Page 1 of Fever

Chapter One

Montego Bay, Jamaica

Santana

I’ve done my fair share of traveling. As a native of Houston, Texas, and an investigative journalist, traveling was a part of my job description. When it came to beach life, I experienced it first with friends one Memorial Day weekend on Miami’s South Beach. I’ll never forget how exciting it was to hang out with the girls, sink my toes into the warm grains of sand, and feel the breeze from the ocean’s waves that washed onto shore faithfully. It was four of us. My girls and I were free-spirited. I guess that’s something you can say about all twenty-somethings. We had traveled to Florida with enough money for a one-night hotel stay, gas to get us there, and maybe enough for a meal or two. I said free-spirited, right? Maybe that’s putting it mildly. Anyway, we were young and full of fun. By the way, we had a blast. That trip lasted for about five days. Some nights I think we may have slept on the beach. We had the time of our lives and yet, nothing could’ve prepared me for what I saw now.

I sat on a wooden deck of an over-the-water villa, staring out into turquoise waters. The beautiful blue ocean seemed to go on for miles on end. Yes, you heard me right. I was occupying space in one of Montego Bay’s villas, or bungalows was what some of the islanders called it. The villa sat on top of the ocean, almost as if it’s floating in this one spot. It was 7 a.m., and the sun wasn’t at its highest point yet. Nevertheless, I put on my two piece all white bikini, saturated myself with suntan lotion, and wore a huge white floppy beach hat. Across my eyes were Christian Dior shades. I was fully prepared when the sun decided to send its rays down to attack me.

I’d stirred at 5 a.m. under the comfort of the thick duvet covers that toasted me like I imagined a pleasant, strong male body would. Okay, probably not that good, but it was pretty close. By 5:45, I knew sleep had evaded me. Last night had been eventful, so a few more Z’s wouldn’t have hurt. Instead of traveling for a report, which I rarely came across exotic adventures such as this, I’d been whisked away by my best friend Desiree Stevens. Desiree and I worked together for six years at the Houston Report, a reputable newspaper in the state of Texas. It drove us crazy at times, but we loved our work. Unfortunately, our boss was the ass of all asses, so this year, we quit and moved to Desiree’s hometown of Chicago. Neither of us planned this out. Did I say I was free-spirited in my youth? Okay, I still was, and although I’d like to think I was still young, 32 wasn’t considered prime. The only things Desiree and I shared when we left Houston were two letters of recommendations that she’d pretty much strong-armed out of our boss. I smiled thinking about it. But Desiree came away with something even more pleasant. A marriage proposal.

I was proud of my girl. That ex-dog of a boyfriend was trying to creep back into her life, but her fiancé Julian Alexander Rose shut that down so fast it’s almost comical. As her maid of honor, I along with her bridesmaids were here to celebrate with not only Desiree, but her sister Claudia, too. They were both engaged and were set to have a dual wedding. I smiled thinking about the last few months. My girl had managed to catch the eye of a handsome bachelor. A model at that, and he’d done something most of us girls thought was unattainable these days, swept her off her feet. They fell madly in love.

My parents had been together 50 years, and not even they appeared to be more in love than Desiree and Julian. A close runner-up? Julian’s brother Jaden and Claudia. The two were a match made in heaven. I’m telling you, if I could just get a little of that type of luck rubbed off on me, I’d be okay.

My knight in shining armor didn’t have to be a multimillionaire. It wouldn’t hurt, but I’d be just fine with a mechanic who would love me unconditionally and come home every night with flowers or dinner. I would adore him just the same, grease stains and all. As long as he didn’t get any of that shit on my couch.

Moving along, how rare is it that you and your sister become engaged to multimillionaires who just so happen to be brothers? Pretty darn rare.

I guessed that’s why deciding to have a double wedding was the obvious choice. So here we were, on this beautiful island. Desiree’s and Claudia’s bachelorette parties were tonight, then the next day, a yacht would take us to a private part of this island where they would be wed. Oh, did I forget to mention the groom and his men were here as well? Not in the same set of villas. On the opposite side of the island in another set of over-the-water bungalows.

I swear if I weren’t watching this all unfold I’d say these things only happened in movies. Or a good romance book, whatever your pleasure.

I took in a breath of fresh air and continued to stare out at the serene waters where my mind drifted to Josiah Alexander Rose. He was another brother of the infamous Rose family. The youngest to be exact. And he was just as gorgeous as any of them. Golden dark brown eyes, smooth skin, strong nose and lips of perfection. I’d had a dream of he and I between the sheets ever since I’d met him. I wasn’t naive enough to believe we would be the next Mr. and Mrs. Rose. But a girl could dream, couldn’t she?

I had met Josiah a few months ago. Being the rigorous investigative reporters that we were, Desiree and I had found ourselves in a bit of a mess when one of the stories we’d reported on caused an irate man to burglarize our homes. At the time, Desiree had been put on assignment. She and Julian were set to fly to Dubai. I was all right with being left alone to fend for myself, but Desiree wasn’t. Julian called in his brother Josiah to look after me, and he was charmingly different than the guys I was used to. Believe it or not, I looked at Josiah like he was my personal secret service, so I offered to pay him for his time.

Thinking about that made me blush. I would never forget how his thick brow rose as he sent a laser beam look over my way.

“You’ve been dealing with too many suckers, sweetheart,” he’d said, “but just so we’re clear, you don’t owe me a thing.” He closed the distance from the mini bar across the room to me with a short glass of brandy in one hand and a long-stemmed wine glass with mature Bordeaux in the other. His towering presence brought a wave of warmth and a sexy aroma I couldn’t recognize. “But if you need anything,” he handed me the wine glass, “just say the word.” A lazy grin had spread across his face, and I knew I was in trouble.

It’s interesting because Josiah wasn’t the first brother Julian called. Jonathon was the head honcho at the number one security firm operating across the mid-west and east coast region. But at the time, Jonathon couldn’t make the trip. It was just as well since Josiah and I hit it off great. His funny personality kept my mind away from looking over my shoulder, wondering if someone was watching me. Our conversations were easygoing and fulfilling. Josiah didn’t have a problem telling me about his job as the leading dealer at Infiniti. He revealed his goals, which was to start his charter and expand across the country then the nation. I felt like a proud friend listening to his plans, and it got me to thinking about my own.

Growing up, it took me a while to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. Years to be exact. In college, I started out taking classes to become a registered nurse. My thought was, I wanted to help as many people as possible and what better way to do that than be a nurse. I chuckled. But I soon found out being a nurse wasn’t where my heart was. I’d graduated and gotten a bachelor of science degree only to re-enroll and take courses to become an elementary school teacher. Now I was laughing. Two years and an associate in early childhood education and I was re-enrolling again. You see the pattern here? Finally, I’d found what I yearned for. Helping my community by being in the thick of cutting-edge stories, politics, world or local events, natural disasters, and crimes that were controversial.

Five years later, I walked across the stage of Morehouse University again, receiving my bachelor’s and master’s in journalism, communications, and broadcasting. I’d stayed the course until I left my job. Making the quick change from Houston to Chicago, I’d had to take whatever job I could get. Not that I didn’t try to get on at a local newspaper; I was still confident I could. But at the time, I was temporarily a grade school teacher. Might as well put that degree to use if it’s going to help me pay the bills.

“You’re up mighty early.”

I turned my head, cocking it up to see Desiree standing at the open door to the deck. She wore a fire engine red bikini and a long thin white see-through spaghetti strap cape that flowed from her shoulders to her ankles.

“I’m just as surprised as you,” I said. “Come join me. Mrs. Bride-to-be.”

Her bare feet trod down a couple of wooden steps, bringing her to the beach lounge chair. She sat and pulled her legs over to rest on the leisure furniture.

“I could never get tired of this view,” Desiree said.

I cast my eyes back out at the blue ocean. “Mmm, me either, maybe that’s why I’m up so early taking it all in. Or maybe I’m jealous that this will be your life now.”

“Or,” Desiree said, “maybe you were thinking about a certain someone, and that’s why you couldn’t sleep.”

I didn’t rise to her bait. I kept my face neutral and my eyes set on the gentle waves. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

She laughed. “Mmhmm.”

“I can’t believe you pulled yourself out of that monstrous bed after all the dancing you did at the club last night,” I said, turning the tables back on her.

Desiree shrugged. “What I wanted was to be gyrating all over my husband.”

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