Beautiful Disaster (A Pirate Romance book, Historical Romance) Read Free Page A

other such highly advanced technology.  He turned around on the heel of his boot which caused his dark hair to litter his eyes.  He quickly brushed his eyes free of the locks, and then glanced skeptically down the stairs.  Then, after a moment’s hesitation, began descending.  When he reached the bottom, he realized he was right across the street from the beach, and smiled at such recognition.  Johnny hastily crossed the paved road and walked into the sand with his boots.  Even crossing different time barriers could never change the sea.  The sun was setting at that moment, and instantly, he was reminded of the gentle breeze, the swaying of the waves, the sturdiness of his ship.
     
    Johnny Clover was rarely a sentimental man, but when it came to what he longed for the most, he could not help himself.  He had yet to find a woman that rivaled his first love, the brilliant, blue ocean, and highly doubted he would ever come across such a person.  It wasn’t as though he did not love women; quite on the contrary.  Johnny firmly believed that regardless of race or size, there was something beautiful about each and every woman.  He was quite popular with the opposite sex, and a master of persuasion.  The sea, however, continued to baffle him with every roll of her wave, every sparkle that contained her mystery.  He would never tire of the sea as he did with women; he would never see such indescribable beauty on a woman the way he did with the sea.  There was simply no comparison, and he highly doubted there would ever be.  However, this did not stop him from indulging in the pleasures the opposite sex had to offer.  It was the one thing the sea could not offer: warmth.  Of course he felt inside of himself a glow of pride whenever he set sail or faced dangerous peril on the open sea, but the sea could not please him the way a woman could.  The sea could not hold him the way a woman could.  And yet, his love for the ocean always won out.  Something inside of him hoped to find a woman he could start a family with, but he highly doubted he would find her, wherever she was.
     
    Johnny finally tore his eyes from the horizon of the sea and glanced around him.  Despite the looming evening, people were still scattered along the shore, playing in the sand, or lying on what appeared to be thick, colorful clothes.  Women were barely covered, a fact that did not escape his sharp eyes, and even the men wore less than he was used to.  He suddenly felt incredibly overdressed and wondered if he should take off his tunic in order to blend in more appropriately.
     
    A loud bang caused him to jump out of his thoughts.  Immediately Johnny swiveled around, just in time to catch a glimpse of a red, metal box sort of thing with wheels attached to it, heading down the paved road.  It was then he noticed there was the same sort of contraptions lined up in the street.  Johnny cautiously walked over to the nearest one and touched his fingers to his chin and peered at it quite suspiciously.  What, exactly, were these things?  A few people glanced at him oddly, but Johnny didn’t seem to notice them.  He was too consumed in studying the thing in front of him.
     
    After a moment of trying to figure out what it was, he took a few steps back.  Now what was he supposed to do?  Normally, if he was in such a circumstance back home, he would stow away onto a ship and wait for the right moment before commandeering the vessel until he made it back to his own.  But it seemed that he lacked shelter, and though he would never admit it aloud, he began to worry.  He reached into his pockets, trying to grip his rolled tobacco.  It was then that he remembered he had given that woman his jacket, and inside those pockets were his tobacco.  He wondered if that was a suitable excuse to go back to her room, and then ask her, quite charmingly, if he could stay the night.
     
    “Johnny Clover,” a voice snarled from behind him, causing him to