Riding the Storm (14 page)

“Okay,
who
is
she?”

Storm
looked
confused.
“Who’s
who?”

“The
woman
who’s
ruined
your
interest
in
other
women.”

Storm
frowned.
He
glared
at
Ian.
“Where
on
earth
did
you
get
a
crazy
idea
like
that
from?
No
one
has
ruined
my

interest
in
other
women.”

Ian
met
his
glare.
“And
I
say
you’re
lying.”

Storm
released
a
frustrated
sigh.
Ian
was
damn
lucky
he

hadn’t
hauled
off
and
hit
him.
But
that
was
his
brother

Thorn’s
style.
Thorn
was
known
for
his
moody,
ready-to-

knock-the-hell-out-of-you
temperament.
At
least,
that
had
been
his
attitude
until
he’d
gotten
married.
Now
Tara
had
unruffled
Thorn’s
feathers
and
the
last
few
times
he’d
seen
him,
Thorn
had
actually
been
easygoing.
Marriage
had

certainly
made
a
happy
man
out
of
Thorn,
as
well
as
his

brothers
Dare
and
Stone.
Storm
found
it
downright

sickening.
He’d
also
been
curious
as
to
why
his
brothers
were
smiling
all
the
time.
As
far
as
he
was
concerned,
they
weren’t
getting
anything
at
home
that
he
wasn’t
getting
out
there
in
the
streets.

Or
were
they?

“I
can’t
believe
you
just
sat
there
calmly
after
I
called
you
a
liar,
so
it
must
be
true,”
Ian
said,
taking
another
sip
of
his

beer.

Storm
rolled
his
eyes.
“I
just
don’t
feel
like
knocking
the
hell
out
of
you
right
now
Ian,
so
back
off.”
What
he
preferred
not
to
let
his
cousin
know
was
that
he
had
pretty
much
hit
on
the
truth.
For
the
time
being,
Jayla
had
ruined
him
for
other

women
and
he
couldn’t
understand
why.
He
certainly
hadn’t
ever
been
intimate
with
her
and
he
never
ever
intended
to
be.
And
yet,
here
he
was
bored
to
death
at
the
sight
of

these
half-clad
dancers,
while
the
thought
of
Jayla
taking
off
her
clothes
made
him
break
into
a
sweat.

“Want
another
drink,
cuz?”

He
glanced
over
at
Ian.
What
he
wanted
was
to
go
back
to
the
hotel
and
call
Jayla
to
see
what
she
was
doing.
“No,
I’ll
pass.
When
will
you
be
back
in
Atlanta?”

Ian
leaned
back
in
his
chair
and
smiled.
“In
a
few
weeks.
I
promised
Tara
I’d
be
in
town
for
that
charity
ball
she’s

working
on.
Why?”

“I’ll
check
you
out
then.”
Storm
stood
and
tossed
a
couple
of
bills
on
the
table.
“I’ll
let
Uncle
James
and
Aunt
Sarah
know
you’re
doing
okay.”

Ian
nodded.
“And
for
heaven’s
sake
if
Mom
asks
if
I
was

with
a
woman
when
you
saw
me,
please
say
yes.
With
your
brothers
getting
married,
she’s
starting
to
look
at
us
kind
of
funny.”

Storm
grinned.
His
mother
was
beginning
to
look
at
him

and
Chase
kind
of
funny,
too.
He
glanced
around
the
room
before
turning
his
attention
back
to
Ian.
“I
guess
I
can
tell
her
that
and
not
feel
guilty
about
lying,
since
this
place
is
full
of
women.
I’ll
just
leave
out
the
part
that
the
woman
you
were
seeing
was
naked.”

Ian
chuckled.
“Thanks,
I’d
appreciate
that.”

Storm
turned
to
leave.

“Hey,
Storm?”

Storm
turned
back
around.
“Yeah?”

Ian
met
his
gaze
directly.
“I
know
it’s
just
a
temporary
thing,
man,
but
whomever
she
is
I
hope
she’s
worth
all
the
hell

you’re
going
through.”

Storm
frowned,
opened
his
mouth
to
give
his
cousin
a

blazing
retort
that
no
woman
was
putting
him
through
hell,
changed
his
mind
and
turned
and
walked
out
of
the
club.

Jayla
heard
the
phone
ring
when
she
had
finished
toweling
herself
off
and
slipped
into
the
plush
hotel
bathrobe.
She
quickly
left
the
bathroom
and
picked
up
the
phone
on
the
fourth
ring.
“Hello?”

“How
was
your
nap?”

Jayla
frowned.
The
last
thing
Storm
needed
to
know
was

that
she
hadn’t
been
able
to
sleep,
thanks
to
thoughts
of

him
being
surrounded
by
naked
women.
Each
time
she’d
tried
closing
her
eyes,
she
saw
women,
taking
off
their

clothes,
heaving
their
breasts
in
his
face,
skimming
panties
down
their
legs
and
giving
him
an
eyeful
of
all
their

treasures.
She’d
even
heard
there
were
some
women
who
were
bold
enough
to
sit
naked
in
a
man’s
lap
if
he
tipped

her
well
enough.

“My
nap
was
fantastic,”
she
lied.
“How
was
the

entertainment
at
the
club?”
she
asked
then
wished
that
she
hadn’t.

“It
was
definitely
interesting.”

Jayla’s
frown
deepened.
A
part
of
her
wanted
to
slam
the
phone
down,
but
she
had
too
much
pride
to
do
so.

Besides,
she
took
great
care
of
herself
and
thought
she

looked
rather
decent,
in
or
out
of
her
clothes.
As
far
as
she
was
concerned,
there
was
nothing
those
women
who’d

stripped
off
their
clothes
had
on
her
other
than
that
none
of
them
was
Adam
Cole’s
daughter.

“I
called
to
see
if
you’re
free
later.”

She
rolled
her
eyes
upward.
So
they
were
back
to
that