“I wish it could be different,” he said in a low, husky voice that made her blood heat up.
Jade looked up at him. “Trust has to be earned, and you are in no way earning mine. Please let me go.”
He released her, and his blue eyes became darker and hooded. He didn’t say anything as she hurried for her backpack, slung it on, picked up her flip-flops, and climbed out of the cave. She looked back once, and he was watching her. She wanted to go back and give him another chance. No. There was a small part of her that could understand why he couldn’t instinctively let himself trust her. It didn’t make it hurt any less.
* * *
Joshua watched Jade go, feeling like a jerk again. The conversation had not gone well at all. He’d felt she deserved to know that they were trying everything to get to the bottom of this mess, but she was still the prime suspect.
Had she really called him a “man-whore”? No one had ever been so derogatory to him. It ticked him off, and at the same time, it actually kind of made him laugh. If any of his brothers heard that, they would be rolling around in the sand laughing until they cried. His more sensitive sister, Eve, would be sad that anyone could think that of him. His feisty sister, Rachel, would tell him that he obviously liked Jade and maybe he should try to prove her wrong.
He thought about it, and he decided he liked Rachel’s hypothetical advice. He climbed over the rocks, across the beach, and up to his four-wheeler. Jade’s four-wheeler was still there, unless another tourist had rented a white Suzuki quad with a blue seat.
Joshua turned back to the stairs and eased down them. Halfway down, he saw Jade out in the ocean treading water, chatting with an older couple. She glanced up at him and gave him a challenging look as if to say, “Come on and fight for me.” He hoped. Spending time with the men from her office and two of their wives last night made it hard to believe that any of them could be the culprit, but people hid things well. He should know. Look what he was hiding from Jade right now.
He wished he could tell Jade that he believed she was innocent. He hadn’t been around a woman like her, maybe ever. He liked her. He could at least admit that much to himself. The last woman he’d fallen for had filleted him, but Jade couldn’t be anything like the manipulative Amber. Could she?
Dropping his backpack and shedding his shirt, he was rewarded by Jade staring at him with her mouth slightly open. He grinned, forgetting that he shouldn’t because it would make her realize he was Jesse. She smiled back and then looked away, as if embarrassed to be caught, or possibly mad at herself for smiling at him. She was a feisty one; that was for sure.
He trod through the soft sand and into the lukewarm water. It felt great. Jade and the couple were chatting easily as he swam to them. He edged closer to Jade, treading water, and greeted the couple. “Hi.”
“Hey.” They welcomed him without question, as fellow tourists often did. They started chatting, asking where he was from, if he was staying on the island or on a cruise, if had he been to the island before, etc., etc.
He answered their questions but kept sneaking glances at Jade. The sun was bright when he wasn’t wearing a hat or sunglasses, so he had to squint at her, but she looked so beautiful with her dark hair streaming around her and her green eyes either flashing fire at him or looking intrigued by him. He asked questions of his own to the couple. They were from Chicago, they came to the island every year for a couple of weeks since they’d retired six years ago, they had ten grandchildren, etc., etc.
“Well, that’s enough exercise for me,” the man declared, winking at his wife.
“Oh you.” She pushed a hand through the water at him.
Joshua caught a glimpse of the top of the woman’s bare boob. He quickly averted his eyes. Jade was smiling at him as if she’d seen what he’d seen and felt his discomfort.
The couple said their goodbyes and swam away. He concentrated on Jade, not wanting to see them get out if that lady really wasn’t wearing a top.
Jade was grinning from ear to ear. “Oh my,” she said. “Youhaveto look.”
Joshua shook his head determinedly. “No way. The guy I rented the four-wheelers from explained that the nude beaches weren’t like most of the movies, more likeJurassic Park.”
She giggled, then burst into full-on laughter. “Oh my, that’s perfect.” She focused on Joshua. “I can’t believe you were too wimpy to look. Who doesn’t want to see two seventy-year-old people stark naked?”
“No!” He stayed facing Jade; no way was he looking at that train wreck. “No clothes at all?” He faked a British accent. “Completely starkers?”
When she’d managed to catch her breath from laughing, she confirmed, “None. Oh, that was awful. I can’t even imagine my parents doing that.”
“Stop,” he begged. “I don’t evenwantto imagine my parents doing that.”
She starting laughing again.
He grinned and splashed some water at her.
“Oh, you did not just do that.” Dragging her arm through the surf, she flung sea water at him.
Joshua closed his eyes, but his face was drenched. Wiping his eyes clean, he tasted the salt on his lips, then spit and said, “You’re going to regret that.”
Jade laughed and tried to swim farther out, away from him. Joshua crossed the distance with quick strokes, grabbed her around the waist, and dunked her under the water. He lifted her up quickly, and she was sputtering and grinning. She wrapped her hands around his neck and tried to tug his head under.
Joshua just laughed at her as she couldn’t budge him. He was treading water with only his legs, holding on to her as she clung to him and tried to dunk him.
“Argh!” she cried out. “Stop being so tough.”