The Sapphire Heist (A Jewel Novel Book 2) (6 page)

“Steph’s still involved?”

“We ran into each other and figured out we were after the same thing. So we’re teaming up on this one,” he said, resuming his pace along the path, keeping the Steph details simple. No need for Andrew to know they were sharing both a room and orgasms.

“She’s a lovely lady. She got her good looks from her mother.”

Jake startled at the odd remark. “Not sure what that has to do with anything, but be that as it may, we’re working on this, and, evidently, so are others. I’ll go the distance, but I need to know if that’s what you want.”

“Do what you can do. My shareholders are breathing down my neck. But please don’t commit any crimes to get there,” Andrew said, nerves pocked in his voice.

“Like breaking and entering? That sort of thing?” Jake asked wryly.

“Exactly.”

“I’ll do my best to stay above the law.”

Andrew cleared his throat, and Jake expected him to say good-bye. “Listen, I’ll offer you a bonus if you can pull this off,” he said, then rattled off a healthy number.

Jake blinked and stopped in his tracks. That would cover a lot of summer school. It would pay down a big chunk of law school. It would make life a hell of a lot easier. All he’d have to do would be to beat the competition and do it before Steph left for her tour in three days.

“You’re on,” he said, and returned to his room and his date. The next few hours were a reprieve from the hunt for jewels, and he intended to enjoy them to the fullest.

And her.

CHAPTER TEN

Later that evening, Jake glided across the sandy bottom of the seafloor at Eden Rock, sweeping a flashlight along the caves by the sand gully, drinking in oxygen from the regulator. The grottos underwater made for a perfect dive at dusk. As they explored a craggy cave, a school of silvery grassy sweepers darted past, stirring the cool waters forty feet below the surface.

Jake had gone on many dives in Key Largo, since his hometown was one of the top scuba destinations in the world. But Steph was the pro here, and her ease in the water was evident as she slipped through the rocky tunnels. He hadn’t told her in advance this was on the agenda for their hastily planned date, just to bring a bikini. That surprise factor worked, and it made her delight when they arrived at Eden Rock Dive Shop an hour ago all the more fun to witness. She’d bounced on her toes when she found out what they were doing—a thirty-minute sunset dive.

The site was so close to shore that they’d walked into the water, then swum one hundred and fifty yards to the buoy that marked Eden Rock.

A tarpon slipped past, nearly smacking him with a fin. Sea plants swayed in the ocean. But with air running low, it was time to say good-bye to the ocean. They rose up. As they broke the glassy surface, shades of vibrant pink and bright orange streaked across the sky. The sun raced toward the edge of the earth, flaring its final rays of the day in a radiant sunset.

They treaded water and watched the brilliant orb descend below the horizon in a burst of colors, then a glorious fade to dusk. He shifted his gaze to his date. He said nothing because words weren’t needed. The natural beauty said it all and so did her eyes—they sparkled as she stared into the distance. This was her happy place and he was lucky to share it with her.

Fifteen minutes later, they emerged from the water and reached the dive shop. He returned their equipment and they headed to his rental car. The air-conditioning in her Jeep had been on the fritz, so they’d driven in his car.

“Thank you for taking me on a dive. It was perfection,” she said as he opened the passenger door for her.

“You’re welcome, but I’m pretty sure you were the one taking me,” he corrected. “You’re the pro. I’m just along for the ride. I will, however, finally take you to dinner. Seemed like you were making googly eyes at the panini shop earlier today.”

She swatted his leg. “I was doing no such thing. At least, no more than you were,” she said, lowering her voice to a tease. “Which means—I was absolutely, positively lusting over a sandwich.”

A laugh shuddered through him. “That’s what I thought, Happy Turtle.”

“Let’s do it, Tommy. Sounds like a perfect dinner spot.”

While he’d happily take her to a fancier joint if she wanted, he was digging the fact that she was casual. She was easy. She didn’t seem to require much when it came to creature comforts. He liked that in a woman. He wasn’t a man who owned a tux. He didn’t swirl wine or hit the links at a country club. He preferred beer, baseball, and boats, as well as sandwiches. After they arrived they ordered: Caribbean chicken for her and a spicy grouper sandwich for him, and beers for the both of them.

The faint tinkle of island music and the plink on the kettledrum wafted through the eatery, drifting onto the patio where they enjoyed a view of the inky black sea in the distance. She spread her napkin on her lap. “I’ve been thinking of something we talked about earlier on your deck. When you asked me earlier if I knew you,” she began.

He nodded. “Go on.”

“And I want to know more, Jake. Seems only fair. You’ve been to my happy place with me,” she said, gesturing to the ocean that hugged the island. “Tell me more about your happy place.”

He arched an eyebrow. “My happy place? You mean seats along the first baseline for the Marlins?”

She laughed, shaking her head. “Your family. They’re your happy place, aren’t they?”

He shot her a grin. “Yeah. They absolutely are.”

She placed her hands on the table and leaned forward, listening. “Tell me about them.”

This was easy. This was the easiest conversation in the world. Even though Kylie was a handful, and Brandt had been a wild child, they were
his
. He loved that she knew already that they were to him what the water was to her. His magic. He began with Kate, telling Steph about how it was his older sister’s idea that he start the retrieval business when he returned from his stint in the army, then about how she liked to give him a hard time about anything and everything, including women. He liked to give her a hard time about her tabby cat, dubbed Inspector Cat, because he liked to knock mugs, flowers, pens, papers, earrings—anything he could get his paws on—off every surface in the house. “He’s kind of an asshole, but then again, he
is
a cat.”

“My mom has a cat like that. A tuxedo cat. She rips the toilet paper to shreds and eats the plants.”

“Oh, she has an asshole cat, too?” he said drily.

“Is there any other kind?”

He shook his head. “Not that I can think of. But my nephew, Mason, loves that cat. Mason is pretty much the only person the cat is actually sweet to.”

“What’s Mason like?”

“He’s a pistol. He’s just like Brandt. The athlete of the bunch. Wild and playful. We used to say when Mason woke up, it was like a bomb going off. Kate’s house went crazy with his energy. Brandt was like that, too, when he was younger, so it’s kind of funny to see that in Mason now,” he said.

She took a pull of her beer, then set it down on the red-checked tablecloth. “And what about Kylie? Why is she a handful, as you say?”

He scratched his jaw. “She’s sweet but super scattered. She’s always struggled a bit in school. She pulls through but needs extra help. Like in science and stuff. She’s got a test coming up tomorrow and is a mess about it. She’s got some anxiety issues, and it makes it harder for her to do well in school because of them.”

Steph frowned. “That’s too bad.”

He nodded. “I wish it were easier for her, but honestly, I’m not sure it ever will be. She’s had a rough time of school ever since our parents died, so my goal is just to get her through it.”

“And it sounds like you’re doing that,” she said with a cheery note in her voice. “What about Brandt? Is he still the wild child?”

Jake smiled and shook his head, thinking of his kid brother and how much Brandt had changed over the years. “Nope. School settled him for some reason. He’s intense and focused. He wants to be a lawyer and is applying to law school,” he said, then winced briefly at the thought of the upcoming tuition bills that would start piling up. “That’ll be a big chunk of change when he starts school.”

“Law school isn’t cheap.”

“Don’t I know it,” he muttered.

She spread her fingers into a picture-frame shape. “The Jake picture is becoming clearer.”

He cocked his head to the side. “How so?”

“That’s the other reason why you’re so driven, isn’t it? Paying for their schools?”

Jake didn’t delve into the details of his family with too many people. Family was private, and his job was the kind he preferred to keep on the down low. But he didn’t seem to mind sharing the finer details of his life with Steph, for some reason. Perhaps because she was so different from Rosalinda. Steph’s questions seemed to come from genuine interest, not from a need to know his weak spots. Rosalinda had had a hidden agenda. She’d peppered him with questions to unearth his vulnerabilities and learn when she could steal from him. Steph wasn’t working for the enemy. Her motives were purely on the case and with him. She seemed to ask because she cared, and that made him open up.

“Yep. One hundred percent. They are all my reasons,” he said, as a boisterous family entered the restaurant, waiting at the hostess stand. The noise pulled his attention briefly away from Steph, and for a second a flash of a sharp nose, the cut of a jawline, hanging by the edge of the waiting crowd, snapped into his memory. The profile felt familiar, but he wasn’t sure why. Instinct told him to study the person, match the face to a name in his mental bank.

Then Steph spoke, softly and with a wide smile. “I love that you feel that way.”

Like smoke wafting away, everything vanished but her, and he returned his attention to the woman across from him. She rested her chin in her hand, her gaze intently fixed on his. Her blue eyes were soft. “You really are like their father,” she added.

When she said that, his damn heart beat harder and faster as it pounded against his chest. Like it was connecting to her because she not only
got
him, she was on the same wavelength.

The waitress arrived with their dinners, setting down the plates. After she left, Steph picked up her sandwich and returned to the conversation. “What kind of lawyer does Brandt want to be?”

“Prosecutor. He wants to save the world.”

“Is that because of your parents and what happened to them?” she asked and took a bite of her panini.

“He doesn’t want to see that happen again. He wants to do everything he can to fight back,” he said, diving into his sandwich. Delicious.

“It’s kind of amazing how you’re both so driven by the same intense focus. But then it’s not that surprising, either, I suppose. Is he like you in other ways?”

“Meaning is he charming, witty, and good-looking?”

She laughed. “Is he?”

“He is. I can say that about my little brother, right? He’s a handsome bastard,” he said, then grabbed his phone and scrolled to his photos. As they dined, he showed Steph several shots from his photo albums of the whole crew. His favorite people in the universe. As they finished, a note flashed on his screen from his little sister.

Almost ready for the test. I just have one problem that’s driving me crazy. It’s on frictional forces and I want to CRY.

Jake showed it to Steph. “See? This is what I mean about Kylie. Nervous wreck. Poor kid.”

Steph furrowed her brow. “Is that for her physics test?”

He nodded.

She finished chewing, then set down the sandwich, took a drink, and said, “I won’t pretend I’m a rocket scientist, but I know the answer to that. I could help her.”

His eyes widened. “You could?”

She nodded enthusiastically. “I could and I would. Physics isn’t the same as marine biology, but I was good in science so I can work my way through frictional forces. Want to call her and I can walk her through how to do that type of problem?”

“You’re an angel,” he said, and she beamed from the compliment.

His heart sped furiously with a giddy kind of excitement. With a surge of joy he hadn’t felt in ages. He blinked, as if he could chase away this foreign feeling. But it was a good feeling, and it had no plans for departure. Happiness was lodging itself in that damn organ in his chest, which was terrifying and wonderful at the same damn time.

As she talked to Kylie, he tried to tell himself that he was simply relieved that his little sister was getting the help she badly needed. He made every effort to convince his brain that his heart wasn’t hammering against his rib cage over the caring way Steph spoke to his sister, or how she’d talked about his siblings over dinner, or the genuine joy she’d shown from spending time in the ocean an hour ago.

Nope. His dumb heart couldn’t possibly be fluttering for the woman. He was a smart man, and he knew better than to fall for a woman he worked with. Just to prove to himself that the bizarre sensations in his rib cage weren’t anything more than admiration for his very temporary business partner, he thanked Steph in the way that mattered most to her—zeroing in on work. As she stepped away from the table for a quick ladies’ room trip, he looked something up on his phone.

See? He did this because he cared about her as a one-time-only partner, not because he was feeling all sorts of crazy things for her.

Though as he wrote a few quick lines, he knew, he absolutely knew that he was lying to himself.

As she stared in the mirror of the ladies’ room, she willed her stomach to stop flipping. She tried to center herself with yoga mantras her mom espoused. To calm these escalating endorphins coursing through her veins that had her mind fast-forwarding to all sorts of dangerous possibilities with Jake.

Future possibilities.

Meeting his family. Getting to know the people he loved most. She shook her head. What on earth had gotten into her? Where had her reason and logic gone? Good Lord, how the heck could she be thinking of a down-the-road with the man who was after the only father she’d ever known?

She washed her hands, recalling how easy their conversation had been.

Somehow, the huge, massive misunderstanding that had nearly derailed them was now so far in the rearview mirror she couldn’t even see it. She was cruising onward at a rapid pace, and they seemed to be growing closer.

How had
that
happened? This was supposed to be just business. They were supposed to be enjoying an island fling. She wasn’t supposed to be
feeling
.

Maybe it was simply the time factor. The steady ticking of the clock as it marched toward the end of this trip surely was tricking her into believing something real was brewing between them. As she shut the faucet and grabbed a paper towel, she reminded herself that the ticking clock meant there was no time or space to become fond of the man.