The reason he’d chased after her was to find out what story she’d tell the owner about the accusations against her, but she’d deflected. Why? Was it easy to tell lies to some guy named Jesse but harder to lie to the owner who might find out the truth?
There had to be a way to get to the bottom of Jade’s motivations and see if she was as innocent and fresh and beautiful and fun as she’d seemed to him, or if she was a master manipulator like he now feared. He’d been through the master manipulator route before. He didn’t want to do it again.
He showered and dealt with work issues, then walked the ship for a while before meeting up with Curtis, Gabe, Peter, Trevor, and Peter and Trevors’ wives Sarah and Nessa for dinner. The group was interesting to talk to, once they relaxed and stopped treating him like Zeus, and dinner went well. Curtis seemed as with-it, kind, and professional as Joshua had always thought he was. If Curtis really thought Jade was the one behind the missing money, Joshua had a really hard time not trusting his CEO. Curtis not only had more years of experience than Joshua, and his dad’s undying trust; he worked directly with Jade. Joshua knew it was highly likely that he himself was being swayed by how drawn he was to Jade.
He kept looking around for Jade but didn’t see her. Was she dining alone? That thought made him sad. Then a worse thought struck him. Was she dining with another man? His stomach churned, and he played with his crème brûlée instead of eating it. It was absolutely lame that he feared that this woman could be swindling him, yet he wanted to be with her far more than he wanted his money recovered.
Joshua excused himself from dinner as soon as he could. He found himself searching all the main areas of the ship—the dining rooms, the specialty restaurants, the bars, the casino, the promenade, and the theater. Sadly, there was a Broadway-style show going on in the theater, so he couldn’t search it very well. As the evening passed, he searched the walking decks down low and up high, but he found nothing.
Finally, he went back to his room, hopeful that maybe she was in hers. Yet he couldn’t just knock on her door and admit that he’d downgraded to a single-room balcony and upgraded her from an inside cabin so he could be next to her.
He took off his tie and unbuttoned the top of his shirt, walking out onto the deck. The deck was a decent size with a couple patio chairs and a table. There were fogged-glass partitions separating his deck from the decks on either side. If you leaned around, you could see the person next to you, but he could stay hidden from Jade if he stayed back and she didn’t crane her neck. He looked longingly toward the partition to the right. If only Jade would walk out and he could talk to her.
The ship had set sail as they finished dinner, and already they were past the town of San Juan and the impressive fort. He used to love touring the fort as a child, but he hadn’t made time to stop there in the past ten years or so when he came to Puerto Rico. He studied the water rushing by far below the ninth-floor patio where he stood and debated what to do about Jade Jardine. He didn’t trust her, couldn’t allow himself to, but he hadn’t been so quickly invested in a woman since Amber. He’d taken things slow with Amber, but she’d worn down his resistance with her fun personality, her beautiful smile, and her sweetness. He barked out a laugh. Sweetness? She’d shown herself to be a she-devil. He obviously was no judge of character where gorgeous women were concerned.
“Everything okay over there?” a soft voice asked from his right.
Joshua startled and his gaze darted to the cloudy glass, where the silhouette of a body was visible. He could see exactly how perfect that body was. He’d tried not to gawk like a teenager when he’d seen Jade in a swimsuit, but it had been tough. She had the smooth, defined lines of a woman who took care of herself, and he’d been impressed and even more drawn to her.
He cleared his throat and pitched his voice a little higher, hoping she wouldn’t recognize him as Joshua or Jesse. Had he fooled her earlier? He doubted it. “Just thinking about my ex.” His eyes widened. Had he really just said that?
“That doesn’t sound very fun,” she said back.
Joshua wished he could stick his head around the partition and gaze at her beautiful face, but he found himself wanting to talk to her without her thinking he was a reclusive billionaire, or an old west outlaw, or anything but him. Maybe she’d reveal something that would help him know exactly who she was and if he could trust her. Would it be wrong to feel her out without her knowing who she was? Probably, but he was at a loss for how else to know if she was a manipulator like Amber, or as genuine as he hoped.
“No, it’s not,” he admitted. “Have you ever been in love?”
If she found the question strange and intrusive coming from what she thought was a stranger, he couldn’t hear that in her voice. She laughed softly and said, “A few times I fancied myself in love, but then I found out they weren’t worthy of me. Didn’t sting too bad when I realized that.”
Joshua smiled. He loved the sass in her tone and her inherent confidence. He wanted to know so much about her. Did she have amazing parents like he did, or had she been hurt as a child? She hadn’t talked much about her parents, only her sister, Teal. “That’s good. I’m sure they weren’t worthy of you.”
“You don’t even know me.” Jade gave another laugh. “Wow. I’ve reached a new low. Talking about love to a stranger I can’t even see.”
“That is a little odd.”
“Maybe you can be my preachy priest. Give me advice about all the things I’m doing wrong.”
That piqued his interest. Did she think she was doing things wrong? Would she really confess to some guy she didn’t even know? Jade definitely had an open-book personality, which was intriguing to him, as he was so closed off. She must really be lonely to be this open with a guy she couldn’t even see. Yet sometimes it was easier to share all with someone you couldn’t see, like a priest.
He grinned. “I could be your priest. You can’t see me, but you can trust me enough to share your deepest, darkest secrets.” He probably shouldn’t have gone there, but he secretly prayed she would. This might be his chance to see exactly who Jade was, and what she was planning to do with that celebrity blog, and if she’d been telling the truth to Jesse about the accusations of embezzlement, and—most importantly—could she be falling for Jesse or Joshua like he was falling for her?
“Ha! So you’re going to be my next-door therapist for the next seven days?”
“Why not?”
“If I share all, will you tell me your secrets too?”
“Sure.” If he were a woman, he would’ve gasped about now. He didn’t share his secrets with anyone but his brother, Isaac. He and Isaac were only a year apart and had been close their entire lives. Wrestling and fighting, but still the best of friends. Isaac had chosen the military path and was special ops for the Air Force. He was on a short assignment for the next month in Iraq, so though they did FaceTime and talked all the time, it wasn’t the same as having his brother here.
“Okay,” she said, and it sounded like she was trying to be brave. “You tell me a secret and I’ll tell you one.”
A dart of fear traced through him. Did she know who he was? Had his voice given it away? Was she recording or cataloguing his secrets to share on her blog? Yet her blog had been live interviews, and it seemed to be on the up and up. Why couldn’t he trust her? For once, why couldn’t he take his mom and Isaac’s advice and just let himself trust? He shook his head. There were too many questions and issues with her, and he knew it.
“I have a hard time trusting anyone but my family, most especially my brother,” he said in such a low voice he wondered if she heard him.
“That’s a good secret,” she said almost as quietly. “Thank you for sharing. I’m the same. My sister is my confidant and about the only person I fully trust in this world.”
They were both quiet for maybe half a minute, just the lapping of the water against the boat and some distant music and voices from one of the decks above. It wasn’t uncomfortab
le. Joshua found that he liked the quiet. He liked her. He was a mess over this woman, and that terrified him.
“Tell me about your sister,” he said.
“She’s the best. She’s an incredible artist and the sweetest person in the world. She just found the love of her life, a football player. He’s tough and treats her like gold.” She sighed wistfully. “I’m so happy for her, but I guess I’m feeling a little lonely without her.” She laughed. “Hence speaking like he’s my new best friend to the stranger, or priest, next door.”
He laughed too but said carefully in the higher voice than normal, “You’ve got to admit it’s kind of liberating, though. Let’s make a pact to never peek around the partition. We can share what happened to us each day of the cruise, share secrets and stories if we want, and we’ll never have to be humiliated when we see each other.”
“Okay,” she agreed easily.
He wanted to cheer, but he didn’t move. He’d missed Jade, missed spending the day with her like he had the past two days. If he could at least talk to her each night, it would help. He should be more focused on ferreting out her secrets, but right now, he simply wanted to talk to her. The investigators would figure out who was embezzling soon enough. He prayed that it wasn’t her.
“So, tell me about your brother,” she said, “the one you trust. Is he your only sibling?”
“No. He’s the closest to me in age, but there are seven of us.”
“Seven? Holy crap! Was your mother a saint, or just a glutton for punishment?”
“A saint. An angel.” He loved his mom. She was also one of his closest friends, and he trusted her with some secrets. The only problem with his mom was that she loved to chat and sometimes she let good secrets slip, so he had to be careful what he shared. It wasn’t that she wanted to share his secrets; it was just that she was so proud of him. He had to clarify what she could and couldn’t share with her sisters, his dad, his siblings, or her vast network of friends.
“You’re lucky. My mom was from the other side.”
“What do you mean?”
“She chose to be Satan’s minion.”
“Oh, J—” He caught himself before he said her name, but this information didn’t sit well. Maybe a man had never broken her heart, but it sounded like her mother might have. “Just sickening,” he tried to amend. “I’m so sorry.”
“It’s good. I’ve got my sis. But I keep turning this to me. Your brother. What’s his name?”
“I …” No, he couldn’t tell her his brother’s name. “Ike, but they call him Iceman.” At least that much was true. He’d have to remember the lies he told. He hated lying, but it seemed necessary at the moment. When he saw her next week as Jesse, would she forgive him for lying to her? He needed to come up with a game plan for that moment. If everything went well, he’d know by then if she was the thief or not, and hopefully he’d know her intentions with that intrusive celebrity blog.
“Iceman? Like from Top Gun?”
“Yeah, but he’s not a jerk like Iceman. He got the name because he’s so in control. He’s Special Ops …” He hesitated. If Jade had researched his family, which he suspected she had, she’d know his brother Isaac was Special Ops for the Air Force. “For the Army,” he finished lamely.
“You sound very proud.”
“I am.”
“So, seven brothers or sisters?”
“Well, six, seven including me.”
“What was that like?”
“Insane, busy, fun, really happy.” He’d loved his childhood, loved his big family. He wished he could be with all of them more, but taking over the company for his dad had been pretty insane. At least it was only him and he could focus on work almost exclusively. Yet if he had someone like Jade next to him, he might turn even more responsibilities over to his CEOs. He hoped it wasn’t Jade embezzling from him, but he also prayed it wasn’t Curtis. Joshua would be lost without Curtis running the property management division.
“Teal made my life a lot of fun, but I can hardly imagine having a whole group of us. Did you get in trouble a lot?”
“Yeah. My mom was pretty laid back, but she had the five boys within five years.”
Jade gasped.
He chuckled. “I know. It’s not quite as insane as it sounds; there’s a set of twins.” He needed to stop spilling so much, or she probably would connect who he was and stop telling him secrets. He didn’t like that idea, and it was really freeing to talk to her like this. He also doubted that she’d even suspect Joshua Jewel would be in a one-bedroom suite instead of the two-story luxury that he was supposed to be staying in. “But the trouble we came up with … My brothers C-Carl and Sam,” he lied not so smoothly instead of saying Caleb Seth, “are pranksters and pretty good at making bombs out of whatever they could find. We blew up a lot of stuff.”
“Oh my, and you didn’t go to juvie?”
“Ha! No, they never caught us, and we only blew up things behind our house, never someone else’s property. But my poor mom … She lived in terror of us blowing each other up, or at best losing a finger or an eye.” He laughed easily. He felt like he could tell her anything. Well, anything but who he was. “Luckily, we only gave ourselves some good burn marks and scars from tricks on everything from skateboards, scooters, and bikes to snow skis, surfboards, and wakeboards.”
“And here I thought Teal and I were daredevils taking snow sleds down all three stories of steps in our house, or jumping from the second-story deck into the swimming pool.”
“That does sound brave, and fun.”
“You sound like a lot of fun. As my priest, I guess I can’t ask your name …”
He sucked in a breath. Would he have to lie again? If he came up with another JJ name, would she figure it out without him having to tell her? Maybe he wanted her to know. He really wanted her to want him. Why, when he’d finally found a woman who he was interested in, did she have to have such relationship-stopping baggage?
“But can I ask how old you are?” she asked.
“Thirty.” Finally, he could admit the truth to something. “And you?”
“Twenty-seven.”
His eyebrows went up. She was older than he’d thought.
“Well, I’d better go to bed. Nice talking to you.”
“You too. Have a good night.”
“Sleep tight,” she said in a teasing tone.
“Don’t let the bed bugs bite.”
She laughed, then said again, “Good night.”
He could see her shadow move, and then her door opened and closed. Joshua didn’t move, watching the water slide by the ship for a long while. He liked her. That was okay to admit. Yet he was weaving so many lies that he wasn’t sure if she would ever like him, all of him. He found himself thinking about her instead of land acquisitions, the next hotel to build or buy, or who in his direct line of authority needed encouragement, training, or reward. His mom would be happy that a woman was distracting him. He could admit it was fun, but he didn’t know that he’d go with happy just yet.
Chapter Seven
Jade went to the gym early and did a few rounds of weights. She ate breakfast alone, just as she had dinner the night before. Breakfast was a little less awkward in the bustling buffet, unlike dinner in the formal dining room with two very kind servers waiting on her lonesome, sorry self. She was a social person and had lots of fun friends she did things with: exercise friends, friends at work, friends at church, friends to go dancing with, friends to go to dinner with, and friends to go exploring with. And here she was, all alone. Lame Lucy.
She spent the meal texting and emailing friends, and of course Teal, but her mind was on three men: Jesse, Joshua, and her priest from next door. She liked all of them, Jesse more than the others. She wished she’d been brave enough to ask her priest to do something with her today, but she kind of liked a buddy she could spill things to, without worrying about entangling another man in her brain with Jesse and Joshua. Her priest could be Handsome Harry or
Plain Paul. It didn’t matter. He was just her friend, and she’d really needed one last night.
The ship docked at St. Martin as she finished eating. From what she could see out the windows, it looked like a pretty spot, green hills with some nice beaches.
She strode through the busy buffet, grabbing an apple and an orange, then hurried down a couple flights of stairs and to her room, which was just a few doors down the hallway. She filled a backpack with a couple water bottles, the fruit, granola bars, sunscreen, and a towel she’d picked up at the pool. Slinging it on, she made her way down the steps with the rest of the crowd all the way to the first floor and off the ship.
She walked along the port and followed Teal’s instructions to find the man with the four-wheelers to rent. Teal had stayed on this island for a few days, and this was where the love of her life, Stetson Strong, had come for her. Jade knew exactly where she wanted to go today: a small cave at Cupecoy Bay, the spot were Stetson and Teal had reconnected. She might be alone, but at least she had a purpose. For the moment.
She saw some four-wheelers parked off the side of the road and a tall, thin guy with a big smile and skin so dark that his white teeth were almost shocking. He claimed his name was Jerry Lewis. With his accent, she doubted his name was even Jerry, but she didn’t really care as long as the four-wheeler ran. She handed over a hundred dollars that was supposed to include the gas, insurance, and all-day rental. Signing some papers without really looking at them, she listened to his tourist spiel about where to go on the island, strapped on her helmet, put Cupecoy Bay into her phone’s navigation, and took off.
The drive was really nice, up and down some pretty, verdant hills and then past a huge inlet filled with yachts that blew her mind. Did Joshua Jewel have a yacht like that? She scowled. She didn’t want to think about Joshua anymore. She let some cars go by on the next hill but then continued through a little town, and her navigation took her straight off a dirt road and up past a small bar or restaurant. She waved but kept going on the dirt road, parking a little bit later. A man walked over and offered her a chair and umbrella for fifteen dollars, but she declined. She didn’t want to sit and sun herself; she wanted to explore.
Do Marry Your Billionaire Boss (Jewel Family Romance Book 1) Page 7