Summer Vows (Arabesque) (8 page)

Crossing his arms over his chest, Jacob continued to stare at her, brows drawing together as he continued to frown. “What you’re going to have to accept is that your entire life will change until the person or persons who want you eliminated is either caught or killed.”

A shiver eddied up Ana’s spine at the same time she closed her eyes.
Killed.
The single word was uttered as softly as a pleasant greeting. But then she couldn’t afford to forget that the man with whom she would live with for who knew how long carried a firearm and had been trained to use it with deadly force when necessary. And she said a silent prayer that whoever was responsible for shooting Tyler would be apprehended alive. After all, dead people couldn’t talk.

It hadn’t been a week since that fateful day when she stood in the restaurant parking lot with her cousin, but Ana wanted it over. Perhaps when she went to sleep and woke up she would realize it’d been a bad dream. That she’d read one of the mystery novels Samantha had edited and everything that’d happened was because of an overactive imagination.

But she knew she couldn’t blink and will it away because of the incredibly virile man standing only feet away. Despite the turmoil going on in her life that had impacted her family she did not want to think about sharing a roof with a man as attractive as Jacob. Why, she mused, couldn’t he be short, fat, balding and smelling of liniment? But he wasn’t, and that made her uncomfortable. She also wondered how long it would take before she would go completely stir-crazy from the inactivity.

Ana was used to getting up every morning and working out in her condominium’s health club before she prepared to go into her office. She and Jason alternated chairing bi-weekly staff meetings where they brought everyone employed by the recording company up on what was going on with their artists. And once she’d taken control as CEO she’d established an open-door policy. There hadn’t been a time when she did not entertain someone’s suggestion, whether she believed it would or wouldn’t benefit the company, whenever the executives held their brainstorming sessions.

“I know you see me as an imposition—”

“You’re not,” Jacob said, interrupting her. “If I thought of you as an imposition, then I never would’ve agreed to let you come and stay here.”

“Why did you agree?”

He smiled, the expression reminding Ana of a ray of sunshine warming her face and she wanted to tell him that it was something he should do more often.

“Because there are very few things I wouldn’t do for Diego.”

Her eyebrows lifted at this disclosure. “Did you and Diego go to college together?” She’d asked because her cousin had attended college in Miami.

“No. Diego has three years on me.”

Ana quickly did the math. Diego was going to celebrate his thirty-ninth birthday, so he had to be at least thirty-five or six.

“I’ll be thirty-six September seventeenth,” Jacob confirmed.

Her dimpled smile was infectious when he returned it with one of his own. “You read minds?” she asked.

He lowered his arms. “No, but I’ve noticed that you bite down on your lip when you appear to be thinking about something.”

Ana’s delicate jaw dropped. “I can’t believe I’m that transparent.”

“You really aren’t. If you were, then I’d know what you’re thinking.”

“You really don’t want to know what I’m thinking,” she retorted.

There another lengthy pause as Jacob took several steps, stopping in front of her, while his gaze met and fused with hers. “I don’t care. Nothing you say, or if you decide to throw a hissy fit, will get me to change my mind.”

“What if I decide to seduce you? Will that get you to change your mind?”

She felt a rush of heat settle in her face as soon as the query rolled off her tongue, and Ana didn’t want to believe where it had come from. She experienced a measure of redemption when he stared at her, apparently in shock.

“If you’d hoped to shock me, then you just did. But, even if I did permit you to seduce me nothing would change, Princess.”

“That’s where you’re wrong. Everything would change.” She had no intention of seducing him or any other man, but Ana was willing to bet her fortune that if they were to have an intimate relationship everything between them would change.

Chuckling softly, he winked at her. “We’ll just have to wait and see, won’t we?” His teasing mood changed like quicksilver. “And there will be no plans of seduction from either one of us. Diego asked me to protect, not take advantage of you.”

“Do you always do what my cousin asks you to do?”

He shrugged a shoulder. “Within reason, yes. And the same goes for him.”

“You’re that tight.” Ana’s question was a statement.

“Very tight,” Jacob confirmed. “Now that we’ve settled the notion of you trying to get one over on me, I’m going outside. Either you can stay here or sit outside and relax.”

Chapter 4

A
na followed Jacob to the deck, her gaze scanning the spacious area. It was the perfect place to begin or end the day. Smiling, she inhaled a lungful of saltwater air. The views here were better than the ones from her condo. Lowering her body to the recliner, she turned on her belly, rested her head on folded arms and then closed her eyes.

Even though she felt a modicum of peace for the first time in days, Ana didn’t want to accept that she was like someone who’d entered the Witness Protection Program. Cut off from her family, she couldn’t go wherever she wanted, and she couldn’t talk to whomever she wanted with Jacob listening in on the call. Prisoners were granted more rights than she was. At least they had privileges that included family visits and the right to confer with their attorneys.

Thoughts of her temporary exile were supplanted with the heart-stopping images of Tyler lying motionless on the ground, bleeding from his chest wound. His wife had kept an around-the-clock bedside vigil. Dana had put on a brave face when she gave Tyler an update on the antics of their children. She told Tyler he had to get well and come home and rescue their pets. Their children had given their chocolate-brown miniature poodles Mohawk haircuts, then painted their toenails fluorescent pink and green.

Ana wanted cry, scream or even throw something, but that would indicate weakness or lack of control, and for her that wasn’t a thought or an option. As the youngest of four she always had to fight to assert herself, especially in a family where boys were groomed from birth to go into the family business, while the girls were left to their own career choice. The tradition had begun with her uncle Martin who’d succeeded Samuel Cole, the founder of ColeDiz International, Ltd. as CEO. Her father, David, gave up a musical career to take over the reins for nine years before relinquishing the responsibility to his nephew. Timothy Cole-Thomas ran the company for thirty-five years before stepping down at sixty.

Diego had broken with tradition when he’d asked her to come and work with him, but Ana loved the music industry and working with Jason. And for the first time she wondered, if she’d gone to work for ColeDiz would Tyler be in a hospital and would she be hiding out in the Keys until the person or persons responsible for the shooting were apprehended.

Twenty minutes later the aroma of grilling food wafted to her nostrils. Ana turned over and sat up. Jacob had put on another cap, this one newer and bearing a Miami Heat logo. He stood at the gas grill, basting ears of corn. “Do you need help with anything?”

Jacob’s head popped up. “I’m good here, but I’d appreciate it if you’d set the table.”

She pushed off the recliner, giving him a warm, friendly smile for the first time. “No problem.”

It took several trips, but Ana brought out dishes, silver and glassware. The task would’ve been easier or faster if she’d had a serving cart. For someone who lived alone a cart wasn’t a necessity, but necessary when entertaining. Her entertaining extended to having her mother and father over for dinner. She never assumed they were available because their social calendar was filled with an endless list of charitable fundraisers, political luncheons and dinner dances, and traveling abroad at least once a year. They’d talked about retirement for years, and when the opportunity presented itself they fully took advantage of every minute.

“Do you have a tablecloth?” she asked Jacob. He looked at her as if she’d asked for radioactive material.

“I hosed down the glass on the table so we don’t need a tablecloth.”

Ana made a mental note that if she were to go shopping with him she would buy a tablecloth. She’d given Jacob her credit cards, but she still had some cash in her wallet. “What are we drinking?”

“Mojitos.” He gave her a questioning look. “If you don’t drink, then I’ll make one without the rum.”

She wrinkled her nose. “I think I can handle the rum.”

Half an hour later Ana sat across the table from Jacob enjoying the grilled, dry-rubbed red snapper stuffed with onion and peppers and topped with mango salsa. The spices lingered on her tongue until washed away with the expertly made mojito. A Greek salad and grilled corn with red chili butter rounded out what had become an incredible meal.

She raised her glass in a salute. “Hail to the chef.”

Jacob modestly inclined his head. “I try.”

“You do more than try,” Ana countered. “Who taught you to cook?”

“My dad. He didn’t know how to boil water before he married my mother. After a while he was a better cook than she was and she is definitely no slouch in the kitchen.”

Propping her elbow on the table, Ana cradled her chin on the heel of her hand and closed her eyes. If the reason as to why she was hiding out in the Keys wasn’t so serious, she would’ve believed her teenage dream had become a reality. She’d run away, believing she could spend the rest of her life living in the Keys, and apparently she’d gotten her wish, albeit on a temporary basis. Instead of running away, she’d been spirited away on a private jet. And she wouldn’t spend the rest of her life here, only as long as it took to locate the person or persons who were attempting to eliminate her.

When her father was the head of the company he hadn’t had to deal with some of the problems she’d faced. During his tenure the label’s artists had problems with drugs and indiscriminate sexual encounters, not the high-profile feuds between artists and competing labels. The musicians during her father’s era who’d died much too young either overdosed on drugs or committed suicide. Those in her generation usually met their end in a hail of bullets. Whatever happened to men settling their beef with fists instead of bullets?

She opened her eyes, staring at the colorful orchids growing in wild abandon. Palm and mangrove trees, frangipani and a profusion of flowering bushes surrounding the house provided a modicum of privacy from the neighboring houses. Her gaze shifted to Jacob as he stared at her. A hint of a smile tilted the corners of her mouth.

“It’s really nice here.” The temperature was at least ten degrees cooler than on the mainland.

Jacob took a long swallow of his drink, staring at Ana over the rim of the glass. “I like it.”

“How long have you lived here?”

He set down the glass. “I bought the house about eighteen months ago. It really wasn’t habitable, so I decided to gut it and start again.”

A slight frown furrowed her smooth forehead. “Wouldn’t it have been easier and less expensive to buy a house in move-in condition?”

“It’d been abandoned and was in foreclosure. I felt it was as good a time as any to take advantage of my GI bill. I made the bank what I felt was a reasonable offer and they accepted it.”

“You were in the military?” Jacob nodded. “Army?” she asked, continuing her questioning. He gave her a look that raised the hair on the back of her neck. “Did I say something wrong?”

“Wrong branch.”

The seconds ticked as Ana mentally went through the different branches of the armed forces. “If it’s not the army, then it would have to be the marines.”

“You’ve got it.”

“I should’ve known. Every marine I’ve met is beyond arrogant. The exception is my brother-in-law.”

“Merrick Grayslake is corps to the marrow of his bones. The difference is he’s low-key about it.”

Her eyebrows shot up. “You know Merrick?” Her sister Alexandra had married the ex-marine sniper who’d been recruited by the CIA as a field operative. He retired after a life-threatening injury; years later he reapplied, this time teaching courses in intelligence training.

Jacob winked at her. “Why do you keep forgetting that I’m family?”

She narrowed her eyes. “What are you talking about?”

“I’m your cousin S.J.’s godfather. And that makes me family.” Diego and Vivienne had shorted Samuel Jacob’s name to S.J. to differentiate between him and Tyler’s son who was also named Samuel.

“If you’re family, then why haven’t you come to West Palm between Christmas and New Year’s when everyone gets together?”

“I’d just gotten a promotion and unfortunately I couldn’t get away. Diego and I always joke about living in the same state, yet we don’t get to see each other as often as we’d like.”

Ana ran her forefinger around the rim of her glass. “I always try and make time for my friends. We try and get together every other month for a girls’ night out.”

“Girls’ night out or girls gone wild?” he teased.

She wrinkled her nose. “Very funny.”

“I heard you mention Jack and Coke to your
friend
.”

“What you shouldn’t do is listen in on my telephone conversation.”

“I told you before. My house, my phone and my rules.”

Ana knew arguing with Jacob would prove fruitless and she chided herself for even attempting to engage him in conversation, because invariably he would pull rank and remind her that he controlled her life.

“Thank you for reminding me,” she said facetiously. Pushing to her feet, she picked up her plate, then Jacob’s. “You cooked so I’ll clean up the kitchen.”

Jacob stood up, gathering flatware and serving dishes. “I thought you told me you didn’t know how to clean.”

“I don’t do housework and laundry, but I do clean up after myself whenever I cook.”

“You can help clear the table, but I’ll put everything else away.”

Together they made short work of bringing in everything off the deck. Jacob rinsed and stacked dishes in the dishwasher while Ana went back outside. Sitting in front of the crate, she stared the large dog that lay with his muzzle between his paws.

“Hey there, big boy.” The shepherd’s erect ears moved in response. “I know you don’t want to be in there, but it’s not going to take too long before we become good friends.” She continued to talk to the dog, unaware that Jacob was watching the interchange when he stood peering through the screened-in door.

He went completely still when she stuck her finger through the grating to touch Baron’s paw. The canine responded by licking her finger. Jacob couldn’t believe the dog hadn’t growled or bitten Ana. Either she was a dog whisperer or Baron had sensed she didn’t pose a threat to him. The large powerful dog belonged to a security expert hired by wealthy businessmen to safeguard their families when traveling on vacation. Brian had taken a week off to go on a fishing expedition and had asked Jacob if he would take care of Baron.

“He likes you.”

Ana’s head popped up, she staring at Jacob watching her. “He’s magnificent.”

Jacob nodded and smiled. “That he is.” He slid back the door, stepped out and closed it behind him. “You like dogs.” The question was a statement.

“I love them. I grew up with dogs, cat, birds, fish, guinea pigs and a few lizards and turtles. The only things my parents wouldn’t let us have was snakes.”

His smile grew wider. “It sounds as if you had a menagerie.”

“It was more like a zoo.”

Jacob thought about his own childhood growing up in Miami. He’d always wanted a dog, but because of his mother’s allergies that wasn’t possible. “I’m going to take Baron for a walk. Would you like to come with me?”

“Yes!”

Reaching down, he cupped her elbow, assisting her to stand. “You’re going to have to wear a hat and sunglasses and hopefully no one will recognize you.”

Tilting her chin, Ana met his eyes. “I can think of a better disguise.”

“What’s that?”

“A wig.”

Crossing his arms over his chest, Jacob angled his head. “I’m sorry, but I don’t happen to have any hairpieces lying around,” he teased.

Ana assumed a similar stance, bringing his gaze to linger on her chest. “There has to be a beauty supply or wig shop somewhere around here.”

“I’m certain there is. But where, is the question.”

“Do you have a computer?” Jacob nodded. “There’s your answer. You can go online and search on Google to find shops in the Keys that sell wigs and costumes.”

“I’m certain we’ll find a few in Key West.”

Ana’s eyes lit up like a child’s on Christmas morning. “When do we leave?” she asked. Her voice was filled with a lightness that hadn’t been there in days. And despite her always wanting to visit Key West she couldn’t forget the events that had brought her to this moment.

Smiling, Jacob shook his head. Her dimpled smile took his breath away. “Do you really want to visit Key West that much?”

“Some people want to climb Everest. Others want to see the pyramids, while I want to hang out in Key West.”

“Why didn’t you come down once you were emancipated?”

Ana lifted her shoulders. “After a while I shrugged it off as some form of childish rebellion. Maybe I’d wanted to prove to my parents I could make it on my own.”

“Even if you’d managed to live on five thousand dollars for nine years what do you think was going to happen after the money ran out?”

“I would’ve come into my trust fund at twenty-five.”

Jacob’s expressive eyebrows lifted a fraction. “Your life would’ve been quite different from what it is now.”

“I know that,” Ana said wistfully. “I doubt whether I would’ve become involved with the record company. But now that I am I’ll never forgive myself if Tyler doesn’t make a full recovery.” Closing her eyes, she combed her fingers through her short hair. “Basil Irvine lied through his teeth when he said there was no bad blood between his company and Serenity. If I’d been interviewed I would’ve let the world know exactly what went down between us.”

Reaching out, Jacob held her shoulders firmly. “Stop beating up on yourself. There was no way you could know or stop what happened. Just be grateful that your cousin wasn’t killed. Judging from what I know about your family, I’m certain they’ll use every resource they have to uncover who’s behind the shooting. But if I had to play devil’s advocate, then I’d say it could’ve been a random incident where someone decided to use that parking lot for target practice. After all, there are a lot of crazies roaming the streets.”

Ana’s eyes met his. “If you find out anything about the sniper will you tell me?”

“I will tell you whatever Diego wants you to know.”

“You didn’t answer my question, Jacob. I’m asking whether you intend to withhold information from me.”