Riding the Storm - Brenda Jackson [47]
He closed his eyes again, not ready to move, not sure that he could if he wanted to. But the thought of Jayla, naked, wet and standing beneath a shower of water suddenly made him go hard, as if his body could do anything else around her.
He sighed deeply and suddenly the features of that old woman, the one who had read his palm in New Orleans, flitted across his mind at the same time the words she had spoken rang through his ears: You are about to make unexpected changes in your life and although you yearn for peace, turbulence is in your future. Keep your sights high, be patient and let destiny take its course.
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