N. Walters - Stroke of Sapphire

“Jake.” She called his name and he glanced over his shoulder. “I don’t understand. Stay and talk with me.” A tear ran down her cheek, piercing his gut like a knife.

“I’m sorry, baby.” He hurried away. For the first time in his life, he was too much of a coward to stay. He grabbed his coat from the closet and opened the front door. It closed with a finality that almost brought him to his knees.

The only thing that sustained him was knowing he was doing what was right for Sapphire.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Jake shook off the dark memories that threatened to consume him. He’d replayed that night over and over in his head, wondering what he might have done different. Could he have stayed and tempered his sexual demands, been more careful? Could he have changed enough to make a relationship between them work? There was no way of knowing and it was too late. He’d panicked at the thought of hurting her, physically and emotionally, and had severed all ties with her. Sapphire had moved on with her life and quickly.

For the first week after he’d left her, she’d tried to reach him, calling every night, but he hadn’t answered, instead letting her calls go to his voicemail where he listened to them over and over, torturing himself with the sound of her voice. It had taken every ounce of strength he’d had to turn away when her name flashed on his phone.

Thankfully, his brother didn’t know about what had happened between them and Sapphire must not have told her sister either. If Topaz knew what had happened, she’d tell John and his twin would kick his sorry ass for what he’d done.

The day after she’d stopped calling, she’d gone on her first date. Obviously, he’d done the right thing by walking away from her, even if it didn’t feel that way.

Jake picked up his cup and downed the last of his coffee. It was cold and bitter now, much like him. He’d taken on the task of watching over her, a sort of penance for what he’d taken and how he’d hurt her.

Sapphire wondered what in the name of God she’d been thinking to accept a date with Ivan Gregor. She’d met him through a mutual friend, more of an acquaintance really, and he’d seemed like a nice enough guy, if slightly self-centered. All he’d talked about the entire evening were his real estate deals, how much money he made and his new Manhattan apartment.

What in hell was she doing? She’d gone out on a multitude of dates over the past few weeks, all of them with seemingly perfectly nice men, but there wasn’t an ounce of spark with any of them.

None of them was Jake.

Tears pricked her eyes and she blinked several times to push them back. No way was she going to cry over Jake Knight. She’d shed far too many tears the week after he’d made love to her and left her. Thankfully, Topaz had been too wrapped up in work and her new relationship with John to notice. Sapphire had retreated to her jewelry studio where she’d spent more time curled up on her chaise lounge than actually designing or creating.

She missed him. There was a hole in her heart where Jake had resided. Since the first moment she’d seen him, she’d wanted him. He was tall with extremely broad shoulders, huge biceps and rugged good looks. And he filled out a pair of jeans in a way that should be illegal. His blond hair brushed the top of his shoulders and his icy-blue eyes didn’t miss a thing.

Funny how his twin brother didn’t do a thing for her, but put Jake in a room with her and all her senses flared to life and her skin practically tingled with excitement. He was self-contained and quiet, a thoughtful man, a man with secrets. She’d sensed that much about him over the months he’d been her bodyguard.

He’d actually guarded her twice and she’d had a hard time getting over him the first time he’d left and they hadn’t even kissed. This time they’d had mind-blowing, rock-her-world sex and Sapphire knew she’d never be the same again.

She could still picture him standing near the edge of her bed staring down at her, telling her he was leaving because he was too much for her in the bedroom, his sexual needs too intense. Translation, she wasn’t enough. It had devastated her.

“Sapphire, more wine?” Ivan was looking at her, a slightly annoyed expression on his face. Obviously, he knew she hadn’t been paying attention. Had he said something that required an answer? Other than the question about the wine, that is. She didn’t think so, but she couldn’t be one hundred percent sure.

She shook her head and forced herself to concentrate on the here and now. She ruthlessly shoved Jake Knight from her thoughts and smiled at Ivan. “No thank you, I’ve had enough.”

“Just a bit more.” He ignored her request and topped up her glass. She frowned at him. As the night had gone on, she noticed more and more his tendency to be overbearing and ignore what she said or what she wanted. This would be her first and last date with him.

The waiter strolled up to their table. “Can I get you anything else? Desert, coffee or tea?”

Sapphire opened her mouth to ask for coffee, but Ivan beat her to the punch. “No, nothing else. Just bring the bill.”

The waiter inclined his head. “Right away, sir.”

That was another thing she’d noticed. Ivan was abrupt with the waitstaff, bordering on rude. She really should have stayed home and curled up on her sofa with a good movie and a bowl of popcorn. Live and learn.

The waiter returned with the bill and she glanced away, letting her gaze travel around the upscale restaurant as her thoughts returned to the mess that was her life.

Her experiment over the past few weeks was a total bust. After Jake had shredded her feminine confidence with his abrupt departure, she’d taken a good long look at her life and decided she was way too boring.

She’d decided a change was in order and had moved into her own apartment. It only made sense since Topaz was moving into John’s place until their wedding. The happy couple was still trying to decide if they were going to get a new place or just continue living in John’s. The three sisters owned the apartment they’d shared together and had decided to sell it and split the profit, sending their sister Emerald’s share to her in her new home in Maine. The large, well-situated apartment sold almost immediately and she’d used the money to put a down payment on her own place. She’d also gone on a mini shopping spree, purchasing new clothes and shoes, and started dating.

But as of tonight, she was calling a halt to all of it. She couldn’t change who she really was and trying to do so wasn’t making her happy. Maybe she wasn’t enough of a woman for Jake Knight, but she liked herself just the way she was, or at least she had.

Her new shoes hurt her toes, she felt her blouse showed a bit too much cleavage and her skirt was about two inches too short for comfort. She was more of a jeans-and-T-shirt girl anyway. When she did dress up, she favored flowing feminine dresses and skirts and more sensible heels, not short skirts and low-cut blouses.

She felt totally fake and phony, not herself at all. Jake might have been the catalyst for this abrupt change, but she had only herself to blame for following through. No one had made her do it.

Ivan was talking again about his latest real estate deal. Honestly, she hadn’t heard half of what he’d said tonight, but one thing was obvious—he loved talking about himself and what he saw as his accomplishments. Nothing wrong with that, but he hadn’t asked her one question about herself or her work.

When he wound down enough to reach for his wineglass, she offered him a smile. “I need to get going. I have an early meeting in the morning.” Not really a lie. She was supposed to meet Topaz at their favorite bakery for coffee to talk about her sister’s upcoming wedding plans. They hadn’t spent any real time together over the past few weeks—a quick phone call here and there, and her several fast trips into their boutique Sisters’ Jewels didn’t count.

Sapphire hadn’t wanted to talk to anyone about what had happened between Jake and her. But her older sister knew something was wrong. Topaz wasn’t being put off any longer and had demanded they meet.

Ivan frowned and inclined his head toward her still-full glass of wine. “Aren’t you going to finish that?”

She shook her head. “I told you I’d had enough.”

He lowered his glass to the table where the base made a sharp cracking sound. Ivan wasn’t happy with her. Well, he’d have to get over it. Not that it mattered. She had no plans to see him after tonight.

A shiver raced down her spine and she turned, peering around the room. If she didn’t know better, she’d say that someone was watching her.

Then she inwardly chuckled at herself. Of course there might be someone watching her. The restaurant was filled with people.

“Of course we can leave if you’re ready.” That quickly, his entire demeanor changed and he became a charming companion once again, all signs of his previous annoyance gone. She had a feeling the man she was seeing was the one he showed to the world, like a mask he wore when dealing with most people. She had a sinking feeling the real man was much different.

He smiled, stood and came around the table to help her with her chair. His fingers slid down her back when she stood. It could have been an accident, but Sapphire didn’t think so. She didn’t believe Ivan did anything without having a purpose or goal in mind.

It was only early May, but the days had been warm and she’d only worn a light jacket over her outfit. Ivan lifted it from the back of her chair and held it as she slid her arms into the sleeves. His fingers brushed her nape and she had to fight the urge to lurch away from him. Instead, she casually took a step to the right, turned and offered him a casual smile. “Thank you.”

“My pleasure.” Ivan placed his hand on the small of her back and urged her through the restaurant to the front door. She quickened her step, trying to keep ahead of him so he wasn’t so close, but to no avail. He simply lengthened his stride to keep pace with her. Out of the corner of her eye she caught movement off to her right, but got distracted when Ivan’s hand slid down to the curve of her ass.

She walked faster, practically running, leaving Ivan behind her. The quicker she could get home, the better.

He was going to break Gregor’s goddamn hand. Jake wasn’t far behind the couple as they strolled down the busy New York street. The bastard had touched Sapphire’s fine ass as they’d been leaving the restaurant. It had taken all his considerable control to keep from leaping on the guy and pounding him into the ground. He still hadn’t completely dismissed it as an option.

And what the fuck was Sapphire thinking to let the guy get away with it? Okay, that wasn’t quite fair. He’d seen the way she’d jumped and hurried ahead of Ivan. He’d have much preferred if she’d turned around and slapped the guy’s face. But that wasn’t her style.

She needed a fucking keeper.

When he realized how much he was swearing, even if it was only inside his own head, he tightened the reins on his temper. How much he swore was a good gauge of how angry he was.

Jake kept to the shadows as he followed them through the boisterous groups of people all out taking advantage of the clear, cool night. The bastard was using the crowded sidewalk as an excuse to put his arm around Sapphire’s waist.

No doubt in his mind that Gregor was expecting to get lucky tonight. Gregor was the type to spring for an expensive meal and expect to be paid back for it in sexual favors. The guy oozed entitlement and elitism, thinking himself above everyone else, including the law.

As much as Jake itched to pound the crap out of the guy, he knew in the long run that was the wrong approach. He had some research and surveillance to do over the next few days. The cops might not have the manpower and resources to watch this guy, but he did. If Jake had his way, in a matter of days, Ivan Gregor would have his hands much too full trying to stay out of a media firestorm filled with scandal and charges of corruption to even think about Sapphire Jewel.

Men like Gregor usually took one look at a guy like him and dismissed him as nothing more than muscle, brawn with no brain, but he’d used that perception to his advantage many times before. No doubt about it, he was built to protect, but he also had a high IQ and understood computers and how they worked. More than that, he understood people—what motivated them and what they desired most. He couldn’t wait to get at his keyboard and start digging deeper into Ivan Gregor’s life.