Page 40 of In the Pursuit of Haven
These tough men looked harsher than the ones from his fishing crews. “Why would you get involved with people like that?” I asked.
He let out a breath. “I’m sorry. They contacted me first. They’re professionals, believe it or not. They’re the ones behind the Nectanebo mummy discoveries. They also uncovered the San Juan scrolls. They know what they’re doing.”
“They’re the scariest men I’ve ever seen in my life.”
He’d turned stiff. I could see that Jessie was having a hard time coming clean with any of this. I wondered if he would’ve if I hadn’t been there to witness it. “They were very… convincing,” he said.
I bet they were; they must’ve come in strong, talking about riches and power and success, tempting him with what might seem a better life. “We were doing all right for ourselves,” I cried out, shooting to my feet to face him. I held onto the sides as the waves hit our boat. “We were happy!”
And he had to introduce bullies and blackmailers into the mix? Wasn’t I enough?
He struggled to answer, but if it wasn’t the truth, I didn’t want to hear it. “Professionals?” I scoffed. “Yeah, right!” They were only interested in Jessie because they thought he’d have more leads on this treasure than anybody out there. They saw him as easy prey. “Once they’re through with you,” I said, “they’ll just double-cross you.”
He scoffed like he was already one step ahead of them. “Well, no one’s getting to that treasure before I do, honey.”
My stomach sank. After all that had happened, he was still going through with this? Anger compounded my fear. “Your uncles died looking for it!”
His lips firmed like I’d seen them do too many times. “I won’t.”
I gasped. Get-rich schemes like these had never tempted him before. What had changed? Was it me? We’d argued plenty of times about how much my work at the museum had consumed me. And even though he’d never complained about me ripping him away from Salem and everything he knew here, had it made him desperate?
“You can’t do this!” I clutched at his arm. “I don’t want you to die!”
His quick intake of breath surprised me. He glanced up at me from the wheel. “You care?” he asked.
That was the problem right there—it had to be. I lowered down to the bench seat next to him. “Of course I do.”
“I was starting to wonder.” His low whisper brushed past my neck before his lips met the sensitivity of my skin there. I’d felt the softness of his kiss so many times against me, but this felt new, only because it had been so long and we’d become strangers this past month—worse than strangers, rivals.
He found my waist with his free hand and he guided me around so that I faced him. We kissed. Every part of me reacted under his demanding lips. My skin heated and tingled everywhere he touched. Feeling him returning to me was like seeing the lights of home after a long trip; there was something so comforting about being with Jessie again.
His lips planted over mine and I felt myself melding into the man I’d sworn my life to. His heartbeat became mine; his breath filled my lungs.
The motor slowed in the water.
I wasn’t sure how he was driving anymore. He might not be. His hand found the collar of my shirt. He loved that shirt. His hands traveled up my neck where he’d kissed me. My back pressed against the wheel. The boat swerved and I felt his smile against my mouth as he moved me away from that too.
“Sorry,” he breathed. His eyes locked with mine. “Roxy, I just need you to be patient a little longer.”
Wait. What? After all this he was still talking about that treasure? This had better not be him sweetening me up into going along with this mad scheme.
I shook my head. “No.”
I wrenched back from his loving embrace with difficulty. My heart cried out against me, telling me to toss out my brain just this once and go with my husband on this, but I couldn’t. He’d get hurt!
“No, this is not okay, Jessie! We’re not okay. I thought you were cheating on me with Divine when I saw you with her tonight. And I was done! Don’t you understand what your secrets are doing to me? I got a call from a—a… friend who saw you with her.”No need to implicate Bette Ann in this.“Zak went as white as a ghost when he saw the two of you. All our friends think you’ve thrown me away.”
“Oh, baby.” He kissed the top of my head and I softened when he cradled me against his chest. “I’m never throwing you away,” he said. “That would be like ripping out my own heart. It’s not happening.”
For a moment, I let his words comfort me as I breathed in his familiar scent.
“I’m just doing what it takes to get these treasure hunters off my back and then things will be like they used to be, okay, baby?”
He’d just splashed cold water over all my hopes of keeping him in one piece. “Oh, don’t you ‘baby’ me!” I cried out again. “You’re not going after this treasure if you want to save what we have.”
“I am. That’s exactly what I’m doing—saving us.”
I let out a sound of protest. “How? How is this saving us?” He went silent again.
