27. What Happens in Flamingo Key
27
WHAT HAPPENS IN FLAMINGO KEY
Ruby
I didn’t see him at all the next morning or afternoon—and I missed him. Weird, too, that it had taken such a short time to become that accustomed to his company. But I had prep to do for the tour, so I spent the day focused on my business and when he dropped me off last night, Jake had told me that he’d be holed up in his hotel room with paperwork all the next day. He’d rolled his eyes when he said it, and I’d teased him, saying, “Such a horrible thing for a recovery specialist to have to do.”
“Bounty hunters hate paperwork,” he’d grumbled before he’d kissed me goodnight.
Now, as the afternoon wound down and I got ready for the boat party, I was excited to see him. He’d pick me up in an hour, and I’d get to spend a little time with him in the water before the festivities.
While I got dressed and then headed for the beach, I thought about Jake and me and this thing between us. I wasn’t sure what to call it—a tryst? An affair? A fling?—but I thought maybe we could do this. Make it work. Find a way to keep this up when we returned home. We lived close enough to each other that it was feasible.
There was, of course, the issue with my mother and Eli—we both wanted different things. But once this was resolved, maybe we could form some kind of life together.
We were going to the boat party to ask questions and gather intel. But I’d also watch for an opportunity to ask Jake if he’d like to keep seeing each other after the investigation was done . And if I found the chance to ask him, I would take it.
* * *
I treaded azure-blue waters next to the yacht, looking up at Jake still on deck in his swim shorts with the early evening sun glinting off his light-brown hair. It was strange—good strange—to see him at ease while in the open like this. Since we’d met, there had been secrets and investigations and stolen moments tangled together. But few chances to just lounge in the sun.
We’d arrived early for the party, hoping to catch Kalila with some questions before the rest of the guests arrived aboard Devon’s boat, still moored at the end of the pier. Since our quarry wasn’t there yet, it had seemed like a good time to goof off. Just a smidge.
“C’mon,” I called to Jake. “I don’t bite.”
He grinned down at me. “Says the woman who roots for the shark in Jaws .”
“Okay, then. I don’t bite unless you deserve it,” I said, “and you ask very nicely.”
“I will definitely be asking nicely tonight,” he said, and that comment emboldened me too. Sure, it was a sexy comment, but it also implied we’d be spending time together.
Maybe more after we left this island. I hoped.
“Only if you catch me,” I said, pushing off the hull of the boat with my feet and skimming along the shallow water. Jake dove in and gave chase. I darted away as fast as I could, but soon, he stretched one long arm and hooked my ankle. Underwater, I laughed and then popped to the surface, and so did he.
“Say it,” he demanded playfully.
“Say what?” I asked, splashing water at him.
“Say I caught the mermaid.” His smirk made me grab his waist and try to tickle him underwater. He was impervious, though, and instead he clasped his hands over mine and tugged me close. “Don’t drive me wild in the water,” he said, low and growly.
“What do you expect when you catch a mermaid?” I whispered, loving the way his fingers gripped my waist and his words were just for me. “That’s what we do.”
“I did catch her. I want her all to myself,” he said.
My breath caught. Was this all just innuendo? We’d admitted we wanted each other more than we wanted to keep things strictly business. But something had shifted when we’d talked on the beach and he’d told me about his parents and I’d told him about my mom and Eli’s cheating. Maybe his words were a sign I wasn’t overreaching with my plans to ask for more. Maybe they were a sign he was on board.
“I like when you have me,” I told him in a low whisper.
“Tonight,” he said.
That word thrummed through me like a promise as we swam and splashed some more, then climbed back up on the boat.
“I can see why you love it here,” Jake said, handing me a towel. “This place suits you. It’s beautiful, and peaceful, but also adventurous…like you.”
My heart gave a thump at the sweet compliment. That was a more-than-a-tryst compliment. Maybe? What would he say if I floated the idea of seeing each other again at home, without all the Eli stuff between us?
My name came across the water like a trumpet blast.
“Ruby!”
Delight and anticipation spun me around. I scanned the dock for a familiar face, then beamed when I spotted a woman with bright pink hair and tattooed arms cycling along the wooden dock toward me. Her ride was a mint-green cruiser and a golden retriever mix frolicked by her side. The ultimate island girl and her dog had resurfaced.
I clambered off the boat and ran to meet her. My friend stopped pedaling, let the bike fall to the dock and closed the distance between us. When she reached me, she hugged the stuffing out of me while the retriever bounded around us, looking for a place to squeeze in to our hug.
“Chase,” she admonished the dog. “Stop acting jealous. You know you’ll get your loving when we get back home.”
I wasn’t one for hugs, but I made an exception for Kalila—and Chase.
Laughing, I stepped back. “I see no one has replaced the golden retriever in your heart.”
“He’s still my main man.” Kalila’s gaze focused behind me. “And speaking of main men, who have we got here?”
“That’s my friend Jake,” I said, trying to keep my voice casual. “Met him snorkeling.”
As Jake reached us, Kalila eyed him up and down. “Hello, there. Glad you could join us.”
“Glad I could make it.”
“What are you up to these days?” I asked Kalila. “I heard you worked for Eli and helped with his club, but Devon said you’re using that green thumb of yours now at a flower shop.”
“I did a little bit for Sapphire, but I helped out at the gallery too. That place was crazy busy when I was there.”
“They’re expanding it now,” I said nonchalantly. I was getting good at this cloak-and-dagger stuff. Casual and cool were my new middle names.
“Probably because they need room for all their precious gems.”
I blinked in surprise. No way was it that simple. I faked a laugh. “You mean actual jewels? Not some kind of exhibit?”
Kalila shrugged like we were talking about the weather. “Nope. Must have been the real thing. Eli didn’t want to leave them at home. Said the gallery was the most secure spot for them.”
How was this happening? I’d endured the sex-toy party from hell, Jake had broken into Eli’s house, and now Kalila had simply handed me this info without me even prompting?
“Did the gallery have some kind of safe?” I asked. “Maybe it was hidden, and that’s why it was more secure?”
“Hell if I know,” Kalila said. “I just overheard them talking. Maybe it was behind a painting, like in the movies. He spent a lot of time picking the frames of the art in the gallery’s office.” She tipped her forehead to the boat. “Let’s get the party started.”
As Kalila walked ahead, I turned to Jake, who looked at me with a wide-eyed stare that expressed exactly what I was feeling.
“Was that too easy?” he asked in a low voice.
“Do you mean, don’t trust volunteered information?”
“Something like that.”
“I’d normally say yes, except this is Kalila. I’ve known her for a long time.” I gestured after her, encompassing her lack of artifice and her what-you-see-is-what-you-get-ness. “She’s kind of just like that. She…well, shares. She doesn’t hide things.”
“People like that are the best. And that means we’ll have to check out the gallery very, very soon.”
Heat sparked in me. I was already turned on picturing him scaling a wall, rappelling in on an electrical line, being all sexy and capable and clever. “You mean I might have another chance to see your safe-cracking skills in action?”
“If you’re lucky,” he said, waggling his brows.
I laughed and followed Kalila’s most straightforward advice. Let’s get this party started. Grabbing my mesh bag, I headed for the boat’s bathroom, changed out of my bikini and into a cute sundress, then twisted my hair into a bun, letting it dry in the warm air.
Time for a party with friends.
* * *
Four hours later, the sun had fallen, the moon had risen, and I was enjoying the view. The water, the man, and the ink on one of his strong arms. The social setting inspired possibilities along the lines of the one I’d been entertaining earlier. Jake and me. Tonight, tomorrow, and beyond.
During the party, I hung out on the deck near the railing. While the boat bobbed gently in the water by the marina, I looked out at the inky-black sea beyond the harbor. Earlier I’d spent time chatting with Tanice and her new girlfriend—and yes, Tanice doted on her—along with Devon, Kalila, and Reid, and sometimes Jake, though I was careful to give him space too. He was there with me, but he navigated the social currents just fine, and I didn’t want to be clingy.
Maybe now, though, was the chance I’d been looking for to ask about us, and home, and making this thing work. I’d last seen him going below deck, either to the galley or the head.
“Bet you’ll miss this place when you leave,” Reid said amiably just as I was near the top of the steps.
I froze, remaining just out of sight. Maybe this was my chance to find out if Jake was looking for more.
Jake chuckled, but I caught a touch of sarcasm in his laugh. “It’s gorgeous and all, but I’ll be glad to be back home.”
Understandable. I wanted this Eli business done with too. I wanted to be with Jake without the tension of the investigation between us. But what was that tone?
“Yeah?” asked Reid. “You won’t miss anything? The sunsets and beaches? Or any one ?”
The slightest good-natured emphasis on that last word let me know that my friends hadn’t missed the chemistry between Jake and me.
Jake’s pause was long enough to make me peer into the galley where the guys were standing. His back was to me, but he took a long pull of his beer. “I find what happens on Flamingo Key is best left on Flamingo Key.”
What. The. Hell.
That was what he thought of me? Like I was just a fling to leave behind in the islands? Something forgettable, or worse, shameful?
Well, fuck my daydream that this island affair would become more. Fuck island trysts. Fuck them hard.
* * *
By the time ten p.m. rolled around, I’d had enough. I said goodbye to my friends; tapped Jake on the shoulder, since he was in the midst of another long chat with Reid, and told him I was taking off. Whatever sweetness I’d felt in the water earlier had fizzled. I was foolish to have entertained thoughts of trysts, and trust, and letting a man with his own agenda into my heart.
He shot me a quizzical look, beer bottle in hand.
“I’m tired,” I muttered, and headed onto the dock.
Seconds later, he caught up with me. “Hey. You okay?”
I shrugged.
“That’s a no,” he said.
“Maybe it’s a yes.” I needed space from him and me. I was in a mood.
He kept pace with me as I strode down the dock toward land. “You seem annoyed.”
“Very observant.”
“Honestly, Ruby. What’s wrong?”
I waved a hand dismissively. “I just need to call it a night.” I was essentially race-walking now, driven by my hurt feelings to get away from him. To spend the night alone. “We can come up with an art gallery plan tomorrow, right? Isn’t that what’s important?”
“Sure. Of course.” He matched my pace without any problem, which was almost as frustrating as how easily he shifted gears. Obviously he’d have no trouble shifting gears from our tryst before he left it behind.
“Did you enjoy the party?” I asked. “And your conversation with Reid?”
He stopped in his tracks and grabbed my arm, wrapping strong fingers gently around me. “What are you talking about?”
Why be tactful? Clearly I wasn’t going to see him again after we found the diamonds. What difference did it make? “You tell me, Mister What Happens on Flamingo Key stays on Flamingo Key.”
His brow knitted as he seemed to puzzle that out. Then it clicked, and he said my name on a frustrated sigh. “Ruby.”
“Well, you made us seem like nothing to Reid,” I said, crossing my arms.
“I don’t know him. I wasn’t going to tell my personal business to a stranger. You want to know why I said that?”
More than anything. “Yes, I do.”
He stepped closer, but he didn’t touch me. “Because I am breaking all my rules by doing this with you, and it’s private. This thing between us is private. It’s nobody’s business but yours and mine.”
My chest dipped.
This man.
How could he go from dismissing me to making my heart flip? But there he was, doing it again. “You sure about that?” I asked, more quietly this time, more vulnerable too.
“So goddamn sure,” he said. “So sure that I don’t need to blab to a stranger how I feel about you.”
Oh god. I was a jerk for doubting us based on an overheard comment. “I’m sorry,” I said.
He smirked. “You wear possessiveness well. It’s sexy.”
I laughed, but then I replayed the last few things he said. How I feel . I couldn’t resist. “How do you feel?” I asked, nervously, hopefully.
He stepped closer to me and gently took hold of my bare arms. I trembled, feeling so right there with him. “This is how I feel,” he said, his green gaze holding mine intensely. “Every time I think of you when I should be focused on the job, every time I touch you, it feels right. I broke my cardinal rule—don’t get involved while on a job—to be with you.”
I felt like I was floating on a new wild hope—of him, of us, of tonight. “I can’t stop thinking about you,” I admitted.
“Join the club, sweetheart,” he said, then ran his thumb along my lower lip, touching me like I was precious and like I was the object of all his desires.
Now wasn’t the time to ask him to date. Now was the time for something else. Something I was sure we both desperately needed and wanted.
A first.
“Would you spend the night with me?” I asked.
“Yes. As long as we leave right this fucking second,” he said.
I was running off the dock in no time.