Chapter One
Captain Isaac “Iceman” Jewel stared around at the exclusive, fancy party. They’d closed down one of the restaurants at the Jewel Resort on mainland Puerto Rico and invited only family and close friends to meet his older brother Joshua’s girlfriend, Jade Jardine. The two had met here at the resort in November. It was now February. They weren’t engaged yet, but Isaac was sure that was coming soon.
He smiled as he watched the couple, who were glued together as if separation would physically hurt them. Jade was a beautiful girl with long, dark hair and jade-green eyes. She and Joshua looked great together, but more importantly, his brother had finally learned to trust and let himself fall in love.
The twins, Seth and Caleb, approached him, and Caleb said in an undertone, “We found a stack of fireworks from the New Year’s Eve party, big ones. You want to come with us to launch them over the heads of partyers on the beach?”
Isaac chuckled. These two were pranksters from the word go. They’d both just turned twenty-five, and miraculously, Dad had given them each their five-million-dollar inheritance. Now he was probably questioning his sanity; who knew what they’d blow it on? Seth excelled at extreme sports—Bridger Hawk was his idol—and Caleb had proven himself a fabulous lacrosse player, playing in the NLL as an attack for the Denver Outlaws. It wasn’t that they were wasting their lives, but they were just nuts. The trouble they’d gotten into as children, especially with being identical twins, was legendary in their hometown of Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
“I’ll come watch,” Isaac said, “as long as you promise not to aim at anyone.”
Caleb wrinkled his nose as if considering. Seth stuck out his hand, the trademark blue Jewel eyes twinkling at Isaac. “Deal. See you on the beach in thirty, maybe forty. We’ve got to set up the show.”
The two sidled off, laughing with each other. If only those two could each find an impressive woman like Joshua had. Maybe love would settle them down.
Isaac took a sip of his water and shook his head. Nothing would settle those two down. He’d better pray they found women who had a high tolerance level for “sturdy tricks” and lots of teasing.
Glancing around, he saw Mom, Rachel, and Eve smiling at something Paisley was saying or doing. Eve had run to Vegas and married some loser at nineteen. The jerk had left her shortly afterward. Each of the brothers had offered to hunt him down and kill him, or at the very least maim him, but Eve wouldn’t even tell them his name. The only blessing of the union was Paisley. The three-year-old was hilarious and adorable. Isaac had told her once that she was spoiled, and she’d fired back, “Spoiled with lo-ove.”
Dad and Luke were sitting at a table and talking intently, probably about some business venture. Most people would think they were arguing, but they were simply very invested in any conversation that involved business. Joshua had taken over Jewel Enterprises and was the billionaire catch of the group, but Luke wasn’t far behind in net worth. Luke was an entrepreneur, always coming up with new ideas and using his inheritance to make them happen. More often than not, his ventures were wildly successful. Dad was his confidant and mentor, but definitely not his boss.
Isaac knew some of the people at the party, lifelong friends of the family, but there were others who were strangers to him. After graduating from Jackson Hole High, he’d spent the past eleven years working his way up in the Air Force, rising to the rank of captain and making his way into special warfare—special tactics of special reconnaissance, to be exact. He loved what he did and was proud of it, but he’d seen and done things that would make his mom cry at night if she knew.
He brushed the darkest memories away as his gaze lit on a beautiful woman. Her long, blond hair fell in soft curls around an angelic face. Her eyes were a deep navy blue, and her pretty bow of a mouth was pursed as she leaned toward her father. Cosette Peterson. It had been probably a dozen years since Isaac had last seen her, but he would never forget that beautiful face or how she had always made him smile with her funny, quirky personality.
During their teenage years, whenever their families would get together for vacation, he’d convince himself that he was in love with brilliant chemist Cosette. Nothing had ever come of it but one kiss that he’d never been able to put from his mind, on a beautiful beach in Costa Rica. Yet he’d been too wimpy to even ask her to text him. He’d joined the Air Force, and last he’d heard, she’d graduated with her doctorate degree, created her own line of perfume, her mom had lost her battle with cancer, and she was engaged to some wealthy guy who owned half of Vegas. A man would have to be a billionaire to think he was worthy of the likes of Cosette Peterson. Isaac scowled. He didn’t care about money. He had plenty in the bank from his inheritance, and maybe someday he’d want to touch it. He lived just fine on his Air Force pay and was proud to serve his country. There was no reason to change his lifestyle.
Cosette’s eyes swept the room and then landed right on him. Isaac felt himself straighten to his full six-two and expand his chest, even though he felt like he couldn’t catch a full breath. As she stared at him, everyone else in the room disappeared.
Isaac gave her what he hoped was a welcoming, slightly cocky smile. If she was engaged, he shouldn’t look at her like this, shouldn’t feel this surge of desire rushing through him. He had to calm down and treat her like an old family friend, which she was.
He broke eye contact to check her left ring finger, but he couldn’t get a clear shot from across the room. If only he had his sniper rifle. He smiled to himself, thinking how her overprotective father would respond to that. The Jewel boys had all been warned from a young age to keep their eyes and hands off of Cosette. It was ironic that Blaine Peterson thought Isaac and his brothers weren’t worthy of his girl, since Isaac’s dad was wealthier than Blaine and was also one of his closest friends.
When he focused back on Cosette’s face, she was looking at him in concern, and her dad was whispering in her ear again. He wondered what had happened to her innocent, ever-present smile. She was a brilliant but spacey kind of girl, and he’d loved that nothing ever seemed to get her down. He’d really like to see her smile now. She looked insanely beautiful in a floral, summery dress, but she also looked like life had hurt her somehow. Probably because she’d lost her mom last year. Isaac couldn’t imagine losing a parent, and Cosette and her parents were very close, as she was an only child.
A low whistle from nearby didn’t break his concentration on Cosette. He knew it was just Luke, finally taking a break from “discussing” with Dad—or, more likely, Mom had broken them apart and reminded them it was a party.
“Loony Lovegood’s even prettier as an adult, isn’t she?” Luke asked in a quiet tone, referring to the nickname Seth and Caleb had given her from their favorite books, theHarry Potterseries. Seth and Caleb also fancied themselves to be Fred and George Weasley—magicians, tricksters, and inventors.
“Yes, sir,” Isaac said, staring unashamedly at her. Instead of smiling in response, she narrowed her eyes and turned to her father.
“I’m not your commanding officer,” Luke teased him. “‘My best-looking bro’ will suffice when you respond to me.” He gestured to Cosette with his glass. “Beautiful, but what happened to her smile and sparkle?”
“That’s what I’ve been wondering.”
“You gonna go talk to her, or just stare at her all night?”
“How long have I been staring?” Isaac rubbed the condensation off his water glass and kept staring. Cosette darted glances at him, but whatever she and her father were talking about must’ve been very serious, as she never once smiled. Was Isaac not enough of a draw to command her attention? Could he bring her smile and sparkle back?
“Long enough,” Luke said. “Dad noticed and sent me to tell you to be a man and make your move instead of just staring at her all night. He’s afraid if you don’t reveal your honorable intentions soon, he’s going to lose his oldest friend when Blaine challenges you to a fight and you have to kill him with your bare hands.” There was laughter in Luke’s voice. He was the closest to Dad, but their father was their champion. He thought highly of Blaine, but he’d always said it was ridiculous that Blaine didn’t think his boys were worthy of Cosette. If his boys weren’t worthy, nobody was, Dad used to say.
“That would be unfortunate,” Isaac said. “That was a direct quote from Dad?”
“Yeah.”
“Does that mean I have his blessing to pursue her?” Isaac pulled his eyes from Cosette’s beautiful face to look around the room for his father. He was busy talking to Heath and Hazel Strong, Stetson Strong, and Jade’s sister, Teal, who he thought was dating or engaged to Stetson, a Texas Titans player who Isaac loved to cheer for. His dad caught his eye and gave him a wide grin and a thumbs-up.
“I think that answer is yes,” Luke said.