Read Love Storm for Free Online

few steps.   In a daze, she walked into the bedroom and
quietly shut the door behind her.   Without turning on the light, she moved to the bed and sat down heavily
on the edge of the mattress, replaying Ryan’s words over and over in her
mind.   Had he meant what she thought he
meant?   Was it possible that Julia had
been right all along?   Had he rejected
her, not because he hadn’t been attracted to her, but because of his friendship
with her over-protective brother-in-law?   Could it be, or was he just trying to make her feel better?
    Lying back on the bed, Brooklyn stared up at the ceiling,
her thoughts suddenly spinning in a crazy whirl.  

Chapter 3

 
    When Brooklyn entered the kitchen the following morning, she
found Ryan sitting at the kitchen table holding a steaming cup of coffee.   He was watching the morning news on the
flat-panel television mounted on the opposite wall, but turned toward her as
she walked in.   Apparently the satellite
dish was working again, she noted.
    “Good morning,” he greeted.   “Did you sleep well?”
    After his parting
comment the night before?   No she
hadn’t slept well.   “Yeah, I slept
great.   You?”   She eyed Ryan’s light blue, long-sleeved button
front shirt, wishing she’d had something nicer to wear than jeans and a
pullover sweatshirt, but unfortunately her options had been limited.   If she’d known she would be spending the next
several days with a drop-dead gorgeous football stud, she would have packed
differently.
    “Like a rock,” he lied.   He wondered what she would think if she had even the slightest idea that
he had been secretly hoping she would show up in his room last night, like she
had four years ago.   Unfortunately, he
knew exactly what Wade would think.   Then
again, it wasn’t as if Brooklyn was a teenager anymore, he thought.   Especially now, with her hair falling around
her face in long, lustrous blonde waves, free of the previous day’s youthful
ponytail, she looked every inch a woman full grown.   And truth be told, he wasn’t the same person
he’d been four years ago either.
    “I made coffee.   The
pot’s full if you’d like some.”
    “Thanks.   It smells
good,” she replied, as she walked over to the cupboard and pulled out a large
coffee mug.   Glancing out the kitchen
window, she saw that the snow was lightly falling once again, and then she
shifted her gaze to the ground.   “Wow, we
must have gotten at least eight inches last night and it’s still coming down.”   She doubted that the roads had been cleared.
    “Yeah I know,” Ryan replied, grabbing the TV remote and
turning down the volume.   “It looks like
you’re going to be stuck with me a while longer.   I hope you don’t mind.”   His voice was light and playful.  
    Fortunately her back was to him as she filled her coffee
cup, so he couldn’t see the tiny smile that tugged at the corners of her
lips.   “I don’t mind if you don’t”
    “To be perfectly honest, I’m enjoying the company,” he
admitted.
    Schooling her features into a composed façade, she tried to
keep the satisfaction from showing on her face as she turned around and moved
to the table, cup in hand.   She’d done a
lot of thinking last night, and she’d finally made a decision.   She certainly wasn’t going to throw herself
at him again, but if he made the
first move, well then, she was definitely going to consider taking Julia’s
advice.   She was a woman now, and she
might as well live a little.   She wasn’t
naïve enough to think that she had a future with someone like Ryan Landry, but
if she kept her head about her, and her emotions in check, what was wrong with
having a little fun?   She supposed she
was just going to have to wait and see how things played out.
    “Did you catch the weather forecast?” she asked, glancing
toward the television as she set her cup down and took a seat at the table.
    “Yep.   It looks like
we’re