Westmoreland Desires: Riding the Storm / Jared's Counterfeit Fiancée / The Chase Is On

Including you, Storm was tempted to say. He wondered how he could assume that when he’d never tasted her, but he just knew that she would taste delicious.

The waiter presented them with menus. “Just coffee for me now and I’ll wait for later to order dessert,” she said handing the menu back to their waiter.

Storm glanced over at her. “Since you’re familiar with this place, what do you suggest?”

Jayla caressed her upper lip with the tip of her tongue as if in deep thought. “Umm, I’ll have to recommend Chef Paul’s Duck & Shrimp Dulac. I had it the last time I was here and it was totally magnificent.”

Storm nodded and returned the menu to the waiter. “Then that’s what I’ll have and I’d like a bottle of sparkling mineral water.”

“Great choice, sir,” the waiter said before walking off.

Storm leaned back in his chair. “So, do you return to work on Monday?”

Jayla shook her head. “No, I won’t officially return to work until a week from Monday. Then on Tuesday of that same week, I have a meeting with a Dr. Tara Westmoreland. Is she a family member of yours?”

Storm smiled. “Yes, Tara is my sister-in-law. She and my brother Thorn tied the knot a few months back. Why would you need to meet with Tara? She’s a pediatrician and you don’t have a child.”

Not yet, Jayla thought to herself. “The reason I’m meeting with Dr. Westmoreland is for business reasons—in fact, we’re doing lunch. The company I work for, Sala Industries, is picking up the tab for the caterers the night that the Kids’ World calendar is unveiled at a charity ball, and Dr. Westmoreland is on the committee. It will be a huge event, and we expect well over a thousand people to attend.”

“I understand the ball will be next month,” he said, after the waiter had returned with their drinks.

“Yes, the second weekend in October, in fact. And I understand your brother Thorn is Mr. July.”

“Yes, he is.” Storm couldn’t forget how Tara had been given the unlucky task of persuading Thorn to pose as Mr. July. Doing so hadn’t been easy, but things had worked out in the end, including Thorn’s realizing that he loved Tara and the two of them getting married. Kids’ World was a foundation that gave terminally ill children the chance to make their ultimate dream—a visit to any place in the world—come true. All proceeds for the foundation came from money raised through numerous charity events.

“I understand the calendar turned out wonderfully and the sale of them will be a huge success,” Jayla said smiling, interrupting his thoughts. She gazed across the table at him for a second, then said. “Tell me about your family.”

Storm raised a brow after taking a sip of his water. “Why?”

She smiled. “Because I was an only child and whenever you mention your siblings or your cousins I can tell you all share a special closeness. It was lonely growing up without sisters or brothers and I’ve already made up my mind to have a large family.”

Storm chuckled. “How large?”

“At least two, possibly three, maybe even four.”

Storm nodded. He wanted a large family as well. “The Westmoreland family is a big one and we’re all very close. It started out with my grandparents who had three sons, one of which was my father. My parents had six kids, all boys until Delaney came along. Dare is the oldest, then Thorn, Stone, Chase and me. As you know, Chase is my twin brother. My father’s twin brother’s name is James and he and his wife Sarah also had six kids, but all of them were boys—Jared, Spencer, Durango, Ian, Quade and Reggie. My father’s youngest brother, Uncle Corey, never married, so it was assumed he’d never fathered any kids, but we discovered differently a few months ago.”

Jayla placed her coffee cup down, curious. “Really?”

“His sons, who never knew he was their father, just like he never knew he had sons, had an investigator track him down. Uncle Corey is a retired park ranger in Montana and that’s where they found him.”

Jayla was fascinated with the story Storm was sharing with her. “But how did he not know that he was a father?”

“It seems a former girlfriend found out she was pregnant after they’d broken up and never bothered telling him. Unknown to Uncle Corey, the woman gave birth to triplets.”

“Triplets?”

“Yes, triplets. Multiple births are common in our family. Like me and Chase, Ian and Quade, and my father and Uncle James are fraternal twins.”

Jayla inhaled, trying to absorb all this. “And your uncle’s former girlfriend had triplets?”

“Yes, the first in the Westmoreland family. It seems that she told them their father had died when they were born and only revealed the truth on her deathbed. Although Uncle Corey never married the woman, she had moved out west to Texas and had taken his last name, so fortunately, her kids were born as Westmorelands.”

“So your Uncle Corey has three sons he didn’t know a thing about?”

“No, two sons and one daughter.” He shook his head, chuckling. “And all this time we all thought Delaney was the only girl in the Westmoreland family in two generations. Last month Uncle Corey suprised us and got married!”

They suspended conversation when the waiter brought out Storm’s food. Storm surprised Jayla when he handed her a fork. “There’s too much here for one person. Share it with me.”

She glanced at his plate. He did have a lot and it looked delicious. “Umm, maybe, I’ll just take a few bites,” she said taking the fork from him.

“Help yourself.”

And she did. The picture of them sharing a meal played out a rather cozy and intimate scene in her mind, one she tried to ignore. She licked her lips after they had finished. The food had tasted great. “Now you’re going to have to help me eat that cheesecake.”

“Hey, I can handle it.”

His words triggered a flutter in the pit of her stomach. There was no doubt in her mind that Storm Westmoreland could handle anything. And he did. They finished off the strawberry cheesecake in no time.

Storm checked his watch after he signed the check for their bill. “It’s still early. How would you like to go dancing?”

His words echoed through Jayla’s mind. She knew the smart thing to do would be to tell him, no, but for some reason, she didn’t want to think smart. She didn’t want to think at all. She was in the company of a very handsome man and she was in no hurry for them to part ways.

She met his gaze. “I’d love going dancing with you, Storm.”

The club that had come highly recommend from one of the waiters at K-Paul’s was dark, rather small, and crowded. Storm and Jayla were lucky to find an empty table inside Café Basil, which had a reputation of being the undisputed king of nightlife in the French Quarter.

Storm doubted that another couple could fit on the dance floor. Already, the place was jam-packed, but he was determined that they would squeeze in somehow. There was no way he would leave this place tonight without molding Jayla’s body to his and holding her in his arms.

He glanced across the table at her, barely able to make out her features in the dimly lit room. Her body was swaying to the sound of the jazz band that was playing and as he watched her, he had to restrain the emotions that were pulsing inside of him.

He had been with numerous women before and each one had met his specific qualifications—whatever they’d been at the time. And every single one of them had known the score. He promised nothing other than a good time in bed. He wasn’t interested in satisfying emotional needs, just physical ones. But there was something about Jayla that was pulling at him. The pull was definitely sexual, but there was something about it that was emotional, too.

And Storm Westmoreland didn’t do anything with women that hinted of the emotional so why was he here, bursting at the seams to take Jayla into his arms on that dance floor?

Before he could ponder that question, the tune that was playing stopped and another started. Some of the dancers went back to their seats, clearing the way for others to take their turn. “This is our number,” he said to Jayla, standing and reaching out for her hand.

She smiled and placed her hand in his. Immediately, he felt a tug in his gut that he tried ignoring as he led her onto the dance floor. He took a deep breath, then exhaled slowly the moment she came into his arms and molded her body to his.

“I like holding you,” he said truthfully into her ear moments later, wanting her to hear his words over the sound of the band.

She leaned back and searched his face a moment before asking, “Do you?”

“Hmm…”

She smiled and he thought it was the most beautiful smile he’d ever seen on a woman and felt good that his words had brought a smile to her lips. Speaking of lips.

His gaze shifted to her mouth and he couldn’t help but take in their proximity to his. All he had to do was inch a little closer and—