Jean C. Gordon [Gordon - Sweet Entanglement

S W E E T E N T A N G L E M E N T

I N D I G O B A Y S W E E T R O M A N C E

J E A N C. G O R D O N

S W E E T E N T A N G L E M E N T

I s three the charm?

Lauren Cooper is on her way to her lifes dream. Shes financed and finished college and law school all on her own. And shes up for partner at the largest law firm in Indigo Bay. Theres nothing to stop her from concentrating everything on achieving that goal. Until Jesse Brewster, the man who broke her heart twice, shows up sleeping off the night before on the beach, and shes called in to serve as his public defender.

Looking to make a new start after the racing accident that ended his lucrative motocross career and sent him spiraling into darkness, the former champion had envisioned an entirely different scenario if he ever saw Lauren again. That vision was more along the lines of the successful businessman hed be once he rehabbed the seaside mansion hes inherited from his uncle and sold it to open a custom bike shop.

Sparks fly between them, and Jesse vows to fan those sparks once hes got the project successfully underway. But someone starts sabotaging it, putting Jesse behind on the deadline he has to meet to get the property off the Indigo Bay Planning Boards condemned property list. And Lauren has a sick suspicion that her bosses are somehow involved.

Jesse and Lauren had once promised theyd wait for each other while they pursued their career dreams. Despite that broken promise, neither can deny the love thats still between them. But now that they are on the cusp of reaching those dreams, are they willing to risk everything to renew that love?

Team Macachek: Fall in love with the strong women and fearless men of the motocross circuit.

This is the 12th novel in the Indigo Bay series, but all books can be read as standalones.

I N D I G O BAY S W E E T R O M A N C E

W hat is the Indigo Bay Sweet Romance Series? Its tons of fun for readers! But more specifically, its a set of books written by authors who love romance. Grab a glass of sweet tea, sit on the porch, and get ready to be swept away into this charming South Carolina Beach town.

The Indigo Bay world has been written so readers can dive in anywhere in the series without missing a beat. Read one or alltheyre all sweet, fun rides that you wont soon forget. Also as special treats, youll see some recurring characters. How many can you find?

Sweet Saturday by Pamela Kelley

Sweet Beginnings by Melissa McClone

Sweet Starlight by Kay Correll

Sweet Forgiveness by Jean Oram

Sweet Reunion by Stacy Claflin

Sweet Entanglement by Jean C. Gordon

Upstate NY Romance

Sweet Entanglement

Copyright 2018 Jean Chelikowsky Gordon

Cover art by Najla Qamber Designs

All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, no part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the author-publisher.

This book is a work of fiction. The characters, places, and events portrayed in the book are either the product of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously. Any similarity to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is coincidental and not intended by the author.

Much thanks to my critique group BFF (Colleen, Chris, and Thomasine),
my editor Jena OConnor, my cover designer, Najla Qamber, and last but not least, the Sweet Reads author group for inviting me to visit Indigo Bay with them. I couldnt have done it without you all.

C H A P T E R 1

J esse Brewster ran his tongue around the inside of his mouth and tried to swallow the grit. He didnt know if it was actual sand from the South Carolina beach he tried to sleep on last night or the tequila shots hed downed like water after hed gotten a good look at the monstrosity that was supposed to be his life-saving legacy.

Sir, your public defender is here, a male voice said.

Jesse opened his eyes to the neon yellow walls surrounding him, reflecting back every sharp ray of light from the inside lighting and small window. He squinted against the pain to his head. Someone here at the Indigo Bay, South Carolina, police department had some sense of humor painting the combination interrogation room/holding cell walls bright yellow with royal blue trim. The sleeping block and covers he was sitting on and the table and chairs were the same blue.

Thanks. Jesse squinted again at the police officers name badge. Officer Andrews. The man looked vaguely familiar. Probably his arresting officer. That would make sense, him being here for his arraignment.

The dispatcher will bring you some breakfast. You can eat while you talk with your lawyer. The judge will be over as soon as she finishes her coffee at Carolines.

Coffee will be fine, Jesse said. He closed his eyes against the yellow and held his head in his palms.

A minute later footsteps sounded. Sir.

What was with all this sir? Jesse shook his head to clear it. The bright paint hadnt just affected his sight. His ears were also hallucinating.

Im Lauren Cooper, the public defender.

He raised his head. No, his ears were right. It was Lauren.

Jesse?

Her voice dripped with disbelief that matched his own. And hed thought things couldnt get any worse. In the flesh. He flexed his bicep, unable to resist going full obnoxious, in case she still harbored any positive thoughts about who, what he was.

You didnt have any ID on you, and apparently declined to identify yourself to the officer.

By reflex, Jesse patted the back pocket of his jeans. No wallet. A vague picture of it on a bar swam before his eyes.

Lauren dropped the folder shed held to the table and pulled out one of the chairs, giving him a moment to study her. He raked his hand though his matted hair. She looked good. But when didnt Lauren look good? Her crisp power suit did nothing to hinder his memories of the soft curves beneath them. His stomach churned with something that had nothing to do with his excess of tequila.

She motioned to the other chair. If youd care to join me, Ill go over the charges. Ben Officer Andrews said you may not have had the capacity to understand them last night.

Ben, was it? Jesses gaze darted from Lauren to the hallway the officer had disappeared into. He stood, letting the spinning in his head stop before he took the two steps from the sleeping block to the table. What did he care? He and Lauren were over. Hed made sure of that. Theyd been growing apart, going in different directions. He didnt need to get into the direction hed been headed after his accident and his mothers deathwith himself or anyone else. Jesse looked around. Hed arrived at his destination. There was nowhere to go now, but up.

Any questions? Lauren pinned his gaze with hers. Let me rephrase that. Did you listen to a word I said?

Public intoxication. Vagrancy. Howd I do?

Officer Andrews appeared at the door. Lauren, the judge is here.

She rose. Were ready.

He didnt get a say? Jesse wasnt sure he liked this take-charge Lauren. But wasnt that one of the reasons hed let her go? So, she could reach her potential, as his mom might have said. His throat clogged with the loss that would always be too fresh.