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)
He flashed a disarming grin. “Don’t worry. I know how to lie low. Despite the inconvenient absence of a proper trellis.”
I wasn’t in the mood to joke. “I’m serious, Jake.”
He sighed. “So am I. I want to be close in case anything unexpected happens, that’s all. Since we’re a team, we should do things as a team.”
That sounded plausible enough. But was it? After all, he’d revealed a key detail a few minutes ago when he told me what he’d done that morning.
I pulled to a stop in the parking lot and turned in my seat to stare at him through narrowed eyes. “You tailed him this morning on your own.” It was a bit of an accusation.
He dragged a hand through his hair. “What are you saying, Ruby?”
“I think you’re babysitting me because you don’t trust me,” I said, laying it out there.
“Are we really going back there again?” he asked, a touch exasperated.
Valid question and yet… “I don’t think we ever got past there.”
“No, I’m pretty sure I did, and you’re the one who said you didn’t trust me,” he said, clearly frustrated.
But I didn’t feel so warm toward him anymore either. “But now it turns out you don’t trust me either.”
He sighed. “I just want to be here for you after the dinner.”
“That hardly seems necessary.” As I opened the door, I tossed him the keys. “You really don’t have to wait for me. I’ll take a taxi and text you when I’m back at my hotel.”
I didn’t want to be his project. I didn’t want to be his after-hours lover either, if he didn’t trust me in the light.
He stretched across the seat and caught my arm, wrapping his fingers lightly around my wrist. It was a little possessive, which I liked too much. “Ruby,” he said softly. My heart thumped, but I stayed strong. “I can’t imagine how hard it is doing what you’re doing. Facing your stepdad, investigating him, keeping your cool when it would be easier to confront him. All to make things right for your mom. So I’ll be here, waiting.”
I softened at his understanding. He’d voiced the nervousness I hadn’t been able to pin down. How well did I know Eli now? I was walking into my semi-estranged stepfather’s home to spy on him. To play Nancy Drew. But I didn’t even consider not doing it. I had a chance to right a wrong, and I would take it.
Another question nagged at me too—how well did I know Jake?
But I had the answer. I hardly knew him.
I’d have to put him out of my mind, though, because it was showtime.
“You’re here!”
Willow had a voice like honey and whiskey, the sleek lines of a supermodel, and porcelain skin. In the foyer of my stepfather’s mini mansion, she looped her toned arms around me as if I were her long-lost relative.
Not my favorite way to be hugged by anyone. I wasn’t much of an extended embrace person at all.
“Hi,” I said, standing in the circle of her arms and the cloud of her perfume, counting to three when I could reasonably let go. “It’s, um, nice to meet you.”
There. Done. I stepped back, and I didn’t want to judge Eli’s fiancée on her stunning looks. I just wished my stepfather weren’t such a cliché. The house on the water, the jewelry, the string of affairs with gorgeous women. Younger women.
Willow wasn’t done with the long-lost thing though. She placed her hands on my shoulders and beamed. “I’m so glad you’re here. I’m dying for you to meet all my friends.”
“Where’s Eli?”
I darted a glance past her into the empty sitting room, cataloging the plush beige couch, the marble table in the entryway, the chandelier with its brilliant teardrop crystals throwing prisms on the white tiled floor. A silver tabby with freakishly green eyes sat under the chandelier, her tail twitching as she stared at the ceiling. Looking for, well, whatever cats looked for on ceilings.
But there was no crystal bowl full of diamonds to be seen.
The only gem in sight was the brilliant pendant adorning Willow’s throat. Just like the stone in my safe, it had a faint blue tint. It looked the same size and even had the same cut.
It sure looked like another ten-thousand-dollar diamond. How many did he have? This newest one pissed me off since it was around the neck of the woman who hadn’t given Eli money to start his business. Who hadn’t stood by him for decades. Who hadn’t had to start completely over after he broke her heart.
But I had to let go of my anger and focus on the job. Sleuthing, like I knew I could do.
Willow linked her arm with mine, tugging me farther into the house as she finally answered me. “He was called away tonight on business, but this is perfect because it gives us a chance to really bond.”