She blinked back the tears threatening to fall, dropped the pen and looked across the table at Pete. “You’re a businessman, right?”
He eyed her with curiosity but didn’t answer.
“Lisa,” Shane warned.
She held up a hand to stop Shane from meddling and focused on Pete. “How would you like to make a deal?”
Rafe figured three weeks was long enough for Lisa to come to her senses.
He’d expected to hear from her after she found out he’d given her the Furies, but twenty-one days had passed without a single word. He knew because he was counting.
Pete had told her where he’d gone. Rafe had left messages for her she’d never returned, and he’d talked to Pete a handful of times since he’d met with Lisa. But every time he asked, his friend had said only that when he’d seen her, Lisa had been speechless.
That didn’t sit well with Rafe. Lisa was never speechless. Unless she was with him. Since she was more than three thousand miles away now, he figured that wasn’t a good sign.
His mother had perked up as soon as he’d brought her to San Juan. Just being home seemed to boost her spirits. He knew it wouldn’t last, but for the moment she was in peace, and that was the best thing he could give her. Billy had really stepped up, helping out, taking care of
Mamá
when Rafe was busy fixing up the three-bedroom bungalow he’d bought for her. His brother was even pitching in and pulling his weight with the remodel, which shocked the hell out of Rafe.
It seemed three ancient pieces of stone had bridged the gap between the two of them. He had hope that things
might just turn out okay for his family, that he and Billy would get through what ever happened.
The only problem was, one important person was missing. One he hadn’t been able to get off his mind since he’d seduced Alecto out from under her in Italy.
“Mamá,”
he hollered as he tossed his shaving kit into his bag. “Have you seen my keys?”
Muffled voices resonated from downstairs, but he couldn’t make out the words. He didn’t have time to seek out and search. He was already running late and didn’t want to miss his flight. He retrieved a pair of socks from the dresser drawer, tossed them in the bag sitting on top of the whitewashed piece of furniture and turned to grab his shoes. Patting his thighs with his hands, he tried to remember what the heck he’d done with his keys.
Jingling echoed from the doorway. He looked up, expecting to see Billy’s ugly mug, but instead his heart nearly stopped at the sight in front of him.
Lisa leaned against the doorjamb with her arms crossed over her chest and his keys dangling from her fingers.
She was here.
“Looking for these?”
No, he was looking for her.
Words clogged in his throat. She wore those sinful denim short shorts he’d been fantasizing about for weeks and a navy spaghetti-strap tank top that showcased her luscious cleavage. “What are you doing here?”
She tipped her head in a casual move. “I was in the neighborhood. Business. Thought I’d drop by.” She glanced around the sparsely furnished second-floor room. “Nice place.”
He hadn’t spent a lot of time in here and hadn’t bothered to decorate. The furniture was white. The walls were barren. The room boasted a queen-sized bed, a dresser topped with a round mirror and a small side chair where he’d tossed some clothes. Natural light flowed in through the windows, making it look bright and cheery. A fan
turned lazy circles above, and a door led to a small porch. But the room wasn’t anything like his place back in the Keys. Didn’t even compare to his old boat.
“I…” He ran a hand over his hair, feeling oddly nervous and completely out of his element. “I wasn’t expecting anyone.”
“Looks like it.” She pushed away from the wall and set his keys on the dresser. “I saw Teresa downstairs. She looks good.”
“Yeah. She’s doing better.” And why the hell were they talking about his mother, when the woman he loved was finally standing in front of him as gorgeous as she’d been the day he’d met her?
Business.
“What do you mean you’re here on business?” he quickly asked.
She shrugged. “Turns out the Furies are worth a pretty penny.”
She’d
sold
them? He’d given them to her because she deserved them after everything she’d been through. Because they meant something to her they’d never mean to him or anyone else. Not so she could sell them.
He opened his mouth to say that very thing, then closed it quickly. They weren’t his to worry about anymore. He’d given them to her free and clear. What she did with them was up to her.
“Pete’s a smart guy,” she went on. “We decided to strike a deal. A business partnership, if you will.”
His eyes narrowed, and he watched her closely for a sign she was joking. If she was, he couldn’t see it. She’d made a deal with his womanizing ex-partner? Unease roiled through him. Rafe knew all about her deals. Suddenly, he wasn’t so sure he wanted to know about their “business partnership.”
When he didn’t respond, she lifted an eyebrow and smiled. “Interested at all?”
He wasn’t sure what to say.
“Hmm,” she said. “Pete didn’t think you would be, but I told him it was worth a try.”
He was having trouble following her. All he knew for sure was he didn’t like where this was going. “What are you doing here, Lisa?”
She faced him. “Well, as it turns out, I really don’t have a place in my tiny apartment for the Furies. And it seems like a waste to let them sit in an attic collecting dust, so Pete and I made a deal. He wants to open another branch of Odyssey where Annalise’s ancestors can view all three Furies together. Apparently there’s some heavy tourism on this island, big bucks coming in, which translates to money in his pocket. None of that really matters to me, so I pushed for a museum. In the end, we compromised. An eclectic combination of archaeologically significant pieces displayed for the public to view, along with unique antiquities in certain special collections available for purchase.”
He could hardly believe what he was hearing. “You sold the Furies to Pete, and now you’re opening a gallery together, here in San Juan?”
She smiled. “I didn’t sell him
all
the Furies. Just a small percentage, to get the project up and running. And San Juan seemed like the perfect place. There’s a lot of rich culture here. I think it’ll be a hit.”
Now he was the one who was speechless. When he’d seen her standing in his doorway, he’d been sure she was here because she’d realized she couldn’t live without him. Not because she was embarking on a business endeavor with his
ex
–best friend.
“Thing is,” she said, “I don’t know a whole lot about running a gallery, and I travel a lot with my job. I don’t want to give that up. I don’t think I’ll be teaching so much anymore, but I still want to work in the field. And Pete can’t really handle the day-to-day operations because he’s needed back in Miami. So…”
Holy hell. Now it made sense. “Are you offering me a job?”
“Well,” she said, “yeah. What do you think?”
He thought she was insane. No way he was going to work for her so she could run off with Pete and play Indiana Jones, because he knew that’s exactly what Pete would want to do. He let out a smug laugh and turned away before he said something he’d regret later. “I think you made a trip down here for nothing.”
His chest hurt. All those plans he’d been making over the last few weeks lay shattered at his feet.
“What if I sweeten the deal?” she asked.
She’d have to sweeten it a helluva lot to make him even turn around. Right now, he’d settle for her leaving. He grabbed a shirt lying on the bed and stepped to the closet to find a hanger to keep his hands busy.
Carajo.
He was gonna
kill
Pete.
“Okay,” she said. “I can see being stuck in the gallery isn’t your first choice. You like being out and about. I guess I could let you tag along on a few of my trips.”
“You guess?” He could hardly believe what he was hearing. “I don’t think so.”
“What if I throw in a few perks?”
It was all he could do not to turn around and tell her what she could do with her little perks.
“What if…” She hesitated. “What if I’m part of the deal?”
His hand paused in the act of hanging up his shirt. A tingling slid down his chest. When he finally forced his body to turn, there was tenderness in her eyes, and warmth, and…love.
“You made me a deal back in Key West,” she said softly. “The Furies belong to both of us. The way I see it, as long as they do, you’re not getting rid of me quite so fast. I figure a year is a good start at seeing how well this partnership works out.”
That pressure eased around his heart. “Was that your lame-ass attempt at a declaration of love?”
Her mouth dropped open, then closed. “It wasn’t that lame.”
He tried not to smile. “Pretty lame if you ask me.”
She perched her hands on her hips in annoyance. “I suppose you think you could do better?”
“I know I could. If it were me, I’d just come right out and say it. No beating around the bush. You came all the way down here,
querida
. Don’t cave now. Tell me the
real
reason you’re here.”
She didn’t answer, only stared at him with the same damn fear he’d been fighting the past three weeks.
“It’s a gamble, isn’t it?” he asked quietly.
Still silent.
“Kinda like taking a chance on a thief.”
When her eyes softened, he knew he had her.
“There’s only one thief I want to take a chance on. I…” She closed her eyes. “I can’t believe I’m about to say this.” She blew out a long breath. “Oh, hell. I love you, Rafe.”
His heart swelled, and he smiled. He knew she was waiting for him to say it back, but he couldn’t. Not until she opened her eyes and looked at him.
Those shimmering emeralds finally popped open, and he didn’t miss the quick flash of anger at his silence. “Aren’t you going to say anything?”
Before she could step away, he wrapped his arms around her waist, lifted her off the floor and dropped her on the bed.
“Let me go.”
“Not on your life,
querida.
I think you’re stuck with me.”
“Real funny. I changed my mind.”
He chuckled and eased down to kiss her. Her lips were soft and supple and every bit as tantalizing as he remembered.
Her temper faded. “I’m still waiting, Sullivan.”
And he’d been waiting for her. His whole life. He just hadn’t known it. “Why don’t you reach into my pocket and feel how much I love you?”
She braced her hands against his biceps and squirmed underneath him. “I can already feel your love poking into my hip, Slick.”
God, she had a mouth on her. One he’d missed way too much. “That wasn’t what I meant.” When she laughed, he reached in his pocket himself and pulled out the ring.
Her smartass smile faded, and she looked from the emerald in his hand to his face and back again with wide eyes. “What’s that?”
A hint of worry snaked through him. “I know diamonds are traditional, but you and I haven’t done anything in the traditional sense. And, well, this one reminded me of your eyes. If you want a diamond instead, I can—”
“No,” she said quickly. “It’s beautiful. I just…” She looked back at his face with a mixture of confusion and disbelief. “A diamond?”
He smiled slowly, reading her mind. “Yeah, that’s usually what you give the woman you love when you ask her to marry you.”
Her eyes grew even wider. “M-Marry her?”
He chuckled at her stunned reaction. “Where did you think I was headed? I was on my way to San Francisco to hunt you down.”
“I…Oh…”
Speechless. Again. It tickled every part of him.
“A year’s not gonna do it for me, Lisa. I figure fifty, maybe. Probably longer, since I plan on chasing you all through my golden years. There’s no one else in the world I’d rather spend my life with. What do you say? Marry me?”
A single tear slid down her cheek, and she shook her head. “A treasure hunter and a thief. What will people think?”
His smile widened. “That we were made for each other.”
She looked deep into his eyes and ran her hand over his cheek. Her touch sent warmth to every nerve in his body.
“Make me believe it, Rafe.”
“Always.”
Writing a book is never a solitary endeavor. With heartfelt thanks to my agent, Laura Bradford, who never gave up believing in this story; my fabulous editor, Leah Hultenschmidt, who challenges me to be a better writer; and the entire team at Dorchester for their tireless work.
Special thanks also to my critique partners—Joan Swan, Lisa Catto, Becky Hakes and Linda Winfree…
girls, this book would not be here without you. Saying thank you for all your tireless work just isn’t enough
. To Rey Quiles and Jared Romey for their Puerto Rican Spanish translations. To my beta readers—Tonia and Rita…
what would I do without you?
…and Connie…
lava flows in Hawaii again to celebrate, or would once more be too much?
Also big thanks to Alice Sharpe, who always manages to talk me down off the ledge, and the fabulous writers with the Mid-Willamette Valley RWA chapter who have been my foundation for so long. You ladies rock.
And finally, to my family…especially my mother, for her unfailing encouragement; my kids, for
hardly
ever complaining about the hours I’m glued to my laptop; and my husband, who showers me with unending support. I love you all.
LOVE SPELL®
January 2009
Published by
Dorchester Publishing Co., Inc.
200 Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10016
Copyright © 2009 by Elisabeth Naughton
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