“Enjoying yourself?” he asked as he finished his mint chocolate chip ice cream.
“This is heavenly. You really should have one.”
“Yeah, I should. But one of us needs to drive,” he said, taking the final bite of his cone. “Besides, this mint chip rocks my world.”
“Told you so,” she said, waggling her eyebrows. “I can’t believe you’re not going to try a Popsicle, though. What if you had one, and then we talked about our plans for an hour, and then you could drive?”
“Nah. Can’t take a chance. But by all means, continue fellating the Popsicle.”
“I do believe I will.” She drew the Popsicle in deep and sucked long and hard.
He scrubbed a hand over his jaw. “Killing me,” he muttered.
She cocked her head to the side. Affixed a quizzical look. “How am I killing you, Jake? I thought you wanted to go back to just work?”
“I said that. I meant it. I also find you insanely attractive. Therefore, the conundrum.”
“A conundrum indeed,” she said, flicking her tongue across the ice.
A night breeze blew by, and strands of her hair danced lazily around her shoulders. He supposed he could have looked away. He could have gazed contemplatively at the crescent moon and its sickles of light spotlighting the vast waters at night. Or at the vacationers strolling by along the beach. Even at the tiki torches that flickered at the edge of the bar that sat perched on the sugary white sand.
But she was some kind of temptation, and looking away was damn impossible. He steepled his hands together and did his darnedest to focus on work. “Let’s talk about chocolate bars, and real estate, and art galleries.”
“My stepdad must really like those chocolate bars to keep them socked away in a safe. But it’s totally his style. He had a Tupperware container full of his favorite French chocolate that he kept on a high shelf so Robert and I wouldn’t take it.”
“Did that stop you?”
She laughed and shook her head. “Nope. We were determined little kids. Climbed up on chairs and the counter to get the sweets. He always had good sweets.”
“Should we try it? See if it’s any good?”
She crinkled her nose. “What if it’s the worst chocolate in the world? What if it’s poisoned?”
He arched an eyebrow. “You tell me if that seems likely that your stepdad keeps a safe full of poisoned chocolate.”
She gestured with her fingers for him to give her some. “Fine. I’ll be the guinea pig. I’m not afraid. Give me a bite.”
Not wanting to let her lab rat alone, he broke off chunks of the bar for each of them. Setting aside the Popsicle, Steph bit into hers, and Jake did the same. The chocolate was delicious.
Steph pointed to the bar. “Damn, that’s good,” she said as she finished it.
“No wonder he keeps a secret stash locked up.”
“He was always an odd duck. Like I’ve said, he loves his luxuries, so to him, maybe this chocolate is his luxury.”
“Maybe it is,” Jake said, and he wasn’t sure it was worth spending any more time wondering why Eli stowed his chocolate—the reason was apparent in the taste. “But at least we know what’s in his safe, and what’s not in his safe.”
“And so we look elsewhere. Eliminating locations is just as important, right?” she said, and there was such a sweet earnestness in her voice that simply latched onto his heart. Like she wanted to impress him. Like she wanted to show she knew what she was doing.
That was a change.
Up until now, she’d seemed reluctant to truly hunt for the diamonds. She’d been clinging to some notion of absolution for her stepdad, but for the first time, he saw a real determination in her eyes, and heard it in her voice.
He liked it. Liked it a lot.
“Yes, absolutely. Tell me what you learned at the sex-toy party,” he said, resting his palms on the wood of the table and listening to her talk. She segued into work mode quickly, too, telling him what she uncovered about the gallery expansion plans, as well as her stepfather’s security concerns at the club. Then he told her what he suspected from this morning’s bank recon. “My original thought was he kept the diamonds at the house and, bit by bit, batch by batch, had been converting them into money. But he must keep them elsewhere or he moves them in small batches. The next thing to do is to figure out where else they might be.”
She snapped her fingers. “Penny! She used to do some work for my dad. She’s supposed to be at the boat party later this week. We could talk to her. She might know something.”
Damn, she was indeed changing her tune.
He smiled. “Perfect. You seem more gung-ho than you were before.”
She shrugged. “I suppose it’s the cherry Popsicle. Or it might be seeing the diamond on Isla’s throat. Made me mad.”
Anger was good. He could work with that.
“I still don’t want him to go to prison, though,” she said.
Jake held up his hands. “Not my job to put people behind bars. I work around the law, not for the law.”
“You’re not going to turn him in to the SEC or something?”
He laughed, shaking his head. “I work for clients, not government agencies. When I find the diamonds, I return them to their rightful owners. Andrew and the Eli Fund. Simple as that.”
She quirked up the corner of her lips, as if she was considering all he’d said. Then she nodded. “Fair enough.” She picked up her Popsicle, licked it one last time, then set the stick on the table. She placed her chin in her palms. “OK, let’s play truth or dare.” She waved her hand in the air. “Wait. No. Just truth.”