Triple Diamonds (Mystic Nights Book 2) (17 page)

“They walked like . . .,”

She didn’t let him finish. “Don’t even say it. I know my brothers. And I thought I was beginning to know you,” she ripped out, and then turned her back to him. Her heart was pounding. Her head, too.

He grabbed her by the arm and turned her back towards him. “I really wasn’t accusing. I just wanted to get your take on it. I saw them this morning. You had left some time in the night, and then I saw the tape. I don’t know. I had you on my mind, and then saw that. I am just trying to be upfront.”

Her eyes went wide, and her jaw dropped. “You think I had something to do with this too,” her outrage was clear. But instead of getting louder, her voice had dropped to a menacing whisper.

This had gotten way out of hand. “No, I . . ,” he started, but to his shock her hand came up out of nowhere, and she smacked him soundly across the face. Hard.

He grabbed her hand to stop her from doing it again, and he could feel her struggling to break free. “If you think I slept in your bed, and then crawled out in the middle of the night to steal from hotel rooms in a casino you better think again. Long and hard. And before you even attempt to call me, you owe me and my brothers an apology.” She wrenched her hands away from him, and before he could blink, she stormed out of the small office.

Her outrage had been over the top. He hadn’t even thought of her being the other person. But it was she that had now put the idea into his head.
Could she have been? The food in her car. Sneaking out last night. No.
They had made love many times last night. It couldn’t have been her. But he needed to check the timelines. His gut clenched, and it felt like he swallowed a rock.

When he left the storage room a minute after she did, he didn’t see her at her station, but Louis was there. And he looked confused. He just shrugged his shoulders at him and looked towards the double doors he had come in through earlier. He must have seen her leave in a huff.

He just didn’t know what to think. Trust in him was hard to earn.

‡

T
hree hours later
Joseph sat at a table with Leanne Carne. She was the owner of
Natural Wonders
, her own line of creative skin care products made from local ingredients. Her company was only six years old, but already developing quite the following. Testimonials, and customer satisfaction after many years had helped her to get her struggling products the attention they deserved.

And if her face was anything to go by, the products did wonders. He knew she was forty-three, but could easily pass for thirty. His mother had tried the products herself recently and loved them. He was in negotiation with her to use her products exclusively for their casino in the state of Connecticut. And she was a tough negotiator. He tried to persuade her the advertising they would provide at
The Mystic
would help boost her online sales. They would also sell her items exclusively at their salon and spa.

But still she wanted more. In the strip of stores downstairs, she wanted a shop that carried her products and offered mini facials. It was a good idea, he had to admit, but it would mean another expansion or moving one of the lesser selling shops out.

“How about a kiosk?” he volunteered. She wrinkled her lovely nose at the idea. “We could hire a few of the spa personnel to run it and build into it a wall, a shelving system to sell your various products.”

“Well, that could work for now, but once my new line of cosmetics comes out, I don’t think that space would suffice.”

“How about we do the kiosk, and then in two years, we could have a clause that allows you to put in the store. I don’t think you have enough products to fill a store yet, you’ll be waiting on your own research and development team, and FDA approval anyway. And if you perhaps agree to come once a month to help market the products you do have, we could do make up sessions, tutorials, teach the workers.”

“Once a month is asking a lot. But I do like that idea. The shop could do drawings for make-up makeovers, once a day. And the trained staff would use my products. But I couldn’t commit to coming every month. I like gambling too much,” she laughed. “I’d be spending all my profit in the casino.”

“I can understand that, Leanne,” he laughed charmingly. It finally seemed like they were getting somewhere.

“Good, I like that deal. I think we can work something out. Maybe coming every other month. That shouldn’t be too difficult since I’m local.” She lifted her glass of Merlot and toasted a very profitable meeting. Setting her glass down, she eyed the younger man with appreciation. If she weren’t happily married, she would definitely be interested in this man. He was devastatingly handsome, and the utmost professional. “Dinner was delicious. I am glad we ate in the casino. I must admit I was very impressed with how they cooked the fish. I am all about locally grown and raised produce and meat.”

“And we are too. That’s why we wanted only you for the new direction of the spa.” He lifted his glass one more time to her, draining its contents.

“I’d love to thank the chef,” Leanne indicated. Joseph had a brief moment of panic. If he had been sipping his drink, he might have choked. He knew Louis left early and Jewel was heading the kitchen tonight. Louis just came to set up the kitchen. But not wanting to disappoint Mrs. Carne, he nodded at one of the wait staff who immediately came bustling over.

“We would like to thank the chef, and compliment her on the delicious meal,” he informed the waiter who dipped his head slightly and then backed away.

It wasn’t but a minute later when he saw her. She was wiping her hands on a cloth, and handed it to the waiter who also nodded in their direction. He saw her quick frown, and her falter for just a moment when she realized where she was headed. But because of the professional she was, she quickly replaced her annoyance with a tight smile. He knew she was probably still angry about earlier, but he respected her competence.

When she approached the table, she gave her hand to Leanne performing a quick once over. The woman was stunning. Tall, and lithe, blond, and her breasts were exposed perfectly in the blouse she wore. And they weren’t too large either. She was everything Jewel was not, and even though she had been upset with Joseph for his rash accusations, she’d hoped they would talk it out. She’d even regretted her moment of fury. But, this, just a few hours later, rubbing it in that he could so easily find someone else to warm his bed, had her on fire once more.

“I am so glad you enjoyed the fish this evening. It was fresh and locally caught on the nearby reservation.”

“Yes, so I’ve been told,” she smiled across at Joseph. “It was delicious, the sauce perfect. I wanted to thank you personally.”

Jewel’s eyes strayed briefly to Joseph, but returned her focus to the stunning blond. “You are quite welcome. And if you are staying for dessert, I recommend the blueberry torte. Also locally grown berries. The first season was just brought in.”

“Oh no, I couldn’t.” She patted her stomach which was flat as a washboard.

“Well, you’ll have to try it if you’re staying longer.”

“I’ll be here a few days more, and next time I will leave a little room for it,” Leanne graciously agreed.

Jewel felt it was as good a time as any to make her departure. There was no sense lingering when she had a kitchen to run. Joseph had made his point. It was over as far as she was concerned. “Well, I should be heading back to the kitchen. I’m so glad you enjoyed the meal. Mr. Sassacus,” her gaze then turned to him. And with eyes of steel, she added, “Enjoy your date.” And as much as she tried to keep the anger from her voice that sarcastic comment managed to slip out.

Before Leanne could deny the implication, Jewel turned and fled, a lump had started to form in her throat, and she knew if she stayed a moment longer, she would cry. She didn’t want to give Joseph that satisfaction.

Leanne’s eyes widened in surprise, and her mouth made a perfect o. She didn’t miss the girls’ tone. She gave Joseph a sympathetic glance. “Oh, girlfriend trouble,” she murmured apologetically.

Joseph nodded. He watched Jewel cross the rest of the dining room and escape through the double doors back into the kitchen. But just before the doors closed, he saw her shoulder’s sag, and his heart went out to her. He never thought that she’d mistake his dinner engagement for a date. “Leanne, I’m terribly sorry, and if you’ll excuse me for a moment, I’m afraid the chef mistook our dinner meeting for a date. We have recently started dating.”

Leanne smiled and gestured for him to go an ahead. “By all means go,” she encouraged. “I’m in no rush to lose my money in the casino. I’ll wait here for you and we can hammer out the details.” Joseph smiled appreciatively and then got up.

Ah, new love, Leanne thought, as she watched Joseph head into the kitchen. She remembered when she had first met her husband. The trials and tribulations, and misunderstandings had been there for her too. But it had been fun.

*

Joseph caught up
to Jewel just as she walked back into the office where they had their argument earlier. With his hand on her shoulder, he stopped her. “Wait, Jewel, please let me explain.”

“There is nothing to explain,” she hissed through clenched teeth still trying to hold back the tears that were threatening to fall. “You’ve moved on. We had a fight. And you called it quits. But letting me know that way, well it was cold. But that’s your prerogative, I guess.”

She began to turn once more, but not before he saw her bright eyes begin to fill with the emotion that was conveyed so thickly in her voice.

“That was not a date. Leanne is a new distributor for the spa. It was a business meeting. We were in the middle of contract negotiations. And yes,
we
had a fight, but I’m really sorry about that. I don’t want this to be over,” he whispered clutching her trembling shoulders and pulling her back against him to give her comfort.

Jewel was confused but turned then. “You don’t?” She looked up into his dark stormy eyes and saw him nod. He looked sincere, and she lost it. The tears came and she buried her face in his chest oblivious to the scene she was making.

Joseph’s arms went round her and he began to stroke her back. “We had a fight. Yes, but this is not over with us. I want to apologize for my rashness, I planned to do that later. But when she wanted to thank the chef, I couldn’t very well say no. Can we talk later, Babe? Please.”

She couldn’t speak. So she just nodded. She couldn’t believe how hurt she felt seeing Joseph with another woman. It was so soon. She wrapped her arms around him just wanting to feel him close to her. He gently kissed the top of her head, and just held her until her emotions were under control. When she pushed back as a waiter passed by them, he wiped away the tears that glittered like diamonds on her cheeks. “I need to get back to her. But how about, when you get done, we have a drink? Talk. We could meet upstairs in my suite.”

She hoped they could clear the air and agreed. She felt attacked when he implied her brothers were involved. It was ludicrous. They had been out of town. “I can’t stay long though. I have my brothers to think about.”

“Okay, a quick talk. I’ll see you later, Babe.”

She stood, mute, but he kissed her once chastely before he left. A soft kiss on the lips, a promise. Jewel took another minute to get her emotions under control before heading back to the work. She felt foolish. Several of the kitchen staff had witnessed her little scene, but they were being sensitive to her needs and just carried on with their work. She was glad for that because she really needed to think about this relationship with Joseph. She was beginning to care for him a lot more than she felt comfortable with. And it was all happening so fast.

*