“In his own mind.” She stepped back to her cart while Gabe just laughed.
“What are you doing out here in a towel, man?” Luke asked.
“Testing your security systems,” he said, giving Luke’s back a whack with one hand. “Which are impressive,” he added, gesturing to the woman with an angled head. “Dude, you got eleven bucks?”
Luke inched back and reached into his pocket. “I think so. Why?”
“I owe this woman.”
A row of blinding-white teeth popped from her dark, coffee-colored skin.
Luke, a mix of amused and confused, pulled out the correct amount and gave it to her. “Thanks for whatever it is you did, Poppy.”
“My job.” She took the money and stuffed it into her pocket.
“And did it well,” Gabe added. As she started to walk away, he pointed at her. “You should get a promotion to the security department, Pop Star.”
She looked him up and down, a woman who took no shit from no one. Gabe could use a person like that on his team. Someone who would keep her mouth shut when she had to, which, with what he had in mind, would be always.
“Why would I do that?”
“Because if you spend enough time with me, you’ll have those boys in your arms in about a week.” Gabe rubbed his fingers together in the universal gesture for cash. “My loose lips sail lots of ships.”
She gave a grudging laugh and passed by him. “’Scuze me. I got a villa to clean.”
As she disappeared through the entrance of Bay Laurel, Gabe turned to Luke, who was cool enough to not ask questions, but smart enough to look like he sure as hell wanted some answers.
“Let me get dressed,” Gabe said.
“Good call.”
Gabe slipped down the side of the house, then returned to where Luke waited in the golf cart. As Gabe slid onto the bench, he slipped sunglasses on, folded his arms, and leaned back. “You don’t need to give me the five-dollar tour, dawg. This place is exactly what I want. I’ll take the job.”
Luke’s jaw completely unhinged. “What are you talking about?”
“I’m your partner in the new business we’re starting.” He gestured for Luke to drive. “Head north. There are nice ladies up there, and I hear they have handcuffs.”
Luke didn’t move. “First of all, I didn’t offer you a position as my partner in the security business I’m starting. Second, I’m engaged.”
“I’m not the least bit interested in a security business, McBain. I’m part of one now, with my family in Boston. I’m so bored I’m counting the hairs on my balls for fun. Mazel tov on your engagement.”
“Thanks, but if you’re not interested in the security business, why would you even consider coming here and working for me?”
“With you,” he corrected. “And, no worries, I don’t want any part of your bodyguard gig. You can keep the guests of Casa Blanca safe from the baddies all by yourself.”
Luke bristled as he started the cart and rolled down the paved path.
“We’re just based here,” Luke said. “I’m overseeing resort security as a favor to the owner, who gave me offices on the property. But I’m hiring a team for protection and security all over the island. There’s some big money down here, a new baseball team, and a mother lode of cash offshore from some shipwrecks attracting all sorts of trouble. That’s why I need some of your expertise.”
“Perfect.” Gabe nodded. “A security company as a front could not be better.”
“A front?” Luke threw him a look, and Gabe braced for a barrage of questions. “Now you sound like the spook I met in Somalia.”
“Good times, eh, Ricard?” Gabe grinned, remembering the hairy-ass mission he’d been on with the group of Legionnaires where he’d met, and respected, McBain.
Luke’s lip curled. “Hate that name.”
“Oh, yeah, I remember. But everything’s cool now?”
“Completely. And I’m happy here. Happier than I’ve ever been.” He turned onto a dirt path that ran alongside a farmette that Gabe assumed helped feed the guests. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but what kind of trouble are you in that you—a freaking renowned spy with an undercover career that reads like a Tom Clancy novel—would consider working at a resort in Florida?”
“No shit, man. What the fuck is wrong with me?” Gabe grinned and elbowed his friend. “Look, my novel-worthy UC career isn’t over, hoss. I’m starting a new phase. What’s this?” He gestured toward a small compound of small stucco buildings, built to blend with the style of the resort, but far more understated.
“These were built as staff housing, but I’m going to take over at least three of the bungalows for offices.”
Gabe hopped out of the moving cart. “I like the one on the end. I can live there and have offices, too. Maybe I’ll convince Nino to come with me, and Chessie, too. Except Vivi and Zach will string me up by the ’nads if I steal from the Guardian Angelinos.” He threw a look at Luke. “I should have known I couldn’t work there when my cousins told me the mind-numbingly stupid name they picked for a security firm.”
Luke climbed from the cart, following Gabe. “What don’t you tell me exactly what you have in mind?”
Gabe assessed him again. Luke was trustworthy. He’d proved that. And Gabe needed at least a few people to know what he was up to. Hell, he already had two clients lined up and had to move quickly. “I’m have an idea I have for a business that will make bank. And I’ll share that bank if you’ll give me a front for the operation.”
“A front.” Luke came around the front of the cart and narrowed his eyes. “Is it legit? Legal? Safe?”
“Legit? Legal? Safe?” Gabe snorted. “It’s badass, brilliant, and lucrative.” At Luke’s hardened look, Gabe added, “And yes, it’s…pretty safe. Mostly legit. Legal”—he shrugged—“enough.”
Luke shook his head. “I can’t let something or someone onto this property that will jeopardize any staff or guest.”
“No jeopardy,” Gabe assured him. “All I need is a place where it looks like I’m working, and I can run my own little setup, invisible to all.”
Luke just stared at him. “Not until I know exactly what your ‘little setup’ is.”
Gabe blew out a breath, sliding his hands into his pockets as he walked closer to the bungalows, choosing his words carefully.
“There are people who need protection, a place to hide, even a new identity, and they don’t always qualify for a legit government program like witness protection.”
“What kind of people?”
“Good people,” Gabe insisted. “Potential kidnapping victims, abused wives, the poor schmuck who got mixed up with the wrong crowd. Many of my cousins’ clients need more than basic security. They need a safe place that is off the grid but still in plain sight.” He glanced at Luke to see if he was getting it, noticing the other man nodding. “That kind of ‘private witness protection’ is pricey, dawg. Hard to find and harder to keep a secret. That’s where I come in.”
“What exactly will you do?”
Gabe grinned. “Shit no one else can. Bro, I know how to run, hide, transform, and show up as another person on a different continent better than any other spook out there. Why not put those skills to good use and make serious cash from people who are willing to pay for that kind of überprotection? Sometimes, a bodyguard isn’t what they want. They need more than standard security, and that’s where I come in.”
“Will they stay here, or is this ‘überprotection’ some kind of a pit stop on their way to another place?”
He shrugged, knowing he didn’t have all the answers yet. “Depends on the case. Most will move on, staying here only long enough for me to do the legwork to get them a new identity and home. Some might stay. We’ll have to take each deal as it comes.”
Listening, Luke crossed his arms and looked toward the bungalows as if trying to picture this whole thing unfolding there. “Why not use that Guardian Angelino business as a front?”
; “In Boston? Too easy to find people, too many access points, no control. I have been looking for a place just like this. More or less in the middle of nowhere, where the ‘guests’ can become anyone, and with a front business that’s legit.” He unlatched his hands and leaned forward. “With a partner I can trust.”
Luke eyed him for a long time. “I didn’t want a partner.”
“And neither do I. It’s a cover, man. And a damn good one. You do your security thing, and, yes, I can give you a metric buttload of advice on how to run that business with my eyes closed and my dick in a sling. In exchange, you just tell people I’m your silent partner or consultant or whatever. I don’t go out on security calls, and I don’t expect you to help with my cases.” At the flicker in Luke’s eyes, he added, “Unless you want to. We’ll work out the money, and it’ll be good.”
“How are you going to find clients?”
Gabe just laughed. “Dude, they find me.”
Luke still wasn’t convinced, Gabe could tell by the dubious look in his eyes. “Who’s going to believe that you, Gabriel Rossi, has decided to move to an island in Florida and live the quiet life as a partner in a security firm?”
Gabe put a hand on Luke’s shoulder. “I can make anyone believe anything. You just have to go along with it, and you will take a nice cut of the cash for your trouble, and I won’t take a penny of yours.”
“You didn’t make Poppy believe you were a locked-out guest,” Luke challenged.
“Which makes me certain I picked the right place. I told you, it was a security test. If the basics weren’t here, I couldn’t make this my home base. But they are, and I can.” He tightened his grip. “Gimme a chance, and we’ll see how it works out. I think this place is ideal for running, hiding, and reinventing.”
Luke didn’t answer for a long time, his eyes narrowing. “You know what I think?”
“That your fairy fucking godfather just landed with a pot of gold?”
“I think you’re the one running, hiding, and reinventing, Rossi.”
Gabe didn’t even flinch, but turned away to be sure his eyes didn’t give anything away. “Just say yes or no, bro.”
Luke waited a long time. Too long. Then he smiled. “Hell, yeah. I’m in. I gotta believe anything with you is going to be…interesting.”
“As fuck.” Gabe grinned and smacked Luke’s shoulder. “Now show me the new offices. Time for a little action in…what’s the name of this hellhole again? Bare-Ass Bay?”
Luke laughed. “Barefoot Bay.”
“Cute. Shit’s about to get real in Barefoot Bay.”
“Real what?”
Gabe slid into a sly smile. “Real…different.”
Barefoot Bay Undercover
launching Spring 2015
Have you read all of the Books of Barefoot Bay? Each one stands completely alone, but if you want to kick off your shoes and fall in love in order…here you go!
The Complete Barefoot Bay Backlist
The Barefoot Bay Billionaires (Contemporary Romance)
Secrets on the Sand (FREE)
Seduction on the Sand
Scandal on the Sand
(These three stories are also available as a specially priced boxed set called The Barefoot Billionaires)
The Barefoot Bay Brides
Barefoot in White
Barefoot in Lace
Barefoot in Pearls
And if you’d like to know how Casa Blanca rose from the rubble of a hurricane and meet the four women who started the resort, dip your toes in the original Barefoot Bay books!
The Barefoot Bay Quartet (Contemporary Romance)
Barefoot in the Sand
Barefoot in the Rain
Barefoot in the Sun
Barefoot by the Sea
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About the Author
Roxanne St. Claire is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of more than forty novels of suspense and romance, including many popular series and stand-alone books. Her entire backlist, including excerpts and buy links, can be found at www.roxannestclaire.com.
In addition to being a six-time nominee and one-time winner of the prestigious Romance Writers of America RITA Award, Roxanne’s novels have won the National Reader’s Choice Award for best romantic suspense three times and the Borders Top Pick in Romance, as well as the Daphne du Maurier Award, the HOLT Medallion, the Maggie, Booksellers Best, Book Buyers Best, the Award of Excellence, and many others. Her books have been translated into dozens of languages and are routinely included as a Doubleday/Rhapsody Book Club Selection of the Month.
Roxanne lives in Florida with her family and can be reached via her website, www.roxannestclaire.com, her Facebook Reader page, www.facebook.com/roxannestclaire, and Twitter at www.twitter.com/roxannestclaire.
Barefoot in Pearls
Copyright © 2015 South Street Publishing
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ISBN: 978-0-9908607-0-9
This novel is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real locales are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
All rights to reproduction of this work are reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without prior written permission from the copyright owner.
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Cover Art: Robin Ludwig Design
Interior Formatting: Author E.M.S.
Table of 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
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Epilogue
A Sneak Peek at BAREFOOT BAY UNDERCOVER
The Complete Barefoot Bay Backlist
About the Author
Copyright
Barefoot in Pearls (Barefoot Bay Brides Book 3) Page 30