Riding the Storm - Brenda Jackson [12]
“Really?” he asked, studying her intently as his lips quirked into a smile. “And why was that? Can’t you cook?”
She glanced up at him and the deep dimples in his cheeks did things to her insides that were totally beyond her comprehension. She figured it would have been a lot easier for her to understand if she wasn’t a twenty-six year old virgin. While in college she’d almost gone all the way with a senior guy by the name of Tyrone Pembrooke. But his roommate had returned unexpectedly, interrupting things. For her, it had been fortunate since she’d later discovered he had made a bet with his fraternity brothers that he would get into her panties in a week’s time. She had almost learned too late that the name the senior guys had given the freshman girls was fresh meat.
“Yes, I can cook,” she finally answered Storm. “Dad loved home cooking. He thought food wasn’t worth eating if it wasn’t made from scratch. He just couldn’t get into those little microwave dinners that I was an expert at preparing.”
Storm chuckled as he helped her gather up the remaining items off the table. “Hey, I can understand your father’s pain since I like home-cooked food, too.”
They walked over to the garbage container and tossed in their trash. “You cook for yourself every day?” Jayla asked as they headed toward the lower deck to depart.
“No. Since my shifts run twenty-four on and forty-eight off, I eat at the station when I’m working and the days I’m off I eat at Chase’s Place, my brother’s restaurant.”
She nodded, remembering that his twin brother, Chase Westmoreland, owned a restaurant in downtown Atlanta. It was a really popular place; she had been to it several times and always found the food delicious. She glanced down at her watch. “When we get back to the hotel, it will be nap time for me.”
“Umm, not for me. There’s still more for me to see. I think I’ll go check out that club on Bourbon Street that’s located right next to the drugstore. I hear they have good entertainment.”
Jayla lifted a brow. She knew exactly what club he was referring to, since a group of the guys who’d also attended the convention had visited there. And if what she’d heard about it was true, its only entertainment was of the striptease kind. She frowned wondering why the thought of Storm watching women bare all bothered her. Why did men fail to realize that there was more to a woman than what was underneath her clothes?
“Well, I hope you enjoy yourself,” she said. Her tone had been more curt than she had intended.
“Oh, trust me, I will.”
And she knew, just as clearly as he’d said it, that he would.
Three
S torm was having a lousy time, but when he glanced over at his cousin Ian, it was evident that he was enjoying himself. Ian had contacted him last night and told him that The Delta Princess would be making a stop in New Orleans and suggested they meet for drinks at this club.
A few seconds later, Ian must have felt him staring and looked over at him. “What’s the matter with you, Storm?”
Storm decided to be honest. “I’m bored.”
Ian lifted a brow. “How can you be bored looking at women take off their clothes?”
He shrugged. “It all looks basically the same.”
A smile curved the corners of Ian’s lips. “Well, yeah, I would hope so.”
Storm couldn’t help but return the smile. He and Ian were first cousins—their fathers were brothers. While growing up, they had always been close. They were the same age and one thing they’d always had in common was their appreciation of the opposite sex. Storm wasn’t surprised that his cousin thought the fact that his lack of interest in women stripping naked was strange.
“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