19. A Cover-up Kiss
19
A COVER-UP KISS
Jake
International Diamonds commanded the corner of the street, impossible to miss. I pushed open the door, immediately blasted by air-conditioning and dazzled by case upon case of glittering gems and row upon row of necklaces, bracelets, earrings, and more.
The place thronged with shoppers, mostly in tourist attire. A pair of men in slacks and button-down shirts seemed to be doing more serious business in a far corner.
Crowded was good. Even if the stone I carried was memorable, my face and clothes would blend in with the steady stream of customers.
I wandered to a counter, casually peering through the glass at the loose gems until someone approached me on the other side. A young woman in a white lab coat, with black glasses and dark hair twisted up in a bun, asked, “May I help you, sir?”
After reaching into my pocket, I pulled out the gem.
The woman’s eyes widened almost imperceptibly. “This is quite the diamond.”
“To me, it’s just a Band-Aid—and a cheap one at that,” I said. “My sister’s husband gave it to her to win her back after he proved himself to be an unfaithful son of a bitch. Pardon my French. She forgave him once, but a cheat is a cheat.” I only had to imagine someone treating either of my sisters that way, and it was no trouble generating a mix of brotherly love and righteous anger. “So, we’re trying to figure out how much this pretty little number is worth.”
The woman’s smile was gently sympathetic. I was sure she’d heard weirder and worse. “He must have really wanted her back.”
I made my laugh bitter. “He sure did.”
She picked up the diamond with a pair of jeweler’s tweezers and examined it under a magnifying glass. “This is gorgeous,” she said as she regarded the stone from all angles. “I can check the serial number for a certificate of clarity, as well. That often increases the value.”
“Well, how about that?” I said, as if this was the first I’d ever heard of such a thing.
After the slightest of pauses, she straightened and carefully set the diamond on the cloth. “I’d have to look at it under the microscope to get the full number, but I recognize the watermark.”
“What does that tell you?”
“It means this diamond comes from a particular mine. This is from the Frayer mine in the Northwest Territories in Canada, which specializes in conflict-free, diamonds mined from the subarctic zone.”
I nodded, staying in character. “Well, that’s good. Sis and I’d had a bet that it was one of those lab-grown stones.” I’d known it wasn’t, but I also hadn’t expected Eli, the thief and con man, to make such a politically correct choice.
“Definitely not,” said the woman. “This is one of the best-regarded diamond mines in the entire world. And these diamonds with the blue tint are especially valuable. At this size and carat, I would estimate it to be worth at least ten thousand dollars.”
I almost choked at the number. I tried to play it cool, despite my first reaction. “Is that so?”
“It is indeed,” she said, her dark eyes seeming to study me. So much for not being memorable. “I can handle the transaction for you if you’d like. We have handled a few of these diamonds recently and easily found buyers all over the world. I can give you full value today, sir. Are you ready to get started?”
She sounded eager, and I was surprised how quickly she wanted to move. But then, she’d have a big commission if she turned around and sold the gem.
“Let me talk to my sister. We’ll be back tomorrow,” I said.
“Excellent. I’ll be looking forward to helping you. I’m Monica. You can ask for me.”
I bid her goodbye and pocketed the diamond, trying not to walk as if I had a fortune in my pocket. It was a quick stride to Ruby’s rental Jeep, and I climbed in, exhaled, and handed her the five-figure gem. “Your stepdad is generous. That bad boy is worth ten K. You’re going to change the combination on your safe tonight, Ariel.”
Her eyes widened to the size of moons. “Are you kidding me?”
“I’m not.” The afternoon sun heated the Jeep through the windows while I relayed the details of my conversation.
Ruby stared at the gem in her hand like an unexploded bomb. “What’s your theory, then?”
I’d been working out a theory since I started. That little bit of intel from Monica helped me fine-tune my theory further. “Eli buys the stones with the stolen money—probably not directly from the mine, but maybe from a broker. Then he gets on a plane with a pocket full of diamonds and carries them here.”
Her brow rose in doubt. “That sounds like ‘bowl full of diamonds’ territory, Jake.”
But it wasn’t at all. “He could wear them around his neck if he had the whim. The necklace his fiancée sported at Sapphire the other night could be an example of how he does it,” I said, since ferrying jewelry was much more plausible than keeping a bowl like candy on a table.
Ruby seemed to consider my ideas without admitting I was right. But she didn’t say I was wrong either. After a few beats, she sighed, then asked, “What then? He has a go-to stash of birthday presents for the women in his life?”
“It’s kind of sexist for you to assume men don’t like to wear diamonds,” I said, teasing.
“Fine, he gives diamond pinkie rings to his guy friends too. Go on.”
I rolled out more of my theory. “Let’s say he keeps them on ice, so to speak, then sells them little by little for cash, turning them liquid. The clerk told me she’s seen a few of these come through recently.”
That added up too. Eli was cunning. He’d realize selling too many diamonds at once would attract undue attention. A few fit the man.
“Fine,” she said tightly. “That seems plausible.”
“It sure does,” I said, and later in the day I’d update Andrew on the visit to see if the client had anything more to share from the emails his people were still decoding. I’d be able to tell him what we’d found out too. We had a traceable watermark. Now all we had to do was follow that link back to the stolen funds.
“Hey,” I said, looking at the woman at the wheel, who seemed to be deep in her own thoughts.
“Thanks,” I said genuinely, meaning it.
Her smile was curious. “For?”
“For working with me on this. Your help is invaluable,” I said.
No, it wasn’t just her help I was thanking her for.
It was her trust.
She’d trusted me enough to hand her diamond to me, a relative stranger, and let me out of sight with it. Gratitude was an inadequate word.
“Thank you too,” she said, softly.
She reached forward to turn up the AC in the Jeep, but froze, staring out the front window. Her gaze had strayed to a man with salt-and-pepper hair headed down the block toward us. He looked…familiar, but I couldn’t place him. “What’s wrong?”
“Tristan,” she said in a strangled whisper. “Shit.”
In a blur, she unbuckled her seat belt, slid from behind the wheel, and climbed on top of me. “Kiss me so he doesn’t notice me.”
No time to think. Just follow orders. In the military, I’d done a lot of that, but this was the easiest command ever. I cupped her face and sealed my mouth over hers. When I looped my hands in her hair and swept my tongue across the seam of her mouth, she moaned quietly and parted her lips.
With one hand tangled in her hair, I took off my cap and put it on her, covering her blonde locks. Ruby smiled against my mouth and murmured, “Quick thinking.”
“Thanks.”
I was positive the guy had passed us, but like hell was I going to stop. Not while she straddled me. Not as she started to slowly rock her hips into mine. And not as she kissed back harder and hungrier, her lips greedy and tasting like tropical temptation. I tangoed my tongue with hers, tasting her lips, devouring her.
She picked up speed and started riding me harder. While I was sure she could get off by humping my hard-on in my shorts, and I wanted nothing more than to hear her little moans turn into full-blown cries of pleasure, getting arrested for public indecency would be counter to our objectives.
I opened one eye and scanned the street. Coast was clear.
“I’m driving,” I said, brooking no argument. “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.
I slid out and walked around while she situated herself in the passenger seat, then I started the Jeep and drove away from the diamond district. In five minutes, I found a parking garage near a shopping center and parked on the quietest level in a space by the wall. Then I tugged her with me into the backseat.
“I owe you a third,” I said, sliding her sexy body alongside mine.
“Pay up,” she said.
“Oh, I’ll make good on my promise. In no time, you’ll be saying my name,” I said as I tugged her close, my hand traveling along the bare skin of her legs. So damn soft. As she stretched out beside me, we locked eyes. The look in hers was vulnerable and hungry at the same time. She wanted this, and she wanted to give her body to me. What a fucking gift.
“Make me…” she whispered, taking a beat and upping the ante, “scream your name.”
She parted her thighs.
Damn, what a brilliant idea she’d had, kissing me on the street. Maybe she deserved a fourth too. For now, I brushed the inside of her thigh. “Challenge accepted,” I said, and she smiled in that sexy-sweet way she had, then her eyes floated closed as I reached the damp panel of her bikini bottoms. I inhaled sharply as I brushed a finger across that lovely wetness. My dick jumped, eager to please her too. To make her back arch and her toes curl.
But this moment wasn’t about me getting off. I wanted her to writhe in pleasure. That was what turned me on most—to hear her cries. To see her lips form my name as she came undone. I slid a finger across her pussy, gliding over her slick heat. Oh hell, she felt fucking fantastic, and lust crashed into every corner of my body as she shuddered and rubbed against me.
I couldn’t resist kissing her. I dropped my mouth onto hers, claiming her lips in a hot kiss as I tugged her bikini lower. She rocked into my hand as I stroked her and kissed her, and whatever resistance she’d had earlier seemed far gone too.
I guessed she liked this ratio too.