The Sapphire Affair (Jewel #1)(27)
OK, maybe this could work.
“I can’t wait to see it, either,” she said.
And to explore it.
As Jake headed up the steps to Tristan’s, ready to do a little digging into what his target was up to, he did a double take. He spotted a man who looked like Eli standing up at a table on the terrace. A blonde in a jean skirt walked away from him, and those legs looked awfully familiar.
He froze like a statue.
What the hell?
Why would his Ariel be dining with Eli?
He had no answer.
He blinked, then unfroze. No time to linger. Time to act. He grabbed his phone to snap a photo of her from behind. As he walked out of her line of sight, he sent it to Andrew and inquired about any pretty blondes in Eli’s life, leaving out the little detail that Jake had already acquainted himself with her lips yesterday evening. Nope. That nugget was tucked in his brain, and it was his alone for safekeeping.
When he glanced back, she was gone.
Time to make himself scarce, too.
CHAPTER TEN
Bubbles rose up in the crystal-blue water. A pair of turtles paddled through the shallow reef. The underwater creatures skimmed by her, the front leg of one sweeping along her skin.
Boy, had she missed these guys fiercely in the last year.
The big turtles with their wise faces and kind eyes had always seemed like kindred spirits when she was growing up in Miami, exploring the beaches and shallow waters off the coast of Florida. Gentle giants who wouldn’t harm a fly. Swimming with the turtles had brought her a sense of serenity after her dad died. While she didn’t remember him at all, she knew how his death had affected her mom and how sad her mom had been in the years that followed. Steph had been too young to understand her own emotional response, but now, years later, she saw that she’d turned to the ocean for comfort. Now, as she glided along the shallow bottom of Happy Turtle Cove, peace flowed through her veins once more. A natural Prozac, she’d called it during many of the guided dives she oversaw here in the early days of her business.
When Duke had lashed out at her, lobbing underhanded jabs and hooks, he’d hit the Caymans first, knowing her love of this land. He posted fake review after fake review under new names across all the online review sites, simply because she’d had the gall to leave him.
So cruel. So punishing.
Especially since no one had cheated, no one had strayed.
After three years together, their relationship had gone stale. Duke had been lazy, and aimless, and hadn’t found a job in more than a year, but he also hadn’t looked hard for one. He’d been content to live off Steph and the money she’d generated then from her business.
If she was going to take away his free ride, he was going to bring it down with him, so he’d hit her where it hurt. Her chest pinched with the unpleasant memories, then she reminded herself to live for the moment, to enjoy this peace and calm in the ocean with her favorite creatures.
In a few days, she’d be showing a group of tourists from Texas this very spot, introducing them to the world under the ocean and the array of marine life here.
Maybe these two turtles would return. That prospect of seeing them again made the past slink away and had the halo effect of pushing the odd encounter with Eli to the background. Spending time with him was like living in a fun house, with swaying floors and seesawing ramps. His odd sweetness, mixed with his utter cluelessness, topped with his misplaced generosity, turned her insides topsy-turvy.
After brunch, she’d dropped off the diamond at her hotel, locking it in her safe to keep it out of harm’s way. Then, she headed here for some underwater therapy. Being below the sea reset her mind. As she swam, she let go of the morning encounter and focused on what was ahead. In a few minutes, if fate were on her side, she might see that handsome man again from last night. Anticipation skittered through her veins, along with that crazy thing known as hope. She had no idea if Jake would show. True, Marie had texted her last night letting her know she’d passed along the napkin message. But whether the fisherman would follow it was entirely unknown.
Steph kicked her finned feet and glided closer to shore, pushing up to the surface as she neared the sand.
Adjusting quickly to her land legs, she stood in the shallow waters, pushed her goggles onto her forehead, and took the snorkel out of her mouth. When she reached the sand, she dried off and tucked the snorkel gear in its bag. She grabbed a short cotton sundress and started to tug it over her head, then thought better of it. She’d pull it on once her bikini dried more.
She crossed her fingers and waited, hoping the sexy man would show up at Happy Turtle Cove at 1:23 p.m.
Right on time, he walked across the beach.
No fair. It was no f*cking fair for her to be that hot.
He was going to call the Council of Hotness and ask for her membership to be revoked.
Because . . . that bikini.
He stood no chance. It was so damn revealing, what with being a bikini and all, and showcased all her assets. Those legs. That flat stomach. Those gorgeous breasts.
Wave the flag. Call the troops. Surrender was upon him.
“You deciphered my code,” she said with an approving grin as he walked to her, his ankles digging into the white, sugary sand.
“One, I like codes. Two, I like challenges, and three, even without the punctuation between the numbers, I figured out you meant the time,” he said, wishing it wasn’t so damn easy to slide back into banter with her. Her smile was a lasso tossed around his waist that brought him to his knees.