The Sapphire Affair (Jewel #1)

Or yesterday with Jake.

“Yes. I’m familiar with Joy Delivered’s oeuvre,” she said drily as Isla led her to the living room, where a dozen or so women were shrieking, laughing, toasting, and feeling up purple, pink, blue, and all other color and style of sex toys. She drew a deep, fueling breath, reminding herself she’d been invited behind enemy lines tonight. This was her chance to learn, to observe, to soak up as much intel as possible.

“Isla, look! This one has ten speeds, and it simulates a tongue,” a bleached blond with a penchant for Botox shouted to the hostess. Her forehead didn’t move as she spoke. It appeared to have been ironed on.

“Oh, that sounds amazing,” Isla purred in that sultry voice. “I should try that with my sweetie.”

Sweetie. Eli.

Was that Steph’s lunch that was coming back up? Yes, it might very well be. She squeezed her eyes shut momentarily, then opened them and plastered on a smile as the women passed the Lola toy around.

“That’s one of the best models,” an authoritative-sounding brunette with cat’s-eye glasses pronounced. She must be the sex-toy representative. “It’s made of the finest silicone and it’ll last at least ten hours before you need to charge it or change batteries. Ten hours—do you know how many orgasms that equals?” she asked, like a teacher tossing out a question to the class.

Bleached Blonde waved her arm high. “Pick me, pick me.”

“Madeline, tell us,” the woman said.

The blonde sat up straighter and turned her index finger and thumb into an O, declaring, “With my ex-husband, it’s zero. With my hot new boy toy, it’s infinity.”

The ladies cracked up, and Isla grabbed Steph’s arm once more. “Isn’t that so true,” Isla said breathlessly. “It’s the same for me. Well, Eli’s no boy toy, but he’s all man in the—”

“Is that champagne? I have been craving it all day,” Steph said, as if she’d had nothing but the bubbly beverage on her mind. She pointed to a bottle on the sleek pewter coffee table.

“Someone get this hot young babe a champagne,” Madeline shouted, pointing at Steph.

In seconds, Steph had downed the bubbly beverage and figured she’d need many more to make it through a sex-toy party that her stepfather had inadvertently invited her to. Or perhaps it was intentional. The mere thought of that made her pour a second glass.




Easy as pie.

Padding quietly down the carpeted hall, as noiseless as a cat, Jake passed a guest bedroom, then reached the office. Holding his breath, he gripped the doorknob and turned it quietly. Every muscle in his body was poised. To move, to run, to respond. Logic told him that Eli wouldn’t be in this room, but you never know.

Gently, he opened the door and peered beyond it. The moonlight streaked through the window, casting faint glows across the desk, the floor, and the shelves.

Photos of Eli’s fiancée and his kids lined his desk. An image of Steph kissing a stingray caught Jake’s attention. The sun shone on her face, and the water sparkled like diamonds behind her. Her smile could launch a thousand ships. Her happiness radiated from the frame, and his heart beat faster.

He smacked his chest to shut it up.

The safe had to be in here. He began his search.




The bleached blonde named Madeline patted the seat next to her. “You’re Eli’s girl, right?”

“Stepdaughter,” Steph corrected as she took the seat.

The dark-haired maid swooped in and deposited a new tray full of appetizers on the low table. Immediately, Isla’s hand shot out for the olives, with fingers like a pelican’s beak, grasping one. She popped it into her mouth and rolled her eyes in delight.

“Tell us everything,” Madeline said. “He talks about you all the time.”

A chorus of women’s voices echoed Madeline.

“He does?” Steph asked as happiness coursed through her.

Isla nodded. “He was so excited to see you earlier this week at Tristan’s.”

Steph parted her lips, tempted to ask why he’d invited her tonight but didn’t show. Instead, she focused on her mission. “I was so happy to see him, too. It sounds like you’re both having the time of your lives here in the Islands,” she said, grateful that the light-headedness from the champagne made her sound truly thrilled.

Isla placed her hand on her heart. “Oh, we are. We truly are. Life is lovely in the Caymans.”

Steph sighed happily, imitating Isla. “I can only imagine. You have the club, and he told me about all your charitable work, and of course the property you’re investing in, too,” she said, the words tumbling forth with ease as she went fishing for info. The rest of the women oohed and aahed as they stroked pearl-filled rabbits and dual-action toys.