“That’s tough. Maybe give him some time.”
“Spoken like a true man,” she shot back. “What about you? Any beautiful women on the ship turning your head?”
“Only one,” he said wistfully.
“Ooh. You want to tell me about her?”
There was a pause, and then he said, “Do you care if I keep her all to myself for now?”
Jade’s eyebrows went up in surprise. “Oh. That’s how it is.”
“Yep.” His voice held no apology. “And after all, I’m the priest. You’re supposed to confess to me, but definitely not the other way around.” He chuckled. “Do you have big plans for tomorrow?”
“St. Kitts, right?”
“Yeah.”
“I signed up for a snuba excursion,” she said.
“You mean scuba?”
“Nope. Snuba. It’s supposed to be a mix between scuba and snorkeling. I’ve always wanted to scuba, but it kind of scares me. No, it terrifies me. Breathing from a tank sixty feet underwater, weights to keep me down, the risk of sinking or rising too quickly and exploding my lungs … No, thank you.”
“You’re worrying too much. Scuba’s simple, and really fun. I’ve done it … a few times.”
“Oh, Mr. Expert is too cool for snuba or snorkeling. Only scuba for the tough guy.”
“That’s right.” He chuckled again.
That laugh … it sounded familiar. No. She just had Jesse on the brain and was wishing he was here. Hence her accusing Joshua of being Jesse.
Silence fell between them for a moment.
“Well, have a good night,” he said. “Talk to you tomorrow? Same time, same place?”
She grinned. “Sounds good. Night.”
She listened as he disappeared into his room, and she continued to watch the water slide by. She liked her priest. She wasn’t attracted to him like she was to Jesse and Joshua. He was a buddy or a brother kind of guy. That was good. She really couldn’t handle any more attraction to anybody. Joshua was definitely, definitely enough.
* * *
Joshua smiled to himself as he lay down on the bed and stretched out. At least Jade was attracted to him. The smile fell away. He hated that he was keeping his identity from her and couldn’t trust her. He had received his first report from the outside investigator who was looking into Jade’s, Curtis’s, and the other men’s bank accounts and changes in lifestyle over the past year. Nothing. Nada. The men seemed clean as priests. He smiled again at the thought. He liked being Jade’s priest.
A frown creased his brow. Jade unfortunately had not been clean. In her desk at work, the investigator had found a bank statement from Grand Cayman that correlated with the numbers they had lost. It could be a plant, or Joshua could be the biggest fool on the planet being tricked by another manipulative woman.
What was he going to do? He had to figure out who had taken the money, and so far, everyone was pointing at Jade. How could he be falling for Jade and yet not really trust her? That didn’t work, and he knew it. Maybe he should just stay away from her like she’d told him to, but that sounded awful. He’d rather never recover the million dollars. No. He worked too hard and had too many livelihoods relying on him to simply lose a million dollars.
Maybe he should stay close by Jade’s side and see what she revealed. He liked that plan. Too much.
He blew out a breath and grabbed the phone next to the bed. “Diamond club, please,” he said.
A friendly voice came on the line. “This is Junior, how can I help you?”
“Junior. This is Joshua Jewel.”
There was a second’s pause where he assumed Junior checked a list; then the voice became even more friendly. “Mr. Jewel. What can I do for you tonight, sir?”
“Just wondering if you can check something for me.”
“Anything, sir.”
“Any vacancy on the snuba excursion tomorrow morning?” He hoped there was only one snuba excursion.
“Just a moment, please.” He could hear keys tapping. “Yes, sir. It’s wide open. Usually they take a larger group, ten to twenty, but tomorrow there are only three people signed up. Would you like to join them?”
“Yes, thank you, Junior.”
“Anything you need, sir.”
“Thanks.” Joshua hung up and lay there for a second, thinking. Most people jumped to his beck and call. That was just another reason he liked to be incognito as much as he could: he didn’t receive all the special treatment. Jade definitely didn’t give him special treatment. He smiled to himself. He really liked her. He just had to figure out if she was who she claimed she was, or if she was a trickster stealing not only his money, but his heart.