Isaac felt hope blossom in his chest. Finally. He looked at Cosette and found that she was focused on him again. She gave him a partial smile. Maybe it wasn’t an invitation, but he was going to make it one. He’d march right up to Cosette and Blaine and ask permission to take her on a walk. Maybe Blaine had given up his stupid mandate and would finally approve of the Jewel brothers, most importantly of Isaac. But …
“Wait!” Isaac whirled on his brother, who was grinning openly at him. “I heard she was engaged. Mom told me that at Christmastime.”
“Nope. She broke it off. You didn’t hear this from me, but apparently the guy’s family is Vegas mafia.”
Isaac’s eyebrows went up, and his stomach churned. He knew the rumors about Vegas mafia were true, no matter that the government wanted to claim they’d been shut down in the eighties. Why would an angel like Cosette get involved with someone like that, and how could Blaine have allowed it? She was a full-grown adult now, only a couple years younger than Isaac, so she’d be twenty-seven. Isaac knew that she was successful and independent, but from the looks of it, her father was still heavily involved.
From the looks of it … His gaze swung back toward Cosette and her father, but they were gone. He cursed, shoved his water at Luke, and hurried across the room to where they’d been. The good Lord had seen fit to arrange for Cosette Peterson to cross his path again, and she wasn’t engaged. Isaac wasn’t going to miss out on this opportunity, even if her father did challenge him to a fistfight.
* * *
Cosette Peterson took one last long look at Isaac Jewel. She’d idealistically loved him from childhood on up. He’d only gotten tougher and more appealing with more years and experience under his belt. She could just imagine him with a sword taking on an entire squad of enemy soldiers, all of whom wore Vance Lansky’s smug face. Isaac would cut her ex-fiancé down to size. She smiled at her silly musings. Her imagination was always going a million directions and she usually liked to live there, especially when she was creating fabulous scents in her lab, but Vance had zapped the happiness from her life and introduced her to ugly reality.
“Let’s get you back to the room,” her dad said quietly. He’d asked her to come to this party tonight to see his old friend’s family. Cosette hadn’t protested, as she’d hoped she might catch a glimpse of Isaac, but she was decidedly not herself and even on the best days she stank at social situations. All the perfumes and colognes in the room, added to the multitude of food and normal scents, had been a bit much for her ultra-sensitive nose. Her dad was still babying her, not wanting her to be uncomfortable. She wouldn’t have minded so much if he wasn’t taking away her view of the incredible Isaac Jewel.
She took her dad’s elbow, and they walked out of the restaurant and through the resort. It was pretty quiet tonight, and beautiful water features decorated the spacious open areas. Would she see Isaac again before she left? Maybe they’d run into each other on a morning run. He’d be shirtless, and she’d stare in awe at that perfect chest, not even blinking or acting awkward. Maybe after her dad returned to the party, she’d go back to the beach for a walk and the good fairy would somehow bring Isaac across her path. A man like that could wipe away the awful memories Vance had created.
Pounding footsteps came from behind them. Cosette’s heart raced, and she clung to her dad. “Somebody’s coming,” she hissed at him. Since she’d escaped Vegas and Vance, she’d lived in fear that he’d chase her down and hurt her.
Her dad darted a glance behind them and then patted her arm. He stopped walking and grinned. “Exactly who I hoped would chase us down.”
“Excuse me?” She spun to see who her father was talking about. Her heart rate increased when she saw the handsome Isaac Jewel racing their way.
Isaac slowed his pace as he approached. He looked incredible, filling out his dark gray suit to perfection. He was the darkest of all the Jewel siblings, with deep brown hair and naturally tanned skin. He still had the distinctive bright blue eyes. In most of his pictures that she’d seen over the years, he had been clean shaven, likely a requirement in the Air Force. He had short facial hair tonight, though; maybe he was letting it grow while he was on leave. She couldn’t believe she’d ever thought the perfectly polished, perfectly conniving Vance Lansky was even attractive when there were men such as Isaac Jewel on the planet. Unfortunately, she was in no position to pursue her teenage crush. If Vance found her, she’d be dead, or at least she’d wish she was dead.
“Blaine, Cosette,” Isaac said by way of greeting, sticking out his hand to her father first. They shook.
“Good to see you, son,” her dad said. “You’re looking fit.”
Cosette was in a little bit of shock, and could swear the ground was moving. Why was her dad acting like Isaac was his long-lost son? When she’d been a teenager, her dad had forbidden her from dating any of the Jewel boys. Her face heated up as she remembered that one kiss she and Isaac had shared. Maybe her shock and the sway of the walkway were due to remembering that kiss and Isaac’s bright blue eyes staring at her as if he’d just seen his first Bowie knife.
“Thank you, sir.” Isaac was focused on her, though, not her dad. “Cosette …” He said her name almost reverently. “It’s amazing to see you.” He extended his hand.
Cosette placed her hand in his. A warm surge traced along her palm. She bit at her lip and smiled at him. He was so handsome, she almost needed to shield her eyes as she looked at him. His blue eyes were as bright as the Caribbean Sea and just as warm. They held her captive, and she didn’t want to ever look away. Her mind started conjuring all kinds of images of them playing in the sand and the water, walking on the beach late at night, stealing kisses. Ah … heaven.
A throat cleared and Cosette startled, pulling her hand back and turning to her dad. He was grinning like the Joker, much to her confusion. What was her dad’s plan, and why was he suddenly so happy?
Happiness had disappeared for her a few weeks ago. When she’d walked into her fiancé’s suite to tell him she was calling off the wedding, she’d witnessed Vance carving into a man’s back with a knife. Somehow, she’d been able to contain her screams of horror, silently slip away, and flee from Vegas back to her home in San Francisco. She’d reported it to the police, but the man had been “fine” when they’d checked on him, claiming that Vance hadn’t hurt him, that he’d fallen mountain biking and “wrecked” his back.
She’d sent the five-carat diamond ring to Vance and broke up with him through text. His responses were belittling and threatening. She blocked his number and turned to her dad, who in turn reported the entire situation to the FBI. They took it more seriously and offered her protective custody, but her dad wanted to find the right person to keep her safe while he worked with the FBI to compile evidence against Vance. They’d flown to Puerto Rico to escape and he’d promised her the man they needed was coming. Could he be thinking …?
As she looked into her dad’s eyes, she felt a lurch in her stomach. “Isaac?” she questioned quietly.
Her dad nodded, and his smile tampered down a bit. He whirled to Isaac. “How are you, son? How’s the Air Force? Special ops, I hear?”
“Yes, sir. It’s … demanding, but it’s the right fit for me.”
“I can see that.” Her dad clapped him on the shoulder. “Well, don’t let me keep you youngsters.”
Youngsters? Her dad was acting as nuts as most people claimed she was. Was she supposed to ask Isaac to protect her? She wasn’t sure she was ready to spill her messed-up life to him, and she was pretty certain it was a bad idea for her to be alone with a man this appealing. She was still trying to wrap her mind around the fact that the man she’d thought she’d fallen in love with in a whirlwind romance in Italy a year ago was really a jerk who tried to belittle and emotionally abuse her and then revealed himself as a duplicitous gangster. She didn’t need Isaac messing up her brain further.
Isaac smiled as if her dad had just handed him a gift. “Would you like to walk on the beach?” he asked Cosette.
A walk on the beach with Isaac Jewel. It had been a walk on the beach, without her dad’s approval, that landed her a kiss with him last time. That kiss had inspired her views of romance throughout her sheltered life. She was mostly too busy in her lab and in her head with her creative ideas to notice real people besides her best friend Mar. Isaac had broken through, and she’d dreamt of his kiss since then.
Yet Isaac had never so much as asked to keep in touch. She’d assumed it was because she was “Loony Lovegood,” as his twin brothers called her, or “Honey Lemon” fromBig Hero 6,as his sisters had called her. She was socially awkward, and most people probably thought she was weird. It didn’t matter. She had her friend Mar from middle school on up, and that was all she needed.
Except it had carved some happiness out of her when Isaac didn’t pursue her. Over the years, she’d been able to somewhat push him from her memory. Now, here he was, a fully developed, tough, handsome man, and he wanted to “walk on the beach.”