Taken by Storm by Kelli Maine Page A

his lips and blinked, turning his gaze to Rachael. “I’ll drive,” he said.
    He headed toward the driveway. Maddie and Rachael followed. “What was that about?” Rachael whispered in her ear.
    “I’m not sure,” Maddie whispered back.
    “Intense,” Rachael murmured.
    Exactly. MJ was the definition of intensity. There was never a moment when he was at peace and calm in his own skin. Something was always brewing inside him, like a storm ready to drench the world.
    It was that drive and focus that made Maddie believe in him. MJ could do anything he put his mind to. And that’s what scared her to death.
    If he set his mind on having her back, she could never resist him. She didn’t think that was a possibility until now.
    Opening the passenger door, she touched the ring under her shirt. Talan was so different. He was a shelter, a safe harbor, not a destructive storm that would crash down on top of her.

    The three of them sat outside Café Gelato at a round wrought-iron table on the sidewalk. Lunch had been deli sandwiches and chips. Now they indulged in dessert. When Maddie ordered tiramisu flavored gelato, she caught MJ smiling before he realized and became stoic once more. What game was he playing bringing them here for lunch?
    Maddie stood in front of the freezer case at Café Gelato trying to decide which flavor to order.
    “Just try it,” MJ said, holding out a little plastic spoon.
    “I don’t like coffee flavored ice cream,” she said, wrinkling her nose.
    “You’ll love it.” He ran the spoonful of tiramisu flavored gelato across her lips, leaving a cold, sticky-sweet trail. “Trust me.”
    Maddie licked her lips. It was delicious. She smiled and grabbed his spoon, licking the rest off.
    MJ laughed. “I told you.” He leaned in and kissed her. She’d never get used to the feel of his kisses—like they were meant just for her. Like the reason her mom left and she ended up at the Rocha Estate with her dad was so the universe could bring the two of them together.
    When he pulled away and gazed into her eyes, it was perfectly understood. He was hers and she was his. It had been that way every summer and winter break since they were little, and this summer she’d seen him with different eyes. It had been hard to tell him she wanted to be more than friends, but she couldn’t resist her feelings.
    She rose on tip-toe and kissed him a second time. The girl behind the counter drummed her fingers on top of the freezer case. “I’ll have the same,” Maddie told her.
    She and MJ took their gelato out to the little patio tables and sat down. They’d been here almost every night since he got home for the summer a week ago. Now that he was headed to college, they’d have all the time in the world to be together. Not just during his boarding school breaks.
    When they were finished, they hopped in her dad’s vintageTorino convertible. Her dad’s love of muscle cars had spread to MJ long ago. She let MJ drive while she stuck an old Eagles cassette tape in the tape deck and turned the volume up. It was her dad’s favorite, so they both knew all the words and sang along, loudly to Hotel California the whole ride home.
    “Make it to go,” MJ said to the waiter.
    “In a hurry?” Rachael asked. “Got a hot date?”
    Maddie’s insides jolted. Please no, don’t let him have a date. She instantly felt guilty for wanting him to be alone. How selfish could she be? She had Talan’s ring around her neck after all.
    But, she and Talan were on a break, and maybe…
    No. She couldn’t start anything with MJ that she’d have to call quits again. It wasn’t fair to either of them.
    He tapped the table and shot Maddie a look like he wanted to eat her alive. “Just ready to get back.”
    Maddie felt her entire body flush, from her toes to her hairline. MJ had given her heated looks before, but nothing like the one she was getting from him now.
    He wet his bottom lip with his tongue. The pulse points in her neck