Into the Storm

Into the Storm

By Ruth D. Kerce

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2011 Ruth D. Kerce

All rights reserved. Except for review quotes, no
part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form
without written permission of the author.

This story is a fictitious work of the author's
imagination. Any resemblance to known persons or places is
coincidental.

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work of this author.

Prologue

Phone-phuck yourself.

Val texted the words back to Grant, not about
to use the same explicit language he had used with her. A variation
thereof was bad enough, and it instantly put her in a foul
mood.

"Are you listening to me?" Janine asked from
across the table. "Val!" Her voice rose a notch, sounding very
close to a screech.

Val cringed and snapped the phone closed.
"The answer is still no." She should have known that her best
friend had other things on her mind, besides generosity, when she
offered to buy lunch for the two of them today. She pushed her
chair back from the table.

"Why not?" Janine whined.

"Forget it!" She tossed her empty paper cup
into the trash, then took off out of the food court and headed into
the mall. Why did others always think they knew what was best for
their friends' lives?

"What's the problem? You need some
testosterone in your life. It's not like it's a blind date," Janine
called out after her, rushing to catch up. "You've known him for
years."

"Only in passing." She couldn't believe that
Janine was trying to set her up with Nathan. He was certainly
handsome, smart, and nice enough, but the man had been married
twice already, unsuccessfully, according to the gossip at work. She
didn't need the baggage. "I think I'll stay celibate for a
while."

"You don't have to sleep with him. It's just
dinner. You haven't been out with anyone since Grant left you for
that bimbo executive last year." Janine turned and whistled at a
tall hunk who strolled past.

Val slapped her shoulder. "Stop that. You are
so embarrassing. And please, don't remind me of Grant." He'd told
her that she wasn't hot enough to show off to his corporate
colleagues. But apparently, she was hot enough for phone sex
whenever he got the itch. Jerk. She hoped his division demoted him
to janitor when the upcoming company cutbacks rolled around.

"So you'll go out with Nathan?"

"No. I'm not looking for another relationship
right now." When Janine opened her mouth to protest, Val added,
"Nor am I looking for a dinner companion."

"You're no fun at all." Janine slouched,
until something caught her eye. She perked up and rushed toward a
nearby boutique. "Look. Fifty percent off. Let's get you something
sexy. Something to impress."

"Janine, geez. I don't need anything sexy. Or
anyone sexy. Please give it a rest."

"Ah, so you do think Nathan is sexy. I knew
it!"

When a smile lit her friend's face, Val
frowned. "I didn't say that." Even though it was true. Nathan kept
himself in drool-worthy shape. And his eyes were such a delicious
chocolate brown. His hair was also chocolate brown and always
curled attractively around his ears. If anything, she loved
chocolate. But that's as far as it went.

Nathan was fantasy material at best. "I'm
perfectly happy with my life as it is." That was her story, and she
was sticking to it. She'd had enough of men. Well, enough of being
hurt by men.

Janine snorted. "Sure you're happy. Anyone
can see that. Ooo, pasties!"

Chapter 1

Val glanced out the kitchen window at the
black clouds rolling across the sky. A major storm was in the
works. The wind had already picked up and was whipping through the
trees. She heard a low rumble of thunder in the distance.

She pushed up the sleeves of her over-sized
sweatshirt and shoved some leftover pizza into the oven. Chocolate
ice cream, her favorite, was on the menu for desert. Binge and
comfort food. She might even make nachos later. Good thing she
wasn't prone to gaining weight. She pinched the flesh around her
hips. Well, maybe she was a little prone.

A splatter of rain hit the window, and she
glanced out into the backyard, where one of the lawn chairs had
toppled onto its side in the wind. "Here it comes."

The sky completely opened up, and a deluge
pelted the ground. She was glad she hadn't made any plans to go out
tonight. The evening would have been ruined. When a streak of
lightning lit the sky, she moved away from the window. She hated
storms.

The doorbell rang, and she jumped. "Dang it!"
Her nerves were shot, and the storm had just started. Bad weather
always did that to her, ever since she'd been a little girl and had
gotten locked out of the house during a lightning storm.

She started down the hall. "Who would be
crazy enough to get out in this?" She made her way to the front
door and peeked out the side window. "Oh, I don't believe
this."

She unlatched the chain, turned the lock, and
pulled open the door. "Nathan, what are you doing here?"

"Am I early?"

"Early?" She glanced past him, expecting to
maybe see more people from the office, but nobody else was around.
Him suddenly showing up -- alone -- seemed quite coincidence, given
her thoughts had been on him all day.

He huddled beneath a soggy newspaper. "Can I
come in?"

"Oh, yes, of course." Val stepped back from
the door and motioned him inside. "You're soaked." His hair was
plastered to his head, despite the newspaper covering, and water
ran down his face.

He tossed the paper out the door, then rubbed
his arms, obviously chilled. "Bad timing tonight."

Looking at the wet floor beneath his feet,
she shut the door. "You didn't answer me. Why in the world are you
here in this storm?" No off-site business meeting had been
scheduled that she knew of.

"For our date."

"Date?" Her head snapped up. "What date?"
Even though she'd asked, she already knew the answer and couldn't
believe she hadn't immediately put the pieces together upon seeing
him. Frustration tightened her chest. Janine!

He glanced at her sweats. "I thought we had a
date tonight."

"I'm going to kill her," Val muttered.
"You're dripping over everything." Her voice cracked, and she
sounded surly, but she couldn't help herself.

He wiped his face, and a line of water
trailed off his elbow. "Sorry."

She held up her hand in a halting motion.
"Don't move from this spot." She rushed down the hall as the lights
flickered. She hoped the electricity wasn't going. That would be
all she needed.

"Did I get the wrong night?" Nathan shouted
after her.

"You could say that," she answered, raising
her voice so he could hear her. A moment later, she reappeared with
a cloth robe. "Drop 'em."

His eyes widened. "Excuse me?"

"Your clothes. Peel 'em off and put this on."
She handed him the robe. "I've got to check on dinner." With a
shake of her head, she rushed off. Janine was in major trouble. She
was going to put glue in that girl's lip gloss, so she'd keep her
mouth shut for once in her life.

"What do you want me to do with my clothes?"
he called out.

"Toss them in the dryer. The laundry room's
on your right." She set two places at the kitchen table. She
couldn't very well kick Nathan out. She wouldn't send anyone back
into that storm. Not until his clothes dried anyway.

On the bright side, with the worsening
weather, she was actually happy for the company. She wouldn't be as
afraid with someone else here.

At the sound of a cough, she turned. Nathan
stood in the doorway. He looked, well, yummy and very natural
standing there in the robe, like he belonged. The robe fit him
perfectly, accentuating his broad shoulders and lean waist. "Hi,"
she greeted.

"Hi, yourself." A wary look crossed his face.
"This obviously isn't yours. Is some guy going to kick me in the
ass for wearing his robe?"

Val chuckled. "It's my brother's. He forgot
it the last time he visited from California. Sit down. Pizza's
almost ready."

He pulled out a chair and sat. "Have we been
set up by Janine, or did you really tell her that you wanted to
have dinner with me?"

"She said that?" She took two bottles of beer
out of the refrigerator and set them on the table.

"Yep, that's what she said."

"We've been set up." She pulled the pizza out
of the oven and slid the pieces onto a platter in the center of the
table. "Help yourself." She sat across from him.

Nathan picked up a gooey slice of cheese and
pepperoni and placed it onto her plate.

The polite gesture touched her. "Thank
you."

A slight smile tugged at his lips, and he
nodded, then he served himself a slice. "I think I'm totally
embarrassed now and should crawl out the door and back into the
storm. I should have double-checked with you instead of just
showing up when Janine said."

Val laughed. "Don't be embarrassed." She
popped an olive in her mouth. "Janine is seriously in need of
therapy. She can't stand to see a person without a mate. Strange,
considering she doesn't have one herself."

He shrugged. "Well, I haven't been so lucky
in the mate department either. But then, you probably know that,
gossip being what it is." When she simply nodded, he visibly
cringed. "And you're not terribly impressed, I gather."

"It's none of my business." She avoided eye
contact, while sprinkling grated cheese over a pizza slice.

He leaned forward and covered the fingers of
her other hand. "I'm really not a bad guy."

She looked up. "I never said you were." She
pulled her hand out from under his.

He sat back in the chair. "But you're
thinking that a man who's been married more than once must have
some severe character flaw."

"Severe never entered my mind." Nathan
laughed at that, and the deep sound washed over her. He had the
cutest dimples when he smiled. She couldn't help but wonder what
the truth was, what had happened to cause his marriages to
fail.

"You want the dirty details?"

"Only if you want to tell me."

He glanced out the window, before once more
meeting her gaze. "If it'll keep me out of the storm, I don't mind.
I hate storms."

"Me, too." Val smiled, feeling like she'd
actually found someone who understood at least one small part of
her. "Why don't we just chit-chat and enjoy dinner first? After we
eat and clean up the dishes, we can go into the living room for a
more serious discussion."

"Sounds good."

Chapter 2

What had he been thinking? Nathan settled on
the couch and took the pint of ice cream Val offered. He'd totally
agreed, even offered, to expose himself and his private life. He
must be nuts.

Val sat on the other end of the couch and
took a big spoonful of chocolate ice cream from her pint. "Go
ahead." She slid the spoon into her mouth and closed her eyes.

As he watched her savor the creamy treat,
talk was suddenly the last thing on his mind. She opened her eyes
and actually blushed, as if she could read his seductive
thoughts.

Val cleared her throat. "Sorry. Chocolate
fetish."