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

“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.”

Lisa didn’t say anything for a long moment, then she reached across the table and captured Jayla’s hand in hers. “Although I can understand some women having the procedure done in certain situations, your case is different, Jayla, and what you plan to do goes against everything I believe in. When it’s possible, I think a child should benefit with the presence of both the mother and father in the home. But if you’re hell-bent on going through with it, then I’ll be there to do whatever you need me to do.”

Jayla blinked back the tears in her eyes. “Thanks.”

“Hey, Storm, get your mind back on the game, stop daydreaming and throw out a card.”

Thorn Westmoreland’s words recaptured Storm’s attention and he threw out a card then leaned back in his chair and frowned. “I was not daydreaming and my mind is on the game,” he said throwing out a card.

After another round of bid whist, Stone Westmoreland shook his head. “If your mind is on the game then you’re a lousy card player since you just threw out a diamond instead of a heart which means you’ve reneged.” A huge smile tilted the corners of Stone’s lips. “But I’m not complaining since that puts me closer to winning.”

Storm pushed back his chair and stood, glaring at his four brothers. Apparently they’d found his lack of concentration amusing but he didn’t find a damn thing funny about it. “I’m sitting out for a while. I need some fresh air.”

While he was walking away he heard his brother Thorn ask the others, “What’s wrong with him?”

“Don’t know,” his brother Dare replied. “He’s been acting strange ever since he got back from that conference in New Orleans.”

“Maybe the pressures of being a fire captain is getting to him,” he heard his brother Chase add. “There’s nothing worse than letting a job stress you out.”

“Yeah,” his other brothers agreed.

Storm shook his head when he opened the door and stepped out on the lanai. His brothers didn’t know how wrong they were. His new promotion or work-related stress had nothing to do with the way he’d been acting since returning from New Orleans.

He glanced up and noticed a full moon and the stars in the sky. It was a beautiful night and he was glad he had come outside to appreciate the evening for a little while.

After Thorn and Tara had gotten married, they had moved into Tara’s place since it was larger than Thorn’s, but only temporarily. They were building their dream home on a parcel of the Westmoreland family homestead, which was located on the outskirts of town. It was a pretty nice area if you liked being out in the boon-docks and cherished your privacy.

Storm shook his head as an image of a woman forced its way into his head. It was the same image he’d been trying like hell to forget the past week. Jayla Cole.

He balled his hands into fists at his side as he wondered what was wrong with him. He’d had affairs before but none had affected him the way this one had. No woman had ever remained in his thoughts after the affair had ended. He’d known there would be memories, hell he had counted on savoring them. But he had wanted them safely tucked away until he was ready to revisit them. He hadn’t counted on having no control of his own memories.

Visions of Jayla in the red dress were taking him to the cleaners and wringing him out. And then there were those images of the sway of her hips whenever she walked, whether she was in heels or flats. It didn’t matter. The woman was sensuality on legs. She was a mouthwatering piece flat on her back as well. All he had to do was close his eyes and he was reliving the evenings filled with their mind-boggling, earth-shattering lovemaking.

She had fired up and completely satisfied a need within him that he hadn’t known existed. Each and every time he had taken her to bed they had made incredible love. He could get her so wet, so hot, so ready, and likewise she could get him so hard, so needy, so out-of-his-mind greedy, to the point where getting inside her body was all he could think about; all he wanted.

And then there was the look on her face whenever she came. It was priceless. It was as if the force of what she felt stole her breath and the intensity of it exploded her world into tiny fragments as she tumbled into mindless completion. Seeing that experience on her face would then push him over the edge into the most potent climax he’d ever experienced; usually more than one—back to back.

“Damn,” he let out a low growl and wiped a sheen of perspiration from his forehead with his hand. He was used to sexual experiences, but getting seduced by memories was something that he was not used to or comfortable with. Hell, he had even thought about dropping by her house to make sure she was all right. If that didn’t beat all. He had never checked up on a woman after the affair ended.

“Storm, are you okay?”

He inhaled deeply when he heard his sister-in-law’s voice and quickly decided that although it was dark, it wouldn’t be a good idea for him to turn around just yet. There was a glow of light filtering out from the living room and he had gotten hard just thinking about Jayla.

“Storm?”

“Yeah, Tara, I’m fine.” Seconds later when he was sure he had gotten his body back under control he turned around and smiled.

Tara Matthews was beautiful and had nearly blown Storm and his brothers away the first time they had seen her at their sister Delaney’s apartment in Kentucky. And he might have even considered having a relationship with her, but he’d soon discovered that Tara was a handful. He and his brothers had quickly concluded that the only man who could possibly handle her was their brother Thorn, so they had deemed her Thorn’s challenge. Now, a little more than two years later, she was Thorn’s wife. But she still held a special place in his heart as well as the hearts of his brothers because in the end though Thorn may have handled her, Tara had proved that she was capable of handling Thorn, which wasn’t an easy task.

He met her gaze and saw concern in her eyes. “I was worried about you,” she said softly. “When I passed through the dining room and saw you missing, your brothers said you had needed fresh air. I didn’t know if you were coming down with something, especially when they’d said you’d been playing badly tonight.”

Storm laughed, then gave her a playful grin. “Hell, they claim I play lousy even when I’m winning.”

Tara nodded smiling. “So, how was your trip to New Orleans?”

Funny you should ask, he thought as he slumped back against a column post. He sucked in a deep breath when another vision of Jayla floated through his mind. He envisioned his mouth finding her most sensitive areas, especially her ultra-hot spot and tilting her up to his mouth and making her scream.

“Storm?”

“Huh?”

“I asked how was your trip.” She took a step closer to him and looked deeply into his eyes. “Are you sure you’re okay, your eyes seemed somewhat dazed.”

And my body is hard again but we won’t go there, he thought, thinking the best thing to do was go back inside and play cards and hope that this time he could keep his mind on the game. “I’m fine and I had a great time in New Orleans. I even saw Ian while I was there and he mentioned that he would be in town for that charity benefit that you’re working on.”

A smile touched the corners of Tara’s lips. “Really,” she said excitedly. “That’s the night we’ll unveil the charity calendar for Kids’ World and everyone will get to see Thorn as Mr. July.”

Storm laughed. “I don’t think that’s the only reason Ian is coming, Tara,” he said, thinking that maybe if he kept talking he wouldn’t have to worry about visions of Jayla intruding. “The main reason Ian’s coming is because you asked him to, but there’s another reason.”

Tara lifted her brow. “And what reason is that?”

A grin appeared on Storm’s face. “He figures there will be a lot of pretty, single women in attendance.”

Tara shook her head smiling, finally getting the picture. “Well, I’m sure there will be plenty of single women there since eleven of the men who posed for the calendar are still single. Thorn is the only one who has gotten married since those photos were taken.”

Something suddenly pulled at Storm’s memory. He remembered Jayla mentioning that she would be meeting Tara for lunch the Tuesday after returning to work. Unless those plans had changed, that meant the two of them would be meeting tomorrow. There was no way he could ask Tara about it without her wondering how he’d known. But if they were to meet tomorrow for lunch and if he knew where, he could unexpectedly drop by and pretend that he’d been in the area. For some reason he wanted to see Jayla again and if they accidentally ran into each other, she wouldn’t think he had intentionally sought her out…although in essence, he would be doing just that.

“So, Tara, how about if I took you, Madison and Shelly to lunch tomorrow?” he suggested. He knew Dare’s wife Shelly hadn’t returned from visiting her parents in Florida, Stone’s wife Madison would be leaving with Stone tomorrow on a book-signing trip to Kansas City, and if Tara had made other plans for lunch then he would find out soon enough.

“Thanks, Storm, that’s really sweet of you, but Shelly and Madison will be out of town and besides I already have a lunch date. I’m meeting with a woman who’s working with me on the charity benefit. Her company has agreed to pick up the tab for all the food and drinks that night.”

Bingo. He was suddenly beginning to feel pretty good now. Confident. Cocky. Smug. He straightened from leaning against the post. “Oh, that’s too bad. Where are you going?”

Tara lifted a brow. “Excuse me?”

He inhaled slowly, knowing he couldn’t appear too inquisitive. The last thing he needed was for Tara to get suspicious of anything. “I asked where are you going for lunch? It might be a place where I’ve eaten before. Perhaps I can tell you whether the food and service are good.”

Tara smiled. “Trust me, I know you’ve eaten at this place plenty of times and can definitely vouch for the food and service being the best. My lunch date left it up to me to select a place and although I haven’t told her yet, I’m going to suggest that we have lunch at Chase’s Place.”