Riding the Storm - Brenda Jackson [51]
His frown deepened. “Tell me something,” he said, leaning back in his chair. “When did you figure that out?”
Her smile widened. “What? That I’m a novelty to you or that you’ll get over it?”
“That you’re a novelty to me.”
She licked her lips and Storm felt his gut catch. “The night you showed up at my place. Seeking me out was so unlike how you’re known to operate, so I figured there had to be a reason, since any woman can basically please a man in bed. It slowly dawned on me why I was different.”
Storm inhaled deeply. He was glad they were sitting at a table in the rear of the restaurant in an area where they were practically alone. He would hate for anyone to overhear their conversation.
He shook his head slowly. Everything she’d said had sounded logical. With one exception. It was so far from the truth that it was pitiful.
He smiled. “First of all, contrary to what you think, Jayla, any woman cannot please a man in bed. When making love to a woman, most men…and women for that matter, experience various degrees of pleasure. On a scale from one to five, with five being the highest, most men will experience at least a three. In some situations, possibly a four, and only if they’re extremely lucky, a five.”
She lifted a brow. “How did I rate?”
Storm’s smile widened. He’d known the curiosity in Jayla would give her the nerve to ask. In fact, he’d hoped that she would. “You rated a ten.”
She blinked, then a smile touched the corners of her lips. “A ten?”
He chuckled. “Oh, yes, a ten.”
He watched as she thought about it for a second, then she shook her head, perplexed and confused. “But—but how is that possible if a ten isn’t on the chart?”
He reached across the table and captured her hand in his. “Because you, Jayla Cole, were off the charts.” He watched her smile widen, evidently pleased with herself. Then he added, “And it had nothing to do with you being a virgin, but had everything to do with the fact that you are a very passionate woman.”
He tilted his head and said, “It also had a lot to do with the fact that the two of us are good together. We click. When we make love, I feel a connection with you that I’ve never felt with another woman.” What he didn’t add was that when he made love to her, he felt as if they were made for each other.
“Wow, that’s deep, Storm,” she said regarding him seriously.
He sighed as he nodded. “Yeah, it is deep and that’s why I’d like for us to continue to see each other.”
Jayla inhaled. She would like to continue to see him, too, but she knew that wouldn’t be a wise thing to do. In less than a month, she would be getting inseminated and hopefully soon after that, she would become pregnant. The last thing she needed was to get involved with anyone, especially Storm, no matter how tempting the thought was.
“Jayla?”
She met his gaze. “I don’t think that would be a good idea, Storm. This new project will take up a lot of my time, and I won’t have time for a relationship.”
He considered her words. He was still curious as to what kind of project she would be working on. He had asked her about it in New Orleans and she had danced around an answer. The only thing he could come up with was that it involved her job, perhaps a confidential, top-secret assignment. “And there’s no way we can work around this project?”
“No.”
Her response had been quick. Definite. “When will you start?”
She shrugged. She would have her physical next Friday and then hopefully within three weeks after that, she would go in to have the procedure done. “Possibly within a month.”
He met her gaze levelly. “Is there any reason we can’t continue to see each other until then?” Slowly, he raised her hand to his lips and kissed it.
Jayla swallowed and knew what she should say. She should tell him yes, there were plenty of reasons why they couldn’t continue to see each other for the next month, but