14. DIY Detective
14
DIY DETECTIVE
Ruby
I’d knocked Jake for a loop. He’d been showing me his poker face since I’d called him on the website photo bluff. But now he was appraising me and the situation, putting puzzle pieces together, deciding what went where.
“Are you working for Andrew?” he asked, his eyes narrowed, a procedural tone in his voice.
I shook my head. “I’m not working for anyone. I have my own reasons for trying to figure out what’s going on. But my mom told me Andrew hired someone, and that seems to be you. Right?”
He didn’t answer me. Instead, he asked, “You decided to go the DIY detective route?”
“You mean when I detected that the picture of me wasn’t from my site but instead from social media? C’mon. That wasn’t world-class Sherlocking right there. That was common sense.”
He huffed, in obvious irritation, then his mouth tightened. I felt a glow of satisfaction. Pride, even. In a mere day, I’d tracked down useful intel and started putting clues together. Yeah, I could do this. I had brains and drive. Take that, Jake Hawkins.
“Do you even have a tour scheduled? Or was that just a cover?” he asked. Damn, he was persistent. But I couldn’t just write him off. I needed intel from him too.
“I do have a tour. I came down here a few days early to…do some of my own research,” I said, keeping my detective work vague enough. “I want to find out what happened to the money. To help my mother. But let’s rewind.” I didn’t need to focus on my amateur credentials or lack thereof. I was much more interested in our serendipitous conclusion on the jewels. “Why did you just say diamonds?”
“Because I saw one on Eli’s fiancée, and I have some evidence leading to the diamond business here on the island.” He paused a beat, then asked, “What made you say diamonds?”
The big, shiny rock in my hotel room safe.
This morning I’d tangoed with the idea that my stepdad had given me a gift bought with stolen money, but now it seemed highly plausible.
And more poisonous.
I didn’t plan to tell Jake I had ice in my hotel room. He’d given me more reason to distrust him than to trust him. But maybe I could use the diamond to get more intel.
“Eli loves jewels…and he gave me a diamond this morning. Maybe it was purchased legitimately.”
“Maybe not,” he remarked dryly, the conviction in his eyes showing he found my stepfather guilty.
“Do you have evidence?” I asked. “About the missing money, I mean. Not specifically the diamonds.”
“I do.”
But what I also wanted to know was this—was last night a ruse? Did he seduce me to butter me up? I leaned in closer, kept my voice low. “But you see how this looks, right? Like you’re trying to get close to me because you think I know something. Is that why you found me at The Pink Pelican last night?”
“If you remember,” he said, tapping his chest smugly, “I was at The Pink Pelican already. You walked in.”
Damn him. That was a good point. He hadn’t been following me. Plus, I’d invited him to track me down today. Hell, I’d left clues for him to find me.
“You have me there,” I said.
“And when I had you in my arms,” he said in a harsh whisper, “that was all real. Don’t doubt that for a second.”
I tried to hide the little shiver that ran through me too.
“Both at the bar and at your hotel,” he added, like I could have forgotten when and where he touched me. He kept his gaze locked on me, his eyes intense. “You need to know this, Ruby. So let me make myself very clear. I don’t use women. I don’t seduce them for info or intel. From the second I saw you, you knocked the breath straight from my chest. I didn’t know your name or a damn thing about you. I knew one thing—you were stunning. And after we flirted at the bar, and the drink at your hotel and the way you said my name when you fell apart, I knew another thing. I wanted to see you again, plain and simple. It had nothing to do with the job. And it had everything to do with you.”
I shivered. Dear god, this man and his recap of our steamy night. I was getting hotter. This was dangerous. I had to stay focused. “But the picture today, Jake?” I gave a shrug that said explain yourself .
He sighed heavily, then ran a hand through his hair. “When I spotted you with your stepdad at Tristan’s this morning?—”
I held up a hand. “You were following me?”
“No. I was tailing Eli,” he said, making a firm distinction. Eli was the job; I wasn’t. “And I saw you. I asked Andrew who you were. As you know, he literally just told me. Now it turns out we’re both looking out for the people who got screwed—me for Andrew and you for your mom.” His voice never wavered in its certainty, its intensity as he kept his eyes on me. “The only thing made up was that the photo was from your website. Everything else was true. I had an incredible time last night,” he said, his tone shifting to something deeper. “I wanted more. I still want more.” He leaned closer and lowered his voice to a rough and sexy whisper. “ A lot more. ”
Heat raced through me. “Me too,” I said quietly, admitting that at last. It was impossible not to, especially with the way he looked at me like he was picturing me naked. Picturing us together. “I want all the bad things.”
“I’m very good at doing bad things.” His tone was rough, dirty.
I wanted to grab the check and beeline for my hotel right then. But how could I when I didn’t know how much I could trust him? Maintaining my skeptical stare, I shoved the naughty thoughts away. “I’d like those things a lot…with someone I trust.”
He matched my skepticism with certainty and a little deadpan charm. “Yeah, I like trust too.”
So, there we were. Admitting we didn’t quite trust each other. Where that left bedroom matters, I had no idea.
But lust wasn’t the most important factor right now. Diamonds were. Playing fair was. Doing the right thing, rather than a real good bad thing. “So, where do we go from here?” I asked.
Jake sat back, his tone lightening. “Look, things got complicated today when I learned who you were. I’m not going to deny that. But I’m still here. Still talking to you.” He tapped the table with his finger, then gave me a crooked smile. An incredibly charming one. “Because maybe we should work together to find the truth. We’re on the same team.”
Hmm. I was intrigued but not sold. “Why should I work with you?” I asked, a little challenging. Or maybe a lot. “What do I need from you? I’m the one who was invited into Eli’s house later this week. I can just look for clues or diamonds or whatever myself. I don’t have to, you know, break in .”
“What if they’re not there?” he suggested casually. “What if they’re, say, in the nightclub?”
“Then I’ll go there and find them,” I said, calling on my best tough girl act. I was looking for a way to get Mom’s money back. A big bag of diamonds would do that but so would evidence I could use as leverage.
I was more determined than ever, and certain I needed to do it without interference. I fished for some bills and set them on the table. “I’d better go. I have work to do.”
As I stood, one of my longtime friends appeared beside the table, exclaiming, “Ruby!” The restaurant owner wrapped me in a hug. “So good to see you. I’ve missed seeing you around my hometown.”
“I’ve missed you too, Tanice,” I said, hugging her back. “Thanks for dessert. You always know how to treat a girl.”
“That’s what my new girlfriend says too,” she said with a wink.
“And she’s right. We’ll have to get together soon.”
Tanice stepped back, smiling. “A bunch of us are having a party on Devon’s boat later this week. Want me to text you the details? Kalila is off camping, but she should be back then.”
“That sounds great. I’ll be there.”
“We can catch up and you can see the whole crew. And meet my new girl.”
“I’m there,” I said, excited for the chance. Tanice squeezed my arm, then scurried off.
When she was gone, Jake met my gaze with a smug look and said, “Why should you work with me?” He tipped his forehead toward my disappearing friend. “That’s why.”