Deep Waters

P
RAISE FOR
J
AYNE
A
NN
K
RENTZ'S

DEEP WATERS

“Adventure, humor, romance, and a great supporting cast of characters add up to another very enjoyable novel by Jayne Ann Krentz.”

—Library Journal

“Highly recommended for anyone feeling the winter blahs.… The clever and constant repartee between Charity and Elias is of the laugh-aloud quality without being slapstick. The sexual tension and subsequent lovemaking burn holes in the paper.”

—Bookpage

“The inimitable style of Ms. Krentz shines supremely in
DEEP WATERS.
The characters are darling and quirky, and the plot is vintage. The reader will be alternately entertained with humor, suspense, lavish sensuality, and all-around great pleasure. Pamper yourselves; this one is worth it.”

—Rendezvous

“A fun read.… Krentz has a real gift for dreaming up unusual characters, and
DEEP WATERS
is up to her usual standards.…”

—The Oakland Press
(Pontiac, MI)

“Krentz fans will be very pleased with her latest.…
DEEP WATERS
has everything Krentz fans have come to expect and more.… Submerse yourself in an entertaining and satisfying love story.”

—Compuserve Romance Reviews

“Ms. Krentz does it all well.… There is instant tension and mixed feelings between Charity and Elias.…”

—The Chattanooga
(TN)
Times

“Superb.… Quirky humor and passionate romance with a touch of suspense.”

—Romantic Times

J
AYNE
A
NN KRENTZ'S
P
REVIOUS
N
OVELS

ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY

“[A] cheerful escapist package combining sex and mystery.…”

—Cosmopolitan

“A delight.… Krentz's leads are engaging and believable.…

It's no wonder that the author's novels consistently hit bestseller lists—as this one should too, absolutely, positively.”

—Publishers Weekly

TRUST ME

“As in all Ms. Krentz's books, her characters are colorful, unique individuals who draw the reader into the story immediately. Secondary characters are unusual and amusing.… Great fun to read.”

—Rendezvous

“The pace is brisk and the high-tech gloss fun.… This should please Krentz's readership and may even lure some of her Amanda Quick fans into the 20th century.”

—Publishers Weekly

GRAND PASSION

“Filled with the kind of intelligent, offbeat characters … [who] are so fun to get to know that it's hard to close the book on them.”

—USA Today

“Krentz at her best … with the snappy dialogue that has become her trademark and a cast of characters you want to know personally.”

—Sandra Brown

HIDDEN TALENTS

“With
Hidden Talents
, Jayne Ann Krentz once again demonstrates her unparalleled ability to create a marvelously humorous, suspenseful, and romantic tale.”

—Romantic Times

WILDEST HEARTS

“The phenomenal Jayne Ann Krentz once again delivers one of her patented storytelling gems.… Another guaranteed top-notch read!”

—Romantic Times

FAMILY MAN

“I love Jayne's writing.… This book is no exception.… Filled with quirky secondary characters, this book's a winner.”

—Heart to Heart

PERFECT PARTNERS

“Bold style and a wicked sense of humor.… Toss in a gaggle of vividly drawn minor characters … and it adds up to entertaining contemporary romance.… Krentz is in top form.”

—Publishers Weekly

SWEET FORTUNE

“The inimitable Jayne Ann Krentz is back wheeling and dealing in corporate boardrooms for our reading pleasure.… Always a consistent delight, Ms. Krentz has penned another winner.”

—Rave Reviews

SILVER LININGS

“Wonderful characters, a great plot with lots of action, and a fine romance with lots of sparks—what more could you ask for?”

—Rendezvous

 

Books by Jayne Ann Krentz

The Golden Chance
Silver Linings
Sweet Fortune
Perfect Partners
Family Man
Wildest Hearts
Hidden Talents
Grand Passion
Trust Me
Absolutely, Positively
Deep Waters

By Jayne Ann Krentz writing as Jayne Castle

Amaryllis

Published by POCKET BOOKS

The sale of this book without its cover is unauthorized. If you purchased this book without a cover, you should be aware that it was reported to the publisher as “unsold and destroyed.” Neither the author nor the publisher has received payment for the sale of this “stripped book.”

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

A Pocket Star Book published by POCKET BOOKS, a division of Simon & Schuster Inc. 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020 www.SimonandSchuster.com

Copyright © 1996 by Jayne Ann Krentz

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information address Pocket Books. 1230 Avenue of the Americas. New York. NY 10020

ISBN: 1-4391-5452-X
ISBN-13: 978-1-4391-5452-6
eISBN-13: 978-1-4516-2400-7

First Pocket Books paperback printing December 1997

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

POCKET STAR BOOKS and colophon are registered trademarks of Simon & Schuster Inc.

Cover art by Tom Hallman

Printed in the U.S.A.

For my brother,
Stephen Castle,
with love

Prologue: Charity
 
 

The sea lures the unwary with the promise of freedom, but it harbors great risk.

—“On the Way of Water,” from the journal of Hayden Stone

The panic attack struck as Charity Truitt swept through the glass-paned French doors of one of the most exclusive business clubs in Seattle. It hit her with the force of a stiff jolt of electricity. Her pulse pounded. She could scarcely breathe. Perspiration suddenly threatened to ruin her outrageously sophisticated red silk dress. Luckily, she hadn't paid retail for the overpriced scrap of designer whimsy. Her family owned the store in which it had been on display in the couture section.

Charity came to a halt in the doorway of the private lounge that had been reserved for the occasion. She struggled to take a deep breath. She put up an even more valiant fight to conceal the fact that she had a major problem on her hands. It occurred to her that
those in the well-dressed crowd who noticed her hovering there on the threshold probably thought she was making an intentionally dramatic entrance. The truth was, she was on the verge of panicked flight.

With the iron-willed discipline of a woman who had been running a corporation since the age of twenty-four, she forced herself to smile while anxiety shredded her insides.

It wasn't the first panic attack she had endured. They had been striking with increasing frequency during the past four months, destroying her sleep, making her edgy and restless, and, worst of all, raising dark questions about her mental health.

The attacks had driven her first to her doctor and then to a therapist. She got some technical explanations but no real answers.

An unprovoked fight-or-flight response, the therapist had said. An evolutionary throwback to the days when we all lived in caves and worried about monsters in the night. Stress was usually a contributing factor.

But now, tonight, Charity suddenly knew the real reason for the attacks. She realized at last what, or, rather, who, triggered the surges of panic. His name was Brett Loftus, owner of Loftus Athletic Gear. He was big, well over six feet tall, and, at thirty, still endowed with the body of the varsity football star he had once been. He was also blond, brown-eyed, and good-looking in an engaging, old-fashioned, western hero sort of way. Just to top it off, he was hugely successful and a really nice man.

Charity liked him, but she did not love him. She was pretty sure that she could never love him. Worse, she had a strong hunch that her stepsister, Meredith, and the easygoing, good-natured Brett were perfect for each other. The recent panic attacks had not diminished all of her near-legendary intuition.

Unfortunately, it was Charity, not Meredith, who was supposed to announce her engagement to the heir to the Loftus empire tonight.

The merger was to be a business move as well as a personal union. In a few weeks, Loftus Athletic Gear would be joining with the family-owned Truitt department store chain to form Truitt-Loftus.

The new company would be one of the largest privately owned retailers in the Northwest. If all went well, it would begin expanding into the exciting Pacific Rim market within two years.

For the sake of the family and business responsibilities that she had shouldered so early, Charity was about to marry a man who gave her anxiety attacks every time he took her into his arms.

It was not Brett's fault that he was so big that she got claustrophobic when he kissed her, she thought wildly. It was her problem. She had to deal with it.