Trouble After Dark Read online

  Trouble After Dark

  Gansett Island Series, Book 21

  Marie Force

  Trouble After Dark

  Gansett Island Series, Book 21

  By: Marie Force

  Published by HTJB, Inc.

  Copyright 2019. HTJB, Inc.

  Cover Design: Diane Luger

  E-book Layout: Holly Sullivan

  E-book Formatting Fairies

  ISBN: 978-1950654635

  * * *

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return it and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author. To obtain permission to excerpt portions of the text, please contact the author at [email protected].

  All characters in this book are fiction and figments of the author’s imagination.

  * * *

  MARIE FORCE and GANSETT ISLAND are registered trademarks with the United States Patent & Trademark Office.

  marieforce.com

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  The Gansett Island Series

  Gansett Island Boxed Set, Books 1-3

  Gansett Island Boxed Set, Books 4-6

  Gansett Island Boxed Set, Books 7-9

  Gansett Island Boxed Set, Books 10-12

  Gansett Island Boxed Set, Books 13-16

  Gansett Island Boxed Set, Books 1-10.5

  Gansett Island Boxed Set, Books 1-16

  Book 1: Maid for Love

  (Maddie & Mac)

  Book 2: Fool for Love

  (Joe & Janey)

  Book 3: Ready for Love

  (Luke & Sydney)

  Book 4: Falling for Love

  (Grant & Stephanie)

  Book 5: Hoping for Love

  (Evan & Grace)

  Book 6: Season for Love

  (Owen & Laura)

  Book 7: Longing for Love

  (Blaine & Tiffany)

  Book 8: Waiting for Love

  (Adam & Abby)

  Book 9: Time for Love

  (David & Daisy)

  Book 10: Meant for Love

  (Jenny & Alex)

  Book 10.5: Chance for Love, A Gansett Island Novella (Jared & Lizzie)

  Book 11: Gansett After Dark

  (Owen & Laura)

  Book 12: Kisses After Dark

  (Shane & Katie)

  Book 13: Love After Dark

  (Paul & Hope)

  Book 14: Celebration After Dark

  (Big Mac & Linda)

  Book 15: Desire After Dark

  (Slim & Erin)

  Book 16: Light After Dark

  (Mallory & Quinn)

  Book 17: Victoria & Shannon (Episode 1)

  Book 18: Kevin & Chelsea (Episode 2)

  A Gansett Island Christmas Novella

  Book 19: Mine After Dark

  (Riley & Nikki)

  Book 20: Yours After Dark

  (Finn & Chloe)

  Book 21: Trouble After Dark

  (Deacon & Julia)

  Book 22: Rescue After Dark

  (Mason & Jordan)

  View the McCarthy Family Tree here.

  * * *

  View a map of Gansett Island.

  * * *

  View the list of Who’s Who on Gansett Island here.

  Contents

  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

  Epilogue

  About the Author

  Chapter 1

  Deacon didn’t wake up that morning planning to crash a wedding and steal a bridesmaid. In fact, he didn’t wake up expecting much of anything on his fourth day on the boring remote island where his older brother was holding him hostage for the summer. What the hell was he even doing on Gansett, the island he’d grown up on, where his brother was now the freaking police chief?

  Deacon was a grown-ass man and could do whatever the hell he wanted. Why was it that Blaine had such power over him, even now? It was infuriating, but he didn’t need to think about that while he had a hot babe holding on tight to him as he drove his motorcycle toward the bluffs on the island’s north side.

  Since she was wearing his only helmet, he could hear the ends of her sexy red dress whipping in the wind as he accelerated around a curve, dodging a family of four on bicycles who were smack in the middle of the road. He, who didn’t have much trouble attracting female companionship, could honestly say it’d been years—perhaps a lifetime—since he’d met a woman as stunningly gorgeous as the one wrapped around him at this moment.

  He’d first seen her the other night at the island’s clinic after one of the craziest nights in recent memory—when Finn McCarthy’s ex had stabbed Finn and his new girlfriend, Chloe Dennis. Half the island had ended up at the clinic, along with the cowboy strippers who’d been performing at Katie Lawry’s bachelorette party when the stabbings took place.

  Deacon didn’t recall Gansett Island being that interesting when he’d lived there as a kid.

  His bridesmaid had long, silky dark hair that fell nearly to her spectacular ass, flawless, lightly tanned skin, bluish-gray eyes fringed with extravagant lashes, large breasts that were barely contained by the halter-style dress and lips made for kissing.

  The last thing Deacon needed, especially right now, was any more female complications. However, he’d dare any red-blooded man to take one look at the sexy bridesmaid on the back of his bike and not want her riding shotgun. Downshifting, he turned into the lot at the bluffs, pulled into a parking spot and killed the engine on the vintage Harley he’d bought off a buddy on Cape Cod, where he used to live before being banished to freaking Gansett by his goddamned brother.

  Despite his displeasure at being back on the island, Deacon had to admit that Gansett had a kind of wild, untamed beauty that he’d forgotten about during his years away. He wanted to hate everything about being there and how Blaine had issued the ultimatum to Deacon, as if he were a recalcitrant teenager—come home with me or face major charges. Hell of a choice.

  He got off the bike and helped his stolen bridesmaid remove the helmet. First order of business would be finding out the name of the goddess he’d run away with. Wait till Blaine figured out that she’d left with him. He’d pop a nut. Deacon choked back a laugh at the thought of Blaine’s nuts popping because of him. It had given him great pleasure all his life to irritate his brother and vice versa. Why? He couldn’t say. That’s just how it was between them.

  Blaine was such a Dudley Do-Right, and Deacon, well, he was a Dudley Do-Whatever-the-Fuck-He-Wanted.

  * * *

  With his passenger free of the h
elmet, Deacon took another long look at one of the most exquisite female faces he’d ever beheld. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to see that while she was stunning, she was also troubled, and he’d had more than his share of troubled females. The most recent one had landed him in jail, which had led to his ex-communication to Gansett, the last place on earth he wanted to be. Although, the godforsaken island was looking pretty damned good to him at the moment.

  She ran her fingers through her hair, attempting to straighten the damage done by the helmet. A light breeze ran through it, and he was struck dumb by the sight of her standing on the cliff like a goddess in red.

  Deacon Taylor didn’t stare at women.

  They stared at him.

  His unprecedented reaction to her should’ve been cause for concern in light of his recent troubles, but he wasn’t going there today. He opened the compartment on the bike where he’d stashed a six-pack of beer and some ice before leaving the apartment Blaine had assigned him, located behind the house Blaine shared with his wife, Tiffany, and their daughters. Getting to know his nieces was one of the only goals he had for his summer in exile.

  After twisting off the cap on one of the beers, he handed it to the goddess.

  “Thanks.”

  “What’s your name?”

  “Julia.”

  He touched his bottle to hers. “Nice to meet you, Julia. I’m Deacon.”

  “I’ve never met anyone named Deacon before.”

  “It was my grandmother’s maiden name.”

  “It’s cool.”

  “Thanks. I like it.” He took a deep drink from the bottle. Blaine would pop the other nut if he knew Deacon was riding around with a makeshift cooler on the bike. Deacon took pleasure in thinking up new ways to aggravate his brother. “Are you sure it’s okay that you left the wedding?”

  “It’s fine. Katie is so wrapped up in Shane that I doubt she’s even noticed I’m gone.”

  He wondered if she felt as sad as she looked and sounded. “Are you okay?”

  “Never better.” She forced a smile and then chugged half the beer in one long gulp.

  “Do you not like him?”

  “Who?”

  “Your sister’s husband?”

  “Oh God, I love him. He’s great. He saved Katie’s life when she got caught in a rip current outside the Surf.”

  “Whoa.”

  “Trust me, our whole family will love him forever for saving her. Not to mention, his sister, Laura, is married to our brother Owen.”

  Deacon took a minute to do that math in his head.

  “A brother and sister married a brother and sister,” Julia said. “Nothing illegal about it.”

  He laughed. “If you say so.”

  “Laura and Shane are awesome. Owen and Katie got lucky. They married into an amazing family. Do you know the McCarthys?”

  “Sure. I grew up with them. My sister-in-law’s sister is married to Mac McCarthy.”

  “My family loves your brother. He was good to my mom during a very difficult time in her life.”

  “That sounds like him. He’s a saint.”

  “You don’t like him?”

  “He’s okay, if you like the holier-than-thou type.”

  “I take it you’re not holier than thou?”

  He laughed. “Ah, no, not exactly.” Deacon wondered what she’d think of him if she’d known he spent a night in jail five days ago or that his saintly brother had gone to the mainland to bail him out. His alleged “crime” had been for a good cause, but when a woman like Julia heard the word jail, she wouldn’t stick around to hear the story. She’d be long gone, and he wouldn’t blame her. “How about you?”

  “I try to do the right thing, for all the good that does me.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “People suck.”

  “All people, or certain people?”

  “Most people, especially the male variety. Present company excluded, of course.”

  He laughed again. “Of course. What happened?”

  They wandered over to a massive log that acted as a curb to keep cars from driving off the cliff and sat next to each other.

  “It would be easier to tell you what hasn’t happened.”

  “Okay…”

  She didn’t say anything for a long time as she stared out at the ocean.

  Deacon thought she wasn’t going to tell him, but then she began to speak.

  * * *

  Why was she about to air out her problems with a total stranger? Not to mention another guy who was so hot, he probably had women throwing their panties at him to get his attention? What was the point of talking about it? How would that fix anything? It wouldn’t, but she found herself telling him anyway.

  “People take advantage of me.”

  His brow furrowed, possibly with a touch of outrage that she appreciated. “How so?”

  “Guys… They take one look at me and think they have me figured out. I must be easy. I must be a slut. I must be gullible. I attract all the wrong guys, especially the most recent one.” Her heart was like a cement block in her chest when she thought about Mike, the promises he made, the things he said to her, the hopes she’d pinned on him, only to find out he was far worse than the others.

  “What did he do?”

  “He played me for a total fool. Made me fall in love with him. Promised me everything. We were going to have a life together and have babies and a house.” To her fierce annoyance, a tear slid down her cheek. She brushed it away angrily. The last thing she wanted was to spend any more tears on him. “Then his mom got sick with breast cancer. He was freaking out because she didn’t have insurance and needed treatment. I loaned him money.”

  Deacon winced. “How much?”

  “Fifteen thousand. Almost everything I had.”

  “Let me guess—his mom’s not sick?”

  “Ding-ding-ding. You win the grand prize. His mom is fine, but his girlfriend is pregnant, and he needed the money to get prenatal care for her because she’s the one who doesn’t have insurance.”

  “What a scumbag.”

  “So now she has my money, my man and a bouncing new baby. I heard they’re buying a house together. They probably used my money for the down payment.” She couldn’t help but laugh at the sheer madness of it all. “Ridiculous, right?”

  “I’m sorry that happened to you.”

  “I am, too, because now I’m flat broke and stuck here for God knows how long until I can make some money to get home to Texas and get the stuff I had to move into storage after I got evicted from my apartment. If the storage place doesn’t sell it since I missed a payment.”

  “What’s in Texas?”

  “A job I used to love until I got a new boss who called me Sugar and asked me to do personal errands for him.”

  “Seriously?”

  “Yep. It was awful, and after I loaned Mike the money and then figured out what he was really about, I called out sick for a few days because I was too upset to leave my house. The boss from hell told me not to bother coming back. That led to me losing my apartment when I couldn’t afford to renew the lease.”

  “I’m sorry. That sucks.”

  She shrugged. “I brought it on myself by being stupid with Mike and then handing my boss a reason to get rid of me. I tried to find another job, but nothing materialized that would pay me enough to cover my expenses.”

  “So there’s no reason to go rushing back, then?”

  “No.” Julia kicked at a rock with one toe of the sandals she’d bought with the last of her credit card limit. She’d been sleeping on a coworker’s sofa since she got evicted from the apartment she used to share with Katie. She’d been unsuccessful in landing a roommate, thus her basically homeless status. That word homeless struck fear in her heart the way few things ever had since she left her violent childhood behind. “Not anymore.”

  “I’m stuck here for the summer, too.”

  “How come?”

  “Doing a
favor for my brother.”

  “What kind of favor?”

  “He needed a harbor master. I’m certified, so he asked me to come do it.”

  “What about your regular job?”

  “I’m between jobs at the moment, so the timing worked out for both of us.” The Cape Cod town he’d worked for last year as the harbor master had invited him not to return after he spent a night in their jail.

  “What’ll you do after the summer?”

  “Find something else, I suppose. How about you?”

  “Same, I guess. Although the thought of starting over, again, is exhausting.”

  “You’ve done it before?”

  “Too many times to count. My father was in the military. We moved a lot.”

  “We grew up here on Gansett. I hated it.”

  “My siblings and I spent summers here with our grandparents, who owned the Sand & Surf. It was our favorite place on earth.” It was also the only break they got from their abusive father. They’d lived for those blissful summer days on Gansett, where they were safe and loved and away from the monster, as they’d called General Mark Lawry.

  “Really? You loved it?”

  “We loved everything about it.”

  “Huh. I couldn’t believe when my brother moved back here willingly to become the police chief. He hated it as much as I did when we were kids. But then he met Tiffany, who’s now his wife, and he’s happier than a pig in shit with her, their kids and a job he loves.”

  “Do you like his wife?”

  “I barely know her, but he sure as hell likes her.”