Crosswinds: Episode 3 Read online

  Crosswinds

  By Elisabeth Naughton

  Rising Storm

  Episode 3

  Story created by Julie Kenner and Dee Davis

  Crosswinds, Episode 3

  Rising Storm

  Copyright 2015 Julie Kenner and Dee Davis Oberwetter

  ISBN: 978-1-942299-03-5

  Published by Evil Eye Concepts, Incorporated

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights.

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

  Book Description

  Crosswinds

  By Elisabeth Naughton

  Rising Storm Episode 3

  Secrets, Sex and Scandals …

  Welcome to Storm, Texas, where passion runs hot, desire runs deep, and secrets have the power to destroy… Get ready. The storm is coming.

  Lacey Salt's world shattered with the death of her brother, and now the usually sweet-tempered girl is determined to take back some control—even if that means sabotaging her best friend, Mallory, and Mallory's new boyfriend, Luis.

  About Elisabeth Naughton

  Before topping multiple bestseller lists—including those of the New York Times, USA Today, and the Wall Street Journal—Elisabeth Naughton taught middle school science. A voracious reader, she soon discovered she had a knack for creating stories with a chemistry of their own. The spark turned into a flame, and Naughton now writes full-time. Besides topping bestseller lists, her books have been nominated for some of the industry's most prestigious awards, such as the RITA® and Golden Heart Awards from Romance Writers of America, the Australian Romance Reader Awards, and the Golden Leaf Award. When not dreaming up new stories, Naughton can be found spending time with her husband and three children in their western Oregon home. Learn more at www.ElisabethNaughton.com.

  Also From Elisabeth Naughton

  Click to purchase

  Eternal Guardians

  MARKED

  ENTWINED

  TEMPTED

  ENRAPTURED

  ENSLAVED

  BOUND

  TWISTED

  RAVAGED

  Aegis Series

  EXTREME MEASURES

  LETHAL CONSEQUENCES

  FATAL PURSUIT

  Anthologies

  BODYGUARDS IN BED

  WICKED FIRSTS

  SINFUL SECONDS

  ALL HE WANTS FOR CHRISTMAS

  Against All Odds Series

  WAIT FOR ME

  HOLD ON TO ME

  Stolen Series

  STOLEN FURY

  STOLEN HEAT

  STOLEN SEDUCTION

  STOLEN CHANCES

  Firebrand Series

  (paranormal romance)

  BOUND TO SEDUCTION

  SLAVE TO PASSION

  POSSESSED BY DESIRE

  Acknowledgments from the Author

  For every reader, like me, who scheduled his/her classes around their favorite soap opera.

  Foreword

  Dear reader –

  We have wanted to do a project together for over a decade, but nothing really jelled until we started to toy with a kernel of an idea that sprouted way back in 2012 … and ultimately grew into Rising Storm.

  We are both excited about and proud of this project—not only of the story itself, but also the incredible authors who have helped bring the world and characters we created to life.

  We hope you enjoy visiting Storm, Texas. Settle in and stay a while!

  Happy reading!

  Julie Kenner & Dee Davis

  Sign up for the Rising Storm/1001 Dark Nights Newsletter

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  Click here to subscribe.

  As a bonus, all subscribers will receive a free

  Rising Storm story

  Storm Season: Ginny & Jacob – the Prequel

  by Dee Davis

  Table of Contents

  Book Description

  About Elisabeth Naughton

  Also from Elisabeth Naughton

  Author Acknowledgments

  Foreword

  Family Trees

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Rising Storm

  Teaser for Dance in the Wind: Rising Storm Episode 4 by Jennifer Probst

  1001 Dark Nights

  Special Thanks

  Family Trees

  Allen Family

  Alvarez Family

  Douglas Family

  Grossman Family

  Johnson Family

  Moreno Family

  Murphy Family

  Prager Family

  Rush Family

  Salt Family

  Chapter One

  Lacey Salt leaned back against her chaise lounge in the shimmering afternoon light and tipped her sunglasses down to get a better look at the lifeguard on the pool deck of the Cedar Hills Country Club.

  The cool water reflected off Luis Moreno’s muscular arms, highlighting a body that had transformed nicely from boy to man over the last year. He might be a year younger than Lacey, but Luis could easily pass for nineteen or twenty instead of simply sixteen. Probably a good thing he was taken.

  Her gaze shifted to the boy beside him, talking to Luis as if they were best friends while Luis fixed the strap on the boy’s goggles. A scowl pulled at Lacey’s lips. The boy had splashed water all over her trendy new Victoria’s Secret bikini, but more than that, he’d almost ruined the new iPhone her father had given her just this morning. Part of her hoped Luis would shove the little brat into the water and make him scream, but she knew he wouldn’t do that. Luis Moreno was way too nice for that kind of thing. Not like her.

  Lacey had no use for kids. They whined and screamed and caused all kinds of problems, and she really wished the country club would ban them altogether. Just the thought that she was going to have one in her house soon made her stomach turn.

  She looked back at the phone in her hand and swept a finger over the screen. But instead of J. Lo’s latest outfit, all she saw was a blur of colors that shifted to familiar faces she’d already spent way too much time thinking about since her brother’s funeral.

  She still couldn’t think about the night Jacob had been driving home from college and was killed on that rain-slicked highway without breaking into tears, but she knew for a fact that having Ginny Moreno move into the Salt family home was a bad idea. So what if Ginny was pregnant with Jacob’s kid? She wasn’t a Salt and never would be. If Jacob had loved Ginny as much as Ginny claimed, why hadn’t anyone known? Why had their relationship been such a secret?

  Lacey did not believe that Ginny hadn’t known she was pregnant until after the accident. Nine weeks? How could she have not known? So why hadn’t they gotten married as soon as they found out she was pregnant?

  Those were the hard questions no one in her family wanted to ask. Lacey knew her brother. Jacob had been the most honorable person in town. If he’d gotten a girl pregnant—especially a girl he supposedly loved—he would have married her. He wouldn’t have let gossip spread. He’d have done the right thing.

  Sara Jane, Lacey’s older sister who’d just finished her first year teaching at the local elementary school, didn�
��t want to talk about that, though. Whenever she stopped by the house to check on Mom, and Lacey tried to broach the topic with her, Sara Jane told Lacey it wasn’t their business and to stay out of it. But if it wasn’t their business, then whose business was it? Her dad was working even longer hours at the pharmacy these days, which meant he wasn’t around when Lacey wanted to talk. And whenever Lacey even mentioned the baby to her mom, Celeste Salt would break down into tears and rush for the bathroom. Oh, her mom put on a happy face whenever Ginny emerged from her room—correction, whenever Ginny emerged from Jacob’s room—but Lacey knew the truth.

  Her family was falling apart. Her brother was dead. Her sister didn’t care what was going on at home. And her parents barely even talked anymore. Lacey’s mom was holding on to the fact that Ginny’s baby would save them all, but Lacey was starting to think that baby was the reason everything was turning to shit. If it weren’t for Ginny Moreno and her unplanned brat, Lacey’s brother would never have been in that car the night it sailed off the road.

  “Since when do you follow Ludacris?”

  The deep male voice jolted Lacey out of her thoughts. She looked to her left where Luis sat on the edge of the empty chaise beside her in his sexy red lifeguard shorts.

  “You into rap now?” he asked, leaning forward to rest tan, muscular arms on his knees.

  She blinked against the blinding sun. Or maybe it was Luis’s thousand-watt smile. He’d always been a good-looking guy, but his face had changed over the last year until it was now chiseled and just plain hot. “Huh?”

  He pointed toward her phone, and his dark, curly hair, longer than he’d worn it before, brushed his jaw in a way that reminded her of Kit Harington, that super hot hunk from Game of Thrones. “Ludacris.”

  Slowly, her gaze shifted to her phone, and she realized she’d jumped to another celeb’s social media page. But all she could see in her mind was Luis’s carved abs, those strong shoulders, and the way his swim trunks hovered dangerously low, accentuating the carved V of his hip bones.

  He’s your best friend’s boyfriend. What the hell are you thinking?

  Frustrated with everyone, including herself, Lacey huffed and sat up straighter. “Not on purpose. I must have switched pages when I was plotting ways to throw that brat into the deep end.”

  Luis chuckled, and the sound sent butterflies fluttering in Lacey’s belly. Butterflies that threw her completely off balance. “I couldn’t let you do that. Gotta guard the lives and all that. That’s why they pay me the big bucks.”

  Geez. What the heck was wrong with her? She’d been friends with Luis for years. Had heard him laugh a hundred times. And she’d never responded to him this way. Maybe she had heat stroke.

  “I thought you were working,” she said, trying to get him to leave her alone so she didn’t have to look at his dark eyes that were way too cute. She reached for the sunscreen she’d set on the end of her chaise.

  “My shift’s over. So you’re coming tonight, right?”

  She squirted a dollop of sunscreen onto her palm. “Coming where?”

  “My place. We planned this like a week ago, remember? The Grudge comes on at nine so don’t be late. Marisol said she’d clear out so we could watch without her constant chatter.”

  “Ugh.” Marisol was Luis’s older sister and guardian. She’d been taking care of Luis ever since his parents had died when he was in grade school. Lacey liked Marisol, but still. She frowned at Luis as she rubbed lotion all over her legs. “You know I hate those kind of movies.”

  “This one’s good. Trust me. And if you get scared, I’ll protect you.”

  Her hand paused on her calf, and another flock of butterflies flittered through her belly.

  “Or Jeffry can,” he added.

  Those wings came to a stuttering stop. Jeffry Rush had been running with Luis for years, and Lacey liked him, but she’d never thought of him as anything more than a friend. Sure, he was a good-looking guy too—dark blond hair, lean athletic body, and rich brown eyes like his father the senator—but he didn’t make her heart beat faster.

  Like Luis does?

  Unease spread through her belly as she rubbed her legs a little harder. “I don’t know.”

  “Come on, Lace. Don’t say no. Mallory needs this. Things are tough at home for her right now. She needs a night where we all hang out like old times. No pressure, no stress, just us.”

  Us... Images rippled through Lacey’s mind, but they had nothing to do with the four of them. No, the images she saw were filled only with her and the guy beside her. Alone. Together.

  “Lace?”

  “I-I don’t know.” Mortification burned through Lacey. Mallory was her best friend, and she was struggling with the fact her dad had just walked out on her family. But besides that, she and Luis were an item, and Lacey was sitting here having fantasies about Mallory’s boyfriend? God, she was sick. The need to run pushed her out of the chaise. She shoved the sunscreen into the bag at her feet, then grabbed the towel from the back of her chair. “We’ll see. I gotta go.”

  She made it three steps across the pool deck before Luis caught her by the arm. “Hey, wait.”

  Oh, man. His hand on her bare skin felt good. Really good. She’d seriously had too much sun. “What now?”

  “Listen.” He turned her to face him, but he didn’t let go of her arm. And she didn’t pull away when she knew she should because his touch sent little tingles over her skin that she liked way too much. “I’m a jerk, okay? I didn’t mean to imply that things aren’t rough for you right now. I know they are. I know you miss Jacob and that it can’t be easy having my sister living in your house. God, I just...” He sighed and looked out over the pool, pain etching lines into his face no sixteen-year-old boy should have. “It’s rough for all of us. The whole thing just sucks.”

  It did. He was right. But she knew he wasn’t just talking about what had happened to Jacob. He was remembering back. To the day his parents had died in that wreck. He’d just been a kid then, but Jacob’s death, in such a similar way, had to be bringing it all back up for him.

  Did Mallory see that? Probably not. Lacey loved Mallory like a sister, but Mallory took Luis for granted. They’d only started dating a few months ago when Mallory had asked Luis to the spring dance, and Mallory never fawned over him the way most new girlfriends did. Lacey wasn’t even sure Mallory really liked Luis the way a girlfriend should. In fact, if it weren’t for Lacey, the two wouldn’t even be together. Lacey was the one who’d pointed out how good-looking Luis was getting. Mallory hadn’t even been interested in him until then.

  “Look,” Luis said, meeting her gaze, his dark eyes filled with so much compassion those butterflies took off all over again. “I just want you to be there tonight, okay? I think it would be good for all of us.”

  Man, he had great eyes. Dark brown irises and crazy long lashes. Those were the kind of eyes a girl could get lost in forever. And his lips were full and, she bet, super soft. What would he do if she rose to her toes and kissed him right here?

  “Say you’ll come, okay, Lace?”

  Luis squeezed her arm, and the pressure was like a jolt back to reality. Looking quickly away, Lacey realized what she’d just been about to do. Heat swept up her cheeks, and the need to flee overwhelmed her.

  “I... I’ll see.” She tugged her arm from his grip before he could stop her, tossed her bag over her shoulder, and rushed for the building.

  Alone in her car, Lacey gripped the steering wheel in both hands and drew in a shaky breath. Holy crap. She’d almost put the moves on her best friend’s boyfriend. She was losing it. Seriously losing it.

  She shoved the car into drive and headed home. The sun set behind the old stone courthouse as she passed the square. Several people milled about on the streets of downtown Storm, but she braced her elbow on the windowsill, pushed her fingers against her forehead, and angled her face downward so she didn’t make eye contact with anyone on the sidewalk. She wasn’t in the
mood to be friendly, but more than that, she hated how everyone she ran into these days looked at her with pity. And when they started asking questions—how her mom was doing, how Ginny was feeling, and if there was anything they could do to help with the baby—Lacey wanted to scream.

  No one asked how she was doing. No one seemed to care that she’d lost her only brother. Not even her own parents. They hadn’t even once asked how she felt about Ginny Moreno moving into their house.

  By the time Lacey made it home and pulled into her drive, she was more keyed up than she’d been before. She turned off the ignition and sat in her car for several minutes just trying to pull herself together, but as soon as her gaze landed on the house, her mood took a nose dive. The Salt home had always been a showplace. Her mom had always been meticulous about the flower beds and the yard and making sure the whole town knew how great the Salts were. Now it was a wreck. The front yard was overgrown and in desperate need of mowing. The flowerbeds were filled with weeds, the plants spindly from lack of deadheading. The garbage can was even sitting out front. No one had bothered to pull it in after garbage pickup two days ago.

  She knew she should get out there and help. Her mom was still a mess from Jacob’s funeral and her dad was a virtual no-show these days. But she didn’t want to do anything to help them. Not when they were treating her as if she didn’t even exist. And especially not when Ginny Moreno was their new favorite daughter.

  Scowling, Lacey climbed out, grabbed her stuff, then slammed the car door and headed for the porch. The house was quiet when she walked in. She dropped her beach bag and towel on the entry table, not even caring that the wet towel might leave a mark on the old wood. “Mom?”