The Sapphire Heist (A Jewel Novel Book 2) (12 page)

Walking backward to the bed, he pulled her on top of him. He cupped her cheeks in his hands, brushing her hair from her face, stopping to look at her—to memorize her face, to run his thumb along her jaw.

Her lips parted, and there it was. That hazy, sexy, vulnerable look that he adored seeing. One of yearning, one of longing.

She whispered his name. “Take me. I want you to take me.”

“I want to have you,” he said, his voice low and needy. He was desperate for her. “God, I want to have you.”

He reached for a condom on the nightstand, but before he could put it on, she grasped the packet, opened it, and rolled it on him. He twitched in her palm, loving, just fucking loving her touch. Lust and desire swelled inside him as she lowered herself. All the air in his lungs rushed out as her heat gripped him.

She dropped her hands to his chest, her palms pressing hard as she rolled her hips against him.

Again and again.

Over and over.

It felt so damn good. This closeness. This connection. This moment with this woman. All the moments with her. Currents of pleasure surged inside him as she circled her hips.

“This,”
she said on a murmur. “This is my favorite part.”

He knew what she meant. She didn’t mean the position or this particular second in their love-making. He knew she meant the two of them, and all that they’d shared.

“You,” she said. “You’re my favorite part.”

He grabbed her waist. Stared in her eyes as she rode him. “You’re mine, too,” he said, his voice dry and husky. “I swear you’re mine, too.”

She moaned, a throaty, sexy sound that somehow made him crave her even more. He wanted to be buried deep inside her. To do this again and again, over and over, every goddamn night. The heat inside him spread, turning to wildfire. Because of her—her beautiful body, her gorgeous face, and her amazing heart.

He grasped her hips and flipped her over onto her back. “Need to have you. Need to take you hard now,” he said, parting her legs wider, hooking them up on his shoulders. He had her pinned. At his mercy.

“I need it, too.”

He drove into her. She threw her head back, her long neck exposed, her blonde hair spread across the pillow, and her legs on his shoulders. Her mouth fell open, her pants grew heavier, and she was nearing the edge. “Don’t wait.” She moaned. “Don’t wait this time. Just come with me.”

She’d read his mind. So much for his promise to give her three before his one. He couldn’t hold back if he tried. In seconds, she was trembling in bliss as his own shudders racked through him.

He collapsed on her, folding her in his arms, not wanting to let go. She snuggled up against him, and he held her tighter.

“I meant it. You’re my favorite part of this trip,” she said.

“And you’re mine,” he said.

He was so tempted to ask what would happen when the trip was over and they returned to Florida. Neither one had voiced it. Neither had acknowledged that they didn’t live that far from each other. Maybe now was the time to do that. A relationship was a scary beast, but maybe they could find a way to try.

She pushed her rear against him, cuddling closer, wrapping his arm tightly to her chest. “I kind of don’t care about the diamonds anymore,” she murmured.

He tensed briefly, then tried to let the tightness in his muscles fade. But it was hard. Because he still cared. That was the issue. The more he got lost in her, the more he risked what he loved most. Even if he was dangerously close to feeling something that he hadn’t dared experience in ages.

She could come and go from the gig. She was free to walk away. He didn’t have the same luxury.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

The music drowned out all other sounds. It pounded in his ears and thrummed in his veins. Loud, obnoxious, and far too techno for his taste. Tonight was hip-hop remix night at Sapphire, and Jake could do without the reverb. But he was determined to tail Monica.

She was here at Sapphire. On the second-floor balcony. Surveying the scene. Perusing it from behind those black cat’s-eye glasses. A part of him wondered who was following whom. She or him. Because he was tailing her, and she was onto him, and they were circling each other like gunslingers from a distance.

It had been this way for the last hour.

After spending the end of the afternoon with Steph, he’d taken off for more recon. She’d needed a break from the case, but he couldn’t afford to take one, so he drove back to International Diamonds. That time Monica was at the shop, in her lab coat, studying jewels. He’d kept an eye on her from down the street, watching her when she left the store and answered a quick call as she walked along the block. When she hung up, she’d unlocked a white hatchback and headed straight to Sapphire.

He bet the phone call must have come from Ferdinand, the guy with the snake tattoo. A summons to appear before her partner. Surely, she’d be making her way to his upstairs office to plot their next steps in the diamond hunt. From Jake’s post at the bar, he watched her, ready to pounce and follow her trail when she moved.

Without looking away, he set his water glass down on the counter.

Buzz.

His back pocket vibrated, and he swiped his phone from it. Kylie’s name flashed across the screen.
Shit.
He wanted to talk to her, but as he glanced quickly around the club, he realized there was no way to have this call now. He hit “Ignore,” then tapped out a fast reply, letting her know he’d call her shortly.

Monica was on the move, and he was not going to lose her this time. He needed to know what she was up to, and he was determined to get a bead on her. Threading his way through the sweaty, dancing, nearly drunk crowd, he scanned the balcony as she strolled near one of the framed works of art. Her back was to him as she chatted with a tall, gray-haired man.

Tristan and Monica.

But why would he be here?
Seconds later, Ferdinand appeared, joining the two of them. Jake’s head swam with possibilities. But one thing remained starkly clear. He’d have to move quickly to find the diamonds, because the competition was closing in on him.

Rapidly.

Steph brushed a ruby-red daub of nail polish over her toenail. With her neck crooked to hold the phone in place, she chatted with her mother from her perch on the end of the hotel bed.

“How is everything going with Lance?” she asked in a flirty tone. “I know you were working on your downward-facing dog with him.”

“Should I take your tone to mean you don’t think I could be involved with someone your age?”

Steph chuckled as she spread the bristles across her big toe. The jewel-toned red was perfect, and she’d always enjoyed having freshly polished toenails before a dive tour. One of her few luxuries. “Not at all. Lance is a cute guy. It wouldn’t be such a bad thing, now would it?”

Her mother laughed lightly. “If you must know, we were in fact doing yoga together because he wanted me to meet his mother. She’s the landlord who handles the rent for that yoga studio. She also has space to lease inside a boutique in South Beach where she thinks I might be able to sell my necklaces.”

Steph sat up straight, sliding the brush into the nail polish container. Excitement fluttered through her. “That’s great, Mom. You could have your own place to sell your jewelry. Like a permanent location, so you don’t have to rely on the craft fairs, right?”

“That’s the goal. It’s not cheap, but I think I should be able to pull together the money for this.”

“That’s so exciting. I can’t wait for you to have your own shop. That’s what you always wanted.”

“I know,” her mother said, a note of breathless joy in her tone. The sound thrilled Steph. After the uneven divorce settlement, something like this could really make a difference. Or maybe Eli could make the difference with his newfound generosity. “I saw Eli again today. He said something that made it seem as if he might finally start paying alimony,” Steph offered.

“Did he now?” Her mother sounded skeptical. “He called me earlier, but I wasn’t available to talk. I suppose I should call him back. Not that I want his money, but if he’s going to offer it, I wouldn’t say no.”

“I hope that’s what it’s about. Let me know, OK?”

“Of course.”

“Also, he said something about Andrew having a thing for you, Mom,” Steph said as she fanned her toes with her other hand to dry the nails. “Is that for real?”

Her mother scoffed. “Eli had a streak of jealousy a mile wide. He was always convinced that Andrew had some sort of crush on me. He couldn’t accept that the man merely viewed me as a friend and vice versa. We have always and only just been friends. But does that bother you?” her mother asked gently.

Steph considered the question for a brief second, then decided that whether Andrew thought her mother both pretty
and
a friend wasn’t important. The fact that her stepdad was trying to be a better man was the only thing that mattered. “Nah. Doesn’t bother me at all. It was just one of those random comments,” she said, deciding to let it go.

“Now, tell me all about the man you mentioned the last time we spoke,” her mom said. “Are you still trysting with him? How is it going?”

Steph sighed happily.

She was about to answer with any combination of “better than expected,” “absolutely wonderful,” “I’m falling for him big time,” and then the other one. The one where she revealed her hopes that the two of them could become a real couple when this trip ended. But before she could dive into any of the options for her romantic life, the hotel phone rang.

“I need to answer that. I’ll chat with you later.”

After they hung up, Steph grabbed the receiver. The person at the front desk said, “I have a delivery at the front desk for Ms. Steph Anderson.”

Nerves skittered through her. Who on earth knew that she was here in this hotel? “What is it?”

“I haven’t opened it. But it looks like a very small box.”

Did that small box contain a diamond? Was the thief having a change of heart and returning her rock? “I’ll be right there.”

When she arrived at the front desk a few minutes later, butterflies swarmed her chest. The last time someone had stopped by her hotel, she’d lost $10,000. A woman wearing a white-and-cranberry floral shirt and a brass hotel name tag manned the desk.

“How may I help you?” she asked.

“I’m staying in room 412. You just called about a delivery for me.”

“Ah, right.” The woman reached under the counter at the desk. When she popped back up, she handed Steph a small white box.

Steph narrowed her eyes. “Who left this for me?”

The woman at the desk peered at her notes. When she raised her face, she said, “Mr. and Mrs. Smith.”

Steph’s arm shot out, clutching the counter, holding on. The front desk swayed and bobbed, like a boat tossed in high seas. Somehow, she steadied herself and opened the box.

Inside, she found a plastic ring with a candy gem on it.

With nervous fingers, she picked up the note.

Here is your cut of the diamonds.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

She was done.

Over.

Towel thrown in.

“They won,” she said when Jake returned that evening from his stakeout. After she told him about the ring, he grilled the front desk for information. The clerk simply held up her hands and said she was so sorry and she knew nothing more.

“The hotels on this island need to do a better job at policing the deliveries,” he muttered as they walked away.

“I know,” she said as she stuffed the candy ring in a trash can in the lobby. “I really don’t want to come to the Caymans again. To think, I worked so hard to find my way back here, and now this is the last place I want to be.”

“Don’t say that,” he said softly, brushing the back of his fingers across her cheek when they stepped into the elevator. “You love it here. Besides, this is the only place I want to be right now.”

She thanked him for the twentieth time.

He’d been so damn understanding of her decision. She wasn’t sure why she’d been so nervous to tell him she was officially done with the diamond mission, but maybe it was because she was worried that ending this partnership would mean an end to them.

It hadn’t. They were spending her last day together, enjoying the next morning in the gentle ocean waves.

Tomorrow, she left for her tour, and he’d stay behind to keep working the case. Waving the white flag hadn’t been an easy choice, but it seemed the safest route at this point. Eli had promised to do right by her mom, and that was all she had truly wanted in the first place—the chance to fix the fracture in her family as best she could. Besides, she wasn’t leaving all those people who’d lost money high and dry—Jake was still on the hunt for the missing funds, and frankly, he was better at it than she was.

Leave it to the pros. It simply wasn’t her place anymore.

“You don’t have to keep thanking me. I completely get it.”

“But I really appreciate your understanding,” she said as they walked out of the water and flopped down on their blanket on the white, sugary sand.

He rested a hand on her hip. That little touch sent shivers through her. “I’m not an asshole. Of course I understand. This was something you wanted to try, and it’s been, for lack of a better word, a complete bust.”

She laughed. “Yeah,
bust
describes it perfectly.”

“And this. Describes this, too,” he said, quickly darting a hand to cup one of her breasts before pulling away. “I should behave in public.”

The beach was starting to fill up with couples and families, too, parking towels, buckets, and shovels on the beach. “I don’t see why you’d start now,” she teased.

“You’re right. Screw behaving.” He flicked his finger against her starfish belly ring. Her breath caught from that slight touch. He moved his fingers up her flesh, then brushed the pad of his thumb over the treasure chest necklace. “You know what would look good in this necklace?”

“What?”

“A topaz,” he declared, then shook his head. “Wait. No. A peridot.”

“My, my. Don’t you know your gemstones.”

“Again, I have two sisters.”

“And they were into birthstones?”

“Of course. Kylie is August and Kate November. What are you?”

“July,” she said with a lift of her eyebrow.

“I know what July is.”

“And I like that it’s not a diamond at all.”

“How happy are you to be done with diamonds?”

“I’m happy to be done with diamonds, but not with you,” she said, figuring now was as good a time as any to voice this truth. It had been on her mind since last night, since she’d spoken to her mom, since he’d said such sweet and sexy words to her in the elevator, since they’d been wrapped up in each other’s arms. “I’m going to miss you, Jake Harlowe.”

“Yeah, about that.”

There once was a time, not so long ago, when Jake had zero interest in anything that got in the way of work. His single-minded focus to get in, do the job, and get out had been his sole motivation most days. The experience with Rosalinda had soured him on mixing romance with work, while the stockpile of tuition bills had reminded him every day that he had no room for anything but that top priority.

Then Steph Anderson walked into his life. Or more precisely, she walked into the game of darts he’d been playing solo at the Pink Pelican.

Ask him seven days ago if he’d have imagined he could fall this quickly and he’d have scoffed.

But everything about this job had surprised him. Most of all, how hard he fell for her, even as he’d tried to fight it. “We haven’t talked about the elephant in the room,” he said, brushing his fingers across her soft thigh. Kate had been right. He’d fallen for a woman in a bikini. But it wasn’t the bikini that had made him fall so damn hard. It was the woman.

He was no longer working with her, so he was free to proceed. Hell, he’d be game to move forward with her even if they were still on the hunt together. He just wanted her, and he didn’t want to fight that desire any longer.

Steph scanned the beach, pretending to search for elephants. “I don’t see a pachyderm.”

“No. The elephant is Florida.”

“Ah, I see. And what exactly about Florida is elephantine?”

He laughed, loving her sense of humor and the way they bantered. “This. Us. The fact you and I just fit.”

A smile spread across her face as she shifted closer to him. “How do we fit?”

He pulled her snug next to him. “I like to think we fit in Florida.”

The look in her eyes said,
Go on
.

He counted off on his fingers. “One, we live close to each other. Two, it would be a damn shame if this,” he said, gesturing from her to him, “had to end when this trip ends. Three, what would you think about seeing each other when we’re back home?”

Her grin said it all. She roped her arms around his neck. “I only have one reply: yes.”

He sealed their promise with a kiss under the rising morning sun, as gentle waves lapped the shore. This brief affair had started in a tropical paradise. But it wouldn’t end there. This was only the beginning, and no matter what happened next with the diamonds, Jake had already won.

He had the girl. She was the real prize.