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Someone To Love
Karen White-Owens
In One Moment Her Heart…The course of true love never runs according to plan, at least not for Shae Weitherspoon whose love life is in need of critical care. As a nurse practitioner her focus is always on others, especially patients and clinic staff. When drop-dead gorgeous James Daniels enters her life, their mutual attraction is unmistakable. Will she allow her heart to beat in rhythm with his?Finds Someone to LoveJames Daniels, like most sports agents, works at breakneck speed on one deal after another in the windy city of Chicago. While Shae's stunning beauty and her feisty spirit capture his soul, the demands of clients and friends threaten to derail their unbridled passion. Now, it's time to prove that he can place her foremost in his life. Will circumstances prevent James from loving Shae–the one woman whose heated caresses create irresistible desire…
“How about a couple hands of spades?”
“Okay, but why not make it interesting,” J.D. said. “How about a kiss for the winner of each hand?”
“I’m in,” Shae said boldly.
Lines creased his forehead. “Are you sure you want to do this? I wouldn’t want to take advantage of you.”
“This was my idea, remember?”
“Then you better get ready for a beat down,” J.D. answered in a superior tone. The note of sensual promise in his voice encouraged her, adding a forbidden element to the game.
Minutes later, J.D. leaned against the wall, counting his books. “How did you do?”
Peeved, Shae rolled her eyes. “You know exactly how I did.”
Chuckling softly, he touched her arm. “Time to pay up….”
Her attitude evaporated instantly as a ripple of excitement surged through her. Shae leaned closer and her eyes fluttered shut as J.D. claimed her lips. A sensuous current spiraled through her, completely destroying her previous calm.
Slowly loosening his hold, J.D. relaxed against the wall, although his eyes still glowed with a savage inner fire. “Ready for another hand?”
KAREN WHITE-OWENS
is the author of four successful romance novels and one novella. Someone To Love will be her fifth full-length release. In addition to writing and her work as a librarian at the Mount Clemens Public Library, she divides her free time between her husband, Gary, editing manuscripts for aspiring authors and teaching essay writing to freshmen at Wayne State University.
Someone to Love
Karen White-Owens
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
I would like to dedicate Someone To Love to my family and reading audience. Without both groups’ unwavering encouragement and support, I’d probably give in to my lazy side and sit in the center of my bed watching soap operas and eating popcorn instead of writing. Thank you.
Dear Reader,
Welcome to Someone To Love. I hope you like the story as much as I enjoyed writing it. Over the past three years, I’ve gotten very close to the Daniels family.
I introduced readers to this family in my previous title You Are Loved. In that novel, Lisa Daniels’s struggle with infertility and her love for Matthew James touched many hearts. The saga continued with Cynthia Williams and David Daniels. David’s drive for professional success and Cynthia’s determination to find the parents that abandoned her as a baby garnered Circles of Love a great deal of recognition and a lot of mail from readers. Someone To Love will toss Lisa and David’s younger brother J.D. and Shae Weitherspoon into the limelight.
There are occasions when writing can be a lonely job. It warms my heart to hear from readers who have interesting comments about the stories and the characters that I create. Don’t be a stranger, feel free to e-mail me at romwriterkwo@yahoo.com or drop a note at P.O. Box 40366, Redford, MI 48240. I love hearing from you.
Happy reading!
Karen White-Owens
Contents
Chapter 1 (#u18d84d05-9ac5-538c-842c-2bf8e49d46ed)
Chapter 2 (#u47e42087-50c5-572b-9fa8-122d50c00025)
Chapter 3 (#u0beb11ce-1cef-50d2-aa40-940ef9fd8a66)
Chapter 4 (#u93897e06-f707-5086-9d49-3b1e90f1e0f2)
Chapter 5 (#u5f346ec0-df76-59e0-866d-016a5e18abd8)
Chapter 6 (#u0aa360d1-4148-56de-bd29-b64779e7efc4)
Chapter 7 (#uecb9a7bb-bc3e-5f1e-b356-01da1244cb2e)
Chapter 8 (#u3673c132-ce99-5464-b51f-294f8475d4ab)
Chapter 9 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 10 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 11 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 12 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 13 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 14 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 15 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 16 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 17 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 18 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 19 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 20 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 21 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 22 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 23 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 24 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 25 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 26 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 27 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 28 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 29 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 30 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 31 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 32 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 33 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 34 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 35 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 1
Shae Weitherspoon caught her bottom lip between her teeth while twisting a lock of her hair around her finger. This was her third attempt to reach her father.
The voice mail kicked in and she heard the computer-generated voice stating that she should leave a message. Seconds later the message was interrupted by a breathless, “Hello? Hello?”
Relieved, Shae said, “Hey, Mommie.”
“Shae-Shae,” her mother responded. “Where are you?”
She grinned at the use of her childhood nickname. “Airport.”
From her seat, she studied the patrons hurrying up and down the hallway, dragging luggage behind them as they searched for their correct destination. Shae shifted in her seat and glanced out the ceiling-to-floor window, watching the Northwest Airlines employees prep the gray-and-red planes for their next trip. “I decided to try one more time to say good-bye before the plane took off. Pop didn’t pick up his cell phone and he wasn’t at the office, so I thought he might be at home. Is he there?”
“No, honey. He left soon after you did. I don’t know when he’ll get back.”
Shae swallowed her disappointment, blinking rapidly while fighting the urge to cry. Why wasn’t she surprised? As far back as she could remember, Prestige Computers had been her father’s obsession—his family, his life and his mistress. Albert Weitherspoon had started Prestige Computers in the basement of his Compton home; the company manufactured computers for consumers. At first, it wasn’t easy. Albert and Vivian Weitherspoon struggled for years, fighting to keep both their home and their business afloat. Then, the boom in personal computers hit. Computers became more affordable and Prestige rocketed into the major leagues and competed with the likes of Dell, IBM and Hewlett-Packard.
Not satisfied with conquering the personal computer market, Albert had added a business division. The new division flourished and soon after Prestige went global with servers and software security systems. Now, Pop was at the top of his game. The computer company that had begun in the basement of their small town house had become a Fortune 500 company.
In keeping with the Weitherspoon’s new financial and social status, they moved to a more affluent neighborhood. Their modest Compton town house was replaced by a ten-bedroom mansion with an inground pool located in exclusive Malibu. Shae’s parents concentrated on her future—enrolling her in the best schools and making sure she had the proper friends during her childhood and adolescence.
She gained a wonderful education and lived the best life that money could provide, but…Shae lost her father in the process.
As Prestige Computers grew, Albert Weitherspoon disconnected from his family. Board meetings, business trips and making money replaced birthdays, family outings and holidays.
The Pop that taught her how to ride her first bike, read her bedtime stories and chased monsters from under her bed had disappeared. He was replaced by a stranger who put in cursory twenty-minute visits at family functions.
Tired of the jaunt down memory lane, Shae returned to her present dilemma. “Mommie, I’m not dropping off the face of the earth. You know how to reach me. Chicago is just a phone call away.”
“How long do you plan to stay there? When are you coming home? What about your father’s sixtieth birthday? Will you be back in July for that?”
“Mommie, it’s April,” she sighed, crossing her legs. “There’s plenty of time to work things into my schedule. I’ll figure everything out once I’m settled.”
“Shae, I don’t understand.”
That line had become her mother’s latest buzz phrase. Sadly, Shae’s parents had never understood what drove her to complete her bachelor’s and master’s degrees and then accept the nurse practitioner and manager position in Chicago. No matter how many times Shae tried to reassure her parents, they balked and attempted to convince her to remain in Malibu.
Dropping her free hand into her lap, Shae added, “Once the medical director and I have our first meeting, I’ll have a better idea of the timetable he’s recommending for the opening of the clinic.”
Her mother’s long-suffering sigh reached Shae’s ear. She rolled her eyes toward the ceiling as a reaction to her mom’s dramatics.
“Why do you have to do this?”
“Because people need help, Mommie.”
“But, Shae-Shae, why you? There are communities near Malibu that could benefit from your skills and knowledge.”
“Why not me?” It was Shae’s turn to sigh. She needed to feel that her life meant more, that she had something to offer those who were struggling.
Because Shae’s parents wanted to hand her the world, it came as a major shock to them to find that their sweet baby refused to comply with their wishes for her future. Shae had vetoed their plans to send her to an exclusive liberal arts college; instead, she opted to attend a university with an excellent nursing program. Once she completed her degree, her father offered Shae a position in his company, but Shae had accepted a traveling nurse position at a small community hospital in Montana.
Shae’s parents continued their attempts to manipulate her life whenever she came home. The Weitherspoons, hinting it was time to think about marriage and a family, invited every bachelor they knew to dinner. Their daughter countered this blatant matchmaking with the fact that she was only twenty-six years old and far from an old maid; there was plenty of time for love and romance. For now, making a difference in the world burned brighter in her heart.
“Honey,” Mommie’s voice turned soft and persuasive, “the position with Prestige is still available. Your dad has always tried to get you to come on board with him. This would be a wonderful opportunity for you both. You’d have your own department to run. Things would be done your way. The employees would love to have a good nurse on staff. Think about it. You could do so much good.”
“That’s not for me, Mommie. I want to help people who need me and don’t have the same resources that the folks at Prestige have. Besides, if I worked for Pop, I would be his glorified office pet. I don’t want that,” she declared, glancing at the attendants manning the NWA station. “I’ve still got a little time before we board. If Pop comes home, have him call me.”
“I will, baby. I will.”
“Love you, Mommie. I’ll call after I’m settled.”
“Love you, too, Shae-Shae.”
Close to tears, Shae disconnected the call and slipped the phone inside her Emilio Pucci bag. Despair and loneliness threatened to engulf her.
This decision had not been made lightly. Although Shae hadn’t lived at home in years, she shared holidays and vacations with her parents—well, actually, her mother. After weeks of soul-searching and listening to her parents’ insistence that she didn’t need to leave California, Shae had chosen the position in Chicago. It was hard leaving her mother and her home. Striking out alone hadn’t been easy. It frightened her. But this choice fulfilled the promises she made to herself.
Shae shut her eyes and reached for calm. I need to get my mind off my family, she thought, rummaging through her bag for her Stephen King novel. Determinedly, she opened the book. At first, the words danced on the page before her, making little sense. Soon, however, the characters drew her in and Shae forgot everything except the unfolding story.
The insistent soft repetition of words pulled Shae away from chapter four. The low buzz grew in volume. Frowning, she closed her paperback. Concerned that someone needed medical assistance, the nurse in Shae searched the sparsely populated Los Angeles International Airport boarding area for the source of the sound.
Her gaze zeroed in on a tiny Asian lady approximately fifteen feet away. Less than five feet tall, the woman was dressed in a pair of coffee-brown polyester pants and a brown, rust-and-white striped short sleeve top. Black canvas shoes covered her feet. Head bowed, eyes shut and arms wrapped tightly around her body in a protective gesture, the woman rocked back and forth, rhythmically chanting unrecognizable words.
The air in the boarding lounge practically sizzled with tension as the mantra sped up. Silently, the airport patrons in the woman’s vicinity began to fold their papers and close their laptops and books. Travelers near the woman frowned and edged away. Several passengers rose from their chairs, gazing back at the woman as they located new seats in what they hoped was a safe location.
Uneasy, Shae tucked her book away inside her bag and rose from her chair. She moved swiftly across the grey carpet and slipped into the chair next to the little woman.
