Читать книгу Ultimate Romance Collection - Rebecca Winters, Amalie Berlin - Страница 58

One

Key West, Florida

Swan Jamison was beside herself with excitement as she opened the huge box on her desk. Although it contained only her jewelry-making supplies, the package served as affirmation that while rebuilding was still taking place in certain areas, the majority of the island had recovered from the hurricane that had hit eight months ago.

“Anything for me?” Rafe asked, sticking his head through the office door.

Her shop was in a very trendy area so she could capitalize on the tourists visiting the island. To help with high operating costs, she leased out one of the large rooms in the back. Rafe was her tenant, who’d converted the back room into a tattoo shop. On some days, he got more customers than she did.

“Nothing for you, Rafe, just supplies for me.” She checked her watch. “You’re early today.” Usually he didn’t open up until noon.

“I have a special appointment at ten thirty and I need to ready my ink.” And then he was gone. Rafe didn’t say a whole lot except to his customers.

The door chime alerted her that she had a customer. Jamila, who worked part-time and usually only in the mornings, had taken time off for a day of beauty—hair, nails, pedicure, bikini wax, the works. Her boyfriend worked on a cruise ship that was due in port tomorrow. Swan was happy for Jamila and happy for herself as well. The cruise ships always brought in tourists who wanted to purchase authentic handmade jewelry.

She walked out of her office as a man perused her jewelry display case near the door. That was good. While he checked out her jewelry, she would check him out.

He had a nice profile. Tall, broad shoulders that looked good in a T-shirt and a pair of muscular thighs that fit well in his jeans. He had diamond-blond hair that was neatly trimmed and his hands were the right size for his body.

There was something about the way he stood, straight and tall, that all but spelled out military man. And the way his legs were braced apart, as if he had to maintain his balance even on land, spelled out navy.

Too bad. She didn’t do military men. In all honesty, lately she hadn’t done men at all. Too busy.

And then there was the issue of Candy’s divorce. Swan knew she shouldn’t let what had happened to her best friend darken her own view, but Swan was known to claim whatever excuse suited her and that one did at the moment.

And speaking of the moment, she had looked her fill. She needed to make her first sale of the day. “May I help you?”

He turned and looked at her, and every cell in her body jolted to attention.

Wow! She’d seen blue eyes before, but his were a shade she’d never seen. They were laser blue; the intense sharpness of the pupils captured her within their scope. And his features... Lordy! The man had such gorgeous bone structure! There was no way a woman had ever passed by him and not taken a second look. Even a third, while wiping away drool.

“Yes, you can help me.”

And why did he have to sound so good, too? The sound of his voice—a deep, husky tone—made her throat go dry.

“All right,” she said, walking over to him. She knew she had to get a grip. Her store had been closed for two months due to the hurricane, and now that the tourists were returning, she needed to catch up on sales.

“And how can I help you?” She didn’t miss the way he was looking at her. She saw interest in his eyes. There was nothing wrong with that. She took pride in her appearance because she had been raised to do so. Leigh Rutledge Jamison, who’d been a Jamaican model, had taught her daughter that your appearance was everything.

Pain settled in Swan’s heart. She missed her mom so much.

“I’m looking for a gift for someone.”

Swan nodded as she came to stand beside him. Not only did he look good and sound good, but he smelled good as well. She glanced down at his hand and didn’t see a wedding ring. He was probably buying a gift for his girlfriend or soon-to-be fiancée.

“What do you have in mind?”

“What do you suggest?” he asked her.

“Well, it depends,” she said, looking into those gorgeous eyes.

“On what?”

“What the person likes. I make jewelry from stones, but as you can see, there are a number of them, in various shades, colors and styles.”

He smiled and Swan felt a tingling in the pit of her stomach when a dimple appeared in one of his cheeks. “I honestly don’t know what she likes. Her tastes change from year to year. It’s hard to keep up.”

Swan nodded. “Oh. Sounds like the two of you have known each other for a while.”

His smile widened even more. “We have. I would have to say I’ve known Mom all my life.”

“Your mom?”

“Yes. Her birthday is next month. I was passing by your shop and thought I would drop in to see what you had.”

A racing heart for starters, Swan thought. So the woman he was thinking about buying jewelry for was his mother. “Well, I’m glad you came in. Let me show you what I have.”

“All right. There looks to be a lot of nice pieces.”

She appreciated the compliment. “Thanks. I made most of them myself.”

“Really? Which ones?”

She led him to the area set aside for Swan Exclusives. “These. Most of the stones come from India, Argentina and Africa.”

He leaned in to look. “You did an excellent job.”

Whoever said flattery, especially coming from a good-looking man, would get you anywhere knew just what they were talking about. “Thank you.”

“I’m David, by the way. David Holloway.” He offered her his hand.

She took it and tried to ignore the sensations that suddenly flowed through her from the contact. “Nice to meet you, David.” She quickly released his hand. “And I’m Swan.”

“The name of the shop.”

“Yes.”

“It’s a unique name.”

“Yes, my parents thought so. On their first date, my father flew Mom from Jamaica to New York to see Swan Lake.”

“Some date.”

“Yes, he was trying to impress her.”

“I take it he did.”

Swan chuckled. “Yes, because he actually flew them there. He had his pilot’s license.”

“Now I’m impressed.”

She didn’t like bragging about her father but there were times when she just couldn’t help it. “He served in the air force—that’s where he learned to fly. And then he went into the navy after deciding he wanted to be a SEAL. That’s when he met Mom, while he was a SEAL. She hadn’t known about his stint in the air force until the night he rented a plane to fly them to New York.”

Why was she telling him all this? Usually she wasn’t chatty. “What about this one?” she asked as they moved to another glass case. “I call this piece Enchantment.”

“Why?”

“Look at it,” she suggested, leaning closer to the glass. He followed suit. “This is one of my favorite pieces because the teardrop gemstone necklace is pretty similar to my very first piece.” No need to tell him that she’d made that one for her own mother.

“It is beautiful.”

Something in his tone made her glance over at him, and she found him staring at her and not at the jewelry in the case. His eyes held her captive and their gazes met for a minute too long before she broke eye contact with him.

She swallowed. “So are you interested...in this piece?” She wanted to ignore the way her stomach seemed to be filled with all kinds of sensations, but she could not.

“I’m interested in a lot of pieces, Swan, but I’ll start with this one.”

* * *

Swan Jamison was even more beautiful than the photograph he’d seen last week.

The photographer hadn’t fully captured the rich creaminess of her skin. And the shade of red lipstick she wore today seemed to make her lips plumper, more well-defined. Luscious.

He had read the dossier on her. He knew his commanding officer and Admiral Martin were operating based on a personal connection with her. He was not. If Miss Jamison was guilty of any wrongdoing, he would find out. And if she wasn’t the one handing out classified data to China, then he would discover who was.

“So you want to buy this particular piece?”

Her question brought his thoughts back to the present. “Yes.”

“Wonderful. I think your mother will like it.”

“I’m sure she will. What about earrings?”

She lifted a brow. “Earrings?”

“Yes. Do earrings come with the necklace?”

“No, but I can make you some.”

He’d been hoping she’d say that. “When?”

“It will take me a couple of days. The cruise ship docks tomorrow, so the shop will be busy. Two days from now will work for me, unless you need them sooner.”

“No, I can wait. My mother’s birthday is next month.”

He would have an excuse to return to her shop.

Flipper watched her open the case and pull out the necklace. He knew his mother was going to love it.

“If you don’t mind, please complete this ticket,” she said. “And I will need full payment for the earrings before I make them.”

“That’s no problem,” he said, taking the document from her.

After he completed the form, he handed it back to her. She glanced at it. “So you’re from Texas?”

“Yes. Dallas. Ever been there?”

“Yes, once. I thought it was a nice city.”

“It is. I was born and raised there.”

“And what brought you to Key West?” she asked him.

“Work, at least for the next thirty days.” That wasn’t a total lie.

“Hurricane relief?”

“Something like that.”

“You’re military?”

“At one point but not now.” He would let her think he was no longer military.

“I knew immediately.”

He lifted a brow. “How?”

She shrugged. “Military men are easily recognized, at least by me.”

“Because your dad is military?”

“He was military. Dad died years ago in the line of duty.”

“I’m sorry.” Flipper was always sorry whenever a fellow soldier lost their life.

“Thank you. Your package will be ready in two days, David. Your mobile number is on the form you completed. If I get to it sooner, I will call you.”

“Two days is fine. I’ll be back.”

“’Bye, David.”

“’Bye, Swan.” He then turned and walked out of the shop.

As much as he wanted to invite her out to lunch today, he knew he couldn’t rush things. He needed to earn her trust, even though he had less than thirty days to prove her innocence and determine who had no qualms about making her look guilty.

* * *

Swan was cheerful that night as she let herself into her home. Sales today had been better than normal. A tour group from New York had converged on the island and they’d come to spend money. She’d been happy to oblige.

Opening a jewelry shop had been a risky business move, but one that had paid off. She’d earned a degree in business management from the University of Miami and returned to the island after college to work as a manager at one of the elite hotels on the island. She’d enjoyed her job but had felt something was missing in her life. She hadn’t been using her jewelry-making talent.

She’d promised her mother on her deathbed that she would find a way to use that talent.

Even after taking care of all her mother’s funeral expenses, there had been more than enough money left to buy a little storefront. It had been a good investment because of its location. Some days were busier than others. This had been one of those busy days.

Now she was ready to wind down for the evening. She pulled her hair back in a ponytail and eased her feet into her favorite flats before heading to the kitchen for a glass of wine. As she did so, she couldn’t help but think about her first customer of the day.

David Holloway.

He was a cutie, she had to give him that. And the memory of those eyes had stayed with her most of the day.

David Holloway had come into her shop to buy a birthday gift for his mother. How sweet. His mother was lucky. A lot of men didn’t even remember their mothers’ birthdays. She’d dated quite a few of those men and never developed lasting relationships with any of them. She figured if a man didn’t treat his mother right, then there was no hope for a girlfriend.

As she opened the French doors to step out on the patio, she again remembered those blue eyes and how she’d felt whenever she’d looked into them. No man’s eyes had ever made her feel that way before.

The effect was unsettling.

Okay, so what was wrong with her? Cutie or no cutie, she normally didn’t get caught up over a man. She dated when it suited her, but she would admit that no one had suited her lately. At least not since her best friend, Candy, had left Key West to go live in Boston. Candy had refused to live on the island with her ex and his new wife—the one he’d married before the ink had even dried on the divorce papers.

Refusing to dwell on how shabbily Donald Knoll had treated Candy, Swan looked out at the water. It was calm tonight. When she had evacuated due to the hurricane, she hadn’t known what to expect when she returned. Between her home and her shop, there had been some damage, but not as much as she’d feared.

The thought of losing her home had been devastating. This was where her father had brought her mom after they’d married. This home held so many childhood memories—of her father leaving on his missions as a Navy SEAL, of how happy she and her mother would be whenever he returned.

But then he hadn’t returned.

Swan felt a knot in her throat as she recalled that day. She’d never seen that sparkle in her mother’s eyes again. Swan recalled her mother telling her once that when you met a man who could put that sparkle in your eyes, then you knew he was a keeper.

Swan often wondered if she would ever find her keeper.

She had plenty of time. Besides, she needed to rethink her opinion about men first. If what Don had done to Candy wasn’t enough to keep her single, all Swan had to do was remember William Connors, the businessman she had met while working at the hotel.

At the time, he had convinced her he was a bachelor without a care in the world but claimed that he wanted to make her Mrs. William Connors one day.

For some reason, Candy hadn’t trusted him. She had a friend who worked for a private investigator check him out. Swan had been devastated when the investigation revealed there was already a Mrs. William Connors, along with three Connors children.

William had been playing her. He had been a lesson well learned. Her only regret was that she’d shared her body with him. She’d been young, naive and impressionable. He had been her first and he should not have been.

She was not naive now and she went into relationships with caution and even a little mistrust. Her mother once told her that being mistrustful wasn’t a good thing. Swan knew she would have to learn how to trust again.

She took another sip of wine. Unfortunately, she hadn’t gotten there yet.

* * *

“So how did things go, Flipper?”

“Have you met her yet?”

“Does she have a traitorous face or just a pretty one?”

“Do you think you’ll be able to prove she’s innocent?”

Flipper heard the questions coming at him nearly all at once. While unpacking, he had placed his mobile call on speaker to engage in a five-way conversation with his SEAL teammates.

“I think things went rather well, Mac. And yes, I met Swan Jamison today, Viper. I went into her jewelry store to purchase Mom a birthday gift.”

Flipper eased open the dresser drawers to place his T-shirts inside. “She doesn’t have a traitorous face or just a pretty one, Coop. The woman is simply gorgeous. Beautiful beyond belief. And yes, I hope to prove she’s innocent, Bane, because Commanding Officer Shields and Admiral Martin truly believe she is.”

“What do you believe?” Viper asked.

Flipper leaned against the dresser for a minute and thought about Viper’s question. “Too early to tell.”

“Did you ask her out on a date?” Coop wanted to know. They could hear Coop’s two-year-old son, Laramie, chattering in the background.

“No, not yet.” Flipper’s attraction to her had been instant. He’d felt it the moment he looked into her face. Discussing her now wasn’t helping matters. All it did was force him to recall what a beautiful woman she was—a woman he would have to spend time with in order to discover the truth.

“Then how do you plan to see her again if you don’t ask her out?” Mac wanted to know, interrupting Flipper’s thoughts.

“I ordered a pair of earrings to go with the necklace I bought for Mom. She has to make the earrings and I’ll make my move when I pick up my purchases in two days.”

“And if she turns you down?” Viper asked.

“Not an option. I now have less than thirty days to get this all straightened out.”

“We should be there with you, watching your back,” Bane said.

“No, you guys are just where you need to be, which is home with your families. I’ve got this.”

“Well, some of our families don’t appreciate us being home,” Mac grumbled.

Flipper rolled his eyes. They’d all heard the complaints from Mac before. After every extended mission, their teammate went home to an adjustment period, where he would have to get to know his wife all over again and reclaim his position as head of the house. Sometimes the adjustment didn’t go over well. Mac had a strong personality and so did Mac’s wife, Teri. “Do we have to send both you and Teri into the time-out corners?”

“Hell, I didn’t do anything,” Mac exclaimed.

Flipper chuckled. “Yeah, right. You better get your act together, Mac. No other woman is going to put up with your BS.”

“Whatever. So what did you notice about the place today?”

Mac was changing the subject and Flipper decided to let him. “Everything matched the architectural report I was given. Even with the repairs due to the hurricane, there were no major changes. Front door. Back door. High windows. Glass storefront. No video cameras outside. There are several rooms in back. One is being used as a tattoo parlor. I didn’t see the person who runs it. I think I’ll go out tonight and do a little more investigating,” he said, sliding into a black T-shirt.

“Be careful, Flipper,” Viper said. “Although you might not have seen any video cameras, that doesn’t mean there aren’t any.”

“I know. That’s why I’m wearing my Pilf gear.”

Everybody knew how much Flipper liked digital technology. In addition to all the futuristic developments the military used, Flipper had created a few of his own high-tech gadgets behind the scenes. Some had been so impressive the federal government had patented them as Pilf gear to be used by the military. Pilf was the name Flip spelled backward. On more than one occasion, Flipper had been offered a position with the Department of Defense’s Research and Development Department and had turned down each offer, saying he loved being a Navy SEAL more.

“We don’t give a damn if you plan to parade around naked tonight, Flipper. Be careful.”

He knew Mac was in his big-brother mode. “Okay, Mac. I hear you and I will be careful.”

“Call to check in when you get back to the hotel tonight,” Bane said.

“It will be late and I wouldn’t want to wake up any babies, kids or a pregnant woman. I’ll text everyone.”

A short while later, wearing undetectable military gear under his clothing, Flipper left his hotel using the stairs.