Storm Damaged

By Kerry Adrienne

She's running from a life she doesn't want. He's hiding from a past he can't forget. But the tide is turning in favor of new beginnings... 

In a world where humans don't know mermaids exist, independent Mari leaves her ocean home behind to start over on land. Her quaint island life, free of her overbearing mother, her possessive betrothed, and her tribe's unrealistic expectations, is exactly what this mermaid needed. And the sexy bartender above her shop gives her hope for a future that isn't so lonely.

Former Navy diver Chase has never recovered from the accident that claimed his brother's life. And his unshakable fear of the ocean, a place he used to love, is all the more reason for him to sell his bar and move inland. Not even the mysterious beauty who rents the shop below his bar can lift his spirits. He's too damaged to even consider a relationship.When a hurricane threatens the island, Mari and Chase must work together to save both his bar and her shop. But as they make preparations, and become marooned on the island, they don't realize that the storm won't be the worst challenge they face. Mari's betrothed is on the rampage, incensed she won't marry him and determined to get his revenge.

A wave of adventure and romance await in this steamy standalone fantasy romance read from USA Today bestselling author Kerry Adrienne. Dive in to Storm Damaged today!

• Language: English
• Publisher: EarthShine Publishing
• Release date: Aug 4, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393296201

Kerry Adrienne

Kerry has loved writing and story-telling since she was a child reading Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys. After reading Gone with the Wind, she was forever hooked on the power of books.She's a college instructor, editor, costumer, artist, cat collector and concert-goer. She enjoys anything creative except cake decorating. She loves loud music and her Mini-Cooper convertible, and spends a lot of time driving aroung plotting stories. 

Book preview

Prologue

1740, Bermuda

She could never go home.

Ever.

Amelia took Christopher’s hand, then lifted her skirts and stepped out of the small wooden sloop onto the thick sand of Somer’s Island. She pulled her fingers from his and swatted at an errant damp curl, then tucked it behind her ear. The oppressive humidity weighed her down like a ship’s anchor, without the cool relief of the deep water.

Her legs wobbled as she adjusted to standing on land for the first time in weeks. The island might not be home yet, but she’d make it so.

Humidity and sun be damned, she’d accept her fate and make the most of it.

Handsome, dark-skinned men with strong accents and muscled limbs hefted her wooden trunk, filled with the only material possessions she had left, and carried it across the sandy beach to the tree line where a horse-drawn wagon waited. The horses nickered and trotted in place, surely as eager to get out of the hot sun as she was.

Amelia, are you sure you’re intent on this path? Christopher asked, catching her arm and squeezing it gently. You don’t have to stay here. We can outrun them—my ship is quick. He ran his thumb across her cheek.

She shuddered as chills raced across her face where his touch lingered. If only she could lean into him for eternity and find relief from the heavy load of responsibility. The nights in his arms were the best of her life.

She’d made her choice.

As long as she was aboard his ship, his life was in jeopardy, and possibly hers too. And all the innocent men who sailed under his command could be hanged alongside her.

She couldn’t allow it.

I’m confident this is what I want. What must be. She fingered her heavy pearl pendant, then placed a hand against her stomach, willing the nausea away with deep breaths. The rolling ocean waves used to be her best friend, but recently they tossed her insides with their slightest surge. At least on land the sickness would be more tolerable.

I’ll visit. Christopher pulled her close, his body meeting hers from shoulder to hip. I can’t bear to think of life without you.

She breathed in his scent and memorized the feel of his salt-crusted beard scratching against her cheek, his firm chest flat against her soft one, and the roughness of his fingertips on her bare arms.

I promise, he added. I love you. I will love you for all my days, and one day, we’ll be together again.

I love you too, she whispered. The weight of emotion in his voice shook her, and for a moment, her resolve wavered. She took a deep breath and spoke firmly. You must go now. Thanks be to heaven, I’m secure in your friend’s company. Know that I’ll wait for you.

I’ll return. He lifted her chin and kissed her, his lips pressing against hers in fervent desire. She met his tongue with her own, wishing to tell him everything she’d kept secret from him. Things she could never tell him.

The truth.

Her sacrifice.

Their child.

Chapter One

Present Day, North Carolina coast

The strong September sun cast a rainbow of fluid shapes onto the gift shop floor. Mari stretched to stick the suction cup of the last stained-glass ornament onto the storefront window. The little glass mermaid sparkled in purples and blues, and she twisted it as she hung it on the hook. Maybe not a realistic mermaid, but the decoration was quaint, and tourists loved ocean fantasy, as the store’s Labor Day receipts proved.

Too bad it was nearly time to face the long winter of fewer sales and colder water. Still, it beat the alternative. She was by the ocean, making her own way, despite her mother. An upbeat Beatles song danced through her head and she whistled the tune, bobbing her head in time with the beat.

The pink shells hanging on the glass door rattled, and a long shadow fell across the colorful floor as the door swung open.

Crap.

She stopped whistling, midchorus, and embarrassment crept up her cheeks in a rush of heat.

I have bad news. Chase let the door close behind him, the shells staccatoing as they clinked against the glass. It’s urgent.

Mari’s heart rushed. Bad news or not, he took her breath away. I thought the first storm bands weren’t coming in until tomorrow evening.

She set the empty shipping box on the floor and rubbed her hands, trying to disguise her body’s reaction. Chase McCormack, the man she had saved from drowning and now her landlord, rarely came into her little gift shop, but that didn’t keep her from sneaking peeks at him as often as she could.

His bar was upstairs from her shop where patrons could get a better view of the water. The large deck Chase had built around the bar gave her a perfect place to sit and pretend to read while he did his bar-owner thing. She didn’t mind having a shop on the lower level since it meant she was closer to the sand and waves. And the rent was cheaper, too.

The storm will be here when it gets here. He scowled.

Boy, he was grouchy. She glanced at him. Yeah, and he was still hot. And tall. Even though he wasn’t diving anymore, his muscles retained a swim-slender shape. His imposing frame made the shop feel smaller, but she didn’t mind. Has the forecast changed? It’s a weak hurricane, right?

Silent, he looked up at the mermaids she’d hung in the window, and hued stripes lit his angular face in all the right ways. Mari sighed. The colorful stained-glass ornaments brightened up the shop, making it look like a cross between a candy store and a fluorescent aquarium aglow with light in Las Vegas. Not that she’d ever been to Las Vegas or anywhere far inland. But the pinks and purples suited Chase, at least in her mind.

She straightened the tchotchkes on the glass counter at the register. As if she didn’t already have enough problems. Getting out of her arranged marriage to Inna wasn’t going to be easy, but successfully running her own shop should show her mother she could be independent.

A hurricane was approaching. And Chase had bad news.

What else could go wrong?

I’m not here about the storm, though we’ll need to board up in the morning. Chase stepped closer, his footsteps heavy on the wooden floor as if the weight of his news burdened his stride. He picked up the empty shipping box off the floor and set it on the step stool by the window.

She stared at his backside. Yep, he was good-looking from any angle. She could see herself waking up to Chase every morning without ever getting bored.

The only thing that would definitely get her out of the marriage to Inna was marrying someone else, with her mother’s permission. Her tail quivered to release, but she relaxed the sensation away.

Images raced through her mind as her daydreams took over. She couldn’t look at him when she had thoughts like this. Ridiculous fantasies had no place in running a business, and if she was going to be independent, she’d have to focus on business matters. Daydreams and swimming would have to wait.

Thoughts of sex with Chase would have to wait.

She closed her eyes. What then? What’s the bad news? Did Chase have another girlfriend? The last one had been…a treasure. She shook her head. He wouldn’t drop by to tell her something like that anyway. He was a private man.

And she wanted him to be hers.

And anyway, once a mermaid saved a man, wasn’t he destined to be her true love, with weddings on ships or private islands and happily-ever-afters filled with music and sparkles and talking fish? She wasn’t thinking about all that when she pulled the diver out of the water, but now that it was over, shouldn’t he be The One? Unfortunately, Chase didn’t have a tail, and that would prove a no-go with her mother.

It’s about the bar. He reached up and took down the mermaid sun catcher, then set it gently into the box, surrounding it with packing material.

She put her hands on her hips. No matter how hard she’d tried to get his attention, he’d all but ignored her since the accident. Too bad diverboy hadn’t shown any instalove back.

She’d grown to know him better—especially once he ditched his snarky girlfriend—but he hadn’t seemed to notice her that way, even when she rented the small shop space on the first floor of his bar, in part to be closer to him. Still, he wasn’t a lost cause. As long as he was on the island, he was a possibility. At least in her dreams.

And your shop. He tucked the mermaid deeper into the box.

What about my shop? Her breath caught. And what are you doing? I just finished putting those sun catchers up.

He didn’t speak but took down an orange seahorse and set it in the box too. He began taking the figures down one by one, layering the box’s packing material in between each fragile shape.

What the hell? Hey! Tell me what’s wrong. And stop messing with my stuff.

Chase captured her in his intense gaze. If this window breaks during the storm, you’re going to have a mess. All of these little ornaments could get broken. I’m guessing you don’t want that. His sandy-brown hair, cropped short and spiked, had paled in the summer sun, and his tanned face drew tight with what must be really bad news. You can’t leave all this stuff on the window during a hurricane. It’s not safe.

I thought this wasn’t about the storm. Mari licked her lips. My stuff will be fine. I can take care of my shop. What’s up with the bar?

He didn’t answer but removed the rest of sun catchers one by one. She wasn’t sure what to say. Who did he think he was? Sure, the building belonged to him, but her merchandise didn’t. She couldn’t decide if his actions pissed her off or endeared him to her because he acted like he cared about her well-being.

I said I can pack those up myself. Besides, the storm may not make landfall near us. What’s the rush until we see the updated forecast? She took a deep breath. Like you said, we’ll board up. If it floods, then I’ll deal with any damage.

The shop wasn’t likely to flood, not with the pylons the whole building sat on. Unless the storm turned into a monster, most of the risk would be wind damage. She moved the box of tiny silver-gray sharks’ teeth by the cash register to the other side of the counter then back again. The storm wouldn’t be that bad. Things would be back to normal in a couple days at most.

He shrugged and set the last glass ornament in the box. He started removing the suction cups and setting them in a neat little row on top of the sun catchers.

Are you going to tell me the news? Why wouldn’t he come out and say what he had to say? Rent going up?

Did she sound as stupid as she felt? She had always shied away from conversation with Chase, other than the normal pleasantries she’d learned good Southern people offered regardless of how they felt. Even if he was The One, she had been nervous he’d recognize her as the girl who saved him.

The mermaid who’d saved him.

She leaned on the display case. Confidence. Project confidence. Her mother had paid a lot of money for her to go to fish finishing school. Maybe they didn’t have cotillion at home, but finishing school was darn close to the same thing, minus the sweet tea and white gloves. She stared. Definitely no gloves.

And if Chase was going to come into her shop, she’d take full advantage of it—absorb every detail of his sexy self to round out her fantasies. In her head, she’d written at least fifty romance novels with him starring as the hero. Steamy, sexy romances, with her as the heroine. The Mermaid and the Millionaire, Shells in the Sand, Once Upon an Ocean…

Mari?

She jerked her head up. Yeah? Crap. She’d been busted while fantasizing again.

Chase straightened the last suction cup in the box. Well…

You done there? Wanna sweep too?

Apparently, the man couldn’t resist. He had to help out, no matter if he was asked to or not. Mr. OCD Protector hot man diver.

He shook his head and folded the box closed. No need to sweep till after the storm. Where do you want this?

I don’t care. Set it on that top shelf by the plates, I guess. She realized she wasn’t being nice, but she couldn’t help herself. Chase’s news of the big bad was stressing her out.

Okay.

I want to know what the news is. Spit it out.

Chase pushed the box onto the top shelf, then stuck his hands in his pockets and looked at the floor. She knew his face well enough to imagine his bright-green eyes narrowing with whatever stress this bad news was causing.

She remembered the panic during the accident. She studied his thick muscles and the tentacle tattoo that wound its way up from his wrist to his left biceps and then disappeared under his snug T-shirt. His other arm boasted some type of navy diver tattoo, faded and smudged. The one time he’d gripped her with those strong arms he’d almost lost his life.

And he didn’t remember any of it.

Rent isn’t going up. He stepped closer to the display case and picked up a sand dollar from the wooden bin on top. As he turned the white disk over, it broke in half in his grip, and dusty fragments spilled into the air and onto the counter. He winced. I’m selling the bar and moving west. Leaving the island for good.

Mari’s stomach lurched and she steadied herself against the glass case, staring at the mess on the counter. Why? Her voice came out a quarter-octave higher than normal.

One of her main reasons for staying in the little coastal village was to spy on him. Erm, watch him. Ogle him. Pretend he loved her the way she loved him. Why sell the bar? Why leave? I thought you loved it here. Oh, no, buddy. You aren’t leaving me. I saved your ass and you are my Plus One from now on.

I gotta get out of this little town and away from the ocean. He gripped the sand dollar fragments. Tired of storms and water and reliving bad memories.

Your brother…

My brother is dead.

But wouldn’t he want you to stay? Chase had taken his brother’s death hard. Now he wanted to move. Well, that wouldn’t solve anything. Was it her business, though?

Chase grunted but didn’t respond.

I mean, wouldn’t he want you to stay and run the bar? It was his dream too. A beach bar, right on the sand. Sweat dampened her palms and she wiped them against her jeans’ legs. She’d never been outspoken with Chase, but she couldn’t let him walk out of her life when he should be swimming alongside her.

Luke’s gone. I’m moving to Kansas and buying a farm. Or possibly Montana. Or Oklahoma. Hell, maybe I’ll buy a mine and become a miner. I don’t know exactly where I’ll go or what I’ll end up doing, but I do know it will be far, far away from the ocean. I don’t even want to be near a lake. He dropped the remaining pieces of the sand dollar onto the counter and dusted off his hands. Sorry about that. He nodded at the mess. Let me know what I owe you.

You owe me more of an explanation. Mari could feel her nostrils flaring, and her face was probably as pink as her T-shirt.

She needed Chase. Not his building, but his presence. She could never follow him to Kansas, because mermaids had to stay near the ocean, or they’d die. If Chase left, she’d have to marry Inna, or run away and live in a hidden cove somewhere her tribe couldn’t find her. You can’t up and leave all you’ve built here. Tears threatened, but she gulped them down.

He couldn’t leave.

I’ve made up my mind. He stared out the window for a few seconds and she watched his face for any sign of emotion, but he was rigid. Unreadable.

But…

He shook his head. Last week, I spoke with a real estate agent. He already has an offer on the whole property. The bar, this shop, everything. Chase turned toward her, his eyes looking through her. The new owners don’t want a tenant. They’re going to convert the whole place into a megabar. Build a karaoke stage. Line-dancing area. Maybe put in a mechanical bull.

She bit her lower lip to keep from retorting. Chase would never have added karaoke to his bar. He preferred the sea-worn, old-school look of the 1950s. Shag dancing, maybe. Never karaoke. How could he consider this?

His broad shoulders sagged, and she fought the urge to comfort him. Or shake him till he regained some sense then fuck him till he knew it for sure. Clearly, he’d lost his mind if he thought he’d leave the island and her. It simply couldn’t happen.

Could it?

It’s a great offer, he added. They have the cash in hand, and I won’t have to wait for a mortgage to process. Should be a fairly straightforward deal, then I’m outta here.

Deep breath. When? She tapped her nails on the glass case. How much time would she have to convince him to stay?

Soon. I’ve signed the papers. You’ll get a formal letter asking you to vacate, but I thought I’d stop in and tell you personally. You’ve been a good…friend.

How friendly of you. Perfect. He was sure to respond well to her smart-ass attempt to hide her feelings. Awesome. She knew how to get her man. If she couldn’t slay them with a song like other mermaids could, she could tie them up and beat them to death with her sharp wit. She bit the inside of her cheek. Thanks for letting me know. You can leave now.

Look, he said, his voice strained with an emotion that could’ve been frustration or anger. I realize this is short notice, but I have to get out of this town. I know you don’t understand, but I have to do this. I can’t take being here any longer.

But I have a lease…

The light glinted in his eyes and she held back a moan at the warmth he elicited with a glance—even an annoyed glance. Any other day, his eye contact would be filed in the fantasy category called replay. Not today. She looked away. I have a lease, she repeated, aware that her soft voice wasn’t much more than a whisper.

The small shop had been her connection with the human world, and her independence. And having Chase upstairs had been the cherry on top of her life’s sundae. If the shop were gone, she’d have no choice but to go home and admit defeat to her mother and to Inna. And that would suck.

Your lease is month-to-month. I’m sorry. Consider this your notice, though I’d appreciate it if you moved before the four weeks you legally have. It’ll make things easier for everyone. He eyed the window again. I’ll get someone to help you pack up after the storm. It’s the least I can do.

She steadied herself against the counter, her mind buzzing. She’d get him to stay, somehow. She had to. It’s not fair, Chase. I’ve worked hard to make this shop profitable. I’ve had a great season, and things are going to get better.

She’d hung around, trying to further their relationship and make a start on her own life without her mother’s oversight. Why was Chase so oblivious? Once he’d dumped Kelly, she expected things to change. Expected him to notice her. It hadn’t worked out that way. If anything, he was more blind to her than before.

And now he was planning to leave her behind and farm some dry land somewhere a million miles away.

I know. You’ve built a great little business here and you should be proud. Not everyone can make it with a coastal shop. He shuffled from one foot to the other. I honestly didn’t think the building would sell quickly. Figured it would be months before someone snapped it up, since the market isn’t great these days. He paused. I planned to tell you I’d listed it—but I didn’t have the chance to put out a FOR SALE sign. No one would have ever put bets on finding a buyer that fast.

What am I supposed to do now? She tugged her pink T-shirt down.

You can find another location for your shop here on the island, I’m sure of it. In fact, I’ll give you the name of my real estate agent. He can probably find a better spot than this one. One with more tourist traffic.

Thanks. Tears threatened again, but she held them in check. No point in looking like a complete loser.

She could cry in her five-minute pity party later. Her tail beat an

Reviews for Storm Damaged

[AnneDuncan · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The book is fun but don't think too hard about the plot.