Peace in the Storm E-Book

Seven Steps

• Herausgeber: Seven Steps
• Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2016

Beschreibung

A vacation was just what Lisa Matthews needed.After spending the past five years picking up the broken pieces of her life, Lisa is finally ready to move one. Flanked by her best friend Trish, Lisa arrives in Jamaica ready to meet new people, swim in the ocean, and finally forget about the brown eyes that have haunted her for the last five years. But the past has a strange way of showing up when you least expect it.Chance is working on the deal of a lifetime.After spending the last ten years growing his fortune into the billions, workaholic Chance Gionatti is forced to take an unwanted, week long vacation. No work phone, no email, nothing. On the first day of the worst vacation of his life, the one woman he's been trying to forget for the last five years literally falls into his arms, and just like that, his world changes.A doomed boat tour.When a devious tour guide drops them on a strange island, Chance and Lisa must find a way to work together despite their past. Can they survive the monstrosities that have taken up residence on the mysterious island? Will they allow their past to consume them, or will they finally find a way to be each other's Peace In The Storm?

Leseprobe

Peace In The Storm

Seven Steps

Peace In The Storm

Copyright ©2016 by Seven Steps

All rights reserved by the author.

Peace in the Storm is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locals, or persons, living or dead, is wholly coincidental.

No part of this publication can be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, recording, by information storage and retrieval or photocopied, without permission in writing from Seven Steps.

Proudly Published in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright Page

Also by Seven Steps

Social Media

Dedication

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

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Chapter 37

Chapter 38

Epilogue

Social Media

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Further Reading: The Boyfriend Agreement

Also By Seven Steps

About the Author

Also by Seven Steps

Science Fiction Romances 

Saving Kiln – Venus Rising Book 1 

The Fall of Arees – Venus Rising Book 2 

The Martian King – Venus Rising Book 3 

Night of the Broken Moon (Venus Rising Companion Short Stories) 

The Escape (A Venus Rising Prequel) 

Time Bomb – Dimensions Book 1 

Free Fall – Dimensions Book 2 

Collision Course – Dimensions Book 3

Saving Nadir – Dimensions Book 4

Leilu – Dimensions Origins Book 1 

Phineas – Dimensions Origins Book 2 

Taklin – Dimensions Origins Book 3

Fire in the Sky

––––––––

Contemporary Romance 

The Last Rock King 

Peace in the Storm 

The Beginning of Forever

The Boyfriend Agreement

Social Media

Website: WWW.SEVENSTEPSAUTHOR.COM

Blog: http://foreversweetromance.blogspot.com/

Facebook: WWW.FACEBOOK.COM\SEVENSTEPSAUTHOR

Facebook Readers Group: Seven Steps Readers Group

Twitter: WWW.TWITTER.COM\SEVENWRITES

EMAIL: [email protected]

Dedication

To my beautiful husband.

You are my gold and my light.

Chapter 1

Lisa

“Lisa Willow Matthews, will you marry me?”

I looked into Henry Evan’s gray-blue eyes and knew the answer immediately.

Absolutely not.

Surrounded by friends—mostly his—and family—also mostly his— I took in a shallow breath and tried to calm my pounding heart. Henry was an accountant at a prestigious law firm. He was financially responsible, loving, kind, smart, handsome, and well mannered; everything I should’ve been looking for.

And yet my heart screamed the words that I dreaded saying out loud: You don’t love him.

My gaze touched on a set of gray-blues across the room that matched Henry’s. His mother, Martha, gave me a slight nod, urging me to say the words that would set the room aflame with cheers. I gave her my most dazzling smile, wordlessly sending her reassuring lies.

“I...”

Henry gave my hand a gentle squeeze, his eyes filling with confusion, question, and concern. I looked down to where his hands held mine.

This isn’t right. Say no. This isn’t right.

My heart raced and, though I knew it was a bad idea, I looked into his eyes. For the first time since we met I let my guard down. My walls dropped completely, forcing him to see the woman I really was.

A liar.

Heartbroken.

Wounded.

His eyes scanned my soul before widening in understanding. I shuddered to think what that meant.

What will you do now, Henry?

Something inside of me broke as I saw his brows squeeze together. He was such a good guy. I wish I didn’t have to hurt him.

Although I was not in love with Henry, I did love him. He’d been my best friend for the last year of my life. We even did that thing where we talked without words. I almost heard his voice in my head now; saw the message in his eyes.

He looked at me.

He looked at the floor.

His gaze met mine again and he nodded.

I let out the barest of breaths, thanking God that Henry understood, even while my insides turned to mud.

I’m a terrible person. I deserve to be embarrassed, screamed at, and laid low. I don’t deserve your kindness, not after this.

With one last look at Henry, and an imperceptible nod of thanks, I let out a low moan, closed my eyes, allowed my knees to buckle, and slammed to the floor.

~*~*~*~*~

Our limo ride back to the hotel was supposed to be filled with happiness, joy, and passion. I should have been kissing my fiancé and looking forward to my new life. Instead, we stared out of our separate windows as the space between us filled with frosty silence.

When we pulled in front of my condo I looked down at my hands. This was supposed to be a special day, and I ruined it.

I ruin everything.

“Can I ask you a question?” Henry whispered. His gaze swung to me, and I burned beneath it. His gray-blue eyes looked dimmer now, his normally ruddy skin paler. The pain in his face was clear, and I shamed under it.

“Anything,” I said, turning my body toward him. I would be open and honest with him now. He deserved as much. In the last year, I’d wanted for nothing. He’d spoiled me beyond belief with gifts, his time, attention, and love. If I could paint a picture of the perfect boyfriend, I would use Henry’s handsome face as my guide. But no matter how hard I tried, something held me back from giving my heart to this perfect man.

No, not something.

Someone.

In that moment, looking into Henry’s sad face and seeing how his heart was breaking, I wanted nothing more than to take Chance Gionatti’s neck and shake it.

“When did you know?” he asked.

“Know what?” My stomach clenched, bracing for the big blowup that was sure to come. After my fainting act at the restaurant he’d practically carried me out of there and put me into the limo. He deserved to scream at me now. In some ways, I needed him to.

“When did you know you didn’t love me?”

My gut reaction was to put my head in my hands. To hide the way my caramel skin reddened under his inquisition. I ignored it and looked back at him, hoping he could see how sorry and miserable I was.

I shrugged. A coward’s cop out.

I’m lower than dirt.

“I don’t know,” I replied.

Another cop out.

“Did you ever love me?” His eyes held a shred of hope, and I was about to stomp on it.

I hope Chance is choking on a steak somewhere.

“Henry, you were so good to me this last year. Better than I deserved. And I tried, believe me, I did. I wanted so badly to let go and love you, but—”

“But you’re still in love with him.”

Sadness burned up my chest, forming a lump in my throat. I looked down at my hands again, no longer able to look at the angel sitting across from me.

“Goodbye, Lisa,” he said, turning his focus back out of the dark window, dismissing me.

“What will you say to—”

“I’ll handle it.”

A hot tear slicked its way down my cheek. I felt like crawling in a hole.

Something inside of me wanted to reach out and take his hand, to tell him that everything would be okay. Instead, I opened the limo door and stepped out into the cool night. As soon as the door shut, the limo sped off, taking with it the man who’d treated me like a queen for the last year of my life.

My one shot at happiness.

I cursed Chance Gionatti with every fiber of my being as I climbed the stairs to my condo and opened the door.

I flipped on the light switch in the cramped hallway and hung my heavy jacket on the coat hook shaped like an elephant’s tail.

Slipping out of my heels, I trudged down the short, dark hallway making a beeline to my room. There was no need for lights. After five years, I knew every nook and cranny of this place. From the book shelves lined with paperback romance novels, to the bookcase stuffed with textbooks on every topic from ancient literature to criminal law. I passed my living room with its worn silver couches, colorful heavy throw blankets, and white furry rug. My kitchen, though small, was organized to perfection. I had no den, no dining room, no patio, not even a yard, just a four-room condo at the end of a row of identical condos. It was small enough for one person and that suited me just fine. I needed to feel snug wherever I was, and this apartment was as snugly as they came.

I finally reached my bedroom and pulled the string of an old-style lamp sitting on the desk near my bed. Colored light filtered through the rose-colored lamp shade. On most days, the pretty light made me smile. On this night, it reminded me of how colorless my world had become.

Not bothering to strip off my dress, I laid in bed and stared out of the window. The trees waved in the wind as small snowflakes dotted the brown bark, giving them snowy coats they’d wear for the season. 

I wrapped my body around a pillow and pulled up to my chin the quilt my grandmother made me before she died. Each heavy piece of patchwork was carefully laid out and stitched together with loving care. On most nights, it was too warm to sleep under. Tonight, my body felt as if it were frozen. The coldness of my past rose in my mind, tormenting me with thoughts of his warm hugs, heated kisses, brown eyes flecked with green. I swore I smelled his vanilla scented aftershave.

He haunted me. My own personal ghost sent to this world to taunt me. To remind me of what I once had—of what I’d walked away from.

I squeezed the pillow tighter against me and allowed my thoughts to torture me, to rake me across hot coals of loneliness and regret. When I finally fell asleep, the sun was rising in the east, and I swore I saw a pair of brown eyes looking back at me.

Chapter 2

Lisa

Six Months Later

St. John’s Luxury Resort certainly earned its name. White marble floors, gold chandeliers, and heavy button backed couches gave the resort’s lobby an expensive look. Enormous windows were left uncovered, allowing in a flood of Jamaican sunshine. A shiny redwood check-in desk ran the length of one wall.

A set of coal black eyes scanned me from head to toe as I stepped into the lobby. The eyes were attached to a tall, well-built man who looked to be in his early forties. His eggshell colored linen shirt swayed in the ice-cold air conditioning as my best friend Trish and I approached the front desk.

If I were to describe Jamaica in one word, it would be HOT. A wet heat that reminded me of sitting in a steaming bathtub. Wanting nothing more than to change into my bathing suit and plant myself beach side, I hurried my steps.

“Welcome to St. John’s Luxury Resort,” the man said, his accent melodic and inviting. It instantly put me at ease. “May I please have your names?”

“Lisa Matthews and Patricia Rivera,” I replied.