The Sapphire Affair (A Jewel Novel Book 1)

by Lauren Blakely

  Safe transport for a grand.

  “It seems the safe transport reference wasn’t about the cost of the transport, but how many they were making plans to move,” Jake said.

  She ran a hand through her hair and sighed. “I just wish—”

  Her eyes snapped away from his. She pointed and slid down in the driver’s seat. He glanced around. A man with salt-and-pepper hair headed down the block.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Tristan,” she whispered like a hiss, then peered out the window. “Shit.”

  In a blur, she unbuckled her seat belt, slid out of the seat, and climbed on top of him. “Kiss me so he doesn’t notice me.”

  No time to think. Just follow orders. Ex-military, Jake knew how to do that, and this was the easiest order ever. He cupped her face and sealed his mouth to hers. He looped his hands in her hair and swept his tongue across the seam of her mouth. She moaned quietly and parted her lips for him.

  To hide her more, he grabbed the ball cap from his head, gathered her long blonde hair in his hand, and covered it up with the hat on her head. He could feel her smile as he tucked her hair into the cap while barely breaking the kiss.

  “Thank you,” she murmured, then returned her mouth to his.

  He was positive the dude had walked past them now. But hell if he was going to stop. Not as she straddled him, angling her body in a perfect position for fucking. Not as she started to slowly rock her hips into him. And not as she kissed back harder and hungrier, her lips greedy for all this contact. She tasted like tropical temptation itself. He explored her mouth thoroughly, tangoing his tongue with hers, tasting her lips, devouring her.

  He couldn’t even remember why they’d decided on no funny stuff. This was worth it.

  She picked up speed and started riding him harder. As her breaths grew faster, he half wondered if she was going to bring herself to orgasm by humping his erection in his shorts. While he loved that idea and wanted nothing more than to hear her little moans turn into full-blown cries of pleasure, he also didn’t want the two of them to get arrested for public fornication.

  Opening one eye as she kissed him, he scanned the street. Coast was clear.

  Gently, he pushed her off him. But this was not going to be the end. “I’m driving,” he said. “And I’m finishing what you just started. If that’s a problem, you need to tell me now.”

  “It’s not a problem,” she whispered, and the look in her eyes was full of lust, and said yes.

  He turned on the engine and drove away from the diamond district. Five minutes later, he pulled into a parking garage in a nearby shopping center and found the quietest floor. He grabbed a spot next to the wall and pulled her into the backseat.

  “So much for no funny stuff,” he said, sliding her sexy body alongside his. Right now, he didn’t care about rules. He was driven with need for her.

  “You mean this won’t make me laugh?”

  “If I’m doing it right, you won’t be chuckling at all. You’ll be screaming my name,” he said, running his fingertip along her mouth as he tugged her next to him. His hand traveled along the bare skin of her legs. So damn soft. As she stretched out beside him, her eyes locked with his. The look in hers was vulnerable and hungry at the same time. She wanted this and she wanted to give her body to him.

  “Make me . . . ,” she whispered, taking a beat, “scream your name.”

  She parted her thighs.

  Killing any more resolve he had.

  Not that he had much. It vanished when she’d jumped him on the street minutes ago. Now, it was far in the rearview mirror as he brushed the inside of her thigh. She quivered in his arms, and her reaction sent the temperature inside him soaring.

  “Challenge accepted,” he said, and she smiled in that sexy-sweet way she had, then her eyes floated closed as he reached the damp panel of her bikini bottoms. He inhaled sharply as he brushed his index finger across that lovely wetness. His dick twitched against his shorts, wanting to find a temporary home inside her. He was so damn eager to bury himself inside her, to slide into her, to make her back arch and her toes curl as he took her to the edge.

  But this moment wasn’t about him getting off. He wanted to watch her writhe in pleasure. To hear her cries. To see her lips form his name as she came undone. He slid a finger across her, gliding over her slick heat. Oh hell, she felt fucking fantastic, and lust crashed into all corners of his body as she shuddered and rocked into his hand.

  He dropped his mouth to hers, claiming her lips in a hot kiss as he tugged her bikini lower, then returned to all that fantastic wetness that coated his fingers. She rocked into him as he stroked her and kissed her, and whatever resistance she’d had seemed so far gone, too.

  She was supposed to be denying this.

  She was supposed to be stronger.

  But she wanted to forget what she’d just learned. She wanted a break from all this thinking about good guys and bad guys, cons and crimes. She wanted to turn off her mind and let her body take over.

  Because this man knew what to do with her. Those talented fingers. That wicked mouth. He kissed like he was the reigning world champion in the sport of kissing, and she was his perfect partner. His lips were a dream, and his mouth tasted fantastic, and now he was touching her right where she wanted him.

  He stroked faster, hitting her in all the right spots. She raised her hips, meeting his hand, needing his fingers. Craving so much more. Sparks raced through her bloodstream with every move he made, and soon she couldn’t concentrate on kissing him. She could only narrow in on the agonizingly exquisite ache between her legs.

  “God, it feels so good, Jake.”

  He thrust his fingers into her, sending her hips shooting up. “You’re so sexy all the time, but like this, when you’re all turned on, you’re out of this world,” he whispered in her ear, his voice low and dirty, the words heating her up even more.

  “I thought about you last night,” she said, her breathing turning erratic. Hot, quick pulses spread through her with every touch, every stroke.

  “Yeah? When you were all alone on that hotel bed, you were getting off to me?” he asked as he crooked a finger inside her, and she gasped, crying out loudly in pleasure. Wild sensations burst through her body in quick waves as he fucked her with his fingers, thrusting inside her, rubbing that swollen bundle of nerves where she ached for him. Fireworks popped in her brain. Bright colors flashed before her eyelids.

  “You got me all worked up on the dance floor. You were all I pictured as I touched myself,” she said as the sensations whipped faster through her and wild sparks rained down on her.

  “Was I doing this?” he asked as his fingers rained pleasure down on her. “Or was I fucking you? Was I taking you deep, bent over the bed, you screaming out in pleasure?”

  A flip switched with his dirty words. His sexy, filthy words. No one had ever talked to her like this. It was addictive. It was orgasmic. Her belly tightened, and her climax crested into view.

  She cried out as she rocked into his hand, hips bucking wildly, pleasure radiating through her. She grabbed his hair, clutched his skull, and pulled him back to her lips as she rode his hand shamelessly in the backseat of her car in the corner of a parking garage in the Caymans.

  Coming undone.

  Once the orgasm ebbed away, she brushed her palm along his hard-on. “Mmmm,” she murmured. “Let me take care of you.”

  He didn’t have the chance to respond, because a car drove by, then another. Back to reality. Their momentary escape into a quiet parking garage bubble had ended.

  “Don’t think for a second I don’t want that. But you need to know I’m also completely satisfied having made you feel good.”

  The man was a giver.

  Kill me now.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Before the sun even cracked through his window, his phone rang with the Mission: Impossible theme song.

  He blinked, grabbed it, and answered the call. “Hey, Andrew.
”

  “I’ve got more details,” his client said, and Jake could practically hear the man bouncing on the other end of the line. He didn’t know Andrew well, but he was willing to bet the man was on the deck of his Miami home, watching the sun peek above the horizon, some sort of excitement in his step.

  “Tell me,” Jake said, his voice still gravelly with sleep. He’d called Andrew last night and given him the latest report.

  “My IT team was able to decipher a few more e-mails. And one of them specifically references a deal with the Frayer mine.”

  Jake sat up straight in bed and pumped a fist. “Excellent!”

  That was the sort of info that made his mission airtight. Exactly how he needed it to be as he zeroed in on the prize.

  Jewels.

  And jewels equaled his payday, and his payday meant college for the kids.

  He talked more with Andrew, then he swung his feet to the floor and headed for the shower, ready to tackle the day with a laser focus.

  The sun glared at her. Shining brightly. Mocking her.

  She sat up in bed, rubbed her eyes, and tossed off the sheets. She made her way to the bathroom and brushed her teeth, staring at her reflection in the mirror.

  She swore there was a devil on one shoulder, an angel on the other.

  You caved.

  But it felt so good.

  You don’t trust men. Men are trouble.

  Hello? Who said anything about trust? We were discussing orgasms.

  You are supposed to focus on business. On your own business. On your stepdad’s business. Not that hot-as-sin man’s business.

  But I didn’t even get down to business with him the way I wanted, so back off, Angel.

  She spat out the toothpaste, rinsed her mouth, and stretched her arms.

  She left the bathroom, wandered to the safe, and tapped in her new combination. H-A-P-P-Y-T-U-R-T-L-E. The door popped open, and her diamond was safe and sound with the new combo. Even if they never found more or uncovered any other details, at least she had a jewel that she could turn into cash, and use it as a gift for her mother.

  True, it didn’t come close to covering the original investment her mother made in the business, nor the missing money, but ten thousand dollars was nothing to scoff at. Convincing her mother to take the money from the diamond was entirely another matter. But Steph would cross that bridge when she came to it. For now, she grabbed her phone and headed to her tiny balcony. The sliding glass door squeaked as she opened it. She held a hand over her eyes as she soaked in the most beautiful sight in the world. Even from her less-than-world-class accommodations, she still had a view of the crystal-blue ocean and the endless sky.

  She inhaled.

  Drew the natural beauty into her lungs, letting it feed her, fuel her. All that blue, from the gentle waves in the water up to the clear sky. The very definition of happiness. She closed her eyes briefly, enjoying the warmth on her skin.

  When she opened her eyes, she zeroed in on business. She clicked the screen on her phone and spotted an e-mail from her brother.

  The video is up and running. I imagine you’ll be inundated with dive requests now. Love ya, miss ya, stay out of trouble.

  She scrolled through the rest of her messages and nearly clapped with glee because the video ad he’d made was working already. She had two new inquiries for scuba tours. From her post on the balcony, she responded immediately, crossing her fingers that the inquiries would turn into tours. That this was happening. Her business was growing stronger, and she had her mom to thank for it. The woman had rescued her business from the pit of despair.

  She dialed her favorite person.

  “Namaste, my love.”

  Steph laughed. “You’re such a yoga dork.”

  “And a happy downward-facing dog to you, too. How are you? How is everything going in the Caribbean?”

  “It’s great. Prepping for my tours and just seeing some old friends,” she said, thinking Devon and Sandy qualified, right?, even though she’d been mostly busy with Jake and snooping on her stepdad. “And I saw Eli, too. Haven’t pilfered his watch yet, but he does have a swank Rolex.”

  Her mother hissed. “Bastard. Lying, scheming, cheating, Rolex-wearing bastard.” Her mom sighed heavily. “Shame on me. I think I just earned myself ten points of bad karma. I need to go apologize to the universe for that verbal tic I just unleashed. How is the dear?”

  Steph flashed back to her brunch with Eli, cycling through terms to describe the man—chipper, upbeat, happy. Instead, she went with: “He’s his usual self. The weird thing was he mentioned something about focusing on his charitable endeavors these days. I never knew he was a big charity guy.”

  Her mother scoffed. “Ha. He was hardly a big charitable supporter. Getting money out of him was like bleeding a rock.”

  “You mean, you don’t know how to bleed a rock, Mom? If you’d just asked me I would tell you,” Steph joked.

  “See? If I’d only thought to ask you. I need to skedaddle, darling. I’m trying to catch a morning yoga class. Your friend Lance is going with me.”

  Steph tilted her head. She hadn’t known Lance to do yoga. “Lance? My boat guy Lance?”

  “Yes. He’s quite flexible.”

  “Mom!” Steph admonished.

  “I don’t mean like that. I mean, he’s quite flexible in his cat and cow and warrior poses. You just assumed I meant something dirty. Speaking of dirty, have you followed my advice? Found a hot sexy guy for a little something?”

  Butterflies swooped through her belly as she returned to Jake. To his hands, and his mouth, and his sexy, sinful side. “As a matter of fact, I did,” she said, though yesterday was a one-time lapse, and she could not, would not go there again. “But it won’t be a regular thing.”

  “Why not? What’s he like?”

  “He’s funny, and rugged, and smart. Smoking hot, too.”

  “Sounds perfect for an island tryst.”

  Island tryst.

  She liked the sound of that. In theory. In practice, it was fraught with too much danger. Not only for her heart, but for her life. Jake was hot and funny and wickedly talented, but they didn’t see eye to eye. They were coming at the diamonds from opposite angles.

  The evidence was mounting that Eli indeed had a stash of diamonds. But Steph wanted to get to the truth of the diamonds and convince Eli to return them. Jake wanted justice, too, but he also wanted Eli’s head.

  There was no way an island tryst could work.

  After she finished the call, she dropped the name of the diamond mine into the search bar on her phone. She read about its commitment to politically correct mining, its adherence to world standards on labor, and the fact that half of its proceeds went to schools in Africa.

  Could this be one of Eli’s new charitable endeavors? The website listed some of its biggest supporters for its charitable arm and she studied the names closely.

  “Ha!” she declared out loud. Her stepdad’s name was nowhere to be seen.

  But another name caught her attention.

  Isla Evans.

  His fiancée.

  Jake waited for Eli.

  Because work was all that mattered, he tackled it with determined vigor and blinders on.

  At 9:22 a.m., Eli opened the front door, shut it behind him, and walked down the stone path toward his circular driveway. In his right hand, he tossed his car keys up and down a few inches, like he’d done the other day.

  He also stopped to sniff the orchids and the roses.

  The man was a creature of habit, which boded well for Jake. Men who followed routines were easiest to track. Eli seemed to have his, except . . .

  One thing was different this time.

  Today, he didn’t waft the scent of roses into his nostrils with his free hand. Eli’s left hand was tucked inside his pants pocket the whole time. Grabbing binoculars, Jake peered through the lenses to see if he could figure out what the man was up to. He zeroed in on the pocket, and judging
from the outline of Eli’s hand, it sure looked like he was clutching something in that pocket.

  Not that.

  But something else precious. Maybe a small pouch with jewels? He was willing to bet that Eli had diamonds from the Frayer mine in his pocket this morning.

  After Eli got into his car, Jake followed him, keeping his eye on the target with a new intensity, zoning in on the reason he was in the Cayman Islands in the first place. For a job. And that job meant he needed to know the target and avoid distractions.

  Like sexy, feisty, fantastic women. Like one in particular who felt like magic in his hands.

  He’d failed miserably yesterday at avoiding distractions. The memory of Steph coming undone in the backseat of her car threatened to derail him again today. Her cries of pleasure echoed in his mind, turning him on again.

  He gripped the steering wheel, frustration searing through him. Why had he thought he could pull off a tryst with Steph Anderson? The woman was right to have tried to put her foot down when they’d teamed up, but then she’d gone and kissed him in her car. A kiss that turned into a hell of a lot more in the parking garage.

  His jaw clenched as he focused on the road. Foot on gas. Hands on wheel. Eyes on concrete.

  Then his dick had the audacity to announce its intentions to have her again. Fucking traitorous prick.

  Settle down, boy. We need to focus.

  Jake did not need to be having dirty thoughts as he followed her stepfather. He repeated that word. Stepfather. He was crossing his lines and breaking his rules, because Jake Harlowe did not get involved on a job. Been there, done that, had the scars to prove it didn’t work.

  He narrowed in on Eli’s car, parking outside the Royal Bank of the Caymans. Would it be a short trip or a longer one this time? Jake pulled over, too, watching Eli from behind his sunglasses as the man hopped out of his car and sauntered into the bank. Jake kept a reasonable distance and followed him inside this time.