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Lusting after the enemy
Former SEAL Jackson Duchane has spent almost a decade hunting down the wreck of the Chimera, a Civil War–era ship rumored to be filled with gold. Now he’s agonizingly close to the biggest discovery of his life. With a rival diving team hot on his tail, Jackson is determined to get there first, but he didn’t bargain on a sexy distraction...
Heading up a diving team is Loralei Lancaster’s nautical nightmare. Fortunately, nothing distracts a girl from her water phobia like a gloriously ripped surf god. And Jackson is hot enough to make Loralei forget everything—including the fact that he’s an arrogant jerk! And when heated words lead to steamy nights, Loralei finds herself caught between the devil and the deep blue sea!
Yummy on a stick...
Loralei’s mouth went dry when she saw the man from the docks. Tall and muscular. The kind of guy whose mere presence commanded attention.
Bringing her glass to her lips, she gulped down a huge swallow to relieve the pressure. It didn’t quite work... Especially when she realized the blond surf god was heading straight for her.
Leaning down, he brushed his lips against hers, warm and soft.
Her mouth dropped open—she wasn’t sure if the gesture was an invitation for him to kiss her again or because she knew she should say something, like Who the hell are you?
Before she could decide, his solid body was pressing against her, urging her to slide over into the corner of the booth. And she did, which left her a little miffed and seriously bewildered.
The heat of him seeped into her flesh. The hem of her shorts had ridden up her thigh at some point and she could feel the rub of his skin against hers, smooth to hair-roughened.
She found her voice enough to ask, “Who are you?”
“Jack,” he said, dipping his head and brushing the single word across the sensitive shell of her ear. Then he pulled back and smiled down at her, managing to fill his expression with kindness, sensuality and predatory promise.
Oh, this guy was trouble. The kind of man who got whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted it...
I’m so excited to finally see the first of my SEALs of Fortune series in print. This is a project I’ve been working on for a very long time and it’s so great to see the hard work come to life. Under the Surface kicks off the series pitting Jackson Duchane, part-owner in Trident Diving, against Loralei Lancaster, reluctant owner of Lancaster Diving and Salvage.
From their first meeting it’s obvious that strong emotions seethe between these two. They cross swords time and again. And hunting for the same treasure doesn’t help—especially when they both think the other is playing dirty. They might not like each other, but that doesn’t stop them from wanting each other, and the passion between them burns too hot to resist!
Under the Surface is about looking beyond what you see and trusting your instincts...and your heart. I hope you enjoy Jackson and Loralei’s story! And don’t forget to come back to visit with the crew from Trident Diving in July with Holding Her Breath.
I’d love to hear from you at kirasinclair.com, or come chat with me on Twitter @kirasinclair.
Best wishes,
Kira
Under the Surface
Kira Sinclair
KIRA SINCLAIR is an award-winning author who writes emotional, passionate contemporary romances. Double winner of the National Readers’ Choice Award, her first foray into writing fiction was for a high school English assignment. Nothing could dampen her enthusiasm...not even being forced to read the love story aloud to the class. However, it definitely made her blush. Writing about striking, sexy heroes and passionate, determined women has always excited her. She lives with her two beautiful daughters in North Alabama. Kira loves to hear from readers at kirasinclair.com.
This book is dedicated to Tammy Henderson. For sweating with me, challenging me to do more and be better, listening to me vent, and being there when I needed you most. I couldn’t have gotten through the last few months without you! Thanks for being you...and for sharing my book obsession.
Contents
Dear Reader
Prologue
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THEY NEEDED MONEY. Desperately. But was it worth risking his life?
The moment Jackson Duchane had seen Lancaster Diving’s battered, outdated equipment piled on the docks in Mobile, Alabama, that nasty sensation of impending doom had begun to crawl across his shoulders.
An oil company had hired the Lancaster team to blast away a thick layer of rock blocking access to a new line they wanted to drill in the Gulf. Easy enough. Or it should have been.
This was what he got for subcontracting to a diving company he’d never worked with before.
But Trident Diving couldn’t afford to be picky right now. The company was new and business was slow. Opening Trident in his hometown of Jacksonville, Florida had been a dream years in the making for him and his partners Asher Reynolds and Knox McLemore. Their friendship had been forged in the heat of battle. All of them were ex-Navy SEALs. There was nothing quite like sharing miserable conditions or crawling through a hail of