Thorn's Challenge

Tara nervously moistened her lips as she tried to regain control of her senses. She felt it was fairly safe to assume, after a kiss like that, that Thorn was now out of her system. In any case, she was determined more than ever to continue to avoid him like the plague.

Two years ago she had learned a hard lesson; love, the happily-ever-after kind, was not meant for her.

One

Three months later

She had a body to die for and Thorn Westmoreland was slowly drawing his last breath.

A slow, easy smile spread across his face. She was exquisite, every man’s fantasy come true. Everything about her was a total turn-on, guaranteed to get your adrenaline flowing, and his blood was so incredibly fired up he could barely stand it.

He took his time and studied every magnificent line of her. The sight lured him closer for an even better inspection. She was definitely a work of art, sleek, well built with all the right angles and curves, and tempted him beyond belief. He wanted to mount her and give her the ride of her life…or possibly get the ride of his.

He felt a distinct tingle in his stomach. Reaching out, his fingers gently touched her. She was ready for him.

As ready as he was for her…

“Hey, Thorn, you’ve been standing there salivating over that bike for at least ten minutes. Don’t you think you should give it a rest?”

The smile on Thorn’s face faded and without turning around to see who had spoken he said. “The shop’s closed, Stone.”

“You’re here, so that means it’s open,” Stone Westmoreland said, coming into his brother’s line of vision. Thorn was standing ogling the motorcycle he had built, his latest creation, the Thorn-Byrd RX1860. Rumors were spreading like wildfire that a Harley couldn’t touch the Thorn-Byrd RX1860 for style and a Honda had nothing on it for speed. Stone didn’t doubt both things were true. After all, this was another one of Thorn’s babies. It had taken Thorn an entire year to build it; five months longer than it usually took him to put together one of his motorcycles. People came from all over the country to special order a Thorn-Byrd. They were willing to pay the hefty price tag to own the custom-built style and class only Thorn could deliver. You got what you paid for and everyone knew Thorn put not only his reputation and name behind each bike he built, but also his heart and soul.

“And why are you closing up early?” Stone asked, ignoring his brother’s deep frown. He knew Thorn well enough to overlook his grouchiness.

“I thought I would be getting a few moments of privacy. I regret the day I gave all of you keys to this place.”

Stone grinned, knowing Thorn was referring to him and their three brothers. “Well, it was best that you did. No telling when we might drop in and find you trapped beneath a pile of chrome and metal.”

Thorn raised his eyes to the ceiling. “Has the thought ever occurred to you that you could also find me in bed with a woman?”

“No.”

“Well, there is that possibility. Next time try knocking first instead of just barging in,” Thorn snapped. Because he spent so many hours at the shop, his office had all the comforts of home including a room in the back with a bed. He also had a workout room that he used regularly to stay in shape.

“I’ll try and remember that,” Stone said, chuckling. His brother was known for his bark as well as his bite. Thorn could be a real pain in the rear end when he wanted to. There was that episode with Patrice Canady a few years back. It seemed Thorn had been mad at the whole world because of one woman. On top of that, there was Thorn’s policy of not indulging in sex while training for a race. And since he’d been involved in a number of races so far this year, he’d been grouchier than usual. Like a number of athletes, Thorn believed that sex before an event would drain your body and break your concentration. As far as Stone was concerned, race or no race, to improve his mood Thorn definitely needed to get laid.

“What are you doing here, Stone? Don’t you have a book to write?” Thorn asked. Stone, at thirty-three, was a nationally known bestselling author of several action-thriller novels. He wrote under the pen name of Rock Mason.

Thorn’s question reminded Stone why he had dared enter the lion’s den. “No, I just finished a book and mailed it to my publisher this morning. I’m here to remind you about tonight’s card game at seven-thirty.”

“I remember—”

“And to let you know the location has changed. It’s not going to be over at Dare’s place as planned since AJ’s camping trip was cancelled. The last thing we need is for Storm to be cursing all over the place when he starts losing and tempting our nephew to add a few of those choice words to his vocabulary.”

Thorn nodded in agreement. “So where will it be?”

“Tara’s place.”

Thorn turned and narrowed his gaze at his brother. “Why the hell are we playing cards at Tara’s place?”

Stone hoped the amusement dancing in his eyes didn’t show. He and the other brothers had taken Tara up on her offer to have the card game at her place mainly because they knew it would rile Thorn. They were well aware of how hard he went out of his way to avoid her. “The reason we’re having the card game at her place is because she invited us over as a way to thank us for helping her move in.”

“I didn’t help.”

“Only because you were out of town for a race that weekend.”

Thorn propped his hip against a table and decided not to tell Stone that even if he’d been in town he would not have helped. Being around Tara Matthews was pure torture and the last thing he wanted to remember was the time he’d lost his head and gotten a real good taste of her at Dare’s wedding. If his brothers knew the two of them had kissed, he would never hear the last of it.

Sighing deeply, Thorn slanted his brother a hard look. “Why can’t we play cards at your place?”

“It’s being painted.”

“What about Chase’s place?” He asked about the brother who owned a soul food restaurant in downtown Atlanta. Chase was a twin to his brother Storm.

“Too junky.”

“And Storm’s?”

“There’ll be too many interruptions from women calling him on the phone.”

Thorn sighed deeply. At thirty-two, Storm, who was the younger of the twins, was a fireman by day and a devout ladies’ man at night.

“Then what about my place?”

Stone laughed and shook his head. “Forget it. You never have any food in the fridge or enough beer to drink. So are you coming?”

Thorn frowned. “I’ll think about it.”

Stone inwardly smiled. It was hard for Thorn to miss a Westmoreland card game “Okay, if we see you, that’s fine, and if we don’t see you that will be fine, too. I’ll just win all of Storm’s money by myself.”

Thorn’s frown deepened. “Like hell you will.”

Stone smile. “And like hell you would even if you’re there,” he said throwing out the challenge, knowing just how much Thorn liked challenges. Whether Thorn admitted it or not, his brothers knew that his biggest challenge was a good-looking woman by the name of Tara Matthews.

The buzzing of Tara Matthews’s intercom captured her attention. “Yes, Susan?”

“Mrs. Lori Chadwick is here to see you, Dr. Matthews.”

Tara lifted a brow, wondering what had brought Lori Chadwick to her office. Her husband, Dr. Martin Chadwick, was Head of Pediatrics and a very important man around the hospital. He was also her boss. “Please send her in.”

Tara smiled when the door opened and Lori Chadwick walked in. As usual the older woman looked stunning. It was a known fact that Lori Chadwick enjoyed raising money for the hospital, and if the new children’s wing was any indication, she was very good at it.

“Mrs. Chadwick,” Tara greeted respectfully, offering her hand.

“Dr. Matthews, it’s good seeing you again, dear.”

“Thanks,” Tara said, gesturing to a chair across from her desk. “It’s good seeing you again, too.” The last time she’d seen Mrs. Chadwick had been at a charity function a few weeks ago. It had been the first such function she had attended since moving to Atlanta and joining the staff at Emory University Hospital.