Rainstorm (The Perfect Storm Book 1) Read online

  “I just got a text, he’s almost here.”

  Being late, I had to say, was not a good sign for a first date, but I bit my tongue, for now at least.

  I engaged Mandy in a nonsense conversation in an attempt to keep myself distracted, but it was no use. He was like a fog, a heavy cloud filling the space separating us.

  Inebriating my mind.

  But then I could feel him approaching, coming over to where we were, like the warm sun coming out after a long cold winter. And no, we weren’t talking about the dry spell I’d been going through. All my senses were on high alert while I followed his approach, as he seemed to somehow dominate the entire place.

  It wasn’t just the way he looked, tall and beautifully built. No. It was the way he moved.

  So confident.

  So powerful.

  So overwhelming.

  I knew the moment he was beside me, as shivers ran over my entire body, my skin somehow sensing the enormity of his presence, my lungs trying to absorb every last drop of his essence to bottle and store in little jars in my memory and keep me company at night.

  The way the man smelled. Making him lickable.

  The things he did to me without even touching me, messing with my heated mind. He was like a fever, warmth radiating from him to me.

  My body reacting. Coming alive. Vibrating.

  “Hey...” He smiled, as a fresh strawberry margarita magically appeared in front of me, and although my jaw was already practically on the floor because of those glimpses of him I’d been stealing, they were nothing compared to having him so close. Those eyes, blue as the flames burning my skin. Scorching me. Branding my soul.

  But still, this had to stop. It was ridiculous, and not at all how I should be reacting to a random stranger. He’d probably just recognized me and was a little star-struck. It happened occasionally, one of the penalties of being a minor TV celebrity.

  I straightened my shoulders as I turned to cut him off, because if he was under the impression that I was some kind of a bimbo he was so, so wrong.

  “Thank you, but I’m not interested, and as you can see I already have my own drink,” was all I could muster up. Although I was pretty sure he already knew who I was, he made no mention of it.

  Bring it on.

  His full lips curved in a smirk. I turned to look at Mandy Sue, who was staring at us like a hawk. A stunned one, I should add.

  He said something in Mandy’s ear and she almost choked, her gray eyes as wide as saucers.

  “What is it you want?” I asked, shaking my head at my friend’s reaction to whatever he’d said. “Who are you?”

  “Just a random guy,” he replied with a smile, and my own faded.

  Just a random guy, I thought while gazing at him. No, that was not true. A random guy would not look like that. There was nothing random about him. How his Henley T-shirt fit him and how I wanted to draw a road on his skin going south...

  There was nothing random about the way my body reacted to his presence, alienating all my senses. Those eyes watching me so intensely as if they knew all the secrets of my body... and my soul.

  There was nothing random about the way I trembled when his hand touched my shoulder softly, warming my skin; proclaiming that I was his and at the same time announcing to the world that he was mine.

  There was definitely nothing random about the way he made me feel.

  He was gorgeous in a panty-dropping way. More than that, some earth-shattering vibration was coming to me through the space separating us.

  No, there was nothing random about him. About us.

  “I’m Chase,” he stated confidently, his stare not dropping, not even slightly. Clearly, he was the kind of man who knew what he wanted. “Chase Holland.”

  He’d set the course.

  His determination like a spell between us.

  He wasn’t even attempting to hide his intentions, no acting like a wolf in sheep’s clothing for him.

  He was a hunter. The chaser. And clearly, he wanted me as his prey.

  “And she’s Roselynn,” my friend offered on my behalf, even though I was right there, wondering where there was a hot potato to shove in her mouth when I needed it.

  Chapter 2

  Chase

  Los Angeles, CA - Six years ago

  That Friday felt like a Monday as I’d been at the office since seven o’clock in the morning dealing with shit after shit. I was the acting project manager of a construction company located in Southern California. We managed projects all across the state, and in the last years, we’d grown exponentially. Then, three months previously, my former boss had found the love of his life on the East Coast, and had left with just two weeks’ notice and a lot of unfinished work.

  The lazy, inconsiderate bastard.

  Since then the board had handed me his responsibilities, so that’s how come I’d been left to figure out how to deal with the shit fest in the most efficient way. It was a big challenge, but one that could lead to big rewards, an opportunity for me to climb up the company ladder and secure my future.

  Easy-peasy they said.

  Yeah, right.

  That morning we’d had two late supply deliveries, a work site accident—thank God nothing serious—and for the cherry on top, my darling mother had been calling me nonstop the entire week.

  When my phone went off again, I was really tempted to throw it through the window, but I resisted the urge and foolishly hit the green button before checking the name on the screen.

  Big mistake.

  “Hermano!”

  Shit. There was only one person who called me brother.

  My cousin Zephyr, AKA the black sheep of the family.

  And he was the last person I needed to hear from right now.

  “Chase, are you there?”

  Why had I answered the fucking call? But knowing him, if I hadn’t, he’d just have kept calling back until I took his call, so I guess that’s why I heard myself saying, “Yes, I’m here.”

  “Just letting you know I’m hopping in a cab to see you. Aunt Nora sent me your office address.”

  No fucking way, this is not happening.

  My temples were throbbing, I already had a headache, so I was prepared to fob him off with a couple grand if that meant him leaving me alone. I’d deal with my mother later.

  “I’m busy, Zeph, I can’t play nanny to you today, sorry.”

  “You have a weird way of showing how much you care, but I forgive you, man. I really need to talk to you, and I’m only in the city for a few hours.”

  Thank fuck, at least I wouldn’t have to deal with my cousin’s pranks for too long. I had plans for this long weekend.

  Disconnect.

  Sleep.

  And forget about the world.

  I needed some downtime. Maybe even follow the advice of one of my coworkers, about going to one of those massage parlors. Wait, I think he said a chiropractor. Whatever, I didn’t care, just as long as I felt like a new man at the end of it.

  “So I’ll be there in twenty, ‘mano. And don’t worry, I have some happy news to share.”

  He ended the call, leaving me with the impression he was about to announce he’d gotten some chick pregnant. Don’t worry, he’d said. Fat chance. Knowing my cousin as well I did, I could only expect the worst.

  I had no time to think further about it though, as Greta, my assistant, came into my office, iPad in hand, ready to continue working and we did exactly that until my cousin sauntered in as if he owned the place.

  After hugging me and clapping me on the shoulder, he plopped himself onto one of the big leather chairs in front of my desk, and once I’d given him a warning glare—he had turned up on very short notice after all—he stayed there for more than two hours while I continued working, just quietly playing on his phone.

  “Okay, let’s go eat,” I eventually announced, once I’d reached a suitable stopping point. “I’m famished.”

  I hadn’t eaten all morning, and
I was in desperate need of some fuel to keep my body functioning.

  My cousin chatted incessantly on our way to the restaurant, updating me with all the latest gossip from my parents’ orange grove where he was spending the summer after graduating from college.

  Much to my father’s chagrin, my mother adored Zephyr, her only nephew, just as much as she did my four older sisters. My cousin was renowned for being a charmer, a woman whisperer if you will.

  So of course my mother and sisters were more than happy to have him staying for a while.

  And of course, they were all spoiling him rotten.

  And of course, he was making the most of it.

  I chose a new seafood restaurant located close to my house in Santa Monica, as I’d been there with some of my coworkers, and had found the food really good, plus they kept a well-stocked bar. If I had to hear whatever Zeph’s news was, I wasn’t doing it without a decent brew in hand.

  The restaurant was packed but the hostess magically found us a table beside the large windows, overlooking the ocean across the street.

  “Sandra will be here in a couple minutes to take your order,” she said before walking away, leaving the menus on the yellow tablecloth in front of us.

  I noticed Zephyr admiring the sway of her hips, as he let out a low whistle. Granted she was a beautiful woman, but at that moment my interest was focused on the food rather than a piece of ass.

  “So, I’m ready to hear your news,” I told him after taking a long sip of my cold beer.

  “I’m joining the Navy,” my cousin proudly announced.

  Da fuck?

  “You what?” I asked, almost choking. Did I hear him right? Jeez.

  “I’m joining the Navy. I received orders to be in Rhode Island on Sunday evening to start twelve weeks of Officer Candidate School.”

  “You have to be shitting me, Zephyr.”

  “I’m deadly serious, Chase,” he assured me, looking me in the eye, his face solemn, his habitual joking manner gone.

  “I sincerely hope you are. Signing up to the forces isn’t a fucking children’s game.”

  After taking a long breath he started explaining. “I know that and I’m looking for a future, bro. I have a degree now and I want to put it to good use. A friend of mine from college talked a lot about it; he planted the seed I guess.” He shrugged.

  I felt relieved; this wasn’t so bad after all. It was about time my cousin grew up, and there was no better place than the forces to give him some direction. Maybe he was finally getting serious as he claimed.

  “Well, I wish you all the best in your new career, Zeph.” I smiled.

  “Thanks, ‘mano. That means a lot to me.” He smiled back.

  Then the waitress came to take our orders, and we changed the subject as my cousin told me about my older sister Celeste’s new pet.

  A donkey.

  Yup, a fucking donkey was ruling the orchard, and I wasn’t talking about the foreman my father hired a few months earlier.

  “I’m not sure where she found the damn animal, but now it’s like the king of the grove,” he laughed. “Your father named it Hew Haw, and I swear that stinky donkey thinks it’s a dog, man.”

  While we waited for the food to arrive, jesting a little, laughing a lot, my cousin suddenly muted, as he stared at something that had caught his attention.

  “See over there, bro? Sweet Jesus, angels are falling from Heaven. Fuck, what a shame I’m leaving tonight. Oh, by the way, you are driving me to the airport, right?” Typically it seemed I was being given little choice in the matter.

  I turned to see who’d caught my cousin’s attention, but while he focused on the blonde woman in cute cowboy boots, I only had eyes for the black haired beauty walking behind her.

  He was right. Sweet Jesus, an angel had fallen from Heaven.

  This girl was a goddess; an exotic little package. Glorious black hair running down her back, and with eyes so beautiful I couldn’t even begin to describe them. I needed more light to study her in detail, because I was pretty sure she’d stolen all the sunshine around her, turning the—until now—vibrant restaurant into a dimmed place. The chattering noise that had filled the place suddenly muted.

  She was dressed in a sexy, and at the same time, demure way, in jeans and a white top. Leaving it all to the imagination ignited something inside me.

  And trust me, my prolific imagination was already working at full force.

  “I recognize that face! I know who she is,” Zephyr announced. I instantly wanted to know everything about her. “She’s the weather girl on that morning show your mother loves so much.”

  Ah, there you go, he didn’t really know anything about her other than seeing her on TV. I suddenly regretted not paying attention to anything other than the evening’s news.

  Because she was captivating.

  Inciting.

  Tempting.

  She looked like the woman of my wet dreams.

  But a TV personality? Go figure!

  She continued walking, exposing her back to me, with nothing more than thin straps tied into a perfect bow just above a perky butt covered by tight denim fabric.

  She was like a gift, bow and all.

  What are men but big boys?

  And every boy loves Christmas morning. And the magic wrapped inside that shiny paper adorned with bows.

  Ready to discover the surprise beneath them.

  Ready to play.

  Ready to enjoy.

  Ready to own.

  See? We are basic creatures.

  I couldn’t take my eyes off her. She was sitting in the corner in front of the bar, quietly sipping her drink while she turned those mysterious eyes on me.

  I was transported to a fantasyland. Somewhere with wrinkled bedsheets from long bouts of passionate sex, where I could hear her moaning my name from those pouty lips of hers. Sighing in ecstasy. I wanted her beneath me. I wanted her on top of me, riding me hard. I wanted her glorious mane of hair running like silk through my fingers. I wanted her back arched while I pounded inside her from behind.

  I wanted it all.

  Lust was a powerful weapon.

  And at that moment it was filling the space between us.

  Storming.

  Billowing.

  A wave I was more than eager to conquer.

  Our glazes locked and the air left the room. Or maybe it was because she took my breath away. Golden eyes bewitching, flashing light and temptation.

  Casting her magic over me.

  Tawny. Warm. Hypnotizing. Thousands of sunrays whirling and twining into something mysterious and eternal.

  The attraction heating the entire space.

  Simmering.

  Hissing.

  Undeniable and veritable.

  “Wait here,” I said to Zeph as I stood, ready to go after her.

  “Don’t go there, Chase. A woman like that will have your nuts in her hands before you know it. You’ll end up totally pussy whipped. In fact, I’d bet she has a whip and some chains stashed in that big purse of hers.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous.” I glared at him.

  “Never ignore your basic instincts, of which number one is self-preservation. Granted, sex comes a close second, but in this instance, you really need to protect your balls,” he lectured me.

  “Shut the fuck up, I’m not asking for your blessing.”

  “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” I heard him groaning, but I was already walking across the restaurant, too drawn to her to turn back.

  “I know what I’m doing,” I stated, my mind already focused solely on her.

  I calmly walked over, even though I wanted to run to her, to make my claim, as something inside me sizzled and burned.

  Irrational.

  Visceral.

  Instinctive.

  My soul recognizing hers, calling hers.

  Calling to her innermost depths.

  Calling home.

  ☂☂☂

  She played ha
rd to get, but her body betrayed her, shouting the words her mouth refused to pronounce.

  And I wasn’t prepared to back off, because nothing worthwhile is ever easy, people say, and I was a firm believer.

  I was not a sick fucker who forced a woman against her will. My parents raised me well. Don’t forget, I had four older sisters, and you can’t survive in a home dominated by women without being feminist to the core.

  Only a strong man—a real one—is able to cherish and nurture the fierceness inside a woman. And I was not going to act like a weak man. So I didn’t give up when she tried to brush me off.

  Her friend, who introduced herself as Mandy Sue, was a chatterbox. I had no idea how the air got into her lungs, but at least within a couple minutes I’d gleaned some facts about the goddess. Her name was Roselynn Banks, she was twenty-four, she was single and she’d been working on the TV show for the last two years. But as much I enjoyed learning these facts, I wanted Roselynn to tell me about herself, I craved hearing her sweet voice.

  “Mandy, that’s enough,” Roselynn finally stated. “Look, Chase” she said, staring straight at me. “You have no idea what you’d be getting into if you hung out with me. I live in an apartment over my parents’ garage—they’re kind of overprotective. Plus, I have two big brothers trained to send away any man who dares to look at me. You’re a...” She paused, pointing her hands from my head to my toes. “Gorgeous man, and I am pretty sure women throw themselves at your feet, but that’s not me, ok? You think I’m pretty? Fine, I’ll take the compliment but that’s as far as it goes, because I’m not an easy fuck, so back off. You have been fair warned.”

  Instead of making me want to run, I was amused by her string of fair warnings, my mouth sorely tempted to kiss those sassy lips of hers. More intrigued than ever, I found myself so, so tempted to immerse myself in the hot mess she said she was.

  Hell, I wanted to make her mine.

  Only mine.

  I loved a challenge, I lived one. My life hadn’t been as easy as people assumed. Yes, I had the house, the money in the bank, the flashy new truck and an awesome career, but I had sweated my ass off to be in the place I was at that moment.