Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 102071 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 510(@200wpm)___ 408(@250wpm)___ 340(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 102071 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 510(@200wpm)___ 408(@250wpm)___ 340(@300wpm)
Then, I couldn’t wait.
In a mad rush, I unzipped his shorts, he produced a condom, and then he was sliding into me.
Yes.
This.
I needed this. I needed him.
He was deep inside me and pleasure sparked wildly all through my body. I looped my arms around his neck, and he took me like that, against the wall, delivering the best makeup sex ever. Soon, I was digging my nails into his back, biting down on his shoulder, and riding to the other side of bliss with him.
The man I loved.
The man who’d come back for me.
A few minutes later, we sat on the bed, looking ahead, planning when we’d see each other. Life was good. So damn good.
I might not have accomplished all that I’d come to Flamingo Key for. I hated that I hadn’t found a way to help my mom. Maybe slowly, little by little, I could use some of the revenue my business was gaining to assist her with her new shop.
Since my business had improved.
But I’d gained something else too. I’d learned business was better when I had someone I loved and trusted by my side. I rested my head on his shoulder, ran my finger across the bright, shining gem on my necklace.
A symbol of his love.
I loved that it was my birthstone. I loved that the gift was integrated with my mother’s jewelry. I loved that he’d remembered which chocolate I liked—
Realization hit me like an anvil dropped from a ten-story building. All at once, I knew the answer. I knew how to crack the case.
“Jake,” I whispered, afraid to speak too loud and chase this brilliant, crazy idea away.
“Yes?”
“I know where the diamonds are.”
58
THE PREP
Jake
“Are you sure you want to?” she asked one more time, her voice pitching up with excitement.
My answer remained the same. “Abso-fucking-lutely.” I was as fired up as she was. Hell, I craved this chance, and somehow it was even sweeter because my brilliant woman had connected the dots.
“We’re only going to have a few minutes,” she warned me.
“Well aware of that,” I said, wholly unafraid of the time limit or the dangers.
“And just the one shot,” she added, like we hadn’t gone over the plan and over it again in the last thirty minutes. We were racing around town, rounding up supplies before shops closed. We had a small window to pull this off, and we had to do it tonight. A quick Google search had taken us to a boutique in Georgetown, then another one near Sapphire, and now we were parking outside a little souvenir shop. Her shoulders tightened, perhaps with worry that she wouldn’t find the Trojan horse.
I had faith in her. Completely. “Like a lunar eclipse. Only happens once every few years,” I said as I opened the car door for her.
“But it could come up empty. I don’t even know if I’ll find what I need,” she said.
“Any plan can come up empty,” I said, squeezing her hand, giving her all the reassurance I could. But then, she didn’t need much. She was damn good at detective-ing. “Correction: Anything could come up empty except this,” I said softly, brushing a kiss on her cheek.
She shivered against me.
“Couldn’t resist,” I added.
“Don’t even try.”
In the shop, she made a beeline for the mermaid trinkets and hunted through the shelves for what she wanted.
“What about that little mermaid?” I suggested, pointing to a red-haired one.
“Not sparkly enough,” she said.
Hmm. Fair point. Shiny was key. “How about one that holds more—”
“Got it!” She pumped a fist.
I did the same, and we headed to the counter.
“And you’re going to have to be quiet as a deer,” she told me. It was cute that she thought I needed a reminder to be stealthy. So damn cute.
I scoffed. “Sweetheart, you and me. We’ve got this.” I squared my shoulders, filled with confidence that came from the two of us together. “We do it like our greatest hits. This one-two punch we’ve got going is the perfect ploy.”
“But what if he hears you? Or what if I can’t distract them?”
“Then we improvise,” I said as we left the store. “That’s what we’ve always done.”
“And you’re sure you still want to do this?”
It was sweet that she’d asked. But I was always game. “Ruby, I promise you this. When it comes to adventure, it’s pretty much impossible to twist my arm. I was born to take risks,” I said, patting my backpack, then pointing to the fiery orange ball dipping toward the horizon. “Now let’s do it. The sun is setting, and the clock is ticking.”
59
TROJAN MERMAID
Ruby
The last time I’d walked through the orchids and palm trees of Eli’s home in this tropical paradise, I’d been contrite and apologetic. I’d let his car and his diamonds be stolen out from under me.
And by “let” I meant that I’d played right into his hands.