He turned the box, stroking the textures, running a fingertip over the carvings on the lid. He swore they were familiar.
A scent taunted him. He leaned closer and a sweet musky fragrance filled his nostrils. He shuffled through the pictures until he stared down into the face of the woman he’d hastily sketched the other night.
He could recall her now without the papers as a catalyst. Whatever hypnotic suggestion had blocked that night from his memories had been broken, and he remembered it all, including his mysterious lover.
If his guess was right…
Jamie flipped open the latch on the box and slowly eased up the lid. The breath he’d held in anticipation of seeing the contents swooshed out of him in disappointment when he discovered it was empty.
He could have sworn he would have found a medallion inside, one with a dolphin leaping on the surface in bas-relief. A twin to the necklace the Spanish woman had hung on her neck before she walked into the water and disappeared beneath the waves.
Still, it didn’t clarify how a box nearly identical to the one he’d found during a dive over ten years earlier came to be resting in Alexia Colten’s home. Especially when the other box had sat at the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea, the necklace it held hidden from the world for more years than easily explained.
He sat back on his heels, staring so intently at the container in his hand he nearly jumped out of his skin when someone cleared their throat.
“Holy shit.” He spun and spotted Braden smirking at him.
“You do get into your work.” Braden flopped onto the couch and loosened the top buttons on his uniform. “You should be more careful. I could have been a thief, or a burglar.”
Shit. Jamie tried to look casual as he replaced the box. He didn’t want to draw attention to it, so he fiddled with another couple of items as he spoke, rearranging the mound.
“Nahh, you said there were no thieves in Jaffrey’s Cove.” Braden’s groan made him laugh as he rose to face the couch. “Okay, I’m usually a little more attentive. Really.”
Braden relaxed, his legs sprawled in front of him. “You’re working strange hours.”
Jamie shrugged, his mind racing for a suitable excuse. “Decided to do a few hours. Maybe get to the bottom of another pile. There’s so much to go through, I’m starting to doubt being able to finish before Ms. Colten returns.”
“I wouldn’t worry about that. I think she just wants to get it cleaned up eventually. It’s a bit much to live with on a constant basis.”
Braden leaned forward, resting his elbows on his thighs, and Jamie wondered why it was so difficult to keep his eyes off the muscles pressing against the khaki material. Damn, the man was huge, with broad strong muscles and yet so smooth when he moved. The stories he’d read that morning came back, the legends of people who lived in two worlds, moving with grace in spite of their muscular forms. He didn’t want to consider the impossible right now. He just wanted to…
Braden grinned at him and Jamie could have cursed. If he wasn’t going to get thrown out on his ear, he needed to concentrate a little harder and keep his freaking curiosity under wraps.
“You said something and I missed it, right?”
Braden chuckled. “You’re easily distracted. I asked if you’d found anything interesting in this mess.”
Oh, that is a loaded question. “There are a few pieces I know the maritime museums are always looking for. Lots of moderately collectable items, and tons of trash.”
“She needs to hold a garage sale then, right?”
Jamie snorted. “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure?”
Braden wiggled his brows and Jamie laughed. There was no way he could keep uptight around the other man. Even though Braden had seemed intimidating at the start, somehow living in his apartment and fantasizing about him made the fear he’d initially inspired morph into something more along the lines of fascination.
Braden stood abruptly and Jamie lost his balance as he tried to step out of the way.
“Shit.” Braden grabbed Jamie by the shoulders to pull him upright. A trickle of scent wafted past—familiar, haunting—and Jamie bit back a moan. He’d woken in the morning to that same fragrance drenching his bed, the visions of steamy sex with both Chelsea and Braden fresh in his mind.
“Hey, you okay?” Braden asked, still supporting him.
Jamie stepped away slowly, shaking his head. What the hell was going on with his libido? His physical interest in guys had always been limited yet now he was not only dreaming about it, but tempted to grab on tight and see what Braden would do.
Of course, Braden would probably punch his lights out. Jamie scrambled to find a good excuse for his strange behavior.
“I’m fine. Guess I didn’t realize I was more tired than I thought. I’m not getting enough exercise, or sun. I need to work on a better routine.”
Braden folded his arms and looked down at him, his expression unreadable. “You don’t have to have everything done by the end of August. Maybe you should slow down a bit, take in some of the sights. There are lots of water sports to try, and some great scuba diving in the area. I’d love to join you if you can arrange your schedule around mine a bit.” He frowned. “If the idiots in town stop their high jinks.”
“More vandalism?” Jamie spotted the pile of sketches he’d made resting on the coffee table, and he picked them up and straightened the edges, hiding the drawings from Braden. Until he got more proof he wasn’t going to let any of them know his suspicions.
Braden sighed. “Yeah. Still, I should be grateful there’s nothing more serious going on. Shit, they were having a water fight at the pier. I got called out to break up a flipping water fight.”
Jamie eyed the stains on Braden’s usually pristine shirt and slacks. That was what had caused it. He dragged his gaze up, bewildered by how obsessed he had become in admiring the man. Their eyes met and Jamie watched, mesmerized as the center of Braden’s pupils swirled with blue flecks.
He stepped back slowly, grabbing his coat without looking. “I should go. I’m sure you need to get changed and Chelsea will be home soon. I’ll look into taking some time off. Gotta run. See you later. Thanks for…everything.” He wanted to get far away so there would be no chance the thoughts rolling through his mind could be discovered. Thoughts about how he wanted to watch Braden strip off the stained uniform and display that perfect body to him. How he wanted to lean closer and find out if the scent haunting him really did originate from Braden’s skin.
Find out what if would feel like to lie between Chelsea and Braden as they made love.
Jamie spun and pulled open the door, trying to make it look less like he was escaping than it really was.
“Jamie.”
He froze, one hand on the knob.
Braden stepped beside him, that dark expression back on his face. He held out his hand and flipped it open, palm up. “You forgot your keys.”
He grabbed them and fled.
Chapter Eight
She thought it would be more uncomfortable the first time she saw Jamie after the night at the Grotto. Not on her part, but on his. Fortunately, when he wandered in Monday, he kissed her cheek and acted the same as usual.
“You ready to roll?” he asked.
“When you are.”
He handed her a new notebook and gestured to a section of the room they hadn’t touched yet. They worked for close to three hours, chatting easily about nothing in particular before he sat back on his heels and rubbed his neck. “Okay, I’ll admit it. I need to take a break.”
She smiled. “You’ve been going at it pretty steady since you got here.”
“Yeah, well I have a tendency to go all out when I do anything. I mentioned to Braden yesterday my goal of getting things cleared out before Ms. Colten returns is very unlikely.”