Riding the Storm (10 page)

Read Riding the Storm Online

Authors: Brenda Jackson

Tags: #Fiction, #Romance, #Contemporary, #Arts&Photography

just
couldn’t.

She
met
his
gaze.
“I’ll
think
about
it.”
And
without
saying
anything
else,
she
took
her
sunglasses
from
his
hand
and
walked
away.

Storm
shook
his
head
as
he
watched
Jayla
stroll
across
the
deck.
She’d
had
a
lot
of
nerve
asking
if
she
made
the
cut,
as
if
she
hadn’t
felt
the
sparks
that
had
flown
between
them
yesterday
as
well
as
most
of
the
morning.
Fortunately
for

him,
it
was
an
attraction
that
he
could
control.
But
he
had
to
admit
that
when
she
had
pretended
to
come
on
to
him
a

few
moments
ago,
he
had
almost
broken
out
in
a
sweat.

He
remembered
her
teen
years.
During
that
time
Adam
had
described
her
as
headstrong,
free-spirited
and
an
independent
thinker.
It
seemed
not
much
about
her
had
changed.

Storm
watched
as
she
moved
around
the
tables
that
were
filled
to
capacity
with
an
assortment
of
food
and
knew
he
had
to
rethink
his
relationship
with
her.
A
lot
about
Jayla
had
changed
and
he
was
looking
his
fill,
taking
all
those
changes
in
at
that
very
moment.

He
couldn’t
remember
the
last
time
any
woman
had
gotten
his
attention
the
way
Jayla
had.
She
didn’t
know
how
close
she’d
come
to
getting
a
kiss
from
him
when
she
had

molded
her
body
to
his.
His
gaze
had
latched
on
to
her
lips.
They
had
looked
so
soft
that
he’d
wanted
to
find
out
for

himself
just
how
soft
and
kissable
they
were.

He
sighed.
Her
ploy
had
been
no
more
than
teasing,
but
his
body
was
still
reeling
from
the
effects.
However,
no
matter
what,
he
had
to
keep
her
best
interests
at
heart,
even
if
she
didn’t
know
what
her
best
interests
were
and
even
if
it
killed
him.

Why
couldn’t
he
keep
his
eyes
off
her?
Hadn’t
he
decided
she
was
off-limits?
He
glanced
away
and
tried
to
focus
on
the
beauty
of
the
river
as
the
riverboat
continued
to
move
through
it.
It
was
a
beautiful
September
day
and
he
had
to
admit
he
was
enjoying
Jayla’s
company.
She
had
a
knack
for
making
him
want
to
see
her
smile,
hear
her
laugh;
he
could
honestly
say
he
had
relished
his
time
with
her
more
than
he
had
any
woman
in
a
long
time.

He
wondered
if
she
was
romantically
involved
with
anyone.
He
recalled
Adam
mentioning
once
that
he
felt
she
was
too
nitpicky
when
it
came
to
men
and
that
she
would
never

meet
the
“perfect
man”
that
met
her
satisfaction.
That

conversation
has
taken
place
years
ago
and
Storm
couldn’t
help
wondering
if
her
attitude
had
changed.
Had
she
found
someone?
Something
or
someone
had
definitely
had
her
smiling
when
he’d
first
seen
her
at
breakfast
that
morning.
All
she’d
said
was
that
she
had
just
received
some

wonderful
news,
news
she
hadn’t
bothered
sharing
with

him.
Did
the
news
have
anything
to
do
with
a
lover?

“Storm,
don’t
you
want
something
to
eat?”

The
sound
of
her
voice
grabbed
his
attention
and
he

glanced
back
over
to
her,
met
her
gaze
and
had
to
swallow.
The
hue
of
her
eyes
seemed
to
pull
him
to
her.
And
he

didn’t
want
to
think
about
her
mouth,
a
mouth
that
now

contained
a
pulse-stopping
smile.
It
seems
the
feathers
he
had
ruffled
earlier
were
now
all
smoothed.
When
he
didn’t
answer
quickly
enough,
she
quirked
a
brow
and
asked,

“Well,
do
you?”

He
fought
the
urge
to
tell
her
yes,
that
he
was
hungry,
but
what
he
wanted
had
nothing
to
do
with
food.
Instead
of

saying
anything,
he
strolled
over
to
join
her
at
the
table
and
took
the
plate
she
offered
him.
“Yes.
Thanks.”

“You’re
welcome.
You
might
want
to
try
these,
they’re
good,”
she
said
popping
a
Cajun
cheese
ball
into
her
mouth.

Storm’s
breath
hitched.
He
watched
her
chew,
seeing
her
mouth
barely
moving.
He
quickly
decided
it
wouldn’t
be
that
way
if
they
were
to
kiss.
He
definitely
intended
to
get
a
lot
of
movement
out
of
that
mouth.
He
continued
to
stare
at
her

mouth
for
a
moment
and
then
sighed.
Thinking
about

kissing
her
was
not
the
way
to
go.
He
needed
to

concentrate
on
sharing
a
platonic
relationship
with
her
and

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