Anna traveled to the
Caribbean to surprise her husband at the end of his business trip, and catches
him in bed with his business partner. She demands he give her their yacht,
'Juliette', but he suspects she has discovered his illegal business dealings and
employs local thugs to sabotage the boat so it will go miles off course and
sink.
Anna hires Turner to
captain the boat back to Florida. As the boat starts to sink, they manage to
scramble ashore onto a remote island. Instead of sinking, the yacht breaks free
of its makeshift moorings and disappears. Anna and Turner are stranded and struggle
to survive, soon becoming lovers with depths of feeling for each other that
Anna had never known with her husband. Meanwhile, the husband realizes that his
illegal activities are already known, but ultimately it is Juliette, the yacht
named after Anna’s lost baby, that brings about true justice and Anna’s rescue.
'Juliette' is an
erotic romance with frequent and graphic love scenes.
Anna spun towards
the door and barely had time to slam it behind her before she burst into angry,
frustrated tears and fled down a path that led away from the cabanas towards
the beach. She kicked off her sandals and ran to the shore, deserted in the heat
of the afternoon. Warm water splashed up her legs as she stood gazing out at
the cresting waves. She balled her hands into fists, and screamed.
She screamed at the
time wasted in depression. She screamed at the wasted attempts at trying to
hold their empty marriage together. She screamed at the years she had spent
stuck in a home she despised. Over and over she screamed, whipping her head
back and forth in the salty spray until her voice was hoarse, her throat tight
and pained. Finally exhausting her fury, she stopped and stared silently at the
water and let the motion of the waves take over and calm her. Her body swayed
in time to the rhythm of the watery, rolling hills.
“Are you all right?”
a faraway voice called from behind her. She imagined a hand lightly touching
her shoulder. “Miss, please answer me.” The deep voice sounded concerned.
Her brows knitted
together as someone walked in front of her, blocking her vision of the
comforting view of the sea. In slow motion, her dazed eyes looked up at the
man, focusing on his wavy dark hair, and she fainted.
It was dark when
Anna re-awoke. By the dim light of a desk lamp, she recognized the building as
one of the cabanas, and her eyes searched the room in confusion. The colors
seemed different, and she realized it was not the same hut where she had caught
Milton.
“Good, you’re
awake.”
Startled, Anna
looked for the voice. A man’s shadow stood up from a chair by the table,
approaching her, and as he came into the light, she watched him closely. A wide
smile beckoned from the face of the tall stranger who was wearing only bleached
cut-off jeans. The lamp reflected off a tanned muscular chest, and dark eyes
glittered in the handsome man’s face as he brushed a stray lock of his wavy
black hair off his forehead and looked down at her.
“You had me
worried,” the soft, deep voice continued. “There’s no doctor on the island, and
I didn’t know what to do with you. I’m Turner Douglas.”
She struggled and
sat up against the pillows. “I’m Anna Brannigan. How did I get here?”
“I found you on the
beach. You seemed to be in some kind of a trance, and you fainted. You’ve been
sleeping for a few hours, but you didn’t look hurt.” His forehead creased. “Are
you sure you’re okay?”
Anna’s fingers
stroked her temples. “I’m fine. I’m sorry to have caused you any problems, Mr.
Douglas.” Her face flushed with embarrassment, and she smoothed her skirt and
watched his broad back as he walked towards a small kitchenette.
“Call me Turner.
It’s no problem at all, as long as you’re all right.” The handsome man returned
and handed her some aspirin and a tall glass of water. “What happened to you?”
Anna swallowed the
pills, and after a long drink she pursed her lips. “My soon to be ex-husband is
what happened to me,” she blurted.
Turner pulled over
one of the rail-back chairs from the table and straddled it with his long legs,
resting his chin on his arms across the back. “Oh, one of those.”
“What do you mean,
‘One of those’?” Anna huffed.
“About the only
thing not raised on this island is eyebrows,” Turner chuckled. “It’s notorious
for discreet privacy.” He watched her expression. “Look, I’m sorry. By your
reaction on the beach it must have been quite a shock.”
Anna nodded. “I
guess it shouldn’t have been, though. The signs were all right in front of me.
It was just easier to believe him when he said he had to work so much. In the
back of my mind, I think I knew something might be going on. Things haven’t
been right for several years now.”
Turner took her
empty glass to the sink, and when he returned he asked, “What now?”
Anna’s eyes dropped
to her lap. “You’re going to think this is stupid.”
Turner rolled his
eyes and said in a monotone, “He promised to end the affair and you’re taking
him back.” For some reason, it bothered him to think the pretty woman would so
easily trade for the wealth these jerks had.
Anna smiled. “I take
it you’ve seen this happen before.”
He shrugged. “I told
you, it’s about the only thing that happens around here. It’s not exactly a
tourist destination.”
Anna had thought the
same thing about the island when she had arrived. The smirking, knowing looks
she had received when she asked for information about the resort, began to make
sense. She shook her head and the long ponytail swished at her waist. “No, I
don’t want him back. I told him I wanted my boat. Actually,” she winced, “I
think I might have screamed it at him.” Anna looked at Turner’s confused
expression, and she burst out laughing. “Seriously, Milton is worth millions,
and I told him all I wanted was my sailboat. I even told him to take his creepy
old Captain with him.” Anna laughed harder until tears sprung to her eyes.
Her laughter was
infectious, and Turner found himself beginning to laugh along with her.
Eventually he sobered, as something occurred to him. “Wait a minute, you told
him to take the Captain? Where is this boat of yours?”
“Here,” she pointed
at the floor. “It’s the sailboat docked at the pier.” Anna calmed her hysterics
and began to look panicked. “Oh no,” she groaned. “He’s probably already put a
hold on my credit cards. I don’t know how in the world I’m going to get my boat
back to the states.” She spent a brief moment in concentration, and then burst
out laughing again.
Turner noticed the
mood swing and realized the stress from her discovery was getting to her. He
decided he had better let her rest and discuss things in the morning. “Anna,
why don’t you stay here tonight? It’s after one in the morning and it would be
hard to wake anybody up to get a room.”
Anna thought for a
moment. Obviously, the man was not going to hurt her; she had already been
there for several hours. “Are you sure? I guess I can’t go back to Milton, and
I have no idea if he’s cut off my credit yet. I could stay on the boat,” she
suggested.
His warm smile
radiated across his face. “Anna it’s late. Just stay here. Really, it’s no
problem, and I think you need the rest. You have a lot to decide in the
morning.”
“Thank you, Turner.
Truthfully, I’m exhausted.” It had been a long day of traveling and worrying
about her marriage, ending in the shock of Milton’s infidelity. She lay back on
the pillows and her eyes closed immediately.
Turner leaned
against the doorframe, watching her for a moment. The beautiful little woman
curled up on his couch had unknowingly come up with the solution to his
problem. He smiled and closed the door.