“Liar,” he whispered.
“What?” I gasped as he placed a hand on my stomach and allowed his fingers to slide down. “What are you doing?”
“I just wanted to show you how wet you were.” His fingers left my stomach and he wiggled them in my face. I could see drops of moisture on the tips. “See?” He grinned, and I watched as he licked the drops off his fingers.
We picked up our clothes and laid them out on the sand a bit farther away from the water, moving in silence. I was still slightly turned on from our interaction, yet I was also annoyed with myself and with him. I wasn’t sure why I hadn’t slapped him for being so fresh. I so wanted to put him in his place, but a part of me really enjoyed the innuendos. When he flirted with me, it was easier for me to forget where we were and the circumstances we were in. I was still completely puzzled as to why we were here. It made absolutely no sense to me. And while it made no sense, I was going to go along with his facade that we were together.
“We should talk before Steve gets back.” Jakob’s voice was low. “I think we need to make sure that we only talk about personal stuff when he’s not around.”
“Makes sense. At least the police must be looking for us,” I muttered as we sat down on the sand.
“You think so?” He gave me a deep look.
“Of course.” I nodded. “Rosie’s probably freaking out right now. She knows I’m not the sort to just disappear. Plus, I left her some stuff in her bag. When she sees it, I hope she figures out that I was onto something.”
“Onto what?” He asked curiously. “Or are you not going to tell me?”
“I want to tell you.” I could feel my head pounding as I stared at him. “It’s just hard. You’d be the first person I tell. I haven’t even told Rosie yet, though, I wanted to tell her that night.” I froze as I remembered something. “Oh my God, I might have taken a photo of the guy that was following me as well.”
“Huh?” His eyes narrowed.
“I sent Rosie a photo of the bartender that night to get her to hurry up, as she was running late. I thought a handsome man might make her move faster.” I thought back to the night I was in the bar and tried to remember if anyone else had been in the frame of the picture.
“I see.” He frowned. “You seem a bit man-crazy.”
“What?” My voice rose, and I glared at him. “What does that mean?”
“Just that you seem to date around a lot.” He shrugged.
“You get that because I took a photo of a guy in a bar?” I cocked my head to the side as my annoyance showed through my rigid voice. “That’s how you respond to the fact that I might have sent a photo of someone who was involved in our kidnapping to my best friend.”
“I was just stating a fact, based on my observation of you. You dated that rich guy, and then you were online looking for someone, and now you’re picking up guys in bars.”
My jaw dropped as he spoke. He had a better memory than I did, but he was really twisting things. “I never said I was picking up any guys in the bar.” I shook my head. “You really like to jump to conclusions, don’t you.”
“I know I don’t let my women get around.” His eyes bored into mine. “When a woman is with me, she’s with me alone.”
“I don’t cheat on guys.” I stared back into his eyes. “If that’s what you’re implying.”
“When a woman is with me, she doesn’t even think of another man,” he continued, and sat back. I tried to ignore his muscles as they flexed.
“Good for you. I’m sure that’s hard for them.”
“I don’t do back talk either.”
“You sound like a real prince to date.” I rolled my eyes. “Are you a boyfriend or a teacher?”
“I’m both.” He grinned. “But, we digress. If you have a photo of that man it would be great. However, right now that doesn’t really help us, does it?”
“No, I guess it doesn’t.” I stared at his face for a few seconds, studying his eyes and then looking at his body language. I knew that I either was going to have to trust him or not, but I had to make a decision. I could feel the nerves in my stomach as I tried to make a decision; each one was more wound up than the other. “My father left me a letter when he died.” I said finally, the words sounding stilted as they came out of my mouth.
“Okay . . .”
“I think I was being followed because of the letter.” I gazed out at the ocean. “Actually, that’s not exactly right. I was being followed because of what I did after I read the letter.”
“What did the letter say, and what did you do?”
“You’ve got to understand that this isn’t me.” I looked back at him with a frown. “If you would have told me five years ago that I’d be acting like some older version of Nancy Drew, I would have told you you were lying.”
“Nancy Drew, huh?” He raised an eyebrow. “That must have been some letter.”
“It was.” I chewed on my lower lip for a few seconds before continuing. I needed to make sure I was making the right decision, but I knew that there was no way for me to be certain of that fact. I knew that between Jakob and Steve, I trusted Jakob the most.
“So, are you going to tell me anything else?”
“My father was poor when he died. He didn’t leave a will, he didn’t have anything to leave in his will. He had no money. Though, he should have had millions. He invented the self-painting machine, the thirty-minute cooker, and the first prototype for the mini car.”
“Really?” He looked back at me with a blank expression that surprised me. Most people were shocked and amazed to find out my father had created so many products that had changed the way millions lived their lives.
“Yes, really.” I snapped, annoyed by his lack of reaction, not knowing why I felt so upset. I knew a part of it had to do with the fact that I was trusting him with something I’d never told anyone before, and he wasn’t reacting in the way I’d hoped he would. “So when he died, he basically left me a letter that told me that he didn’t trust his old business partners. He left me some papers that led me to believe that he should own the rights and be receiving the royalties for those products.”
“I see.” He pursed his lips. “So you’re trying to get the money you think is yours, is that it?”