Hurricane August (Loving the Curvy Girl Book 5) Read online

  Table of Contents

  Hurricane August

  Why did I buy this book?

  Copyright

  Hey all you cool cats and kittens…

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Epilogue

  Can I slide into your box?

  About the Author

  Hurricane August

  Loving the Curvy Girl - Book Five

  By Dakota Rebel

  Supernova Indie Publishing Services, LLC

  Hurricane August

  by

  Dakota Rebel

  August –

  Levi Morton is the biggest stick in the mud, boring, suit-clad jerk I’ve ever met in my life. When I was younger, I would do everything I could think of to torment him. To the point that I would have honestly said we hated each other. Except…I’ve never actually hated him.

  I’m not sure how he roped me into pretending to be some corporate admin lackey, but here I am…and there he is. Suddenly, I want to torment him in completely different and less innocent ways.

  Too bad he’ll always just think of me as the little brat whose presence he tolerates, and never bother to see the grown woman standing in front of him, wanting to be his.

  Levi –

  August Jones is a whirlwind of crystals, smudge sticks and nonsense. She’s been friends with my brother since they were kids and for years she was like the little sister I never wanted…until she became a grown woman and it was as if I’d never really seen her before.

  We still fight like cats and dogs, she still drives me crazy, but now I can’t stop thinking about her. Dreaming about her. Wanting her.

  This is supposed to be a business deal, but as much as I want to save my company, I’m starting to think that there is a lot more to gain from this situation.

  Copyright

  © 2020, Dakota Rebel

  Hurricane August – Loving the Curvy Girl Book Five

  Published by: Supernova Indie Publishing Services, LLC

  Warning: All rights reserved. The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and occurrences are a product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, places or occurrences, is purely coincidental.

  Hey all you cool cats and kittens…

  Join the group on Facebook! The Rebel Squad is the place to be.

  I do live readings, we play games, we do watch parties,

  and there’s always Filthy Meme Friday to look forward to.

  Come on over and join the fun!

  Chapter One

  ~August Jones~

  “Damn dude, your muscles are in knots,” I told Jacob as I dug my knuckles into his rock-hard shoulders. “What’s the deal?”

  “Work blows,” Jacob mumbled into the massage table, his voice drifting up to me through the face hole in the head rest. “The board is pressuring us to sell, and Levi isn’t having it.”

  I couldn’t stop the huff that escaped my lips at the sound of his brother’s name.

  “Don’t start,” Jacob growled. “I didn’t come here to bitch about my brother.”

  “I didn’t say anything,” I insisted, pushing deeper into his skin with my fingers.

  “You two are awful,” he said, his words ending on a moan as I worked a kink free at the base of his neck. “When are you both going to grow up?”

  “We have,” I promised.

  “No, you just don’t have to see each other anymore since I moved into my own place.”

  “Exactly.” I pumped a few more drops of eucalyptus oil into my hands, rubbed my palms together to warm it, and returned to start massaging his spine. “And we haven’t fought in months.”

  “You two should just fuck already…Ow!” He sat up and glared at me as I applied a little too much pressure to his back.

  “Serves you right,” I said, pushing him back down onto the table. “Maybe you should stop talking until I’m done.”

  “Maybe you should stop denying that you like him,” he countered, easing back down.

  “What do you want?” I asked, hoping to change the subject. “With the company, I mean. Do you want to sell?”

  “No,” he answered with a sigh. “It was Dad’s, you know? He built that firm from nothing. I wish he’d never started that stupid board in the first place. He just thought the company had gotten too big, and he needed help.”

  “So, can’t you just fire the board?” I asked, moving further down his back.

  “I wish,” he lamented. “There’s too many loopholes and they have contracts and there are employment laws. We could drop a few, I guess, but paying out their umbrellas would crush us.”

  “And what is the great and powerful Levi Morton planning to do?”

  “I don’t know,” he said, sighing again. “We’re meeting with the board a couple times this week, but Levi hasn’t really clued me in if he has a plan. There’s no way we’re going to strong arm them, and I don’t think they have a sympathetic bone between them.”

  “I’m sorry,” I said, and I was.

  I grew up with the Morton family. Jacob and I had become friends on the first day of fifth grade, and we’d been inseparable ever since. My home life had been a little bit of a disaster, and Mr. and Mrs. Morton had let me practically live with them until my parents had divorced and things started to settle down.

  Even after Dad took off, I still spent most afternoons at their house, swimming in their pool, eating their snacks, tormenting Levi as much as possible.

  He and I were like oil and water, not to be mixed. Levi was stoic, quiet, grounded, you know…boring. Whereas I was loud, fun, and breezy, you know…adorable.

  Jacob was a mix of both of our attitudes, so he got along perfectly with both of us, running interference more often than not, poor thing. Right around high school, he thought he had Levi and I all figured out. He was convinced that our mutual animosity was due to unresolved sexual tension, and he had never relented in his opinion from then on.

  The problem was, he had been a little bit right. Once I realized that boys were awesome, and not cootie factories, Levi started looking a whole lot more appealing. In fact, my heart was pretty convinced that he was the only man for me. Too bad my mouth never seemed to get that message.

  On the rare occasions that Levi and I ended up in the same room now, it didn’t take long for an argument to start. And it was always, always, something stupid. Like how the stars could or could not predict the ebb and flow of the stock market.

  I mean…fucking stupid.

  Yes, I own a metaphysical gift shop and spa. I do tarot readings, and I honestly believe I’m sort of an empath. But I don’t believe that the presence of a meteor storm means that you should sell all stock in building companies. I’m fun, not crazy.

  However, any time I was in a room with Levi Morton, I lost all sense and just took a complete opposite stance to anything he was saying. It drove me insane, I couldn’t imagine what it did to everyone else.

  “Earth to Auggie,” Jacob said, his tone teasing. “Stop thinking about Levi.”

  “I’m not,” I insisted.

  “Then why are your hands just sitting on my butt?”

  I
yanked my hands back and felt heat creep up my neck and over my cheeks. Damn it.

  “Why don’t you just call him?” Jacob asked, lifting up again to look at me. “You two are grown-ups. You could try for some civility. Perhaps over a pizza or something?”

  “Levi doesn’t eat dairy,” I reminded him. “Because he’s fucking weird.”

  “He’s not weird,” Jacob said. He shifted on the table, swinging his legs over and pulling the sheet over his lap, meeting my gaze. “He’s a nice guy. And he likes you.”

  “He hates me,” I corrected him.

  “Then why has he never had a girlfriend? Why does he look for you every time my mom has a party?”

  “He does not!” I swatted out to slap Jacob’s shoulder but he caught my hand.

  “On Christmas Eve, he stood in the parlor and watched the door for an hour and a half. Until you came in.”

  “Wasn’t that the night we got into a fight about Mercury in Retrograde and I pushed him into the pool?” I asked, chewing my lip as I pulled my arm away from him.

  “Yeah.” Jacob smiled. “You ruined a two-thousand-dollar suit and I’ve never seen my mom laugh so hard in my life.”

  “I’m not so sure Levi found it quite as endearing,” I reminded him. “Put some pants on, we’re done.”

  “Spoken like my last conquest,” he said, chuckling.

  “You’re disgusting,” I told him, rolling my eyes as I walked out of the room.

  I sat down at my desk and let my mind wander back to that holiday party. Had Levi really been waiting for me to show up? I’d thought it was a coincidence that he’d found me in the Morton’s pool house that night, but…had he been looking for me?

  No.

  No way.

  Levi Morton couldn’t stand me. Had never been able to put up with me, there was no way he had any interest in me. Jacob was full of shit.

  “Let’s settle up,” Jacob said as he walked into my office, pulling his wallet out of his pocket. “What’s the damage?”

  I handed him his monthly tally and he swore.

  “Your services are too expensive,” he grumbled, handing me his gold card.

  “Spoken like my last conquest,” I said as I inserted the card into the chip reader.

  We both laughed, each of us knowing full well I’d never had a single conquest in my entire life. Jacob insisted this was because I was saving myself for Levi, and I refused to admit that might be the case.

  It was a stupid school-girl crush, one that was never going to happen. But, it wasn’t like guys were breaking down the door to date me anyway. It was fine. I had my shop and my cat and my best friend to live vicariously through.

  Everything was wonderful.

  Chapter Two

  ~Levi Morton~

  “Everything is bullshit!” I yelled, slamming my head on my desk in frustration. “And where the hell have you been?”

  “It’s Tuesday,” Jacob reminded me, and I could hear the smile in his tone. “Where am I always on Tuesdays?”

  “You’re such a pain in the ass,” I grumbled, looking up to give him my best glare. “The company is in the middle of a hostile takeover and you’re getting massaged?”

  “You knew who I was when you brought me on,” he challenged. He dropped into the chair in front of my desk. “So, did you come up with a brilliant plan while I was out?”

  Typical. My little brother had a good head on his shoulders, but he was woefully irresponsible. Running around with that granola-cruncher he met in grade school instead of helping me come up with a way to save the company was just par for the course.

  “And why is this my sole responsibility?” I challenged. “What if we just let them sell? We can take the money and start up a new company.”

  “Dad wouldn’t have wanted that,” he argued, something like anger finally flashing in his eyes.

  “So, you do care?” I asked, relief flooding my voice and my chest.

  “Of course, I care,” he said, sounding incredulous. “You really thought I didn’t?”

  “I don’t know what to think,” I admitted.

  “Look, ever since that bike crash, my body is a mess, you know that. Auggie’s hands are like magic, man. She can work kinks out of my back like no one else. It’s medicinal. I’m not there fucking around. I’m there so I can walk.”

  I winced. I knew that. Last year Jacob had been sideswiped while riding his motorcycle and his body had been ripped to shreds. Fortunately, he’d been wearing a helmet and riding leathers, so his skin and his thick skull had been spared. But his muscles still hadn’t recovered.

  “Jacob,” I said, blowing out a sigh. “I’m sorry. I know that. I’m just so damned stressed out.”

  “Maybe you should go see Auggie,” he teased.

  “I don’t need a massage,” I argued.

  “That’s not what I mean,” he said.

  “Oh, for fuck’s sake, Jacob!” I hit the desk again. “You have to stop with that. I am not interested in your little friend.”

  Liar.

  I stared at Jacob for a second before I realized that it hadn’t been him speaking. It had been my conscience.

  Okay, fine, I was a little interested.

  It wasn’t my fault that August Jones had grown up into one hell of a beautiful woman. I couldn’t be held responsible for my body’s reaction. But that’s all it was. And I’d keep that attraction buried deep, deep inside where it would never see the light of day.

  The truth was, Auggie and I couldn’t be more polar opposite if we actively tried to be. That girl had had a rough upbringing. Her parents fought constantly, I don’t think they had much money, and she’d escaped to our house as often as possible. I was only five years older than her and Jacob, but sometimes it felt like a lifetime.

  My parents had taken Auggie in with open arms and hearts, and she’d become family to them. To me, she was a pest who loved nothing more than to get under my skin and piss me off.

  I’d been secretly proud of her when she’d worked her ass off through school, saved every penny and opened her own business. That is, until I learned it was some crystal and massage parlor. Jacob insisted she was doing well, but I couldn’t see any practicality to selling charm bracelets to illogical soccer moms.

  “Earth to Levi,” Jacob called, his tone thick with humor.

  “Sorry,” I said, snapping back to his attention. “This takeover is driving me mental.”

  “Yeah, sure,” he said. “So, did you come up with anything?”

  “Sort of,” I admitted. I stood up and walked around the desk, leaning my hip against the edge and looking down at him. “I think we need to find just a couple members of the board who aren’t totally sold on this. If we can sway even two votes, the sale won’t happen.”

  “Great!” Jacob said, sitting up straighter. “Who are you thinking?”

  “I have no idea,” I said.

  “Super helpful, bro,” he answered. “I’ll get right on it.”

  “Shut up.” I knocked my leg against his knee. “What we need is a consultant. Someone who can read the room at the meeting tomorrow. A person super skilled at body language. Who can watch the board members reactions and pick out someone who’s not completely on board.”

  “You should call Auggie,” Jacob said again.

  “I don’t need a fucking massage!” I said, throwing my hands up in frustration.

  “I meant, you should call Auggie to be your consultant.”

  “What, is she gonna check her magic eight ball and tell me who’s on the fence?” I asked.

  “No.” He stood up and glared at me. “Bring her in as the consultant. Let her watch the room. She can read people like you wouldn’t believe. She’s like an empath, dude.”

  “You’re telling me that your best friend is a wizard?” I scoffed.

  “Stop being stupid.” He rolled his eyes at me. “Besides, she’d be a witch.”

  “Oh, she’s definitely a witch. Auggie hates me,” I reminded him. />
  “Yeah, ‘cause she can read people.”

  “Fuck off,” I snapped, pushing off the desk and walking toward the office door. I’d had enough of his bullshit for one afternoon.

  “Call her!” he yelled after me.

  I was pissed because I knew he was right. I’d known August for long enough to understand that…while she wasn’t actually a witch, she did understand people in a way that I’d never been able to comprehend. Maybe it came from living with an alcoholic father. She’d probably learned to read the tone of a room at a young age.

  That poor kid. I’d been just as obnoxious to her as she’d been to me. And she’d done nothing to deserve it.

  As I walked out to my car I knew that I needed to give her a chance. I just hoped she’d do the same for me.

  Chapter Three

  ~Auggie~

  “Coming!” I called as the bell jingled out front.

  I walked into the shop and froze at a sight I’d have never believed was possible.

  Levi Morton was standing in the middle of my store, holding a carved wooden fertility statue, a faint look of amusement on his face.

  “Levi,” I said, my tone surprised. “Can I help you with something?”

  He set the statue down and shot me a look that appeared to be half embarrassed and half disgusted.

  “Hey, Auggie,” he said, walking up the counter. “How have you been?”

  “Good,” I answered instinctively.

  It had been months since I’d seen Levi, and I was pretty sure he had somehow gotten hotter. Was that possible? He was wearing a white dress shirt, unbuttoned at the neck, no tie, and grey dress slacks that had very obviously been tailored to his body.

  “The place looks…” he trailed off as he looked around. “Nice.”

  “Thank you,” I said slowly, narrowing my gaze at him. “What brings you by?”

  “Good,” he said, his shoulders relaxing and the strain easing from his tone. “Down to business.”

  “Why are you nervous?” I asked him, biting back a smile.