Alluring Turmoil (2 page)

“You are not simply a reader with Alluring Turmoil. You become part of the book. It feels as if you are there in the story. You feel everything the characters feel. Alluring Turmoil, Book 1 of the Bayou Stix Series, takes you on a ride. You will feel pain, betrayal, heartache, joy, humor, second chances, understanding, and above all, you feel love.”

~
5 STARS
by
Stacee Reads A Lot Book Blog

“This fiery beginning in the Bayou Stix series delivers promise of what will surely become a wet and wild adventure.”

~
5 STARS from
Thomas

“This isn’t just the same old same old story. It isn’t predictable. It’s a page turner until the very end!”

~
5 STARS
from
Author LL Collins

Lexi

“C
ome on, Lexi. Why are you being difficult? It’s front row at Bayou Stix.
BAYOU STIX
! Do you not understand this? Micah pulled some serious strings to get us these. Come on!” is what I hear from my old college roommate, now best friend Bradi.

“Bradi, I just don’t know. Things are so busy here, I have inventory to do, and I really need to get started on the Masons’ wedding cake. Besides, I’m not a big fan of Bayou Stix. You know that.” I answer, as I look around at my coffee shop/bakery.

Java and Sweeties is my baby. It was always my dream to own and run a coffee shop/bakery. I’m living my dream and I’m very proud of what we’ve put together here over the past few years. I take in the autumn sunset colored walls with the back wall being a built in bookshelf. The black leather couches and recliners spaced intermittently with the bistro sets and warm mocha throw rugs on the polished hardwood floor give the space a warm and welcoming feel.

Over the past two years, business has really taken off and Java and Sweeties has become the go-to place for LSU students and professionals alike to come to study, or work on presentations. My cakes and baked confections have also been on more than one highly respected person’s table over the past year.

“Oh, don’t give me that bullshit, Lexi! This place can spare you for one night.
One
night! I get it. It’s your baby, but you still need a life. You
are
coming with me to the concert. It’s Jude… fucking… Delecroix! Sex on a stick! Don’t make me break out the big guns, because you know I will!”

“That doesn’t work on me Bradi. I’m immune to your wiles,” I say with a chuckle. “But you’re right… ok. I’ll come with you. But I am
not
going backstage. I mean it. I’m serious!”

“Ok fine. We’ll see.
Yay
!” Bradi exclaims as she jumps around doing some sort of happy dance. “Sheesh, I don’t want to have to browbeat you. And I know it isn’t your thing, but it’ll be fun. You’ll see!”

“Yo Erik, she said
yes
!” Bradi yells out to my lifelong best friend, as he’s making an espresso behind the counter.

“Oh great. That’s awesome. It’s going to be an interesting night. One that we’ll certainly never forget!” Erik calls back, giving me a small wink and a sheepish smile, before turning back to the customer.

“Sooo, what should I wear? I’m thinking my purple skinny jeans with my black stilettos and my black sequined halter top. You know the one that makes my boobs look fabulous? Or should I wear my leather miniskirt with the red tube top and my thigh high leather boots? I want to be sure the band notices me!” Bradi asks me with a twinkle in her eye.

“Come on Bradi, seriously? Aren’t you back on with Micah? You know, hence the front row tickets to the sold out concert. And you being noticed is never a problem!” Bradi is gorgeous. As in supermodel gorgeous. She’s what guys call “stacked”. At 5’8 with wavy blond hair accented with dark chocolate lowlights, moss green eyes, a perfect heart shaped mouth, breasts that women pay for, a narrow waist, and curvy hips with legs for days, yeah, she has no trouble being noticed.

Now, I’m not unattractive, but next to her, I feel like a wallflower.

Bradi gives me a devious grin and says, “Yes, we’re back on. We’re always on. Even when we’re off. I love that man! And was he on last night… Ahhhhhhh! However, there is nothing wrong with trying to catch a sexy rock star’s attention. Besides, I’ve already told you, if Jude Delecroix motions my way, I’m dropping my panties before he can blink and change his mind. I would
so
have his rock-star babies.”

My heart starts racing and my head feels strange as I say, “Ok, you do that. Rock stars are overrated. In my opinion, you should stick with Micah and have
his
babies. He’s crazy hot, he’s in love with you, and he puts up with your insanity.”

Bradi gives me a serious look and says, “Lexi, you know I’m joking, right? Are you ok? I would never do that to Micah. Jude is a fantasy… you know,
most
women have a guy they fantasize about. Sometimes, I wonder about you chick. Are you feeling ok though? I mean really, you look a little off. I think you’ve been working too much. You really do need a break, even if it’s just for one night!”

I wipe my hands down my jeans and cover her hand with mine. “I know, babe. You’re you and that’s why I love you. And yeah, I have been working a lot. This place just takes a lot out of me, but I love it.”

“And
that’s
why you’re coming with us Friday night! You need to remember that you’re only twenty-six. You might be a crazy successful business owner, but you’re also a fabulously sexy chick who needs to get out, have some fun, and shit,
get laid
!” she says with a smirk. “Now what are we going to dress you in?”

I roll my eyes and can’t help but laugh at her. I love this crazy woman so much. Besides, she’s right. I need to have some fun. It’s time to let loose again and be a regular, twenty-six year old, single woman. “You pick. Just make sure all my womanly bits are covered!”

“Well, you’re no fun,” Bradi says with a smile. As she reaches over to kiss my cheek and I give her a hug, I don’t hear the door to the shop open.

My back is to the door. The shop is busy for a Wednesday night. Almost every couch and chair is filled and there’s a nice line of people at the counter waiting to order their coffee or pick up a sweet treat from our bakery display racks. John Mayer is playing over the speakers low enough not to bother anyone working, but loud enough that you can hear the music.

Suddenly, the hair on the back of my neck stands up as if I’ve just been shocked. Bradi is facing the door and her eyes go wide. “Oh my God… Oh my God…
OH MY GOD
!”

I slowly turn around, as if pulled by an imaginary cord, but I already know what I’ll see. My mind sees everything as if in slow motion. My eyes travel the length of a slim, but cut, 6’1 body, taking everything in, from the tips of his black boots to the top of his spiked dirty blond purple tipped hair. I notice all of the tattoos and the scruff that looks as if it’s a permanent part of a chiseled face.

“Oh
FUCK ME
!” I gasp out.

I feel faint. My hands start to sweat, my stomach starts to clench, and my panties start to moisten. It’s instinctual. My eyes move back down a smidge and rest on the clear, hard, hazel eyes of the one and only Jude Delecroix, lead singer of Bayou Stix, and he’s staring right back at me.

I unconsciously start to shake and forget that I’m still holding onto Bradi. Only now I’m squeezing her as if she’s a lifeline. I feel her move to where she’s looking into my face, but I can’t move. I can’t speak. I cannot break the all consuming hold of the hazel eyes across the room. Those eyes that still haunt my dreams… every night.

Jude

I’m staring into the whiskey golden eyes across the room and I can’t stop. It’s almost as if I’m frozen. Rooted to the floor. My hands clench and unclench and I have to grit my teeth. The urge to run across the room and kiss those moist red lips or to scream into that beautiful, perfect face for still affecting me is almost too much to handle.

Alexia Sloane… here, in front of me. This is what I wanted. This is what I needed. But now that I’m here, everything I’ve ever thought this moment would be, the way it would play out, goes out of the window. My head is suddenly blank, but I can’t stop looking into those eyes. Those eyes, that I once thought could see into my soul. The eyes that every night when I close my eyes, I still see, no matter what I do to banish them… no matter how many women I take into my bed. My heart is empty. Dead. But those eyes… those fucking gorgeous eyes. They haunt me.

Lexi

B
radi is pulling on my arm. I can feel her, sort of. It’s as if I’m in a tunnel, me on one end and Jude on the other. Everyone and everything else is covered in fog. Nothing else exists. It’s only him and me.

Our eyes stay locked. I’m stunned, frozen in time. I thought I’d do this differently. I knew there was going to come a time when we would be in the same room together again, but I’m not ready. Not now. I’m not ready! I need more time.

“Lexi. Lexi. What the fuck Lexi?
LEXI?
”

Finally I’m able to tear my eyes away from Jude and focus on my friend.