If only Jade would talk to him, get to know him, instead of demanding that he believe her innocence. He had absolutely no clue what to believe.
Chapter Eight
Jade spent the rest of the day on St. Martin cruising around the island on her four-wheeler. She ate lunch at a little local spot, stopped at a few more beaches, and arrived back at the boat about half an hour before the all-aboard. She spent the rest of the evening alone and miserable. Dang that Joshua Jewel. She’d almost kissed him, before he’d revealed yet again what a jerk he was.
Of course he didn’t want to believe she was innocent. He only cared about his lost money, not about real people. Ugh! No matter how much Joshua and Jesse looked alike, she couldn’t understand why she’d ever believed Joshua was her Jesse. Jesse would have trusted her. He didn’t trust you enough to show you his face, that stupid, angry she-devil voice reminded her.
She went to a comedy show, and laughed a little bit. That made her more upset. The comedian was good, and because of her frustration with Joshua, she couldn’t even laugh and have a good time. Wandering the promenade after the show, she bought herself a scoop of mint chocolate chunk from Ben & Jerry’s and ate it alone. The ice cream was an upcharge, but it was so worth it.
A group of young men, barely out of their teens, walked past, several staring at her. They stopped and talked and laughed and jostled each other and kept sneaking looks at her as she slowly licked her ice cream cone. A tall redhead kid broke from the group and approached her. “Hey, pretty lady.”
She smiled, having no desire to crush this young man’s confidence. “Hey.”
“You want to … go for a walk?”
She tried to be nice. “That is so kind of you, but …” But what? I already have three men I’m interested in and you’re too young to compete with any of them?
“She has a boyfriend,” said a deep, irresistible voice behind her.
Jade whirled, and there he was. Joshua looked as gorgeous as ever, wearing dark gray slacks and a button-down pale blue shirt that showed just a hint of his tanned, tough chest. His chestnut-brown hair had just that perfect wave to it, and those blue eyes yanked her right in. How she wished he truly could be her boyfriend.
No! She wanted to be with Jesse. What was wrong with her?
“Ah, sorry, man,” the guy was saying.
Joshua reached out, and she watched them shake hands. “Hey, no hard feelings. I know she’s the most beautiful woman on this ship. You didn’t know she was taken.”
“You’re one lucky dude.” The kid smiled an embarrassed grin at her and then scuttled back to his friends.
Jade stared in semi-shock at Joshua as he took the chair next to her. His knees brushed hers, and he looked her over possessively as if he were her boyfriend. “You’re welcome,” he said.
“Excuse me?” Her temper flared up. At this point she didn’t know if he could win with her, no matter what he said. What happened to him staying away until he figured out she was innocent? “What am I thanking you for?”
He smiled smoothly, and she loved that dimple. It reminded her of Jesse. She was regretting more and more that she’d boarded this ship. Here she thought she’d inform Joshua about the accusations Curtis had thrown at her, and he’d find and fire the real embezzler and maybe give her job back and a celebrity interview to boot. Nope. She should have just stayed with Jesse.
“First of all, saving you from that kid hitting on you.”
She narrowed her eyes. “He seemed like a very nice young man, and I’ve always been partial to redheads.” She folded her arms across her chest. “I don’t have any problem with a cute guy hitting on me.”
He edged in a little closer, and she smelled that irresistible cologne. How was it possible that he and Jesse had the same cologne?
“Second of all …” His voice was so irresistibly husky, it made her stomach feel all warm, like she’d just drunk a mug of hot cocoa. “You looked really lonely. I thought I’d rescue you from that.”
She stood and glared down at him. “I happen to be confident enough to enjoy my own company, and I thought I explained today that you have no responsibility to protect me, watch over me, rescue me, or be around me. The only responsibility you have is to figure out who really stole your money. When you figure that out … come begging my forgiveness. We’ll see if I grant it.”
She whirled away from him and stormed down the promenade, pushing around slower-moving groups. The nerve. The absolute nerve. Just because he was incredibly handsome and sickeningly rich, the man thought he could just charm any woman. Well, she wasn’t just any woman. She was a disgruntled employee with a dang good reason for being disgruntled. The only good thing she’d heard from him today was that he’d hired external as well as internal investigators.
Her steps slowed. When he’d said to the kid that she was the most beautiful woman on the ship, it had melted her heart.
Stupid. She was stupid. Joshua Jewel could have any woman he wanted. But he couldn’t have her.
Jade climbed the steps from the fifth to the ninth floor, out of breath by the time she reached her suite and slammed the door behind her. Opening the fridge, she pulled out a water bottle and drained half of it in angry gulps. Sliding out of her high heels, she strode to the balcony. The warm air embraced her, and the sound of the water flowing past the ship soothed her, a little bit.
Standing at the rail, she looked out at the water. The lights from the ship sparkled against it. Life felt a little simpler out here. She understood Joshua’s quandary, to a point, but why couldn’t he see that she was genuine and trust her? Trust was huge to her. Yet why did she care? She felt like she was betraying Jesse by being so drawn to Joshua. She just needed to get through this week without falling prey to those blue eyes, or that smile with the dimple, or those biceps. My, oh my. He was so perfect that he took her breath away.
“Good criminy, grow a brain, woman!” she yelled at herself.
“Grow a brain?” The male voice came from her left. “I thought you were very smart when I talked to you last night.”
Jade closed her eyes and shook her head. Here was man number three who intrigued her, and she had no clue what he looked like. At least she’d seen part of Jesse’s face, had fun experiences with Jesse, had kissed those beautiful lips of his. “Hi, Priest,” she muttered.
“Hard day?” he asked. His voice was higher than Joshua’s, but if she closed her eyes, she could almost picture Joshua as Priest spoke. Why couldn’t she get Joshua out of her mind? She felt like she was forgetting Jesse in the wake of the too-appealing Joshua Jewel.
She blew out a breath and studied the water. She didn’t even want to crane her neck and check him out. She needed a friend right now, and he seemed content to be that. What a nice guy he was. Maybe she did want to check him out, because obviously nice guys were few and far between these days. “I went to the cave where my sister’s boyfriend came and declared his love to her, so that was amazing. It was beautiful with the softest sand and blue, blue water.” She skirted his question, thinking of Joshua’s blue, blue eyes and then getting disgusted with herself.
“That does sound amazing.”
“What about you? How’d your day go?”
He didn’t answer for a few beats, and she wondered what was going on in his head. “It was kind of lame, honestly. I went around the island and simply played tourist. Did you see all the burned cars lining the middle of the main street over on the French side? Marigot, I believe was the name of the town.”
“No. I went back past the yachts before I headed north.” She loved that they could just talk about something casual, and it wasn’t always drama like it was with Joshua. She smiled to herself. A part of her loved the sparks and fire with Joshua. “Why were they burnt?”
“Rioting not too long ago. It was kind of eerie.”
“Were you scared?”
“No.” She could hear the smile in his voice.
“Too tough to be scared?”
She laughed. “You’d probably start another riot.”
“Exactly why I refrained. So, why did you sound so frustrated when I came out?”
She was caught. “Have you ever had a guy who just drove you crazy … yet you were crazily attracted to him?”
“Nope.” He paused and then said, “I’ve had a girl who drove me crazy that I was crazily attracted to.”
She smiled. “Good to know that’s how you swing.”
“Just the way it works for me. You want to tell me about him?”
She clenched the railing. “Oh, I don’t know. He’s way too handsome. He has these blue eyes that just …” She blew out a breath. “Whew. They just suck me right in. And his smile. He has a perfect dimple that I just want to kiss.” When she heard him pull in a breath, she paused. “Sorry. I shouldn’t be telling you all of this.”
“What?” he protested. “I’m your priest. You have to confess to me. Go on.”
She smiled. He was asking for it, and she really liked talking to him. “Then there’s his hair. It’s this beautiful chestnut brown. If I could just run my fingers through it …” She paused to imagine doing just that while Joshua gave her that smile she couldn’t resist. “And then his body …” She blushed as she realized she was getting out of control. “Never mind, I’ll stop now.”
“Oh, don’t stop. I love hearing all about another man’s pecs,” he said drily.
“I didn’t say one word about his pecs,” she shot back.
“Were his pecs amazingly tough, though?”
She laughed. “No, wimpy and saggy as all get out.”
“Really?”
“No,” she admitted miserably. “They were perfect.” Why was she so drawn to Joshua?
“That’s good to know.” She could hear the humor in his voice. “Can I say something you don’t want to hear?”
“Sure. You can’t offend me.” Joshua had offended her today, but she didn’t think her priest would.
“Everything you described about him was physical. Does he not appeal to you emotionally or mentally at all?”
Jade bit at her lip. “I don’t know,” she said. “He’s smart and successful, and that’s appealing, and we’ve had fun a few times. He’s charming, but … honestly, he just ticks me off. He can’t trust me, and that’s a definite deal breaker.” Now she was back to feeling guilty. Why was she talking about Joshua nonstop to Priest when she should be sharing about Jesse? It had only been a couple days, and already she was forgetting Jesse. She hated that.
“That’s tough. Maybe give him some time.”
“Spoken like a true man,” she shot back. “What about you? Any beautiful women on the ship turning your head?”
“Only one,” he said wistfully.
“Ooh. You want to tell me about her?”
There was a pause, and then he said, “Do you care if I keep her all to myself for now?”
Jade’s eyebrows went up in surprise. “Oh. That’s how it is.”
“Yep.” His voice held no apology. “And after all, I’m the priest. You’re supposed to confess to me, but definitely not the other way around.” He chuckled. “Do you have big plans for tomorrow?”
“St. Kitts, right?”
“Yeah.”
“I signed up for a snuba excursion,” she said.
“You mean scuba?”
“Nope. Snuba. It’s supposed to be a mix between scuba and snorkeling. I’ve always wanted to scuba, but it kind of scares me. No, it terrifies me. Breathing from a tank sixty feet underwater, weights to keep me down, the risk of sinking or rising too quickly and exploding my lungs … No, thank you.”
“You’re worrying too much. Scuba’s simple, and really fun. I’ve done it … a few times.”
“Oh, Mr. Expert is too cool for snuba or snorkeling. Only scuba for the tough guy.”
“That’s right.” He chuckled again.
That laugh … it sounded familiar. No. She just had Jesse on the brain and was wishing he was here. Hence her accusing Joshua of being Jesse.
Silence fell between them for a moment.
“Well, have a good night,” he said. “Talk to you tomorrow? Same time, same place?”
She grinned. “Sounds good. Night.”
She listened as he disappeared into his room, and she continued to watch the water slide by. She liked her priest. She wasn’t attracted to him like she was to Jesse and Joshua. He was a buddy or a brother kind of guy. That was good. She really couldn’t handle any more attraction to anybody. Joshua was definitely, definitely enough.
Joshua smiled to himself as he lay down on the bed and stretched out. At least Jade was attracted to him. The smile fell away. He hated that he was keeping his identity from her and couldn’t trust her. He had received his first report from the outside investigator who was looking into Jade’s, Curtis’s, and the other men’s bank accounts and changes in lifestyle over the past year. Nothing. Nada. The men seemed clean as priests. He smiled again at the thought. He liked being Jade’s priest.
A frown creased his brow. Jade unfortunately had not been clean. In her desk at work, the investigator had found a bank statement from Grand Cayman that correlated with the numbers they had lost. It could be a plant, or Joshua could be the biggest fool on the planet being tricked by another manipulative woman.
What was he going to do? He had to figure out who had taken the money, and so far, everyone was pointing at Jade. How could he be falling for Jade and yet not really trust her? That didn’t work, and he knew it. Maybe he should just stay away from her like she’d told him to, but that sounded awful. He’d rather never recover the million dollars. No. He worked too hard and had too many livelihoods relying on him to simply lose a million dollars.
Maybe he should stay close by Jade’s side and see what she revealed. He liked that plan. Too much.
He blew out a breath and grabbed the phone next to the bed. “Diamond club, please,” he said.
A friendly voice came on the line. “This is Junior, how can I help you?”
“Junior. This is Joshua Jewel.”
There was a second’s pause where he assumed Junior checked a list; then the voice became even more friendly. “Mr. Jewel. What can I do for you tonight, sir?”
“Just wondering if you can check something for me.”
“Anything, sir.”
“Any vacancy on the snuba excursion tomorrow morning?” He hoped there was only one snuba excursion.
“Just a moment, please.” He could hear keys tapping. “Yes, sir. It’s wide open. Usually they take a larger group, ten to twenty, but tomorrow there are only three people signed up. Would you like to join them?”
“Yes, thank you, Junior.”
“Anything you need, sir.”
“Thanks.” Joshua hung up and lay there for a second, thinking. Most people jumped to his beck and call. That was just another reason he liked to be incognito as much as he could: he didn’t receive all the special treatment. Jade definitely didn’t give him special treatment. He smiled to himself. He really liked her. He just had to figure out if she was who she claimed she was, or if she was a trickster stealing not only his money, but his heart.
Chapter Nine
Jade woke early to run on the track at the top of the ship. She showered, got breakfast, and then went to meet her snuba group at the end of the pier. She had this hope that she might make some friends on the excursion. She was a friendly person, and she was getting lonelier and lonelier.
There was a large group of people, a few workers holding up signs for the different excursions and people waiting or filling out their paperwork. She found her sign, and the man gave her a medical history an
d waiver to fill out.
As she was writing, someone brushed against her arm. Glancing up, her eyes widened in surprise as she saw Joshua smiling down at her. “Hey,” he said, all cute and surprised. “You’re doing the snuba too?”
Jade’s eyes narrowed. “Too? What do you mean too?”
He held aloft his own clipboard and papers. “I’m on this excursion. How about that?”
“How about that,” Jade muttered. She focused back on her paper, filling out boxes and trying to concentrate on her answers, but that was almost impossible with Joshua’s presence commanding her every sense. He was close enough that she could smell his lovely cologne, and way more often than was necessary, his bare arm would brush against hers. She heard him striking up a friendly conversation with the other couple. She loved his voice; it was deeper than her priest’s, but in her mind, it was similar to Jesse’s. She’d think he was an exceptionally friendly and charming guy. If she didn’t know that he couldn’t trust her.
Gritting her teeth, she finally finished with the disclaimer and waiver and handed them over.
“All set?” The guide clapped his hands together. “This way, my friends.” Only four of them walked off the pier and to a gravel parking lot. Jade had hoped for more friends to meet, but she’d also hoped to stay away from Joshua.
The guide introduced them to their driver, and they climbed into a shuttle van. Jade chose a window seat so she could look at the island on the drive. Joshua sat down right next to her. His thigh pressed into hers, and Jade wanted to scream at the warm current of desire that rushed through her. He’s not the one, he’s not the one, she chanted to herself. Jesse was her one. Maybe. If they kept developing their relationship the way they had been, and he took his hat and sunglasses off when she went back next Sunday.
Do Marry Your Billionaire Boss (Jewel Family Romance Book 1) Page 9
