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)
Outside another room stood a waiter with a tray and two plates of eggs and toast, studying a paper docket intensely.
I waved to him. “Good morning. Are those for us?”
“Oops,” he said with an apologetic smile. “I went to the wrong room.”
“No big deal. I’ll happily take those off your hands.”
He walked over to me and brought the food inside, setting it on a table by the door. Stepping into the hall, I signed the check, charging the food to my room, then Jake and I enjoyed a delicious breakfast on the balcony.
He held up a cup of coffee in a toast. “To our island tryst.”
I raised my cup as well. Did I want something more and longer? Yes. But I was happy to enjoy our island affair for the time being.
“To being partners,” I said.
“To trusting your partner,” he said, his gaze fixed on me, telling me I could trust him.
“To three orgasms.”
“Make it four next time.” He downed some of his coffee, then leaned over and kissed me, lingering, his lips exploring mine like it was the first time. A shiver of excitement raced through me. The kiss turned hotter after we finished breakfast, and he pulled me on top of him in the deck chair, and I rode him like that on the balcony to another fantastic climax.
A little while later, he tapped his watch. “I should go. I need to talk to Kylie and help her get some things sorted out tutoring-wise.”
“I’ve got some things on my plate too. I’m doing a stingray tour with Devon for two hours, but I’ll see you at noon.”
After a quick goodbye, I took a long, hot shower, replaying the night and the morning and what might come in the afternoon.
I turned off the water, toweled dry, applied some sunscreen, and slipped into my royal blue bikini. As I was pulling a light-blue sundress over that, some small, almost insignificant detail caught my attention out of the corner of my eye.
The door to the safe didn’t look closed.
I walked over to it, my heart pounding hard enough to leap into my throat. I knew I’d locked the safe after the last time I’d checked on my diamond. I was dead certain. With my pulse spiking in worry, I reached for the small door. I barely touched the handle, and it swung open.
The safe was empty. My diamond was gone.
31
IN FISH I TRUST
Ruby
I wedged a fake ruby into the treasure chest, right next to a gleaming emerald.
That jewel was fake too.
Fake like Jake’s feelings for me.
I was still fuming over his deception later that morning at Devon’s snorkel shop as I arranged the gaudy gems inside a plastic underwater treasure chest. I couldn’t believe Jake had stolen so brazenly from me.
He’d told me he was a “recovery expert” as soon as we’d met, and he’d been bragging for days about his ability to crack open a safe. He’d even given me a demonstration. The show-off.
I placed one more bauble in the chest and stood back to look at the faux pirate treasure that I would place in the sea for Devon’s tour group to find. I’d tackled the project to distract myself from the cocktail of hurt and frustration filling my heart and head.
It hadn’t worked.
Devon joined me in the corner of the store. “Ah, but that’s a beauty right there. Worth several thousand doubloons,” he said in a pirate voice.
Despite the anger simmering in my veins, I managed a small laugh. “Arr. I’ll just go bury it in the sea now.”
I grabbed the box and pushed open the door of his shop. I walked along the dock, set the treasure chest on the worn wood, then jumped into the shallow blue waters.
The ocean’s caress felt good. But even it wasn’t enough to numb the pain.
Carefully, I tugged the chest off the dock, into the water, and under the placid surface of the sea.
These phony gems were worth more than the contents of my hotel safe now that Jake had pilfered my very real diamond. Handsome, charming, no-good Jake. He had used me after all. Used his charms to get me to let down my guard. Drugged me up on multiple orgasms so he could make off with my big rock.
I hauled the chest beneath the dock, then popped open the cover. The ten-cent fake gems glittered like a pirate’s booty. The customers would surely get a kick out of discovering this pretend treasure after they smooched the nearby stingrays.
Stingrays. Turtles. Fish.
I’d be wise to focus on the water, rather than the deception of men.
For a few peaceful seconds, I let the water calm my red-hot anger.
Then, I popped up, slicked back my wet hair, and climbed onto the dock. I threw my shoulders back and decided to put on a good face as I headed to Devon’s snorkel shop and yanked open the screen door. It banged against the outside of the building when it closed.