Making a Splash

Making a Splash
Joanne Rock

Making a Splash Alicia is on a catamaran, on her way to Maine, when Navy Lt Jack Murphy slips into her bed to pick up where he left off five years ago… On the open water, Jack and Alicia have endless opportunities to work out their sexual tension… But once they hit land, will their hot, steamy chemistry dry up?

Look what people are saying about this talented author…

“Joanne Rock puts her own personal magic into the pages of Highly Charged!, giving us a story that defines romance.” —Cataromance, 5 stars

“The super-sexy Highly Charged! is an explosive good time.” —RT Book Reviews

“A thrilling romantic suspense that will keep you turning the pages.” —RT Book Reviews on Under Wraps

“Definitely a home run!…

Characters jump off the pages and into our hearts.” —Cataromance on Double Play

“Readers will be held captive by Joanne Rock’s superb historical.” —Genre Go Round Reviews on The Captive

“Very hot, as is Ms Rock’s trademark.” —Tampa Bay Examiner, 5 stars on In the Laird’s Bed

About the Author

The mother of three sports-minded sons, JOANNE ROCK’S primary occupation is carting kids to practices and cheering on their athletic prowess at any number of sporting events. In the windows of time between football games, she loves to write and cheer on happily-ever-afters. A three-time RITA

Award nominee, Joanne is the author of more than fifty books for a variety of Mills & boon series. She has been an RT Book Reviews Career Achievement nominee and multiple Reviewers’ Choice finalist, including a nomination for The Captive as best blaze of 2010. Her work has been reprinted in twenty-six countries and translated into nineteen languages. over two million copies of her books are in print. For more information on Joanne’s books, visit www.joannerock.com.

Making a Splash

Joanne Rock

www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)

To my sister and brother-in-law,

Linda and Bob Watson.

Thank you for letting me hang out on the boat and for

giving me another book idea. Turns out my Florida

visits are not only fun and fattening but creatively

productive, as well. I appreciate you!

Prologue

JACK MURPHY HAD BEEN BACK in town for less than four weeks since he’d completed his navy contract and returned to Chatham, Massachusetts, from Bahrain. Already Keith had noted the changes in his older brother. Jack was quieter. More brooding than he used to be. And he refused to resume his old job as VP of global properties for Murphy Resorts, the family business.

Perhaps most notably, he hadn’t bothered to show up for a family football game the day before, even though all the Murphy brothers were back in town at once—something that hadn’t happened since Christmas three years ago. Clearly, something was wrong.

Keith watched him now as they shared a table at their oldest brother’s engagement party on the lawn of the family’s home overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. Jack stared out at the waves, while one table over their father tapped his beer bottle to signal for the crowd’s attention.

There were six brothers—five by birth plus Axel, the foster brother from Finland who’d been with them for eight years. Out of the six of them, Jack and Keith had both landed in the middle, with twenty-eight-year-old Jack eleven months older than Keith. They shared a look—the family pictures proved it (as well as the face that Keith dressed better than the rest). All the brothers had inherited their father’s green eyes, in varying shades, and dark brown hair. Even Axel fit the mold, except for his blue eyes. Danny and Kyle—twenty-six and twenty-five years old respectively—carried the most muscle. Jack was the tallest. The other differences were in the way they carried themselves. Ryan was the corporate shark who would take over the family business. Jack was ex-Navy, clean-cut and brooding. Keith the GQ charmer—he’d like to think—who’d developed his own company. Danny was a former rocker with a goatee and bad-ass sneer, but he’d joined the Navy, too, and had no plans to get out. Kyle was a hockey superstar whose nose had taken its fair share of hits. Axel had come to the U.S. to ease his transition into the National Hockey League after playing on college teams with Kyle.

As the family peacemaker, Keith naturally felt compelled to pinpoint the problem with Jack. He’d ruled out post-traumatic stress disorder last week, thank God, after strong-arming his closemouthed brother into talking about his second overseas stint in four years. In-stead of PTSD, he’d discovered that Jack had a woman problem.

And that, Keith planned to address tonight.

“To the future bride and groom!” Their father’s hearty toast reverberated through the huge outdoor tent on the lawn.

On cue, Keith clanked glasses with his brothers in honor of Ryan and his bride to be. At least one of the Murphy men was in a good mood today.

Not that they weren’t all glad for Ryan, whose hard work with Murphy Resorts had more than earned him some personal happiness. That’s why all the Murphys had heeded the call to return to the sprawling house on Cape Cod for tonight’s brouhaha.

Jack didn’t bother suppressing a scowl despite the festivities. Even as the chamber ensemble gave way to a lively dance band that cranked up tunes for the future bride and groom, Jack slid back into his chair after the toast and drummed his fingers on the white linen tablecloth.

The guy’s problem had a name, of course. Alicia LeBlanc. She was a firecracker and just the kind of woman a strong-willed man needed. But with two ardent opinions at work, they’d been too stubborn to see the possibilities of a future together, and Jack had joined the navy at a critical juncture in their relationship, telling her not to wait for him.

Nothing like slamming a door on a future.

The family had assumed four years away from home—returning only on the occasional leave—would cure Jack of Alicia. But he’d come back from Bahrain more restless and edgy than ever. Something needed to be settled between those two, one way or another.

Luckily, Keith had a plan to shove his hardheaded brother in the right direction—he just happened to have the woman in question aboard his boat and docked nearby at this very moment. Because of his success starting up the environmental consulting firm he now ran, Alicia had approached Keith two weeks ago with some questions about developing a business plan for a bed-and-breakfast she hoped to purchase. He might have simply given her the advice and sent her on her way. But the inn she wanted was up in Bar Harbor, Maine, close to where Keith was headed. He needed to hand off the catamaran to one of his company’s VIPs as part of a corporate incentives reward. He’d agreed to give Alicia all the help she wanted, but because of his busy schedule, he’d talked her into discussing her plans on the ride to Bar Harbor. It would save him time, and allow her to view the property.

They were supposed to leave right after Ryan’s engagement party. Right after Keith trotted out a little old-fashioned maneuvering to make sure Jack was aboard the catamaran for the trip north tonight instead of him.

“So how’s the Vesta handling these days?” Keith began, turning the discussion to watercraft as the band launched into “Moonglow” and their parents took the floor beneath a small chandelier suspended under one of the tent canopies. “Are you getting tired of sailing solo yet?”

It was a comfortable, easy place to begin a familiar argument about the merits of their respective boats, and Keith tipped back the last of his champagne while he watched Jack’s scowl deepen. Around the small table, Danny peeled the label on his microbrew while Kyle thumbed a text message faster than a teenage girl in spite of his massive hands. Axel furtively checked his PDA for rival-team hockey scores. The mild evening weather stirred a breeze fragrant with late blooming flowers the landscaper had imported for the occasion.

“She’s as smooth as ever,” he muttered, although he didn’t rise to defend the twenty-six-foot vintage fiberglass sailboat with the same fire as usual. “But I’ve got an offer on her and I’m taking her down to Charleston this week to meet with a potential buyer.”

Crap.

Keith hadn’t planned for that possibility, thinking he could goad Jack into a boat switch for a few days with no problem.

“You’re selling the Vesta?” This surprised him for a few reasons, not the least of which was because the Vesta was the first sailboat he’d ever purchased, and he’d christened it with Alicia.

What if Jack was truly making an effort to move on?

“Probably. Maybe.” He shrugged. “Heading south this time of year is bound to be a good idea either way. I’m doing some investing in local businesses and figured I might as well free up my capital to continue in that direction.”

What direction? Keith wanted to shout, since investing hardly amounted to the kind of hands-on work Jack preferred. His brother really did need help finding his way back to a satisfying civilian life.

All the more reason for Keith to forge ahead with his plan, right?

“Yeah?” Thinking fast, he tried to figure out how to make the scheme come together in light of the new wrinkle. “You ought to let me deliver the Vesta for you, bro. I have a client I need to see down that way and I’m well overdue for some time off.”

Jack snorted. “You? Sail the Vesta solo all the way to South Carolina?” He shook his head. “You forget, a vintage classic like a Pearson Triton doesn’t come equipped with all the techno-gadgets you need on the miniature corporate yacht you’ve got. I don’t know how you’d manage without satellite positioning and automatic docking.”