Joshua’s lips quirked up in a partial smile, and she wished she could get him to smile fully. If he shared that same dimple that Jesse had in his right cheek, the dimple that not even Jesse’s beard had hidden … Oh my, that would be insane, and she’d be ticked and need a very convincing explanation of why he’d misled her. At the same time, she would be so happy. She and Jesse could spend the week together, developing what they’d started last night.
She realized that Joshua’s hand was still out, and he was regarding her as if she was missing the bread and mustard in her ham sandwich.
“Oh, sorry.” She laughed with embarrassment. “Jade Jardine.” She extended her hand. When their hands met, warm tingles started from his palm sliding along hers. His hand enveloped hers, and the feel of it reminded her of Jesse. How could she feel almost the same way with Joshua Jewel as she had with Jesse James? And the J’s.Oh my goodness!
She pulled her hand back, but kept studying him. “But I’m guessing you already knew that.”
“Knew what?” His lips stayed in a partial smile, but he didn’t give her a full grin. Was he trying to hide his dimple? Yet why in the world would Jesse hide from her? She tried to picture Joshua in a hat and sunglasses and a beard, with longish hair curling out of the hat. Could it really be her Jesse?HerJesse? She was getting out of control now.
“Who I am,” she said with a challenging lift to her eyebrows.
He nodded. “You’re one of my employees.”
“Former,” she said.
That made his eyebrows lift. Did he not know? Maybe she did have a chance to tell him what was going on, from her perspective, before Curtis tainted him with false stories of her stealing money.
“Impressive,” she said when he didn’t say anything to her former comment. “You have, what … thousands of employees?” But she wasn’t sure if she was impressed or getting more clues to his true identity of Jesse. There was something else this guy was hiding. What was it? Sheesh, she’d need to be Detective Daisy to figure this man out.
He shrugged and kept studying her with those powerful eyes. They were in the shade here, so she had her sunglasses off too, but she wondered why he didn’t even have sunglasses or a hat with him. “Probably,” he admitted, “but only five of them earned this trip.”
“Thanks for not kicking me off when I quit.”
He appraised her, too serious for her liking now. “You want to tell me about that?”
“I’m assuming Curtis already gave you his version?”
“Yes.”
Frustration filled her. So he was already tainted. She waited to see what he’d surmised from Curtis, but he didn’t seem to want to give her any more details. “Do you believe him?”
Joshua shrugged. “The investigators are still looking into it.”
“So you do believe I embezzled or not?” she asked.
He spread his hands. “I don’t even know you.”
Her eyes narrowed. Was he Jesse or not?
“Would you like to tell me about it?” He leaned in a little closer, and she got a whiff of a manly, expensive cologne. Jesse’s cologne. Ding, ding, ding! She had him, oh man, she had him.
Excitement and desire rushed through her despite the seriousness of what they were discussing. She wanted to throw her arms around his neck and hug him close, but at the same time, why would Jesse treat her like this, acting like he didn’t even know her? She hated being lied to. She couldn’t think of anything she hated worse. Her and Teal’s parents had been pathological liars, lying for the sake of lying, and then lying to cover up the previous lies. Could the man she thought she’d been falling for, and the man she had been so intrigued by, be the same man and be lying to her? Why? Because he believed she was stealing from him, or was there something else going on here?
“Do you want to tell me about why you quit?” he asked again in a low voice.
Jade pursed her lips. He wasn’t giving her anything. Why should she bare her soul? She shook her head. “Later. Right now, we’re going to try out body surfing.”
His eyes registered surprise, and he drew back. Jade jumped to her feet, walked down the four steps of the observation area, and then climbed the steps on the side of the Flow Rider and to the activity window. He followed her. They made it to the window, signed the release form, and got their bracelets. Then they headed back to the shortest line; there were only ten people on this side, as opposed to fifteen on the other. They soon found out why this line was shorter—this line was full of little kids who simply stayed belly down on the board and rode forever, while the other line was full of daredevil teenagers who did three-sixties, body rolls, and other tricks that ended their turns more quickly when they failed.
Jade put her sunglasses on and turned slightly to him. Joshua shaded his eyes and looked down at her. Now that they were standing, she was even more convinced that it was Jesse. He was that perfect height, about six-two, maybe seven inches taller than her five-seven. Now all she had to do was get him to smile so she could see that dimple, or somehow drag the truth out of him. The sucker. “Did you forget your sunglasses?” she asked.
He nodded.
“You seem really familiar to me,” she said, giving him a sidelong glance.
He pressed his lips together—definitely a clue that he was hiding something. “Well, a lot of people know the Jewel family and my siblings.”
“But you’ve somehow managed to stay out of the spotlight. Why?”