by Skye Turner
What the hell? Joe’s number. I have Joe’s number. The only man I ever loved and the man who helped me to be completely open with everyone about being me. But do I want his number?! What the fuck?! I’m in the fucking Bermuda Triangle right now.
The whole time I’ve been having my inner debate, Lexi has been watching me.
Just then, our food is brought out. Has it really only been half an hour since we got here?!
We eat in silence for a bit before she asks what I know she’s been wanting to know. “So, are you going to call him, E?”
Shrugging, I push my food around the plate and take a large gulp of my margarita on the rocks before answering her. “I’m not sure. I don’t know if that’s something I want to do or not.”
She looks at me with her whiskey eyes and I know she’s reading my mind. “What are you thinking, E? Tell me what’s going through your head right now.”
I’m tracing the condensation from my drink on the table as I work out my thoughts. Gazing at the drink, I speak as if in a daze. “My head?” I harshly laugh. “What’s going through my head? I’m shocked. I never thought I’d see him again. I never wanted to see him again. I’m pissed. How dare he come back here and how dare he talk to me. He cheated on me. He married someone else. He betrayed the both of us back then. And he now has kids. Kids! They are beautiful little versions of him. Kids he created with the person he betrayed me with. And I’m furious that a part of me was glad to see him.” I snort and look up at Lexi. She’s gazing at me with compassion and understanding on her face and it flips the switch. I’m suddenly furious. “Why was I glad to see him for a brief minute?! What the fuck is wrong with me?!”
“You were glad, because you loved him, E. You loved him.” She takes my hand and motions for the waiter to bring the check and boxes. “He meant something to you. He’s the only man you ever loved. Of course you reacted to seeing him. It’s normal. When you love someone… when you give your whole heart to someone… they always have a part of you. It sucks, but it’s just the way things are. But it’s up to you what you do with it.” She takes my hand and pries my clenched fingers open, intertwining her small fingers with mine. “You have his number, Erik. You have the power right now. So, decide. Are you going to call him? Do you want to call him? Are you willing to forgive what happened in the past? Are you even open to it? All of that is up to you.”
Looking at this beautiful woman, this smart, beautiful woman in front of me, I chuckle. “When did you get so wise?”
She laughs out loud and snorts. “I’ve always been brilliant. You taught me well.”
She throws two twenties and a ten down to cover the check and the tip and we box up our food. Then, laughing, we head outside and towards the car.
On the way out, I take the napkin, look at it intently, crumble it up, and throw it away.
Yeah, we all make mistakes, but my life is good right now and I want to keep moving in the right direction. Joe was an important part of my life, but he was the past. He helped mold me into the man I am today, but the past is where he needs to stay. No time for back steps in my life. Only forward progress.
Chapter Thirteen
Bradi
Present Day
“Micah, hurry your ass up! How the hell am I the one who’s ready on time and you are dragging ass tonight?” I yell into the guest bathroom of Blue and Jessie’s town house as I slip on my boots and lace them up.
Micah pokes his gorgeous, perfectly styled head out of the bathroom and rolls his eyes at me as he says, “That’s because you are infatuated with Devil’s Lair. Why, I do not know. You are with me and other than being a rock band, they have nothing on me. How do you even find all of these bands?”
Cocking my hip out, I tease him. “You sure about that? I hear Jack Lair is h…u…n…g.”
He stalks me and throws me on the bed leaning over me and boxing me in. He growls. “So, what?”
Laughing and leaning up to lick his jaw, I rub against him and purr in his ear. “So, nothing. I’m not single. I just like rock bands. They’re sexy and these guys are good. They’re quickly climbing the charts for a reason. You’ll see.” I rub against him intimately again and smirk as he groans and I feel him swell through his pants. “Besides, you’re all I want or need. But, I do so love riling you up.” I nip his jaw again.
He swoops down and captures my mouth and our tongues dance for a bit as he rubs against me. I’m about two seconds from demanding he fuck me before we leave. Until Erik calls through the door, “No time for you two rabbits to bump monkeys. Get your asses out here. We’re leaving in five.”
Micah groans and throws a pillow at the door. “Dammit, Erik!”
We can hear the laughter in the hallway as Erik, Alec, and Jessie taunt us, until Blue cuts in. “What are you assholes, five years old? Get the hell away from the doorway. Bunch of pervs!”
Jessie’s response is muffled, but we can hear it and the love in his voice for Blue is evident. “Aw, woman, we were just fucking with them. No need to call us names! Besides, you like when I’m a perv.”
Laughing with them, Micah gets up and pulls me with him. Patting my ass, he pushes me towards the bathroom. “We’ll finish this later. Go make sure your hair is the way you want it, so I don’t get screamed at.”
Arching my brow, I act cross. “Oh, shut up.” Then, squeezing my boobs together, I lick my lips and point to him and then my crotch. “I want a rain check. I’m horny now and since you’re making me wait, you owe me.”
Adjusting his crotch, he throws his head back and laughs. “You are a hot mess, Bradi St. James. But, damned if I don’t love you and all of your crazy, too. Oh, you’ll get it. You’re getting it forever.”
Chuckling, I head into the bathroom with the smile that stays on my face thanks to that gorgeous man out there in the bedroom. Things have not been easy these past seven years and I’ve certainly fucked up, but that man is my soul mate, and I’m never letting him go.
Erik
We’re at the House of Blues in New Orleans and the place is packed. Bradi has been jabbering about this band, Devil’s Lair, for months now. They finally played a show close enough for us to catch and Jessie called a friend and got us tickets. Bayou Stix is looking for a new act for the arena tour starting up this spring and Bradi says these guys are not to be missed. So, here we are.
Jude and Lexi are on their honeymoon. Dade has taken off for a two week vacation on some Caribbean island. Jessie and Blue are planning on spending a bit of time here since they just bought a town house in the Quarter as a retreat. Cruz and Liam are driving in to catch the show and should be here any minute.
We have a large table and everyone is kind of doing their own thing for a minute. Bradi is sitting on Micah’s lap with her arms around his neck. Blue and Jessie are leaning into each other, having an animated conversation, and every now and again, one of them will just lean in and kiss the other. Who would have thought Jessie, the manwhore, would ever be tamed?! Alec and I are making our own plans since he’ll officially be moving into my house with me now that Lexi and Jude are married and she’s settled at his mansion.
The past few months have been insane, but they’ve proven to all of us at this table that things happen for a reason.
Alec touches my face and breaks me out of my inner musings. “Hey there. Where were you?”
Smiling at him with all of the love I have clearly visible in my eyes, I answer him. “Nowhere. I’m right here. Right where I was meant to be. Just reflecting on how crazy life can be.”
Alec smiles back and takes my hand. They’re resting on the table top for the world to see, but I don’t care. I want everyone to know the love I have for this man. He’s my world. He’s my present and he’s my future. He winks at me. “Ain’t life grand?!”
We look over and Bradi and Micah are both looking at us with huge smiles. Our drinks arrive and we all pick them up. Jessie slaps his hands on the table and everyone jumps. We laugh. Then he looks around the
table and says, “A toast. To friends. To lovers. To being in love. To living life. We are the blessed ones. Especially all of you fuckers, since I’m in your life. Now cheers!”
We laugh and clink glasses and I say, “I’ll drink to that!”
Playlist
The Rembrandts – I’ll Be There For You [Theme From FRIENDS]
Blake Shelton – God Gave Me You
The Meters – Mardi Gras Mambo
Fall Out Boy – The Mighty Fall
Luke Bryan – I Don’t Want This Night to End
Lady Antebellum – When You Got A Good Thing
Daughtry – Feels Like The First Time
Miley Cyrus – Party In The U.S.A.
Bobby Bare – Marie Laveau
Jason Aldean – Why
Cassadee Pope – Wasting All These Tears
Flo Rida – Wild Ones – feat. Sia
Gavin DeGraw – In Love With A Girl
Rascal Flatts – Easy
Maroon 5 – Harder To Breathe
Avril Lavigne – Complicated
Florida Georgia Line – Stay
The Charlie Daniels Band – The Devil Went Down To Georgia
Luke Bryan – Goodbye Girl
OneRepublic – What You Wanted
Daughtry – Breakdown
Flo Rida – Low – feat T-Pain
Lady Antebellum – Need You Now
Kelly Clarkson – Catch My Breath
The Fray – Trust Me
P!nk – Just Give Me a Reason
Otis Redding – Stand By Me
Taylor Swift – I Knew You Were Trouble
Trapt – Made Of Glass
Jay Sean – Down
Puddle Of Mudd – Blurry
Christina Aguilera – Your Body
Rihanna – S&M
Third Eye Blind – How’s It Going To Be
Playlist can be found on Spotify.
Letter from the Author
First of all I want to thank everyone who had joined me on this amazing journey. It’s been an amazing ride thus far and I pray that things only get better.
I hope you enjoy this novella as you learn a little more about Erik and Bradi. I completely fell in love with these characters writing Alluring Turmoil, but I had no idea that so many others would feel the same.
This book was by far, my hardest to write to date. I basically took two secondary characters, that I’d never intended to expand on, and created seven years of their life in just thirteen chapters.
Some things were not easy to write and I stepped out of my comfort zone. Situations that are very emotional and that many people feel very passionate about are covered in this novella and I hope you are pleased with the book.
With that being said, if you take nothing else from this novella, take this: People are human. We all make mistakes and sometimes we made choices that we “think” are correct, but are in fact not. We all want to protect ourselves. But the most important thing in life is to be true to YOU. Live your life for you, not for anyone else. If you find someone you love who loves you back and treats you right, hold onto that. It’s a gift.
If you read the book and love it, please remember to leave reviews. We Indie authors count on them.
Thank you and happy reading,
Skye Turner
ALLURING TEMPTATION
Book 3 Bayou Stix
By
SKYE TURNER
Dedications
Alluring Temptation is dedicated to anyone who’s ever had their heart broken, their dreams crushed, or someone tell them they are not worth it.
Here’s to proving them all wrong!
Acknowledgements
Thank you to my amazing Beta readers: Betsy Whitley, Cover to Cover Book Blog, Elaine Kelly, Elaine’s Love of Books, Joely Bogan, Book Worms, Kia-Lin Klink Holmes, Miles Apart Books, Lindsey Lawson, Daisy Dog Photography and Design, Noelle Kinberger, Pam Mitcham, Tiffany Tyler, Tiffany Talks Books (and my amazing P.A.), and Thomas Noble. Y’all make me feel like a ‘Rock Star’ every single day and I love you oodles and oodles for the love and support and for helping me perfect my baby!
Thank you Kari Ayasha of Cover to Cover Designs for always nailing my covers. Especially this time when I decided to be difficult. Thank you for not telling me to take a hike when I hit you with a last minute revision this time! You always create the perfect cover and are also an amazing friend.
Thank you Justin Cardoza for the beautiful cover photography, and thank you to Dusty Daniels for portraying my Liam so well.
EXTRA SPECIAL thank you to Mandy Hollis for the last minute work and working with me to be my Clove!
Special thanks to my fellow Sinners: A.D. Justice, A.M. Madden, Christine Davidson, LL Collins, Ren Alexader, and Tricia Daniels. You girls are the best and I love our witty conversations about absolutely nothing. You keep me sane and grounded and I love you!
Another extra special shout out goes to my AMAZING Street Team! You ladies are the absolute best and I love that you love me and my characters so much. So, thank you to: Tiffany, Betsy, Bea, Loca, Cheryl, Desiree, Rebecca, Kia, TH, Lindsey, Noelle, Julie, Komi, Lheanne, Ange, Shannon, Joely, Heather, Christine, Amber, Kristin, Tracey, Amy, Andrea, and Elaine.
For my other amazingly supportive author/blogger friends, I thank you for taking the journey with me and your love and support is the cherry on top of this sundae! TH Snyder, Kathy Coopmans, Chelle Bliss, Rebecca Brooke, Glenna Maynard, Alina Man, Joanne Schwehm, and so many more.
I’d also like to thank my READERS! Y’all are the bomb diggity and your messages, FB posts, tweets, etc. make my day every single day. I thank you all for loving my boys and girls!
Lastly, but most importantly, I have to thank my love, James, and our two babies! You three are the most important things in my life and your love, support, and pride in me have me more fulfilled than I ever thought possible. I love you!
Chapter One
Liam
What is that God awful noise?
The ringing of my cell phone wakes me from my deep slumber. Rolling over, I slap around the nightstand and knock the phone to the floor. “Shit! Dammit! Who the hell is calling me? What the hell time is it anyway?”
As my hand finds the phone, I squint at the caller ID. “Dade” is on the display. I also notice the time. Seven fricking o-clock in the morning.
Why the hell is this asshole calling me at 7AM?!
Swiping my finger across the screen to answer, I mumble out, “What the hell, dude!?”
Laughter comes through the phone as he answers, “Good morning, sunshine. I didn’t disturb your beauty rest, did I?”
“Hell yes, you did, asshole. What’s up? Why are you calling me at 7AM? Why aren’t you snuggled up with some hottie instead of disturbing me?” I grumble out as I drag my hands down my face to trying to wake up. Damn, I need to shave.
He laughs again. “Who says I’m not? And you live in my house, so I can call whenever I want to. Just checking in. How is everything that way?” His voice gets serious. “Are you being civil to my sister?”
Sighing, I flop back on the bed and stare at the patterns created by the light filtering through the blinds onto the ceiling. “Clove is fine. Give me some credit. She freaks out whenever I walk into a room and when she’s not avoiding me, she’s screaming at me.” I groan. “Why can’t you just call her?!”
He sighs and I can hear him messing with his hair through the phone. “Look, I know she’s kind of different, but she’s had a really rough go of it lately. I’d be there, but I needed this break too, and it was already scheduled. Just try not to rattle her, ok? I’ll be back in eight days. I appreciate you keeping an eye on her until then though, man. I mean it.”
Chuckling, I roll my eyes. “Man, she’s not a kid. She can look after herself. But I’ll make sure the boogeyman stays away until you get back. I can’t promise she won’t stab me in my sleep though. If she does that, I’m going to fuck you up! She really seems to dislike me… though damned
if I know why.”
Dade guffaws through the phone and I hear a whispered female voice and then a throaty chuckle.
“Dude, are you seriously with a chick right now and on the phone with me?! What is wrong with you? Go enjoy your vacation. Everything on the home front is fine. The house is still standing; Clove is still here; and, we’re both still alive. The princess is fine. We’ll see you when you get back. Now, I have to figure out what the hell I’m going to do since you woke me up with the goddamn chickens.”
“Don’t call her ‘princess,’ she hates that.” He laughs and moans. “Yeah, I’m getting off of here. Do something productive. Change the world…” Another moan. “Later.” The phone cuts off with a longer moan.
I mutter out loud as I stare at the silent phone, “Seriously?! Fucker!”