Penny laughed, and Steph worked on picking up her jaw from the wooden dock. Rearranging her features. Affecting a laugh. This was the easiest fact-finding mission ever. She didn’t even have to ask. Penny had simply offered the delicious intel.
“Like in a safe? Behind the art or something? Like they do in the movies?”
Penny shrugged. “Hell if I know. I just overheard them talking. But let me tell you. He spent a lot of time checking out the frames of the art in the office at the gallery.” She tipped her forehead to the boat. “Let’s get the party started.”
As the pink-haired woman walked ahead, Steph turned to Jake and pumped a fist in victory.
Four hours later, the sun had fallen, the moon had risen, and more than a half dozen women had flirted with Jake on the boat. As if he were the only man around. Sure, he was the most handsome, but Steph couldn’t act like he belonged to her, because, well, he didn’t.
She hung by the edge of the boat, bobbing in the water by the marina. Watching the inky black sea at night, she spent the party chatting with Sandy, Penny, and Reid, and sometimes Jake. With his eight o’clock shadow, ripped arms, and charming smile, he was a magnet. Women flocked to him.
Steph didn’t like it. Didn’t like it one bit. She pursed her lips and gritted her teeth.
By the time 10:00 p.m. rolled around, she’d had enough. She said good-bye to her friends; tapped Jake on the shoulder, since he was in the midst of a long chat with Reid; and told him she was taking off. Whatever sweetness she’d felt in the water earlier had fizzled. She was foolish to have entertained thoughts of trysts, and trust, and letting the man gunning for Eli into her heart.
He shot her a quizzical look, beer bottle in hand.
“I’m tired,” she muttered, and headed onto the dock.
Seconds later, he caught up with her. “Hey. You OK?”
She shrugged.
“That’s a no,” he said.
“Maybe it’s a yes,” she said, offhand.
“You seem annoyed.” He kept pace next to her as she walked toward land.
“You’re observant.”
“What’s wrong?”
She waved a hand dismissively. “I just need to call it a night,” she said, practically race-walking. “We can come up with an art gallery plan tomorrow, right? Isn’t that what’s important?”
“Sure. Of course.”
Her frustration peaked over how easily he shifted gears. “Did you enjoy the party?” Before she could stop the words from tumbling forth, she added, “And the way all the women flirted with you?”
He stopped in his tracks and grabbed her arm. Wrapping a strong hand around her. “What are you saying?”
“Don’t tell me you didn’t notice. Everyone had her sights set on you.”
He shook his head. “Didn’t notice.”
She scoffed. “I don’t believe you.”
He let go of her arm, held his hands out wide. “What else is new? You never believe me.”
She parked her hands on her hips. “Do you blame me? You haven’t been entirely forthcoming.”
“All right. Let’s come forth now. Ask me anything and I’ll tell you.”
Maybe that was too risky a suggestion. But Jake thrived on risks.
She might throw a question at him that he’d want to dodge and dart. But the fact was, he wanted her to trust him. He needed her trust.
She fixed him with a challenging stare. “Anything?”
He nodded. “Anything.”
“Truth or dare?” she asked, the moonlight framing her stunning, sun-kissed face, the ocean breeze sweeping through her hair, the smell of saltwater wrapping around them.
“Truth,” he said easily, reaching for his beer bottle and taking a drink as gentle waves lolled past them.
She arched an eyebrow and raised her chin. Her tough-girl stance, and it made her even sexier. Damn, she was hot when she was feisty. “Tell me the truth for real. Did you know who I was the night you met me?”
He scoffed. “I knew you were the hottest woman I’d seen in ages,” he said, somehow unable to resist slipping around her question to give her a compliment.
She stared at him. “That’s not the whole truth.”
“Fine. I knew you were a pain in the ass.”
“Gee, thanks.”
“I knew you were going to drive me crazy.”
“You drive me crazy, too,” she countered, parking her hands on her hips.
“Sounds like we’re just about even, then.”
“No. We’re not. Because you still haven’t answered the question. Did you know who I was?”
“No,” he said, setting his beer on the railing. He stepped closer to her and grasped her bare arms. Her skin was soft and warm. “I’ve told you a million times. No. No. And more no. And I could ask you the same damn thing, too. I could ask if you knew who I was. But I’m not asking. Because it doesn’t matter right now. It doesn’t matter anymore.” He let go of her arms and gestured from him to her. “This? This isn’t about who knew what when. It’s about the fact that I can’t get you out of my head.” He tapped his skull. “It’s about the fact that I’m not supposed to get involved on a job. It’s about the fact that even if I weren’t about to break that rule in spectacular fashion, I should absolutely not break it with you, of all people.”
She pressed her teeth into her lower lip, and the tiniest sliver of a smile appeared on her gorgeous face. Oh hell, he was going to have a field day kissing that smile away all night long, and feeling her melt in his arms when he stripped her down to nothing. Because he was done pretending. Done holding back. Done doing anything but giving in to this electric chemistry that had the two of them in its clutches. Staying away from her was too damn hard.