Riding the Storm (49 page)

He
opened
his
eyes,
quickly
sat
up
and
glanced
around
the
room.
It
was
as
if
the
old
woman’s
voice
were
right
there.
He
shook
his
head,
thinking
he
was
definitely
losing
it.

He
turned
when
he
heard
the
sound
of
a
door
opening
and
glanced
over
his
shoulder
to
see
Jayla
walk
out
of
the

bathroom
with
a
towel
wrapped
tightly
around
her.
She

gave
him
a
soft
smile
that
immediately
made
him
go

hard…as
if
he
wasn’t
already.
And
no
matter
how
much
he
thought
he
was
crazy
this
morning,
he
didn’t
have
one

single
regret
about
last
night.

“You
should
have
woken
me
up
and
I
would
have
joined
you
in
the
shower,”
he
said
standing,
and
crossing
the
room
to
her.

He
watched
as
her
gaze
took
in
his
nakedness,
as
it
left
his
face
to
slowly
roam
down
his
chest,
down
past
his
stomach
to
settle…yeah,
right
there.
He
felt
his
erection
get
larger,
become
harder
and
saw
her
eyes
grow
dark
with
desire

and
her
cheeks
become
flushed.

“You
like
being
in
your
natural
state,
don’t
you?”
she
asked,
lifting
her
gaze
back
to
his.

He
smiled.
“Yes,
and
I
like
you
being
in
your
natural
state,
too.”

She
shook
her
head
and
chuckled.
“I
think
we
need
to
talk.”

“I’d
rather
do
something
else.”
His
smile
widened.
All
she
had
to
do
was
to
drop
her
gaze
back
to
his
midsection
to
know
what
he
had
in
mind.

She
cleared
her
throat.
“Well,
unfortunately
we
both
have
jobs
to
go
to
this
morning,
right?”

“You
would
have
to
remind
me
of
that,
wouldn’t
you?”
he
asked,
pulling
her
into
his
arms.
“Have
dinner
with
me
at
Anthony’s
tomorrow
night.”

She
quickly
pulled
back.
“Dinner?”

He
dipped
his
head
and
captured
an
earlobe
in
his
mouth.
He’d
heard
the
surprise
in
her
voice.
Hell,
he
was
even

surprised
that
he
had
suggested
such
a
thing.
“Yes,
dinner.
We
can
talk
then,
okay?”
He
knew
what
she
wanted
to
talk
about.
She
wanted
to
know
why
he
was
not
adhering
to

their
agreement.
He
hoped
when
he
saw
her
again
he

would
have
some
answers.

“Storm…I
don’t
think
that
we—”

He
lifted
her
chin
with
the
tip
of
his
finger
so
their
eyes

could
meet.
“Like
you
said,
we
need
to
talk,
Jayla,
and
we
can’t
do
it
here
or
at
my
place.”

She
nodded,
understanding.
At
least
at
Anthony’s,
there
wouldn’t
be
any
bedrooms
around.
“Okay.”

Then
Storm
captured
Jayla’s
mouth
in
a
kiss
that
he

definitely
needed.
The
taste
of
her
was
like
a
drug
to
which
he
was
addicted.
She
was
a
problem
that
needed
a

solution,
but
for
now…

Wednesdays
had
always
been
referred
to
as
over-the-
hump
day
and
it
wasn’t
until
today
that
Jayla
actually

understood
what
it
meant…at
least
in
terms
of
her
and
Storm.

It
was
almost
lunchtime
and
Jayla
was
still
besieged
with

constant
memories
of
the
night
she’d
spent
with
Storm.
She
glanced
around
to
make
sure
no
one
noticed
the
blush
that
had
to
have
appeared
on
her
face,
even
with
her
dark
skin
tone.

She
was
in
a
room
with,
of
all
people,
the
vice
president
of
the
company,
as
well
as
the
sales
and
advertising

managers
for
Sala
Industries.
It
was
that
time
of
the
year
when
she
needed
to
prepare
the
annual
public
relations

report
that
the
company
distributed
to
the
general
public,
interest
groups
and
stockholders
to
make
everyone
aware
of
the
company’s
activities
and
accomplishments
the

previous
year.
One
of
Sala’s
main
goals
for
the
year
had
been
to
increase
their
involvement
in
community
affairs.

Being
a
part
of
the
charity
benefit
for
Kids’
World
was
one
of
the
many
projects
they
had
undertaken
to
do
just
that.

Jayla
had
worked
for
the
company
since
college
and
up

until
recently,
the
job
had
been
the
single
most
important

thing
in
her
life
outside
of
her
relationship
with
her
father.
After
his
death,
she
had
moved
her
job
up
to
the
number

one
spot,
which
was
why
she
had
made
a
decision
to
have
a
baby.
She
had
needed
a
life
outside
of
work
and

someone
to
share
that
life
with
her.
She
smiled,
thinking

that
she
had
only
eight
days
to
go
before
she
went
to
the

fertility
clinic
for
her
physical,
the
first
step
toward
making
her
dream
come
true.

She
glanced
across
the
conference
table
and
saw
Lisa

looking
at
her
strangely.
She
lifted
a
brow
and
Lisa

surreptitiously
lifted
one
back.
Jayla
couldn’t
help
but
smile.
Evidently,
Lisa
had
seen
her
blush
a
few
times.

As
soon
as
the
meeting
was
over,
Lisa
pulled
her
back
the
moment
she
was
about
to
walk
out
the
room
and

whispered,
“We
need
to
talk.”

Playing
dumb
she
smiled
and
asked,
“What
about?”

“Like
the
fact
you
sat
through
most
of
the
meeting
like
you
were
zoned
out.
It’s
a
good
thing
Mr.
McCray
didn’t
notice.”

Jayla
sobered
quickly
as
she
came
to
her
senses.
Having
erotic
flashbacks
on
her
time
was
one
thing,
but
having

them
on
her
employer’s
time
was
another.
“Sorry.”