by Tawny Taylor
Diana jumped to her feet. “See? There you are!”
Carmen stood up, went to Jane and gave her a hug. “My new hero!”
“Okay, okay. That’s enough.” Diana pried Carmen from Jane. “What are you doing tomorrow?”
“Who? Me?” Jane asked, wondering where Diana was going with that question.
“Both of you.”
“Well, I have to do some grocery shopping, but that can wait, I guess,” Carmen said.
“I don’t know.” Jane tried to create a good excuse in a hurry, but came up empty-handed. “I guess I don’t have anything going on.”
“Good! We’re going shopping, girls. Tomorrow. At that fancy new mall across town, then we’ll grab some lunch. Now…” she said as she motioned toward the door, “…out, out! I need my beauty sleep, it’s late, and my refrigerator is empty.”
Jane was not about to argue with Diana on this one. She was glad to go home, even if it meant she’s spend the next eight hours or so tossing and turning, and wondering if Josh was okay. Why hadn’t he at least called her to let her know he was alive and well?
She drove home and went to bed, and as expected was tortured by memories of Josh. The way he touched her, the sound of his voice.
Man, she had it bad!
The next morning, sleepy and sore, she got up, did her normal morning routine and met up with Diana and Carmen for their shopping trip. They drove to the mall, Jane dodging both Diana’s and Carmen’s requests for more details about Josh. Their first stop in the mall: the lingerie shop. Why did that not surprise her? They picked out a racy red number for Jane, and Jane shelled out the cash—quite a huge hunk, she might add—for it. Some treat! They headed down to the next shop. As Jane passed a jewelry store display, a gorgeous ring caught her eye, and she went inside to get a better look at it.
The center stone, square cut and not too terribly big, was the color of a tropical sky. Absolutely stunning. Clear twinkling diamonds rimmed all four sides. The whole shebang was set in platinum.
The salesman approached. “Magnificent, isn’t it?”
“Is it a sapphire?”
“No. It’s much, much rarer. I’m selling that ring on consignment for a friend. It’s a blue beryl stone. Have you heard of it?”
“Nope.” The only thing that convinced her she wasn’t getting a line of shit was the setting. Who in their right mind would set a stone less than worthy in platinum? “Blue what?”
“Beryl. To my knowledge, the stone is found in only two places, Brazil and Canada. It is extremely rare.”
“And how did you get this one?”
“The owner also owned the mining company that discovered the stone in Canada.”
“Just for curiosity’s sake, how much is the ring?”
“I’m asking thirty thousand.”
“Wow!” She staggered back a step. “For that? It’s not even that big.”
“For the kind of stone, it’s very large, and quite delicate.”
“Well, thanks.” She turned to leave. No sense talking to the man another minute. The ring was way beyond her means. As she stepped toward the mall, and searched for her friends who had wandered away, she spied the one human being she’d kill to never see again.
Her ex. Greg Hastings.
And what was that clinging to his arm? Malibu Baby?
He smiled, and her gut tied into a knot. She hated that triumphant, rub-your-face-in-it grin.
“Didn’t anyone ever tell you, messing with climbing nightshade is dangerous?” she asked, sure the joke would fly right over his head, and probably Barbie’s for that matter.
“Huh?” He shook his head. “You’re strange, Jane. What are you doing out here? The trailer park is south, about ten miles.”
Jane ignored his jab at her working-class neighborhood. If it weren’t for his parents’ hasty departure to hell, he wouldn’t be living any better. In fact, she knew Mr. Hastings, the pride of his country club, was spitting distance from being homeless. “Good to see you again, too. And speaking of working class taste, what happened to your last trophy? Did she lose her court case?” She smiled at the clinging vine wound around his elbow and nodded. “I’m the ex-Mrs. Hastings, in case you haven’t figured that out.” She offered her hand. “Good to meet you.”
The woman couldn’t be a day over eighteen, wore clothes so tight they resembled plastic wrap, and had clearly paid more than a few visits to a plastic surgeon. “Paula. Good to meet you, too. It’s always nice to put a face to a name.”
Jane bit back a nasty retort—Malibu Baby didn’t know what she had coming to her, no reason to punish her more—and turned to her ex. Karma would take care of it for her. “So, are you shopping for, another engagement ring? What’ll this make for you? Five in as many weeks?”
Okay, so maybe she was dishing out a little punishment to them both, Paula because she just looked too damn good wearing clothes that should emphasize her imperfections, and Greg because he deserved every bit of hell he dished out.
She glanced at Paula, not surprised by the shock on her picture-perfect face. In truth, she was doing the bimbo a favor. No doubt about it, Paula figured she was about to snag a rich husband by hooking up with a legendary Hastings. Problem was this one was piss-poor broke.
“No.” He tugged on his companion’s arm and turned away, saying over his shoulder, “Time to head back to the ghetto before you start absorbing some class, Jane. You wouldn’t want to ruin the low class image you’ve got going for you now.”
“You wouldn’t know low class if it was fucking you.”
Paula spun around, nearly knocking herself off her stilettos. “Hey!”
“No offense,” Jane offered.
Greg patted Paula’s ass. “At least she knows how to fuck. She doesn’t lie on her back, spread her legs and take a nap like some people.”
“Well, maybe I was bored because you don’t know what the hell you’re doing.” There. He deserved a verbal kick in the balls.
“Patty here doesn’t have any complaints—”
“Who?” Paula asked, her eyeballs bugging out of her head.
Oh, boy! He’d done that one to himself. Jane didn’t bother hiding her grin. This was getting interesting. Quickly.
“I meant to say Paula. Let’s go take a look at those rings.”
“Who is Patty?” Paula asked, pulling away from him and crossing toned arms over an ample silicone-enhanced chest.
“It was a slip of the tongue. I don’t know anyone named Patty.”
Jane prepared to explain. “Patty was—”
“Stay out of this, Jane, or I’ll cut off your alimony.”
“She doesn’t need your money anyway,” a deep voice said behind her. “The pittance you could scrape together wouldn’t keep her in rags.”
It couldn’t be Josh… Here? How?
She turned around. It was! Her heart jumped in her chest and her face heated. “Hi.”
He smiled at her, his eyes warm, his gaze caressing. “Hello, love.” Then he pulled her to him, tucked her hand into his elbow and turned his attention back to Greg. His expression turned downright scary. “Don’t you ever speak to Jane that way again.”
Greg smiled. “Oh, yeah? Who are you?”
“Jane’s fiancé.”
Fiancé? Had she missed something? How had she forgotten a proposal? She glanced down at her left hand, just to double-check. Nope. No ring.
Greg’s shit-eating-grin faded just a touch as he gave Josh a thorough once-over. That look of male appreciation and defeat was worth every minute of hell she’d lived through when they were married. Thankfully, Greg knew power and money when he saw it. If there was one thing that Josh’s personage screamed—outside of raw sex appeal—it was power and money.
“Congratulations,” Greg muttered.
“Thanks,” Jane said, smiling so big she felt her cheeks might crack. Lie or not, this was fun!
Greg glanced down at her hand and his cocky grin returned. “No ring? I
t’s not official until you put the rock on the lady’s finger, buddy.”
Shit! Greg had always been so slick. She’d never been able to get one over him.
“We’re about to take care of that.” Josh glanced down at Jane, his expression so damn genuine, she was tempted to believe what he said. “Weren’t we, Jane? Didn’t you tell me about a ring here that you wanted me to look at?”
How did he know? How could he? “I did see one over here but—”
“Great!” Josh interrupted. He slid an arm around her waist. “Let’s go take a look.”
Now, she had a million questions, but she didn’t dare breathe a word of them in front of Greg and Paula. Instead, she simply said, “Okay,” and followed Josh’s gentle lead back into the jewelry store.
“Now, which one was it again?” Josh asked. He smiled at the salesman. “My fiancée was looking at a ring a while back. I’d like to see it.”
The salesman returned his expression, nodded, and practically ran to retrieve the ring. “A fine, fine piece. Worth much more than I’m asking.”
Josh took the ring from the salesman and studied it. “Blue beryl. Very nice, Jane. You have excellent taste. Expensive, but I agree, worth every penny. It’s exquisite.”
Jane peeked over her shoulder, catching Greg’s scowl. She couldn’t believe Josh was going to this much trouble just to put Greg in his place. But she was sure enjoying it.
“Excuse me, sir,” Greg said after a moment. “I’d like to see the finest ring you have in this store, please.”
Paula’s nearly six foot frame just got another couple of inches taller.
“The gentleman is looking at it at the moment, Sir,” the salesman said. “Can I show you something else?”
“No, that’s fine. I’ll wait.”
Josh slid the ring on Jane’s finger. A perfect fit! It felt so incredible, and a bit scary, having something so beautiful, so expensive…and tiny…and fragile on her hand.
“We’ll take it.”
What? Josh didn’t just buy that ring, did he?
“But—”
Josh raised an index finger to her lips, cutting off her argument before she’d really gotten going. “Hush, love. I want you to have it.”
“But we’re not—”
Josh looked at her with such love and kindness, her heart swelled. “We’re not what?”
She glanced down at the gorgeous ring. Outside of a house, she’d never owned anything worth so much. What if something happened to it? What if she lost it? She should lock it away…
“I won’t let you do that. You must wear it. Always. And think of me.”
“Jane! There you are!” Jane spun around just in time to catch Diana’s puzzled expression. “What are you doing?” She smiled at Josh. “Hi, Josh. What are you doing here? Just tell me you’re spending money on my dear friend, and I’ll be happy.” And then she looked at Greg. “And him, too? My God, woman! Who else did you invite to the party?”
“I didn’t invite Greg,” Jane explained. “He was here, and I bumped into him. And then Josh showed up.”
Carmen dropped her eyes. “What’s that on your finger?”
Feeling her face blazing, Jane lifted her hand. “Oh, it’s a ring.”
“A ring? Like an engagement ring? You’re wearing it on your left hand!” Carmen took Jane’s hand and inspected the ring from every angle. “A sapphire?”
Jane shook her head. “No, a blue beryl, whatever that is.”
“Is cash okay?” Josh asked the salesman.
“Cash?” Jane repeated. Who the hell carried around thirty thousand dollars in cash?
“Well…I, uh… Oh, my.” The salesman stammered. “Yes, sir. That will be fine.”
Josh pulled out a wad that would put Columbia’s drug cartel to shame and started counting out thousand dollar bills.
Jane had never seen a thousand dollar bill. Who was the president with the funny mustache?
Josh handed her a bill and whispered, “Grover Cleveland. Keep it.”
“What a joke!” Greg scoffed. “Tossing around cash like it’s nothing. Sorry, buddy, but I’m not impressed.”
“You don’t have to be. The only person I care to impress is standing next to me.” He didn’t miss a beat as he finished counting out the last few bills and handed them to the salesman.
Jane turned back to Diana and Carmen, catching a silent inquisitive look between them.
Diana cleared her throat. “So, are you ditching us now that Mr. Moneybags has shown up?”
Diana sounded pissed. Jealous? Now, Jane felt like she was in the middle. She glanced at Josh, wanting to spend the rest of the day with him, but also feeling guilty for ditching her friends.
“No, you go with them. I’ll see you later.” He kissed her nose, patted her ass, and gave her a sexy smile. “And make sure to wear that sexy number you bought earlier. I have plans for you.”
How did he do that? How could he know what I bought?
Her whole body heated, juices started flowing, and various body parts started tingling, especially those between her legs.
“Okay,” she breathed the word more than said it.
He handed her the small jewelry store bag with the velvet box for her ring. “Go ahead and take this home. But don’t you dare take off that ring.”
“Okay.” She took the bag from him. As her fingertips brushed his, a zap shot between them, static. She jerked her stinging hand away, dropping the bag. “Oh.” She bent to pick it up, but Josh caught her shoulder.
“Allow me.” He scooped it up and handed it to her again, and she took a firm grip. “I’ll call you later, say seven?”
“Okay.” She stopped moving. Breathing became impossible as she caught his glance. In the depths of his eyes, she saw so many things, beautiful deep blue places with shimmering lights.
Diana grabbed her other arm and gave it a tug. “Wake up, Sleeping Beauty!”
“I’m awake.” Jane shook her head, waved goodbye to Josh—taking special note of the way his jeans hugged his firm ass—and turned around. Well, maybe she was a little out of it. But wouldn’t any woman be after having her boyfriend show up out of nowhere—just as she was battling her ex-husband, to top it off—buy an engagement ring worth more than her car, and then run off, promising an evening of sex?
“What did you do, call him from a pay phone?” Diana asked, walking toward the main mall. “We’ve been looking for you for ages.”
“I was going to ask you the same thing.” Jane peered down at her left hand again. “I don’t know how he found me. And Greg—”
“Holy shit!” Greg’s voice bellowed from inside the jewelry store. “Thirty fucking thousand?”
Jane smiled. Today was going to be a very good day. And tonight…well, after this, she couldn’t wait to see what Josh had in store for her.
“So, are you really engaged?” Carmen asked.
“I don’t know.” Jane glanced at the ring again, half-expecting it to be gone, faded like a dream.
“Don’t know?” Diana gripped her hand and waved it in front of her nose. “Well, considering you just accepted a ring worth more than a year’s salary, you’d better figure out what it means. Have you lost your mind, Jane? You haven’t known the man for more than a couple of weeks.”
Jane didn’t know how to explain. “I know, but it just seems so right. Outside of the water thing—he has a fascination with huge aquariums that scare the piss outta me—we just seem to click.”
“Well, before you get stuck, you’d better do some checking.” Diana suggested, checking out a set of mannequins in a store window. “Make sure everything is on the up and up. Now, that’s a sharp outfit. Let’s go in here.”
“He’s your friend. You mean you don’t know that?”
Diana scowled. “He isn’t my friend. He was just a hunk who wouldn’t give me the time of day. I thought you might like him. But I never expected…” Diana motioned toward Jane’s hand. “I never expected you to get e
ngaged in a week.”
“Neither did I,” Jane said, looking down into the blue stone. It looked like Josh’s eyes, sparkling and deep. “Neither did I.”
Chapter 11
It is amazing how heavy and intimidating a tiny stone on your finger can feel.
As promised, Josh called at seven on the dot, and no more than fifteen minutes later, he was at her door, a smile on his face and a huge bouquet of flowers in his fist. Jane was thrilled beyond belief to see him. Positively giddy. But she needed to find out exactly what the rock on her hand meant before she started picking china patterns.
Josh handed her the flowers, gathered her into his arms, and dropped a kiss on the top of her head. “Where do you want to go tonight?”
“Maybe dinner? Nothing too complicated. I have to work in the morning.”
“Perfect.” His hands worked magic. Caresses up and down her sides seemed to draw the stress out of her body. He tangled his fingers in her hair and tugged, and she dropped her head back. Seconds later, her whole body tingled as he kissed and nipped the sensitive skin on her neck. Her legs turned weak and rubbery. Ready to fall to the floor, she leaned into him, but that only made things worse. With his body firmly pressed against hers, her mind had to work extra hard to stay functioning. “Oh…”
“Ready?” He lifted his head, set her back on her feet, and smiled like a playful boy. “I’m starving. Let’s go eat.”
She mentally kick-started her brain and heart—both of which had failed several minutes ago—and followed him to the door, stopping to grab her purse and keys.
The minute her gaze took in the vehicle in the driveway, she froze. “What is that?” Okay, she knew what a limo was, but…but why was it in her driveway? What was the special event?
“It’s a limousine, love. I wanted to go all out for you tonight.”
“My gosh, I don’t know what to say.” Her tongue felt much too thick to fit inside her mouth, and her throat was so dry she started to hack.
“Are you all right?”
He looked concerned—how sweet of him! “I’m fine. I just need a drink.”
“There’s champagne in the limo.” He took her hand and led her to the car, stepping back to let the driver open the door for them.
