As we made our way to my suite, I told Adam about the couple in the sea grapes. I wasn’t sure why I told him. The time was past. The couple was benign, but the truth was the situation frightened me. The fact it affected me the way it did made me mad.
“We need to learn who’s responsible for the poison and the fish,” I said after he made sure the suite was clear.
“They’re working on it back in Montana. That’s why you’re here.”
Inhaling, I closed my eyes. Exhaling, I said, “Come in while I change.”
Adam stepped inside the suite, securing the door behind him. “Ma’am, there are only a few people who know your location. The airplane rental was done under a rarely used shell company. Other than Mr. Wilde, your assistant Gigi, and Montgomery security, no one knows.”
“I hate this,” I confessed. Letting my hands drop to my sides, I spun around the living room area of the suite. Beyond the French doors was a balcony with a private pool and the Caribbean Ocean sparkling to the horizon. “I’m not prey.”
“Ma’am?”
“I’m not prey. That’s not who I am.”
Adam nodded in agreement.
“Whoever this is,” I confessed, “they’re getting to me. They’re in my head, and it makes me question what I shouldn’t question.”
“Like what?”
“Like could CJ have purposely taken me down the beach to the property line.” I shook my head and tossed my large bag onto the sofa. “I don’t want to think that way about him.” I shrugged. “I like him.”
Adam’s eyes opened wide as his eyebrow rose.
“I know,” I replied. “I just met him. I want to trust him, only for this week. But what about the opposite? What if him being with me even for a week puts him in danger?”
“Kelsey said you don’t want us to do a background check.”
“I didn’t.” I shook my head. “No, I still don’t want to know more about him than what I learn from him. It’s the fish stalker. It’s that he went further than stalking when he sent the poisoned candy.”
“He?”
“I’m assuming it’s a man. You know I think it could be Logan Butler.”
Adam shook his head. “We haven’t ruled him out. There’s no doubt he knows it was you who stepped in with the SPAC and the grand jury indictment with his brother’s investments. However, we have no proof of him being in Missoula. Our people say he’s in Chicago.”
“What about Phillip?” Phillip was my brother-in-law, my sister’s husband. “I know he’s in prison. Could he have a connection?”
“We’ve spoken with the warden. It’s unlikely.”
I sat on the arm of the sofa. “I should be thinking about the sexy man waiting for me at the beach, and instead, I’m racking my brain about who would hate me enough to do this.” My gaze met Adam’s. “It’s personal. Violating my home and attempting my demise.”
Leaning against the wall, Adam crossed his ankles and sighed. “I’d like to do a background check on CJ. If it comes back clear, I won’t say a word. You’ll know he’s safe or seems safe. If I find any red flags, I’ll tell you.”
Nodding, I looked down at my lap and back up, my focus on the man I trusted with my safety. “I don’t want to know any information other than” —I inhaled— “if there’s any reason to think CJ could be connected to my stalker.”
“For the record, men are usually more direct with their threats. Women are more likely to use poison.”
Over twenty years ago, Logan had been more direct.
My sister poisoned some people. She’d also used a weapon.
In other words, patterns were present to be broken.
I asked, “Are you saying that you think the stalker is a woman?”
“Ms. Montgomery, we don’t know. Whoever this is, he or she is very careful. The note that came with the candy was handwritten. The writing is being analyzed. The postmark was Missoula.”
My stomach twisted.
This person was in the same city as me or as where I lived.
“Won’t they see that I’m not in town, not going to the office?”
“Yes,” Adam answered. “You aren’t there. No one can track you here.”
Standing, I brushed the front of my sundress. “I’m going to change into my bathing suit and cover-up. Were you able to secure a cabana near cabana number six?”
“Kelsey is already there. We’re in fourteen. It’s about twenty yards away. We can see the back of number six. We’ll be watching everyone who gets close.”
I let out a long sigh. “Thank you. Thank you for caring—for doing your job.”
“We care.” His lips curled into a smile. “Relax. If I learn anything alarming, we’ll interrupt.”
Less than ten minutes later, I was wearing a bathing suit and beach cover. Adam and I were headed back to the cabana.
“We can part ways at the pool,” he suggested.
“I have my phone.”
“And your watch,” he said with a grin. “All you know is C.J.?”
“Yes, as far as a name. It’s all that was written on the sign reserving the cabana. I also know that he’s originally from Ohio. Currently lives in Austin.”
“Do you know his profession?”
“No, but he doesn’t know mine either. He said he was between gigs.” I furrowed my brow. “Hell, maybe he’s in entertainment.” I thought about that. “Oh, the last thing I need is to be involved with some famous band member that will get my picture on social media. If that’s it, tell me.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
As I walked across the warm sand toward the cabana, I knew talking to Adam helped clear my mind. I was being watched, protected. I didn’t want to be told about CJ, but it would ease my anxiousness to learn he wasn’t a threat.
That didn’t mean I wasn’t a threat to him.
Stepping around the flowing curtains, my smile returned. The turquoise of the ocean paled in comparison to the gaze now scanning me, from my wide-brimmed hat to my toes. I knew CJ worked out, or at least ran, but seeing him in only his swim trunks was a beautiful sight. With his hair untethered, it curled near his chiseled jawline. His shoulders were broad and muscles defined, including the six- or eight-pack of abs. The muscles didn’t stop there, visible in his long legs.
“You came back.”
Hearing his deep voice brought back memories of our kiss.
Removing the hair tie from my wrist, I extended it toward the sexy, shirtless man on the mattress. “I believe this is yours.”
CJ patted the mattress beside him. “And this spot is yours.”
Next to the mattress within the cabana was an ice bucket on a stand and a small table with two champagne flutes.
“I don’t remember seeing that earlier.”
“Because it wasn’t here. I figured we’d share, or if you stood me up, I would go back to plan A.”
“Plan A?”
“Wallowing.”
I scoffed. “Plan B?”
“A week with no bigger worries.”
“I like that.” Feeling the need to explain my extended absence, I added, “I had to discuss something with someone. I didn’t mean to make you think I wouldn’t return.”
“I was hopeful.” He lifted the hair tie. “Your insurance policy and all.”
Laying my beach bag on the straw mat, I knelt on the side of the mattress and peered out toward the ocean. “This is nice.”
“And private.”
My gaze met CJ’s as I unbuttoned the front of my beach cover-up. One by one. His breathing deepened as his eyes stayed glued to the progressive opening. Soon I was standing in only my bikini.
“You are so beautiful.”
“Back atcha.”
CJ sat taller. “No, Lena. You’re stunning.”
“I’m glad you think so.”
He lifted his chin. “Come here.” It wasn’t a request, and yet I didn’t mind.
As soon as I lay back against the inclined mattress, CJ leaned closer and removed my sunglasses. Cupping my cheek with his large palm, he didn’t hesitate to bring his lips to mine. My core twisted with need at his ability to kiss.
Kissing was an underrated skill, and if I were to give CJ’s ability a grade, it would be A+. His lips and tongue fit perfectly with mine. His warmth raising the temperature within me from simmering to boiling, in seconds I was lost as he unapologetically took what I was willing to give.
My palms teased over his arms and shoulders, feeling the definition I’d ogled moments earlier. As his wide chest pressed against my breasts, my hunger for him grew, causing my nipples to bead.
Without forethought, my fingers weaved through his dark mane.
The heat in his touch was everywhere, running his hands over my arms and shoulders and finally down my side, caressing my breast and moving down to my thigh. We struggled for air as we devoured one another, both starving for more of what was right here. I tipped my head up as his lips moved lower.
Nips and kisses peppered my skin. Down my neck, over my collarbone, between my breasts.