Follow the Sun (11 page)

“W
ELL, HOW WAS
it?” Tess murmured into his

Jeopard lay with his head on her bare shoulder. She arched a little as he drew his hand up and down her torso, pausing to rub her dark, taut nipples each time. Making love had never been a spiritual experience until he met Tess.

He crooked his hand over her hip and pulled her closer to his satiated body, then angled one leg between her thighs. “An eleven on a scale of one to ten. I don’t know which I like best, when you seduce me or I seduce you. I’ll seduce you in a minute so we can compare results.”

Tess chuckled a little as she stroked his shoulders. “Actually, I was asking about dinner. Pardon my vagueness. Your effect on my mind is rather dramatic.”

“Dinner. Oh.” He traced her collarbones
with
the tip of his tongue before he answered.

Tess moaned. Her body felt deliciously heavy, and
she sighed at the tingling sensation that scattered downward from his tongue. He slid his hand between her legs and stroked the moist folds there.

“Dinner was terrific,” he declared. His mouth closed on the pulse point at the base of her throat, where he sucked gently for a moment. “And dessert was fantastic. I think I’ll have seconds.”

Soft New Age music, like starlight poured into sound, was playing on the cassette deck of Tess’s stereo. The
Lady
shifted in the water from time to time, creaking slightly, soothingly. The wonderful man beside Tess raised his head and kissed her with a tenderness that made her sigh.

She tipped her head back and welcomed him. Life didn’t get any better than this; confessions didn’t get any easier.

“I’m in love with you,” she whispered. “I love you.”

He quivered against her. Rising on an elbow, he framed her face with his hand and looked down at her with somber, pain-filled eyes. Tess inhaled sharply.

“Oh, Jep, I said it too soon.… ”

“I love you too.”

She moaned with relief and happiness. Searching his eyes, Tess reveled in the adoration there but couldn’t understand the sadness.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, taking his face between her hands.

He shook his head in self-rebuke and smiled, easing his troubled look. “I’ve never said that before and meant it. It’s a shocker.”

She gasped softly. “Not in thirty-eight years?”

“Oh. I’ve meant it to my family—Kyle, Millie, my mother when I was about seven, not long before she died. I even told my Dad that I loved him, once. It embarrassed him. But no, I never put any commitment behind the words when I said them in the romantic sense. Until now. I don’t ever want to lose you.
That’s a different kind of love from anything I’ve felt before.”

“Well,” she whispered, her throat burning from emotion, “I’ll make sure that you don’t regret saying it to me.”

He sat up, pulled her into his arms, and held her with an intensity that brought a bittersweet ache to her chest. It was as if he’d found some kind of salvation.

At that moment Tess realized that she couldn’t do anything to cheapen this great gift he’d given her. Unless she trusted him with every secret she held dear, she didn’t deserve him.

“I love you,” she repeated, smiling against his shoulder. “And I have something very important that I want to share with you.”

His arms tightened quickly, as if she’d startled him. He drew back and looked at her, his expression wary.

“Jep, relax,” she said soothingly. “Wait here and I’ll get it.”

“Don’t.” His voice had an odd, strained quality. “Not right now.”

Tess stroked his hair and smiled at him. “It won’t take long. And then I’d like to make love with you again.”

He let go of her reluctantly. She slipped into a cream-colored silk robe and went into the galley. There she opened the top door of the refrigerator, rearranged a stack of ice trays at the back of the freezer compartment, and removed the bottom one.

Standing at the kitchen’s tiny sink she dumped an ice cube into her hand. Smiling in anticipation, she folded a kitchen towel and placed the ice cube on top of it. She left the galley with the towel cupped in both hands, like a sacred offering.

Jeopard sat on the edge of the bed, looking oddly tense, the coverlet wound around the lower half of his body.

“Jep, there’s no need to be formal,” she said teasingly, indicating the cover.

Tess sat down beside him and held her hands out proudly. Frozen in the center of the ice cube was a blue diamond the size of a marble.

“My secret,” she said softly. “And now it’s your secret too.”

Jeopard stared at the melting cube. After a moment he almost laughed at the sick irony of it. The Iceman’s hopes had been ruined by a damned ice cube.

Everything shut down inside him. It was a self-protective instinct, the same way he reacted whenever his life was in danger or a delicate situation had just become volatile.

Only this time, he never wanted to feel any emotion again, because he knew the bitterness would eat him up.

“That’s some trinket,” he told her smoothly. “A present from Royce?”

“No. It belonged to my mother. My grandparents gave it to me on my eighteenth birthday.”

The hell they did. It disappeared twenty years ago. Royce stole it. He left it to you
.

Jeopard took the ice cube in his hand and squeezed it. Tiny rivulets of water ran down his wrist. Tess dabbed at them with the towel.

“Good heavens, Jep, do you have a fever?”

He opened his hand and looked down at the magnificent blue stone emerging from its prison of water. “Your mother must have been an incredibly successful pro skier if she could afford something like this.”

Admit it, Tess. You know this came from the crown jewels of Kara. You know it’s the Blue Princess
.

“Oh, the diamond has been in the Kellgren family for three generations. Grandfather says it belonged to his mother.”

Great story, Tess. Your sincere look is perfect
.

“Honey, it must be word a small fortune.”

“Actually, it’s not. Royce estimated the value at around thirty thousand dollars. A diamond as large as it ought to be worth a lot more. But it’s got some flaws.”

“Not to the average eye.”

“No, but I can tell. I love it for the sentimental value more than anything else.”

Jeopard felt as if some small wild animal were clawing to get out of his chest. “Why isn’t it in a setting?”

“Grandfather said the old setting didn’t do it justice, so he had it removed. I’ll have a new one designed someday.”

Yeah, kid, the setting would have made it easier to identify
. “You aren’t anxious to wear it?”

“I’d be too worried. It’s valuable enough to make it worth stealing.”

You ought to know, Tess
. “Then why keep it on board the boat?”

She reached out and touched a fingertip to the glittering stone. “I never knew my mother. This makes me feel close to her.”

And you can’t risk putting it in a safe-deposit box. A nosy bank official might ask questions about such an unusual stone
.

“Why are you showing it to me?” The last bit of ice melted under the diamond. It lay on Jeopard’s palm, a pale blue teardrop that glittered even in the dim light. Disgusted by the feel of it, he dropped it onto the towel in Tess’s hand.

She stared at him in confusion, looking a little hurt. “It’s a whimsical secret of mine. I wanted to show you how much I trust you.” She gave him a tentative smile. “My grandparents are worried that you’re up to no good.”

He forced himself to smile back as if that were the most unlikely thing he’d ever heard. “Tell them that your secret’s safe with me.”

Jeopard caught her chin, turned her to face him squarely, and asked in a teasing tone, “Any other secrets?”

Royce. Tell me again that he was a retired diamond broker. Tell me again that he left everything to his daughters
.

She searched his eyes so long that he knew she was worried about his strange mood. He could almost feel
her withdrawing. “No,” she said softly, and looked away.

Dammit Tess. That hurt worse than anything
.

He felt as if he were being torn inside out. He couldn’t touch her, could barely look at her, and yet he knew he couldn’t risk leaving. That would make her more wary.

“Honey?” he said in a low voice that aimed for gentleness.

She looked back at him, her eyes troubled. “Yes?”

“I’m a bastard for acting so unexcited. Thank you for sharing the diamond with me. It’s just that I’m getting a killer headache. Remember that I mentioned I get migraines occasionally?”

“Oh, yes,” she said happily, and exhaled with relief. “I mean, you had me worried there, Sundance. Poor man.” She brushed her fingertips across his forehead. “Can I get you anything for it?”

“No. Maybe I can short-circuit it by going to sleep.”

He grasped her hand and curled her fingers over the Blue Princess so that he wouldn’t have to look at it anymore. “Go put that away. It concerns me that you keep something so valuable in an ice tray.”

Her eyes filled with adoration. “You don’t have to worry about me. I’m careful.” She paused. “But I love you for worrying.”

It was all Jeopard could do not to wince openly. What was she trying to do, destroy him? Had he met an equal at the game of deception he played so well?

“Get under the covers and relax,” she murmured, stroking his neck. “Your muscles are full of knots! I’ll give you a massage.”

“No, I—”

“Come on, Jep. You can’t tell me it won’t help.” She kissed him jauntily. “Into bed, Sundance. I’ll be right back.”

Miserable, he got into bed and lay on his stomach, his head burrowed in a pillow: She returned a few minutes later, turned off the desk lamp, and climbed into bed beside him. The white curtains let in a bit of
light from the dock lamps, but still the darkness was blissfully deep.

Jeopard dug his fingers into the pillow as her warm, gentle hands slid over his shoulders. He replayed what he knew of her and realized that she had no reason to tell him that she loved him if it weren’t the truth.

He ground his teeth.
Unless she knew what he was after and meant to sidetrack him
.

Jeopard considered that possibility for a long time, while she rubbed his neck and shoulders, occasionally bending forward to caress his back with a kiss. Each time she did, her breasts brushed against him.

“I feel a lot better,” he said, lying. “Let’s get some sleep.”

She lay down close to him and rested one hand in the center of his back. “I love you, Jep,” she whispered. “Good night.”

“Good night.” After a long hesitation, he swallowed hard and gave her the reply she wanted. “I love you too.”

Damn, he was glad that she couldn’t see his eyes. He hadn’t cried in years.

S
HE DREAMED GUILTY
dreams because she hadn’t told Jeopard about Royce’s being a jewel thief. She’d intended to tell the story after she showed him the blue diamond, but he’d looked at her so strangely that she’d faltered. And when she’d realized that he had a terrible headache, she’d decided to wait.

Tess woke up anxious to right her wrong. She reached for Jeopard and sat up sharply when she found him gone. Her heart pounding with a puzzling sense of dread, Tess squinted into a stream of early-morning sunshine that had slipped between a curtain and the air conditioner.

He could be out jogging.

But he didn’t jog—he hated it. He swam in the ocean every morning.

But he didn’t swim this early.

He’d gone to the
Irresistible
, for some reason. He’d be right back.

Tess bounced out of bed, threw her robe around her shoulders, and went to the port window. Oh, how silly, this compulsion to open the curtains and look.

Okay, so she felt silly that morning. Tess raked the curtains back.

The
Irresistible
was gone.

A stunned minute later she gasped out loud and ran to the kitchen.

Her blue diamond was gone too.

J
EOPARD ARRIVED IN
Los Angeles by 8:00
A.M.
, less than an hour after he handed the yacht’s key to a man who worked for Olaf.

He thought that his driving time from Long Beach was particularly good, considering his unplanned stop beside the freeway, where he’d hunched over a guard rail and regretted the four cups of strong coffee he’d poured into his stomach.

Coffee and misery didn’t mix well.

He was met in the lobby of a sleek L.A. hotel by a lanky, well-dressed wolfhound of a man with enormous gray eyes and long blond hair. The man had already registered Jeopard under a false name.

The wolfhound shooed the bellmen away and carried one of Jeopard’s suitcases himself. Jeopard carried the other two. He and the wolfhound didn’t speak at all as they rode a glass-paneled elevator and walked to the hotel room.

Once inside. Jeopard pulled the blue diamond from the pocket of his sports coat. He tossed it to the man, who exhaled visibly with relief. Jeopard received a check for ten thousand dollars in return. It was the second half of his and Kyle’s fee.

“I wish you’d taken another day,” the man said wistfully. “I’ve grown to like Los Angeles while I’ve been waiting for you. Tomorrow I was going to Burbank to see the Johnny Carson show.”

“Sorry.”

“She won’t contact the police?” the wolfhound asked in a heavy Swedish accent. Swedish was Kara’s official language.

Jeopard had always suspected that Olaf’s top aide was an idiot. That question confirmed it. “She isn’t going to report that someone stole her stolen diamond.”

“Ah. Yes.”

“And you won’t attempt to prosecute her.”

“Correct. We have nothing to gain. Plus it would be difficult to prove that she knew the diamond was stolen.”

“All right. Then we’re done.”

The wolfhound smiled slyly. “Tell me, did she live up to her reputation? I have many photographs besides those I gave you in the report. So many pictures of her in swimsuits. What remarkable legs! A man could easily imagine them wrapped around him.… Pardon me. I’ve offended you.”