his heart rate another notch. “I’ve never been inside a man’s hotel room before and since this trip to New Orleans has been a first for me in a lot of ways, let’s go to your room tonight.”

He kissed her again, devouring her soft lips and thinking he could definitely get used to this.

Jayla awoke when she heard the ringing of the telephone. A quick glance at the clock on the nightstand indicated it was the wake-up call she had ordered. She watched as Storm reached over, picked up the receiver and, without answering, hung it back up. He then met her gaze and for a moment she thought she saw a quick instant of regret in his eyes when he said, “I guess it’s time.”

“Yeah, it seems that way,” she said softly, not wanting to get out of bed and get dressed, although she knew that she should. She needed to go to her room and pack. Her flight was scheduled to leave in a few hours and she had to make sure that she arrived at the airport on time.

Heat spread low in her belly when Storm continued to look at her. Whenever he looked at her, it did things to her. She would remember every moment of last night. She had entered his hotel room and he had closed the door behind them. She had walked into his embrace and the kiss they’d shared had been blazing and within seconds he had removed her dress and panty hose, leaving her wearing only a thong.

She would never forget the way he had looked at her, how he had swept her up into his arms and carried her over to the bed and made love to her as if pleasing her were the most important thing in his life. The lovemaking that they had shared had been simply amazing.

“Do you need help packing?” he asked, looking breath-takingly handsome, sleep-rumpled and delicious. He smiled as he braced himself up on one elbow and looked down at her. He reached out and gently touched the nipples of her breasts. They hardened with his touch and she felt a warmth begin to build between her legs.

She returned his smile, knowing if she were to take him up on his offer she would never finish packing. “Thanks for the offer, but I believe I can manage.”

She felt her smile slowly fade away as reality set in. Although she did not regret any of the time she had spent with him, she knew it was about to end. There was no other way, and it would be for the best. She had to shift her focus away from Storm and back to the baby she wanted more than anything. As soon as she got home, she would schedule an appointment with the fertility clinic to get things started. A continuation of Storm in her life would only complicate things and she didn’t do well with complications. Besides, she knew there was no Mr. Right for her, especially one by the name of Storm Westmoreland.

So why was it so hard for her to get out of his bed? And why did she want to make love to him again, one last time before she finally walked out the door?

“I enjoyed our time together, Jayla.”

His words interrupted her thoughts and she met his gaze, studied his eyes. “I did, too, and still no regrets, right?”

He reached out and threaded his fingers through her hair. “No regrets. We’re adults and we did what we wanted to do.”

A smile curved her mouth. “Thank you Storm for showing me how great lovemaking can be.”

He looked at her, countered her smile. “You’re welcome.”

“But life goes on,” she decided to say when more than anything she wanted to kiss him.

He nodded. “Yes, life goes on, but it won’t be easy. If I were to run into you anytime soon,” he said, gently smoothing his fingertips across her cheek, “there’s no way I’ll see you and not think about that red dress and those killer high heels, not to mention the only thing you were wearing under that dress.”

She chuckled. “Shocked you, huh?”

A huge smiled tipped one corner of his mouth. “Yeah, you shocked me. You also pleased me.”

Storm decided that what he couldn’t tell her was that she was unlike any woman he had ever known. She was someone who could laugh with him, tease him and talk to him just about anything. And the sex had been amazing and there was no way he could let her go without making love to her again. He needed this one last time to seal the memory of their time together into his mind forever.

Forever.

That was a word he had never included in his vocabulary, one he had never associated with a woman. He didn’t do forever, and never thought about it. But he had to admit that with Jayla Cole, he thought of things he had never thought of before. And he was glad for the time they had spent together. He had learned things about her that he otherwise might not have known, such as her passion for strawberry cheesecake and how she volunteered her spare time at Emory University Hospital’s Cancer Center.

“Storm, I need to get up, get dressed and leave.”

He stared at her, feeling a sense of finality and a part of him felt a sense of loss he’d never experienced before and one he couldn’t explain. And then, suddenly, he wanted her with an urgency he had never wanted her or any woman before. Blood rushed through his veins and he breathed in deeply.

“Storm…”

He looked at her and his breath stopped. He had to have her again, this one last time. He eased her beneath him the same moment that he lowered his head and captured her lips, tasting her, mating his tongue over and over with hers. She had stamped her mark on him and now he was going to make sure he stamped his on her.

For just a little while, he would make her his, and if he lived a hundred years, there would be no regrets. What he would have were memories to last a lifetime.

And from the way she was returning his kiss he could tell she wanted those memories, too.

Six

“So, how was your trip to New Orleans?” Lisa Palmer asked as she sat back in her chair at Jayla’s kitchen table.

Jayla looked up and met her best friend’s curious stare. “It was fine. Why do you ask?”

“Because I’ve noticed that since you’ve been back, you haven’t said much about it.”

Jayla drew in a deep breath and wished she could ignore Lisa’s curious scrutiny. It was just like Lisa to pick up on her reference about the trip. She knew that sooner or later she would have to come clean and tell her friend everything, including her planned trip to the fertility clinic.

“Umm, why do I get the feeling that you’re not telling me something?”

Cupping her chin in her palm, Jayla forced a smile. “You’re imagining things.”

Lisa shook her head. “No, I don’t think so.” She gazed at her thoughtfully, then said, “There’s something different about you. You look more relaxed and well-rested which can only mean one thing.”

Jayla swallowed, wondering if she really had a different look about her. “What?” she asked softly.

Lisa’s lips tilted into a deep smile. “That you got plenty of rest this trip, which is a good thing that I didn’t go with you. Had I gone I would have worn you out with endless shopping and—”

“I ran into someone.”

Lisa lifted a brow. When seconds ticked off and Jayla didn’t say anything else, Lisa scooted closer in her chair. “Okay, are you going to keep me in suspense or are you going to tell me?”

Jayla took a sip of her lemonade before responding. “I ran into Storm Westmoreland.”

Lisa placed her glass of lemonade down on the table. “Storm Westmoreland? The Perfect Storm?”

Jayla chuckled. “Yes, that Storm.”

Lisa stared at her for a moment as she recalled Jayla once telling her about the crush she’d had on Storm Westmoreland at sixteen. And, like most women in the Atlanta area, she also knew about his reputation as a womanizer, and that’s what bothered her the most. “What was Storm Westmoreland doing in New Orleans?” she asked, having a feeling there was a lot more to the story.

Jayla chuckled again. “He was attending a conference.”

“And…?”

Jayla was quiet for a moment. She knew Lisa had a thousand questions and decided she might as well tell her everything or else she would get grilled to death. “And we ran into each other and one thing led to another and we ended up having an affair.”

She almost grinned when she saw Lisa’s jaw drop. She then watched as Lisa picked up her glass and drained it as if it contained something stronger than lemonade.

Lisa then turned her full attention to her. “You’re no longer a virgin?” she asked as if her mind were in shock.

Jayla did grin this time. “Nope.”

Lisa then slumped back in her chair and pinned her with a look. Jayla was well aware of that look. It was a look that said you’d better tell me everything and start from the beginning.

“Like I said,” Jayla said, before she was hammered with relentless questions, “Storm and I ran into each other, decided to spend time together and one thing led to another.”

“Evidently.”

Now it was Jayla who pinned Lisa with a look. “And don’t expect me to tell you everything because there are some details you’re better off not knowing.” Her mind was suddenly filled with thoughts of everything she and Storm had done. They had made love so many times she had lost count, and each time had been better than the last.

What she held special was the first time and how, afterward, he had drawn her bath water, gently picked her up into his arms and carried her into the bathroom. But it was the last time they’d made love on the morning she’d left, that stood out in her mind more than the others.

With a loving tenderness that had almost brought tears to her eyes, he had used his hands and mouth to drive her over the edge, making her body burn out of control for him. And it was only when she was about to come apart in his arms did he fill her and begin moving back and forth inside her, combining tenderness with compelling need, and sending her escalating into a sharp, shattering orgasm that had taken her breath away and had left her sated, exhausted and spent. And as much as she’d tried to stay awake, she had drifted off to sleep. They both had. When they had awakened, she’d dressed quickly and returned to her room to pack.

He had gone to her room with her to help her pack and the last kiss he had given her before she had walked out of the hotel room door for the airport had been off-the-charts fantastic. She knew that if she never made love to another man, she would always remember having that time with Storm. It had been more than just good, mind-blowing sex. For three days, he had made her feel special, as if knowing he’d been her first had been extraordinary and he was still in awe of the gift she had given him.

“Jayla?”

She jumped when Lisa snapped a finger in front of her face. “What?”

“You haven’t answered my question.”

Jayla frowned. “What question?”

“Do you have any regrets?”

Jayla immediately shook her head. “No. Twenty-six years was long enough to be a virgin, but I’d never met a man I felt worthy of giving myself to until Storm.”

Lisa raised a dark brow. “With Storm’s reputation, you thought he was worthy?”

“Yes, because he didn’t try to snowball me into doing it with him. In fact, at first he actually tried resisting my advances. I’m the one who came on to him. And he always behaved like a perfect gentleman, giving me choices and not assuming anything.”

Lisa nodded, and then a curious glint shone in her dark eyes. “Is everything we’ve heard about him true?”

Jayla tried to ignore the heat that was settling between her legs when she thought about just how true it was. When it came to lovemaking, Storm Westmoreland was a practiced and skillful lover. She couldn’t help but smile. “Yes, everything we’ve heard is true.”

A silly smirk appeared on Lisa’s face and she sat back in her chair. “Damn. Some women have all the luck,” she said with envy. She then smiled. “So when will the two of you see each other again?”

Jayla tried to ignore the ache that suddenly settled around her heart, convincing herself it was only indigestion. “We won’t be seeing each other again. What we shared was nothing more than a no-strings-attached affair, and since neither of us is into relationships, we decided that when we returned to Atlanta, he would continue to do his thing and I would continue to do mine.’’

Lisa lifted a brow. “You don’t have a ‘thing’ to do. You basically live a boring life. All you do is go to work and come home, except for those days when you’re volunteering at the cancer center.”

Jayla knew what Lisa said was true, but in a few weeks all of that would change. She smiled. “Well, I want you to know that my life will no longer be boring. I’ve decided to take the first step in doing something I’ve wanted to do for a long time.”

“Oh, and what’s that?”

“Have a baby.”

Jayla watched Lisa’s expression. She looked as if some one had just pulled a chair out from under her. Lisa looked at her long and hard before finally saying something. “What do you mean, have a baby?”

“Just what I’ve said. You of all people know how much I love children.”

Lisa shrugged. “Hey, I love them, too, but I’m not planning to have any until Mr. Right comes alone and I’m ready to settle down and get married.”

Jayla raised her eyes to the ceiling. “Well, yeah, but for some of us there is no Mr. Right, so I’ve decided not to wait any longer.”

Lisa was quiet for a moment as she pinned Jayla with that look again. “Tell me you didn’t deliberately try and get pregnant by Storm Westmoreland.”

Jayla couldn’t help but laugh. Lisa’s question was so ridiculous. Storm Westmoreland would be the last man she would want to father her child. He was too controlling. “Trust me, that thought never crossed my mind. Besides, I would never trick any man that way. I made all the necessary arrangements before I left for New Orleans, and I’m going to go to a fertility clinic and have the procedure done.”

Lisa quickly held up her hand. “Time out. Back up. What are you talking about?”

Jayla smiled. The expression on Lisa’s face was both endearing and maddening. They were as close as sisters and she knew her best friend well enough to know that she would not agree with her decision regarding the fertility clinic. But then, Lisa didn’t have any problems finding a Mr. Right since she was already involved in a serious relationship with a wonderful guy. Added to that was the fact that Lisa came from a big family, so she didn’t know the meaning of loneliness.

“I’m talking about my decision to have a baby. I’ve already done the preliminary paperwork and they’d located a potential donor who fits the profile I’ve requested. All that’s left is for me to take another physical, which is scheduled for next Friday. Once it’s determined when I’m most fertile during my cycle, I’ll be going in to have the procedure done. If I’m not successfully inseminated on the first try, then there will be another try and if necessary, a third or however many times it takes. I’m sure my eggs will eventually be ripe for some donor’s sperm,” she said smiling.

Lisa, Jayla noticed, wasn’t smiling back. In fact, she looked mortified. “Tell me you’re joking about this, Jayla.”

Jayla sighed deeply. She then worked her bottom lip between her teeth several times, which was something she tended to do when she was bothered by something. Over the years, Lisa may not have agreed with everything she did but had always supported her. Jayla knew because of her friend’s traditional beliefs, this would be a hard sell, which was why she had put off telling Lisa about her plans.

She lifted her chin. “No, I’m not joking, Lisa. I’ve made up my mind about this. You may not agree with what I’m doing, but I really do need you to support me on this. I want a baby more than anything.”

“But there are other options, Jayla.”

“Yes, and I considered those other options and none will work for me. I want a baby not an involvement with a man who may not be Mr. Right, and I don’t have time to wait until I finally get lucky. Times have changed. A woman no longer needs a man to get pregnant or to raise a child, and that’s the way I want to do things.”