Barefoot Bay: Trouble in Paradise (Kindle Worlds Novella) Read online

  Table of Contents

  Welcome to Barefoot Bay Kindle Worlds

  Dedication

  About TROUBLE IN PARADISE

  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

  Epilogue

  About the Author

  Other Books by Fiona Roarke

  Trouble in Paradise

  Text copyright ©2016 by the Author.

  This work was made possible by a special license through the Kindle Worlds publishing program and has not necessarily been reviewed by Roxanne St. Claire. All characters, scenes, events, plots and related elements appearing in the original Barefoot Bay remain the exclusive copyrighted and/or trademarked property of Roxanne St. Claire, or their affiliates or licensors.

  For more information on Kindle Worlds: http://www.amazon.com/kindleworlds

  Trouble in Paradise

  by Fiona Roarke

  Table of Contents

  Welcome to Barefoot Bay Kindle Worlds

  Dedication

  About TROUBLE IN PARADISE

  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

  Epilogue

  About the Author

  Other Books by Fiona Roarke

  Welcome to Barefoot Bay Kindle World, a place for authors to write their own stories set in the tropical paradise that I created! For these books, I have only provided the setting of Mimosa Key and a cast of characters from my popular Barefoot Bay series. That’s it! I haven’t contributed to the plotting, writing, or editing of Trouble in Paradise. This book is entirely the work of Fiona Roarke, a talented author I handpicked to help launch this new program.

  I go way back with Fiona, a writer I’m proud to call a close friend and brainstorming buddy. (I credit her with some of my best plot twists!) I can promise you certain things when you pick up a book with Fiona Roarke’s name on it: sizzling romance, fast-paced action, and a story that stays with you long after you close the last page. Trouble in Paradise is a sexy romantic adventure with a heartthrob of a hero (just what does JD stand for?) who will leave you a little bit breathless and possibly looking for cold drink and a fan. I hope you love Fiona’s romp in Barefoot Bay – just kick off your shoes and fall in love!

  Roxanne St. Claire

  PS. If you’re interested in the rest of the Barefoot Bay Kindle World novels, or would like to explore the possibility of writing your own book set in my world, stop by www.roxannestclaire.com for details!

  Dedication

  To Roxanne St. Claire, a great friend, fellow camper and amazing wordsmith, thank you so much for giving me the awesome opportunity to write around in your world.

  About

  Trouble in Paradise

  Can Barefoot Bay work its magic when there’s trouble in paradise?

  Sexy, single hunk JD Macalister never expected to fall so hard or so fast. He’s been burned by love—and a long-distance relationship—before and swore he’d never get hurt again. But the blonde beauty in the jade-green dress he meets at a friend’s wedding isn’t going anywhere. Especially not out of his arms.

  Samantha Duke can’t take her eyes off the tall, dark and dangerous-looking man she spotted the moment she walked down the aisle. Their instant connection dazzles her. And once he reels her into his grasp, she knows one night—or a hundred nights—will never be enough. But that’s all the time they have, one hundred nights before she leaves JD behind.

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  Trouble in Paradise

  by Fiona Roarke

  Chapter One

  Atlanta – The wedding

  The instant the exquisite beauty in a clingy jade green dress entered the chapel, JD Macalister forgot about pretty much everything else in his head. He’d been doing his best to ignore the unwelcome come hither glances of a female guest on the other side of the church, when perfection strolled in.

  The stunner made her way down the center aisle, her gaze lighting on him and then moving on as she scanned the crowd. He sat up a little straighter in his seat when she continued forward. Now that was a woman worth taking note of, he thought, as something stirred deep within his lonely soul.

  Clearly, she was the most gorgeous girl in the room.

  The bride might outshine her, but his good friend Robin Thurman hadn’t come down the aisle yet. He’d caught a single glimpse of her in the vestibule when he’d come in. She beamed with joy on her special day, winking at him as he walked past and into the chapel.

  The attractive woman in the jade dress was also striking and noticeable because she walked with confidence. He liked the way she moved with a self-reliant and assertive grace as if she knew her plan ten steps ahead and merely executed her agenda with sureness and precision.

  Her sleek, long blonde hair was gathered to one side and pulled into an elegant ponytail that gracefully draped over one shoulder. Her skin was fair yet sun-kissed, setting off the color of her dress nicely. She was, in a word, stunning.

  She seated herself at the end of the row three pews in front of him on the bride’s side of the church. So, they were both friends of the bride. Good. He could ask Robin about her later.

  From the angle of his seat, he could see her partial profile and was entranced simply watching her survey the front of the chapel. Did he see perhaps a wistful moment of reflection shape her features, as if she too wished a day such as this was in her near future? Or was he only seeing what he wanted to see because being alone had been on his mind of late?

  The only time JD had ever been even close to gliding down the aisle in holy matrimony was over a year ago. He’d wanted to settle down. But after three months together, his ex, Caleigh, had been promoted and transferred to another city. She hadn’t wanted to end things and told him they could make it work.

  He frowned, remembering how that distasteful affair had been resolved. Long-distance relationships would from now on, and forever, be a deal-breaker as far as he was concerned.

  JD shook off the bad memory as the music swelled inside the church, echoing around the cathedral ceiling and signaling the wedding ceremony was about to begin. He focused instead on the pending nuptials and the woman in the jade dress.

  A latecomer, wearing what appeared to be a very high priced yet noticeably rumpled suit, hurried down the aisle just ahead of the first member of the wedding party being escorted to her seat at the front. Mother of the bride, perhaps?

  JD wouldn’t have noted the untidy guy further if he hadn’t made a beeline for the woman in jade that he’d been staring at since she sat down. He deflated slightly at the thought she was attached to someone else. Then he saw her reaction.

  Turning her head in profile once more, she frowned deeply as the unkempt guy shuffled past her place at the end of the pew. He plopped himself down beside her and sat way too close, in JD’s opinion.

  Miss Jade Dress subtly scooted closer to the aisle away from the newcomer. JD smiled and vowed to approach her at the reception if he saw Mr. Rum
pled and Late bothering her.

  Unless, of course, they were a couple and she was angry he was not only tardy, but also looked like he’d slept in his clothes, been on an overnight bender or both. Maybe JD should rethink his tactics. Just because he was intrigued didn’t mean she wasn’t spoken for. That was something he’d never do—encroach on another man’s woman.

  He put his attention back on the event he was here to witness and not his fanciful intrigues regarding stunning strangers.

  Music still playing, a trio of bridesmaids traipsed down the center aisle. An adorable little flower girl tossed rose petals to the carpet just ahead of Robin on her father’s arm.

  JD was technically a business associate. Robin ran the warehouse dock at Wakeman’s. JD’s trucking business had flourished over the past decade and the local department store was one of his best clients.

  He didn’t drive trucks around town as much as he used to, but he filled in here and there several times a week for fun or as needed when his employees had time off and there was no one else to drive for the shift.

  If he had a choice of routes—and as owner, he always did—JD selected the run to Robin’s warehouse. That meant he saw her at least once or twice a week. JD was the eldest of three boys, and she was like the sister he’d never had.

  Over the past several years, she’d become a very good friend.

  Robin had been living with the love of her life for quite a while, and had never been interested in JD romantically. That didn’t, however, stop her from trying to help him find the love of his life.

  She frequently tried to set him up on blind dates, but JD had never accepted. While a wedding followed by a reception seemed like a target-rich environment for the matrimonially minded, JD wasn’t interested. Unless, of course, Miss Jade Dress was available.

  Forgetting his determination to focus on the nuptials, he found his mind straying back to the blonde beauty. Perhaps he’d ask Robin about her when she got back from her honeymoon. Or perhaps he would see his mystery woman at the reception. Maybe he’d muscle in between her and Mr. Rumpled Suit and ask her to dance. Maybe one day he’d tell his grandchildren about the woman in a jade dress who changed his life.

  Or more likely he was delusional and needed to skip the reception and avoid the possibility of a relationship altogether.

  * * * *

  Samantha Duke was very unhappy, which to her mind was an inappropriate sentiment to have while seated in a church about to watch a very good friend marry the man she’d been madly in love with for years.

  She wasn’t upset about Robin’s wedding, of course, but was quite perturbed at the man seated on her left. He was clueless about her feelings, no doubt, which was probably for the best.

  Samantha wished—and not for the first time—that her certain someone special was seated close and sharing this joyful event instead of the man now crowding her.

  Anderson Wakeman the Third, also known as Trey, sat way too close in her possibly biased opinion. Unfortunately, she couldn’t move any further from him or she’d slide out of the pew, land in a heap in the center aisle and spend the rest of the evening pulling half-wilted rose petals off her butt.

  Samantha was inventory manager at Wakeman’s. While Trey was listed among the employees, he didn’t have a specific position. His father likely wanted him to step up, take his legacy seriously and stop being a partying bad boy snob with a useless rich girl clinging to his arm in every Page Six society news story.

  Trey spent the majority of his time testing his father’s patience, from what she could gather as an outsider looking in. She couldn’t know what really went on between father and son. And she didn’t want to know.

  As far as Samantha was concerned, Trey was still the boss’s son, which could mean trouble for her future. While technically he wasn’t her immediate supervisor, everyone in the company knew Mr. Wakeman would eventually leave the company to Trey, just like Anderson Wakeman Sr. had left the company he’d created long ago to his son, her boss.

  Anderson Wakeman the Second had been referred to as Junior until his father died last year at the age of eighty-nine, although she’d always called all three of them Mr. Wakeman.

  Her boss had never publically spoken out against or defended his son, but scuttlebutt around the company a couple of months ago said the old man had laid down the law after a particularly scandalous story surfaced regarding Trey, his rich buddies and a bar brawl that left an exclusive club closed several days for repairs.

  Trey was supposedly on notice to change his wicked ways or else. Samantha didn’t know what a guy like Trey could be threatened with in order to make him change his conduct, but he’d suddenly taken an interest in her in the past several weeks. Every time she turned around, there he was. Like today.

  Trey had gone from barely seeming to know she was alive, to spending a considerable amount of time trying to get the two of them on a first-name basis. She wouldn’t budge. Calling him “Mr. Wakeman” kept their relationship professional, the way she wanted it to be, now and when he took over the company.

  If only she could convince just-call-me-Trey, for heaven’s sake, to cooperate, but no such luck. She didn’t know what he wanted, even after asking subtly and then not so subtly. Whatever his agenda was, he wouldn’t share it until he was ready. In the meantime, she just had to wonder and put up with him as best she could.

  She didn’t think he found her attractive or had commitment and romance on his mind. Trey Wakeman, good-looking, rich, and apparently motivated as he crowded close before this lovely wedding even started, was not at all her special someone. If that turned out to be his goal, she’d have to convince him she absolutely was not interested.

  The music echoing in the chapel faded and the ceremony started. The minister spoke about love and commitment. Robin looked beautiful. Samantha couldn’t see her face, but knew she was likely suppressing a nervous giggle at the arrival of this much-anticipated day.

  One of these days, Samantha would meet a certain someone special and start thinking about her own big day.

  She had worked closely with Robin for the past few years. They were such good friends, Robin had wanted Samantha to be her maid of honor, but she was the youngest of four girls, and her three married sisters had all stood up at each other’s weddings. Robin was afraid to buck tradition wanting only three attendants, her sisters, in her ceremony, as well.

  Samantha reassured her friend she was perfectly fine not being maid of honor. The next wedding she wanted to spring big bucks to purchase a dress for was the one where she was the bride. She kept a magazine picture of her dream wedding dress folded up and tucked away in her purse for handy reference when she needed a lift.

  She already had what she considered above and beyond her fair share of bridesmaids dresses shoved at the very back of her closet. Sometimes it felt like those dresses were her version of the crazy aunts people hid in their attics. Some were silly, some were hideous, but none of them would likely ever see the light of day again.

  It wasn’t like she was so very desperate to get married, but she wished she’d found her special someone like Robin had.

  Beside her, Trey leaned in and whispered, “I hope this isn’t going to be a super-long ceremony.”

  Samantha responded with a level stare and turned away from him without saying a word.

  He leaned in once more. “And if it is lengthy, there better be an open bar at the reception. Am I right?” He smiled and winked, showcasing what many women in the press called his irresistible dimples.

  She didn’t know about irresistible, however, Trey was a very attractive man, even when he was being a snobby, bad boy idiot. Ultimately, Samantha was unmoved. She fought to keep from rolling her eyes at his attitude. Why had he even come?

  Trey seemed obtuse regarding her feelings, making it more and more difficult to put him off. Each conversation started with some inane or obscure business question.

  Perhaps he wasn’t thickheaded, just persisten
t. Like if he didn’t get whatever he wanted now that he’d sighted her as a target, he risked counting his business with her as a failure. She just wished she understood what his current objective was.

  Currently, after whatever foolish unimportant business question he’d ask to break the ice, he always moved on to wanting to be her friend, wanting to get to know her better.

  Every time he said it, Samantha imagined that he silently added, “With benefits,” to the end of the sentence like some lewd party game antic. Perhaps she was wrong on that score. He never followed through or mentioned any ardor or romantic elements in his quest to be her friend.

  Regardless, Samantha wasn’t falling for whatever act he’d carefully constructed to lure her into his world. He was here because Samantha was here. She just didn’t know why.

  Her latest theory was that his father had told him to be more like Samantha, so like a favorite sibling getting more attention from Daddy, Trey did his level best to insinuate himself into her life. Maybe Trey thought it was the first step on the right path to keeping his father happy.

  It wasn’t even so much that he was the boss’s son. Samantha just didn’t like Trey or others in his elitist class. Sure, he was attractive, but he was also spoiled. He’d always been spoiled, and worse, he didn’t often take no for an answer.

  In her eyes, he represented all that was wrong with the rich and entitled. Affluenza, a term coined in the news, was Trey’s signature trait. He could do no wrong and even if he did, he never had to live with any of the consequences of his actions.

  She’d often thought it was too bad he was so attractive on the outside, which was the exact opposite of her impression of his insides. If he wanted to date her, she’d rebuff him in no uncertain terms, and fall back on the excuse of his position at Wakeman’s, which as far as she was concerned was unjustified heir apparent.