Love Storm
Love Storm
By Jennifer McNare
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, organizations and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as factual. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, businesses, or persons is completely coincidental.
Text copyright © 2013
Jennifer McNare
All Rights Reserved
Table of Contents:
Books by Jennifer McNare
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Epilogue
Books by Jennifer McNare
Until You (Historical Romance Novel)
The Hellion and The Heartbreaker (Historical Romance Novel)
Love Storm (Contemporary Romance Novella)
Chapter 1
It was coming down harder now, and the sweeping wiper blades were struggling with increasing difficulty to keep the heavy crystal flakes from staking a permanent hold on the icy windshield. Darn, if she’d just been able to leave an hour earlier as she’d planned, she might have gotten ahead of the early November snowstorm, but such was life. It wasn’t as though her best friend Julia had intentionally broken up with her boyfriend, for the third time no less, right before Brooklyn was about to leave for her sister’s mountain cabin near Vail.
The unanticipated detour to Julia’s apartment and the ensuing hour long tête-à-tête, had been the cause of the delay, but at least she’d managed to calm Julia down by the time she’d left Denver. Nonetheless, she’d give her a call once she reached the cabin, if she ever reached the cabin, to make sure she hadn’t reverted back to her prior histrionics. Julia had always had a penchant for the melodramatic, but Brooklyn didn’t really mind. In fact, she couldn’t have asked for a better friend. She and Julia’s personalities had always complimented each other perfectly, and since meeting twelve years earlier in Mrs. Decker’s fifth grade class, they had been nearly inseparable.
Reaching toward the console between the driver and passenger seats, she grabbed her cell phone and checked to see if she had service. Nope, still nothing. From past travels up the winding mountain road, she knew that she likely wouldn’t have service again for several more miles. If she got stranded now, she could be in trouble. Unfortunately, since she’d turned off onto a lesser traveled section of the roadway a few miles back, there wasn’t nearly as much traffic and help could be a long time coming. Although she had plenty of food, water, blankets and a nearly full tank of gas, she didn’t relish the idea of spending her weeklong vacation stuck in her SUV on the side of the road waiting for someone to pass by.
She briefly considered turning back, but after thinking it through, decided against it. She probably had a better chance of making it to the cabin than she did of making it back down the mountain. Visibility was getting worse by the minute and the trip back down the zigzagging, narrow two-lane road would take at least an hour and a half at her current pace, and according to the GPS mounted in the dash she was less than twelve miles from the cabin. So, keeping her eyes glued to the small stretch of pavement that she could see through the thickly swirling flakes, she gripped the steering wheel with both hands and continued the painstakingly slow drive.
When she finally reached the turnoff to the cabin some thirty minutes later, Brooklyn’s nerves were frayed. It had been getting harder and harder to see the road for the last several miles and if not for the SUV’s navigational system, she doubted she would have been able to find the turn onto the cabin’s private drive. Having grown up in Colorado, she was accustomed to driving in bad weather as well as on snowy, icy roads, but that didn’t mean she liked it. She breathed a huge sigh of relief when at last she pulled to a stop in front of the lavish, two-story cabin that belonged to her sister and brother-in-law. Snatching up her phone, she was relieved to see that she once again had cell service. Checking her messages she saw that she had three missed calls within the past hour, all from her sister Katelyn, and one new voice message. She immediately dialed her voicemail and hit the speaker button.
Hey Brook, it’s Kate. Sorry sweetie but I’ve got some bad news. I sure hope you get this message before you leave, because I just mentioned to Wade that you were going up to the cabin today and he told me that he’d already offered to let one of his old teammates from Denver stay there for a few weeks. You remember Ryan Landry right? Well, he got a mild concussion in last week’s game against the Jets, so he’s currently on the disabled list. I guess he’s having some work done on his house or something and since he won’t be playing or traveling for the next few weeks Wade told him he should just stay up at the cabin and take it easy for a while. Wade said he mentioned it to me the other day, but I swear I don’t remember it if he did. I think this pregnancy is seriously screwing with my memory, as well as my hormones. Anyway, call me when you get this. I’m really sorry about the mix up. Love you. Bye.
As the message ended Brooklyn leaned her head back against the headrest and groaned aloud. This cannot be happening she thought, shaking her head from side to side in horrified disbelief. Ryan Landry, the name hit her like a slap in the face. The last time she’d seen him, just over four years ago, had been the most humiliating moment of her entire life. It had been the night of Wade’s twenty-fifth birthday party at his and Kate’s house on the outskirts of Denver, just two years before Wade, an all-pro defensive lineman, had been traded to the NFL’s newest expansion team the Virginia Vipers, and a mere three weeks before she’d started her freshman year of college at the University of Colorado. Ryan Landry, the first guy she’d ever loved, or at least thought she’d loved at the time, the guy that she had been desperately trying to get to notice her since she’d first been introduced to him months earlier.
Oh how she wished she could forget that miserable night, but regrettably, it seemed destined to haunt her for the rest of her life. It was the night she had imprudently skipped dinner and recklessly downed one too many glasses of champagne on an empty stomach, cautiously evading her elder sister’s watchful gaze throughout the evening. And then, in the wee hours of the morning and still more than a little tipsy, she had made one last desperate attempt to gain Ryan’s attention as he’d slept in one of the guest bedrooms of her sister’s home. Sneaking into his room long after everyone else had gone to bed, she’d summoned her courage and offered herself up to the devastatingly handsome football player like a silly, pathetic teenager with a crush. Unfortunately however, and much to her extreme mortification, he’d swiftly hustled her out of his room, his actions letting her know once and for all, and in no uncertain terms that he wasn’t interested.
Setting the phone down, her hand moved automatically to the gear shift as an overwhelming desire to throw the four-wheel drive into reverse and back out of the driveway hit her full force. The only thing that stopped her was the knowledge that it would be dark in less than an hour, and with the snow continuing to fall like it was, she knew she’d never make it safely back down the mountain. Staring through the snow-speckled windshield, she fought the urge to weep.
Finally, with a sigh of resignation she reached for the key and turned off the ignition. She would have pulled into the garage, but she’d forgotten to write down the keypad code, so she would have to open the door once she got inside the house. Glancing at the oversized four-car garage, she couldn’t help wondering if Ryan’s vehicle was parked inside at that very moment. Kate’s message hadn’t said if Ryan was already at the cabin, but knowing her luck it was probably too much to hope for that he wasn’t.
Stepping from the warm interior of the SUV and out into the cold, h
er boots immediately sank into the freshly fallen snow as she scanned the drive for any sign of tracks, but all she could see was a fresh layer of powder covering the ground. Please don’t be here, please don’t be here, she silently begged as she shut the door and then made her way carefully to the cabin’s wraparound front porch and large set of double doors. A moment later, standing at the door, key in hand, she was about to insert it into the lock, but then she hesitated. Wait, should she knock first? Yeah probably, just in case she thought. Reaching for the large iron doorknocker, she bit down on her lower lip as she thumped it loudly against the back plate three times and then waited in a state of nervous trepidation.
She mentally counted to thirty, and then gave the knocker another couple of thumps. When another thirty seconds had passed and still nothing happened, she felt an almost giddy sense of relief. He isn’t here yet, she realized. It seemed almost too good to be true. Then again, perhaps luck was with her, maybe he wasn’t coming at all. Maybe he’d changed his mind, or perhaps the storm had kept him away. Thank you, thank you, thank you, she thought silently. Whatever the reason she didn’t care, she was just inordinately grateful for the reprieve regardless of the cause.
Pushing the key into the lock she quickly opened the door and stepped into the cabin’s wide foyer, shutting and locking the door behind her. Thankfully she did know the security code, and quickly moved to turn off the elaborate alarm system at the small keypad mounted on the wall. Once that was done, she took a quick look around, noticing as she did that the house felt warm, almost too warm. Hmm, she supposed the heat had most-likely been turned up to keep the pipes from freezing.
Moving further into the spacious interior she stopped and listened for a moment, but mercifully all was quiet. “Thank you, thank you, thank you,” she breathed, aloud this time, as she began walking toward the kitchen. Glancing about, she noted that everything seemed in order as she made her way through the kitchen and then into the large mudroom set just off the garage. However, when she reached the door leading to the garage and pulled it open she stopped dead in her tracks at the sight of the large, black Cadillac Escalade sitting in one of the four bays. After a long, agonizing moment, and once her heart had resettled itself within her chest; she allowed the door to swing softly shut and then quickly turned back toward the kitchen, retracing her steps. Of course it was his, it had to be. Kate and Wade never left a vehicle at the cabin.
When she reached the archway that led to the family room she once again scanned her surroundings, but nothing seemed to be disturbed or out of place. Passing through the large open room, she moved toward the master bedroom located at the rear of the house, listening for any sound of movement, but still she heard nothing. It wasn’t until she’d taken a few steps into the bedroom that she was absolutely certain she wasn’t alone in the house. Sitting on the foot of the bed were two large black duffle bags, with a small pile of clothes sitting right next to them. Oh crap!
Glancing up, her eyes moved to the low dresser that sat against the far wall and to the four-foot-wide mirror that hung on the wall above it. The sight reflected in the mirrored-glass literally caused her mouth to drop open, and for one endless moment her gaze was completely riveted on the naked man standing at the bathroom sink, a silver-handled razor held in his right hand, sweeping purposefully along his jawline. Seemingly of their own accord, her eyes moved slowly from the top of his damp, sandy-blonde hair, to the profile of his devastatingly handsome face, downward along the side of his muscled torso, and then to the enticing curve of his naked buttocks.
Ryan wasn’t exactly sure what had drawn his attention, but glancing to his right he was stunned to see the reflection of a woman in the mirror across the room. She stood perfectly still, her mouth hanging open, her gaze locked on his bare ass. His hand froze in mid-air, the razor still held in his grasp a half an inch from his jaw. Startled by her unexpected appearance he was rendered momentarily speechless and could only watch in astonished silence as her eyes suddenly shot back up to his face. For an instant their gazes locked and held, and then he found his voice. “Who the heck are you?” he demanded. Christ, had some crazy football groupie followed him to the cabin? he wondered silently. Unfortunately it wouldn’t be the first time a strange woman had mysteriously popped up when and where he’d least expected it.
“What? Oh, I…” Brooklyn quickly spun around so that her back was to the mirror as she stammered out a response. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t realize…that is, I didn’t mean to…” Oh crap! “Um, I’m Brooklyn Foster, uh, Katelyn’s sister,” she finally managed, feeling like an idiot as she felt her cheeks grow flushed and hot.
“Kate’s sister?” Uh oh. The sudden recollection of their last encounter hit him like a punch to the gut.
“Yeah, um Wade’s my brother-in-law,” she clarified unnecessarily.
“Yeah right.” Kate’s sister. How could he ever forget her? The night of Wade’s birthday party was permanently imprinted into his memory. But he’d only gotten a brief look at her reflection in the mirror and he hadn’t recognized her right away. Grabbing a thick white towel from the towel rack he quickly wrapped it around his waist, swiped a matching hand towel across his face to remove the remaining traces of shaving cream, and then stepped from the steamy bathroom and out into the large bedroom.
She could hear him moving around behind her and squeezed her eyes shut tight, wishing the floor would suddenly open up and swallow her. “I guess there was a bit of a mix up,” she began. “Apparently when I told Kate that I wanted to spend the week at the cabin she didn’t realize that Wade had already offered to let you stay here, and unfortunately I didn’t get the message until just a few minutes ago.” She was talking too fast, but she couldn’t seem to help it. “I am really sorry, I didn’t mean to…uh…walk in on you like that, I swear.”
“Don’t worry about it,” he said, reaching for the clean clothes lying next to his bag. He’d gone for a jog shortly after he’d arrived at the cabin and his sweaty workout clothes were still lying on the bathroom floor. “I don’t usually shower in the middle of the day, but I went for a run before the snow really started coming down, and I was just getting cleaned up.”
“Oh…well um…I’ll just let you have your privacy then,” she stammered, already moving toward the door. Crap, crap, crap. Grabbing the handle she pulled the bedroom door shut firmly behind her as she rushed from the room.
Alone in the bedroom, Ryan quickly donned his clothes, a dark-blue Nike t-shirt and a faded pair of denim jeans, as he thought back to the first time he’d met Brooklyn Foster. Her father had been transferred out of state by the company he worked for, which was why Kate and Wade had agreed to let her temporarily move in with them, so that she could finish her senior year of high school in Denver. Kate’s younger sister had been a sweet girl, friendly and outgoing, and had often accompanied Kate to the team’s games, practices, and family-friendly events. She had also been incredibly attractive, which was why Wade had immediately instructed him and the rest of their teammates in no uncertain terms to keep their hands off his then eighteen-year-old sister-in-law.
Unfortunately, it had soon become apparent to Wade, and pretty much everyone else on the team, that Brooklyn had developed a serious crush on him, which in turn, had earned him a lot of good-natured ribbing from the other guys. That was, all except for one. Wade Calloway, his good-friend and teammate, hadn’t been amused in the slightest and had kept a watchful eye on the situation whenever he and Brooklyn were in the same place. Despite their close friendship, when it came to Brooklyn, Wade had been wary of Ryan’s oft-times youthful love ‘em and leave ‘em reputation with the ladies, and he hadn’t wanted her getting hurt.
Over the course of the next several months he had done his best not to encourage Brooklyn’s infatuation, more out of respect for Wade than a lack of interest on his part, for truth be told, he’d been attracted to her as well. Hell, who could have blamed him? At eighteen, Brooklyn Foster had already been a knoc
kout, but the age difference, not to mention Wade’s friendship had both been insurmountable deterrents to any kind of relationship between them. Even so, and most likely due to the large amount of alcohol he’d consumed during Wade’s birthday party, the reason he’d ended up crashing in one of the guest rooms that night, he’d been sorely tempted to take her up on her offer when she’d slipped into his dark room. Fortunately however, though it had taken every ounce of willpower he’d possessed to hurry her out of his room, rather than welcoming her into his bed with open arms, he’d done it.
Up until a few minutes ago, that had been the last time he’d seen her, for shortly thereafter, Brooklyn had gone off to college and Wade, who had regrettably been traded to the Vipers, had moved halfway across the country with his wife Kate.
Despite them now being on rival teams, Wade remained one of his closest friends, and it was the reason he’d offered Ryan the use of the cabin while he recovered from his concussion. Although, if Wade had had even the slightest inkling that Brooklyn would be making use of the cabin as well, he seriously doubted that the offer would have been extended, despite the passing of time. Wade was just that type of a guy, extremely protective of those he cared about. He always had been and always would be. Oh well, he thought, with that storm raging outside there wasn’t much any of them could do about it now. Forgoing shoes and socks, he shook his head slowly from side to side as he padded barefoot to the closed door, and then went in search of his temporary roommate.
Chapter 2
Having pulled her white Chevy Tahoe into the garage, parking it alongside Ryan’s Escalade, Brooklyn remained within the vehicle long after she’d shut off the ignition. Leaning forward, her eyes closed and her forehead resting against the hard, leather steering wheel, she fought the urge to burst into tears. Not only was she trapped in a horribly uncomfortable situation for what was likely to be at least the next several days, but now, with her stupid blunder, she had undoubtedly made the situation infinitely worse than it already was.