Karen White-Owens - Someone To Love

“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?”

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

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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

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

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.”