Back from the Future with BONUS Trading Spaces: MADE FOR THE MOVIES Fantasy Romance

By JUDY ANGELO

BACK FROM THE FUTURE

 

When the past becomes your future…

Megan Hailey is a physicist assigned to a very unusual project – perfecting the process of traveling through time. She's pretty good at what she does, but here's the problem – her co-scientist, the lead physicist on this project, Carter Kincaid. How dare he be so disarmingly handsome that he keeps distracting her and making her mess up? When that distraction makes her throw them back into the time of the pirates, it is then that she realizes that he's just too much…definitely bad for her business. She will have to find a way to end this rocky professional relationship, and the sooner the better.

Carter Kincaid has always found working with feisty little Miss Megan Hailey a serious challenge. It's bad enough that she's a cute one, a co-worker he must keep at a distance, especially because of the effect she's having on him. On top of that, though, she's not the easiest person to lead, rebel that she is, always quick to challenge his instructions. But then she makes a monumental mistake – she throws them five hundred years into the past without the tools to get them back to the present. As the pirates of the past put their lives in peril, Carter must decide on the depth of his love. Would he willingly sacrifice himself to save the life of the woman he secretly loves? Before he knows it, the question is put to the test.

Which is more important – your life or your love? It is now time to find out.

 

 

TRADING SPACES

TRADING PLACES, TRADING SPACES – OKAY.
BUT TRADING BODIES?

Neesha Marlowe has never believed in magic…until the morning she wakes up to find herself in a situation she could never have imagined in a million years. She's switched bodies…with a man who annoys the heck out of her!

Neesha would never have believed something like this could actually happen – falling victim to a magic spell that ripped her out of her body and deposited her in the body of a man? Impossible!

But maybe not so impossible…not when she is waking each morning to shave a stubbly beard, dealing with male hormones shooting through a body that keeps threatening to betray her…with a most private body part that refuses to lay low. And the worst part? This traitorous body within which she is trapped is determined to betray her by falling in love with that one consummate male chauvinist who has stolen, not just her body, but also her heart.

Dean Craine has never met a woman who needles him so darned much. Neesha is a trip, a co-worker he can gladly do without. And he let her know that, in no uncertain terms. But then, to his horror, he ends up living the life of Neesha Marlowe…the life of a woman! The victim of an unbelievable, incredible, other-worldly body switch, he must now fend for himself in the mysterious world of women. And it doesn't help that, at a time when he can do nothing about it, he's falling for the woman who, for more than a year, has been working his last nerve. How can he declare his love when he is the polar opposite of what he should be – a man, for Christ's sake!

Mystical mayhem, conquered only by love…

• Language: English
• Publisher: Judy Angelo
• Release date: Jul 17, 2022
• ISBN: 9798201772345

JUDY ANGELO

New York Times & USA Today best-selling author, Judy Angelo, considers herself a ‘traveling writer’. She currently resides in Ontario, Canada but prior to that she called New York and then Illinois home. She has also spent considerable time in the Caribbean, Latin America and Europe. She loves to travel as it provides her with interesting and diverse settings for her stories.   Judy fell in love with romance novels as a teenager and has never lost her passion for these stories of love and life, conflict and reconciliation, relationships and family. For her, it was a natural progression from reading romance novels to writing them. So far, she has written over 70 romance novels, including the best-selling Bad Boy Billionaires series. Her other series include The Billionaire Brothers Kent, The Castillos, and the Comedy, Conflict & Romance series.   She hopes to continue entertaining her readers with intriguing stories for many years to come.   Website - www.judyangelo.blogspot.com   I would love to hear from you! [e-mail]

Book preview

BACK from the FUTURE

JUDY ANGELO

MADE FOR THE MOVIES

Fantasy Romance Series

Book 2 1

BACK FROM THE FUTURE

WHEN THE PAST BECOMES your future...

Megan Hailey is a physicist assigned to a very unusual project – perfecting the process of traveling through time.  She’s pretty good at what she does, but here’s the problem – her co-scientist, the lead physicist on this project, Carter Kincaid.  How dare he be so disarmingly handsome that he keeps distracting her and making her mess up?  When that distraction makes her throw them back into the time of the pirates, it is then that she realizes that he’s just too much...definitely bad for her business.  She will have to find a way to end this rocky professional relationship, and the sooner the better.

Carter Kincaid has always found working with feisty little Miss Megan Hailey a serious challenge.  It’s bad enough that she’s a cute one, a co-worker he must keep at a distance, especially because of the effect she’s having on him.  On top of that, though, she’s not the easiest person to lead, rebel that she is, always quick to challenge his instructions.  But then she makes a monumental mistake – she throws them five hundred years into the past without the tools to get them back to the present.  As the pirates of the past put their lives in peril, Carter must decide on the depth of his love.  Would he willingly sacrifice himself to save the life of the woman he secretly loves?  Before he knows it, the question is put to the test. 

Which is more important – your life or your love?  It is now time to find out.

CHAPTER ONE

W hy should we go to the year 2050, anyway?  2100 would provide more insight, I’d bet.  Megan raised her eyebrows as she watched Carter swiping the computer screen, deliberately ignoring her.  As usual.

Unfazed by his obvious lack of interest, she pressed on.  2050 isn’t that far off.  Only twenty years away.  How much more advanced in technology do you think we’ll be by then?  I don’t know if it would even be worth the visit.  We may not learn that much.

For almost ten seconds, silence...like Carter was planning to totally ignore her.  Then, in no hurry at all, his royal highness turned his dark-eyed gaze toward her.  Let’s not overdo this, he said, his voice grave, like it usually was.  We’re only testing this technology.  We don’t want to go so far forward in time that our technology will be totally obsolete when we get there.  You never know, that may mess with the controls.  2050 is good enough.

Megan shook her head.  So boring.

Carter gave her a smug smile.  Thank you, Miss Hailey.  I aim to please.

Scowling, Megan turned away, almost wishing she could smack the smirk from his lips, or at least say something biting that would wipe the smile off his face.  Of course, she couldn’t.  Carter Kincaid was the senior researcher in this operation.  She reported to him.  The fact that she had a PhD in quantum mechanics meant nothing.  Having an advanced degree in physics certainly didn’t give her anywhere near the level of control she wanted, in this research lab.

She muttered silent curses as she turned her attention to her own computer screen, pretending to be busy.  So she couldn’t defy the man who was practically her boss. But that didn’t say she couldn’t needle him.

Her eyes still on her computer screen, not glancing at him at all, she spoke again, casually, like she was discussing the weather.  I’ve heard it said, she paused, waiting for him to start listening, that under your supervision we won’t make much progress with this project.  Plays it too safe.  That’s what they say.

That did the trick.  It got his attention, enough for him to glance over at her again.  He raised an eyebrow.  They?

She shrugged.  You know, people around the research lab.  We’d be farther ahead on this time travel project if you would take some risks.  Now it was her turn to smirk.  Like I do.

That got her a snort.  Like the risk you took last time and almost got us stuck in 2025?

She cut him a defiant glare.  That was only five years ago.  Would it have been the end of the world if we’d gone back five years and lived there?

His look was one of annoyance.  Are you listening to yourself?  Then he shook his head.  May I remind you that this is not a game?  The whole idea is not for us to get stuck anywhere.  We’re physicists, Megan.  We’re here to test and perfect the technology of time travel.

Which requires care, patience and a good dose of caution.  I know, I know.  She was rolling her eyes as she repeated the words he’d been hammering at her for the past year, for as long as they’d been working together on the time travel project.  She’d heard them so many times that she felt like, if she heard them one more time, she would reach out and strangle him.  Well, maybe not literally, but goodness. Would he get off his soapbox, already?

Now come over here, he said, turning back to the computer screen.  Let me show you what’s going on with these atoms.

In an obedient mood, Megan went.  What she saw made her raise her eyebrows. They’re moving faster than I’ve ever seen them go.

Exactly.  You know what that means, don’t you?  If we can transfer atoms this fast we’ll soon be able to travel to the third millennium if we want.

Megan flashed him a wide smile.  Cool.  Party like it’s 2999.

The look he gave her told her he was not amused.  Will you be serious, just this once?  When his glare silenced her, he gave her a satisfied nod.  This is a real breakthrough for us.  It’s the first time that the velocity of the atoms has increased to the point that it could break through multiple time warps.

She nodded.  Sounds good.  She’d been about to say, ‘awesome’ but she decided against it.  Young though he was, Carter was an old fogey at heart.  She bit back a smile, thinking about it.  She’d been trying to change him for the past year, with no luck.  If she were to have any hope of it she would definitely have to step up her game.

And step it up, she would.  Not because she wanted to annoy the heck out of her work partner...although that was a perk...but because she wanted to normalize him, just enough that he would move away from the computer screen for just a little minute so he would take the time to notice her.  Here she was, working by the side of one of the most handsome men she knew, and he hadn’t even spared her a glance.  Not once.

And here she was...idiot that she was...so aware of him that every morning that she walked into the lab and saw him there, her nipples would go pebble-hard in her blouse.  Dammit!

She shook her head.  Time to get her thoughts out of the clouds.  Time to focus on the work at hand, at least for now.

Again, Carter glanced over at her and this time he was smiling.  Time to take the atomizer for another test run.  Not too far, mind you.  I’m encouraged by what I saw with the atoms but we have to take it slow.  Caution is key.

Megan had to fight to keep from rolling her eyes.  Now why wasn’t she surprised he’d said that?  Caution.  His favorite word.

She headed over to the atomizer machine and pulled the door open.  How far forward? she asked as she stepped inside.

Let’s stick with 2050, he said.  Once we’re comfortable with that we can try a bit farther.

She would have wanted to be a bit more adventurous but she wouldn’t fight him.  Not this time.  She shrugged.  You’re the boss.

She entered and walked over to the interior screen where she began to swipe.  She wasn’t surprised when Carter entered the chamber and stepped forward to stand beside her, his gaze glued to the screen.  It was just like him, to come over to watch, to make sure she was doing exactly as he’d ordered.  She gave herself a mental shrug.  How could she knock him for that?  She’d been known to take initiative from time to time, a minor veer from plan.  It would make him go ballistic.  Her lips curled in a secret smile as she remembered the last time she’d been too adventurous for his liking.  He’d really chewed her out that time.

Well, not today.  She wouldn’t give him that pleasure.  Today she was in an obedient mood and would follow his orders to the letter.

Now he was pointing to the map on the screen.  Okay, he said, this time we’ll take her to Australia.  Let’s see what our mates will be up to in the next twenty years.

Done.  She immediately set the locator then in one smooth move she slammed on the button to close the door while reaching out to activate.

Hold on, Carter said as he started turning toward the door.  Let me grab the-

Too late.  Megan’s hand was already on its way to pressing the activation button.  Mid-move, the momentum carrying her forward, there was no way to stop.

Immediately that her palm pressed the button the air began to pulsate, the signal that the atomization process had begun.  

She heard Carter’s sharp intake of breath.  I told you to hold on, he yelled.  Why don’t you ever listen?

She was not going to take that sitting down.  It’s not my fault you were so slow, she yelled back.  You take so long to say things.

The air in the internal cabin was pulsating faster now, sucking in and out, pushing them closer together.

You never wait.  He sounded totally pissed.  Now we’re in deep shit.

Megan’s heart jerked.  Carter using profanity?  Something was definitely wrong. What do you mean? she yelled back.

That thing I wanted to grab? he shouted, as his body began to vaporize in front of her eyes.  It was the atomizer remote.  I’d left it on the desk.  How the hell are we going to get back without the remote?

Megan’s heart did a serious back flip.

Oh, shit.

WHERE ARE WE?

Annoyed beyond words, Carter didn’t bother to answer.  Megan and her impulsiveness.  It was enough to drive a man insane.

When he finally answered, it was through gritted teeth.  How should I know? he grated.  In case you hadn’t noticed, the place is totally dark.  He dug into his back pocket and pulled out his cell phone.  A quick swipe, scroll, and then a tap and then a beam of light lit up Megan’s face.  She looked confused and just a little bit scared. That was a first.

Wanting to determine where they’d landed, Carter swung the beam of light away from her face and toward their surroundings.  What he saw made him frown.

Piled around them were large wooden boxes and packed beside those were huge canvas bags.  His best guess was that they contained something like flour.  His frown deepening, he swung the beam of light even wider, revealing roughly hewn planks sealed together to create a solid wooden wall.  He swung the beam of light wider still, and what he saw made his jaw drop.  Whatever building they were in had chains with cuffs hanging from hooks imbedded in the wooden walls.  They hadn’t landed in the friendliest of places, that was for sure.

Intrigued, he got up off the floor and, moving away from Megan’s side, he walked over to the unwelcoming walls.  He was reaching a hand out to touch the chains when the room began to rock.

Oh, crap.  Earthquake!

He had just enough time to drop to the wooden floor, making sure to cradle the phone close to him, and then he was crawling back to Megan who must have been shocked into silence.  All he could hear was her heavy breathing.

Then he heard her gulp.  What’s happening? she yelped, obviously scared.

Stay down, he ordered.  Earthquake.  Our best bet is to lay low.  He reached out and grabbed her hand.  Let’s find a doorjamb and stay there.  That’s the safest place.

He pulled out the phone again and shone the light around, trying desperately to find the door, but there was none in sight.  What the hell?

And then, as suddenly as it had started, the rocking ceased.  By this time he was crouched over, Megan huddling beneath him.  Instinctively, he’d reached out and pulled her under him, determined to shield her with his body.  He would make sure she was safe even if he wasn’t.

Even after the room stopped rocking they stayed still, crouched that way for almost a minute before making any move.  Then slowly, he drew away from her.

Are you all right?

She nodded.  I’m fine.  What happened?

He drew in a shaky breath.  Earthquake, I think.  Then he shook his head.  But it was a really weird kind of earthquake.  No rumbling, nothing toppling over, just a kind of rocking.  He shook his head again.  Like I said, weird.

He lifted the phone again, bent on figuring out where the heck they were.  He swung the beam around the room and for the first time he noticed wooden stairs leading up to what looked like a trapdoor.  He glanced over at Megan.

Her gaze had followed the beam of light and now, like him, she was staring at the trap door.  What the heck is that? she whispered.

It looks like we’re in somebody’s basement, he said.  That would explain the dank, musty smell.

She nodded, but then she looked up and frowned.  Look at those weird windows, so small and high up on the wall.  They look sort of strange for a basement, don’t you think?

He had to agree with that.  Round windows? He raised his eyebrows.  Maybe we should check them out.

He walked over to one of the windows, Megan in tow, climbed on top of a crate and reached up to press his palm to the pane.  It was strangely curved and very thick.

Curious, Carter went up on his toes, high enough so he could peer through the glass.  It was grey out there, the patch of sky that he could see so dark that it looked like it was ready to rain.

And then he saw something move below.  He peered harder.  What the hell was that?

And then, just as the thing moved, the floor began to roll.

Holy shit.  Carter stumbled back.

He heard Megan suck in her breath.  What’s going on? she gasped.  Why are we moving again?

Carter put out a hand to steady her.  It was clear to him now.  As clear as day.

What he had seen rolling out there were waves.  No wonder the ground kept moving beneath their feet. They’d hopped out of the research lab in Washington D.C. and had thrown themselves into the bottom of an ancient ship.  Instead of sailing into the civilized future they’d gone back in time, back to a time when the bottom of boats were still made of wood.  Holy...

He turned and looked down at Megan.  We’re out on the ocean, he said, in the hold of a ship. 

He stepped away and swung the light around the hold again.  Now that they knew where they were...sort of...the big question was, in what era were they? Ancient, that was for sure, but how ancient?

Carter began to move around the room, desperate for clues.  He shone the light on the big bags in the corner, searching for some kind of stamp or label.  Nothing.  Then he skimmed the barrels.  No labels.  Nothing.  All they were, were wooden barrels.  Lots of them.  There were pieces of cloth on the floor, too, heavy canvas like something you would use for sails.  And that was probably what they were - the sails of some kind of ancient ship.

He turned his attention away from that corner and was swinging the beam of light wide when Megan’s squeak made him freeze.

Stop, she squealed.  I see something.  She dashed over to a spot just below the wooden steps.  She bent to grab something and then she was hurrying back to him.  Look, she breathed.  A coin.

When she opened her hand he shone the light down onto it.  On her palm sat a copper coin on which had been stamped the head of a man.

Slowly, almost gingerly, Carter reached out and picked it up off her palm.  Holding his breath, he turned it over.  There, plain as the nose on his face, was the year stamped on the back.  They’d gone back in time over four hundred years.  Oh, Christ.

Megan was still staring up at him.  What does it say? she whispered.

His lips tightened.  Then he spoke.  The coin carries the portrait of Carolus II, Charles the Second.  It says the year 1667, he told her, over four hundred years off our target.

She gasped, eyes wide.  I must have tapped the wrong spot on the timeline, she said, her voice breathless with disbelief.

I’ll say.  He grimaced.  How many times have I spoken to you about being distracted when you’re using the atomizer?

That made her scowl.  It’s not my fault.  You distracted me.  She folded her arms across her chest.  You started talking just as I was selecting the time on the line.

I was telling you I needed to get the remote-

The remote, she said with a gasp, cutting him off.  You forgot the remote.

He glanced at her.  I didn’t forget it.  You didn’t give me the chance to get it.

Her eyes grew wide with trepidation.  So how do we get back?

He tightened his lips.  Without the remote, it’s not going to be easy.

She kept staring up at him, her eyes glazed over in shock, and then her face began to crumple.  Don’t tell me we’re stuck here forever.

Although she deserved it, he couldn’t bear to make her suffer any longer.  Well, there’s one option we have.

Hope shot back into her eyes.  What’s that?

It’s a fail-safe I built into the program, just in case.  He sighed.  Thank God I had the sense to do that.

So what is it?  Her voice sharp with annoyance, she wasn’t even trying to hide her impatience.

If, for the next seventy-two hours, we can stay exactly where we are, the program is set to atomize us back to 2030, back to the lab.  It will trigger at the seventy-second hour.

So all we have to do is stay right here?

He nodded.  That’s it.

She frowned.  So why’d you set it for seventy-two hours?  That’s three whole days.

I know, but I was factoring in if we went somewhere and then wanted time to do research before we headed back.  I figured seventy-two hours would be enough.

Her lips twisted.  More than enough.  Ten minutes would have been ideal.

He nodded.  Now we know.  Then he looked around again.  If we can stay out of sight for that time, we’ll be okay.  We just have to make sure we have food and water and hope the sailors won’t have to come down to get anything while we’re here.

Megan didn’t look too happy about that arrangement but she seemed to accept it because she nodded.  She drew in a deep breath that she must have found fortifying because she shrugged and then stepped away and headed back toward the porthole.  She was almost there when she stumbled.

What’s this? he heard her say and then she was bending to pick up something from the floor.

When she lifted her hand, he trained the light on her.  She was clutching a rectangular box made of dark metal, only about ten inches in length.  It was a small, flat box that probably didn’t hold much of anything but Carter was anxious to see what was in it.  It would probably give them more clues on the kind of ship they were in.

Quickly, they set it on the floor then Megan held the light while Carter pried the box open.  In it was a paper, folded over many times, creased and old.

Carefully, Carter unfolded it and opened it out for them to see.  It was a drawing, a sketch, some sort of rough map.  In one corner of the map, on what looked like a landmass, was a huge letter X.  And then, in the far corner, was a signature of some sort.

Carter bent down, putting his face close to the paper, peering at it.  What he saw made him suck in his breath.

Brows furrowed in consternation, he looked up at Megan.  Henry Morgan? he whispered.  He could swear he’d heard that name before.

She gasped.  Henry Morgan, she whispered, repeating the words he’d just said out loud.

And then it hit him like a bolt of lightning.

Henry Morgan, they both gasped.  Pirates!

CHAPTER TWO

O h, my God.  What do we do now?

Carter glared at Megan.  What do you think?  We stay right where we are and pray that these pirates won’t have to come down here for the next seventy-two hours.

Yes, but what do we do for food?  And water?  Her voice was a whisper, which sounded more flustered with each word she spoke.  There was no question that the situation was beginning to sink in and she was getting scared.  What if they have to come down?

He decided to be firm.  That was the best way to calm her down.  It wasn’t that he was feeling so much calmer, himself, but it wouldn’t help matters if they gave in to fear.  Enough with the ‘what if's’, he said.  We can easily solve the question of food by scrounging around.  He shone the light around.  There are lots of barrels down here.  Some of them must have water, even food.  He stepped over to the nearest one.  Got a pen knife?

Her answer to that one was quick.  Why the heck would I have a pen knife? What do you think I am?  A girl scout?

He chuckled.  His question had done exactly what he’d intended.  In getting a rise out of her he’d made her forget her fear and focus instead on being her usual feisty self.  Okay, don’t get your knickers in a bunch.  I’ll find something.

It took some digging but he finally found something that he could use to bore a hole in the top of one of the wooden barrels.  He’d found a lone nail, long and rusty and far from hygienic but it would have to do.  Unsightly though it was, it was a fortunate find and one he would have to cherish until they found their way out of there.

Megan was watching him.  What are you going to use for a hummer? she asked.

He glanced around then his gaze fell on her.  He smiled.  Your head?

Like he knew it would, that made her frown disappear, her pursed lips relaxing into a grin.  Oh, so you’re being fresh with me, are you?  We’ll just see how long you can keep that up.  You’re going to need my help to survive down here.  Just you remember that. 

He laughed.  That was so true.  If for nothing else, he would need Megan to distract him and keep him sane while he tried to survive the wild world into which they’d fallen.

But as fast as he’d fallen into that moment of mirth, Carter turned serious.  If they were to survive this ordeal he would have to keep his wits about him.  Training the light into all the corners, he began to search in earnest.

And then he saw something.  Got it, he said, his voice breathless with relief.

It was a block of wood, probably the remnant from one of the ship’s beams, a leftover from the construction.  Great.

He scooped it up and walked back to the barrel on which he’d left the nail.  Handing the light to Megan he set the nail at the top of the barrel, point down, and began to pound.  Here goes, he whispered, praying it was water inside.

It wasn’t.  As soon as the liquid sprang up out of the hole, a quick swipe of a finger which he tapped against his tongue revealed that the liquid inside was not what he was looking for.

Rats.

His mutter made Megan tilt her head and fix a questioning look on him.  Not water?

He shook his head.  Wine.  He grimaced.  Just what we need.  A big barrel of wine just when we have every reason not to get drunk.  He glanced along the back wall.  Let’s try another one.

And so they went, from barrel to barrel, with Carter forcing the nail through the top, just far enough to let a little of the liquid seep through but not far enough for the nail to get stuck.

They’d done this to ten of the barrels when Carter turned to Megan.  All wine, he said.  He