Fooled Around and Fell in Love [The Doms of Sybaris Cove 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Read online

  Estevan gave her a look filled with lust, and it was all Jade could do to stay in her seat. He’d shown interest before, but this was the longest conversation she’d had with him in years. “I’d love to show them to you.”

  I’ll bet you would. “All right then. It’s a date.”

  Santos gazed at Estevan as if he’d just suggested Jade jump off a cliff with him. “Okay, then. Time for everyone to get back to work.”

  Estevan moved off her desk and chuckled, but Santos reached toward her and ruffled her hair, a gesture she’d hated since childhood. “You’re such a damn flirt.”

  She’d have to kill him now. “I’m not flirting. I really want to see the pirate swords.”

  He narrowed his eyes at her, but before he could say anything further, one of the officers rounded the corner and addressed Santos. “Got a second, Sarge? You should see this.”

  “Sure.” He glanced toward Jade again. “Behave yourself while I’m gone.”

  She saluted him. “Yes, Sarge. I’ll try very hard not to divulge any police procedural secrets.”

  As soon as Santos turned the corner, Estevan perched on the edge of her desk again. “So do you really want to see my swords, or were you just messing with him? He’s very protective of you.”

  “I know he is, but I’m not a child any longer.” She forced herself to calm down. Estevan didn’t care about Santos’s ever-present need to protect his sister from all men. “I would love to see your swords.” And anything else you’d like to show me.

  “And I’d love to show them to you. How about stopping over later? I’ll make us dinner.”

  Jade resisted the urge to pump her fist in the air. How the hell easy had that been? Was that all it would have taken over the years? Get him talking about pirates? Why hadn’t she known this before now? “All right. I’ll bring the tequila.”

  “Great.” Estevan rose again, and Jade couldn’t help but notice the obvious bulge in the front of his khaki shorts. She let her gaze travel over muscled, tanned legs, dusted with dark hair, and wondered if the rest of his body was covered with it as well. When she finally looked him in the eyes again, the lust she glimpsed there nearly took her breath away. “I’ll see you after work, Jade.”

  “Looking forward to it.”

  She watched his ass move as he walked away, and this time he not only turned around and winked, but he gave her a long, searching look. As she put on her headset to take an incoming call, she knew this was going to be one of the most interesting and fun evenings she’d had in a long, long time.

  Chapter Two

  Estevan hadn’t cooked dinner for anyone in over a year. And even then, his idea of cooking meant picking up something ready-made at the market and heating it up. His second cousin Arizona Durante was the cook in the family. Several Raleigh cousins were also known for their culinary skills, but Estevan didn’t have time to ask his relatives for lessons. Jade would be at his condo in less than an hour.

  He glanced around, hoping when she saw the paint-splattered drop cloths in the corners, the half-finished canvases in every room, and the dust bunnies under every piece of furniture she didn’t bolt. This place was a far cry from the glittering mansions on the hills surrounding the town where most of his relatives lived, perched like medieval kings overlooking their serfs.

  But he was happy to have this place, and was grateful that he could afford it without using any of his trust fund. He hadn’t been left nearly the amount of money his various cousins and uncles had. Alejandro, his grandfather and one of Agapito Durante’s sons, had been the bad boy of the bunch. Unlike his brothers and his sisters, Alejandro preferred to go his own way, much like Estevan.

  But Estevan didn’t care about any of that. The trust fund would be there if and when he needed it. He was content to live as he did. He was happy, and able to make a living doing what he loved to do—paint. The sand art was just so he didn’t get bored, but he was thrilled that people found it so intriguing they paid him for it as well.

  But on this island, where his relatives ruled the roost and everything was measured against the bottom line, he’d had a tough time finding a woman who had looked past his family name to the person inside. They expected him to be like his relatives, and when they found out he wasn’t, they weren’t interested in pursuing a relationship with him. Except for Jade. She was different. She liked him for who he was, and she always had.

  He’d had a thing for Santos’s sister most of his life, but the sergeant kept a close watch on her. He understood Santos’s need to protect his younger sister, especially since their parents had been killed. Jade had still been in high school at the time, and Santos had only recently made detective. But Jade was no longer a child, and she’d more than proven her ability to take care of herself.

  Time to get busy. Armed with a cookbook he’d borrowed from Arizona this morning, he pre-heated the oven and placed the tilapia fillets in a baking dish. Arizona had given him some tips for modifying the recipe in the book, but it hadn’t been necessary for Estevan to memorize them or write them down. Arizona’s neat script filled the margins on most pages of this book. He’d modified more than one recipe in here.

  He’d told Estevan that grilling fish outside was a better choice for a hot August night, but Estevan had already bought the tilapia, plus vegetables to steam, right after leaving the police station. He’d also bought fruit and yogurt to make a salad because he rarely ate sweets. Since he wasn’t sure if Jade would expect a real dessert, he compromised.

  When he’d asked Arizona about that, his cousin had laughed and told him not to worry. “She’ll love it that you’re so health-conscious. Just make the fruit salad.”

  After he placed the fish in oven, he set about steaming the veggies. This, he’d done before. He’d also made fruit salad before, so that part was a snap. The fish was ready too early, so he called Arizona and asked him how to keep it warm without drying it out.

  “Put some water in the baking dish and turn the oven to ‘Warm.’ Take it out about ten minutes before you’re going to eat so it cools down enough that she won’t burn her mouth. Who is this girl? I haven’t seen you make a fuss like this in ages.”

  Estevan hesitated for a second, and then told him.

  “Santos’s little sister?”

  “She’s not little. She’s a grown woman.”

  “I know. I may be Dom to Celina, but I’m not blind.” Celina Vallee worked for Arizona and Dallas Raleigh in the marketing department at Phoebe’s Playthings. She was also their sub, and split her time between the men’s homes, perched side by side on one of the hills. An in-ground pool that they shared separated the properties. “Does Santos know?”

  “I don’t really care whether he does or not. They don’t own me.”

  Arizona chuckled. “But they own Jade. Or at least, they pay her.”

  “This won’t affect her job. It’s just dinner.”

  He heard Arizona sigh. “You know Asa doesn’t like you. And Asa owns the cops.”

  “Then you need to tell your father that I don’t intend this to be a one-date thing. At least I hope it won’t be.”

  He hated having to grovel like this. Asa was Arizona’s father, but Estevan and Arizona had been friends long before he and Dallas went to work for their fathers. Tim was Dallas’s father and the other CEO of Phoebe’s Playthings. One day, Arizona and Dallas would take over the role of CEOs from their fathers, but that didn’t mean Estevan had to inform either man of his every move.

  “All right. Don’t sweat it, okay? If Santos acts like a dick over this, just let me know and I’ll talk to Asa.”

  “Thanks, but I can talk to Santos or Asa myself if it comes to that.”

  By the time Estevan got off the phone with Arizona, he had less than fifteen minutes to get ready, and he was pissed off that Arizona thought he needed one of the other cousins to fight his battles. He’d already showered, but now he put on clean clothes and did his best to straighten up the mess in his bedroom, j
ust in case. He would never admit to Jade that the last woman who had spent the night in his bed had been Gina.

  He shook his head to clear her memory, and to clear his anger over Arizona’s remark. This wasn’t the night to dredge up ongoing family issues. It also wasn’t the time to think about the fiancée who had left him high and dry with only an e-mail, explaining how she’d fallen in love with a rising country star and had decided not to return to the island. Fuck her. He was done with that part of his life and had been ready to move on for a long time now. He only wondered why it had taken him so long to finally pursue a relationship with Jade.

  She was a few minutes late, and when he opened the door and ushered her in, he almost dropped the bottle of Cuervo she handed him. “I hope you like this brand.”

  “It’s great. Thanks.” She must have walked over here because he didn’t see a car or the bicycle she rode to work. “That’s not a short walk from your place.”

  “Twenty minutes. That’s not long, is it?”

  “I suppose not.” She wore a strapless dress with a floral pattern, but he wasn’t looking at the flowers. He was looking at her smooth, tanned skin and her shapely legs. Her earrings and sandals matched the dress, and he briefly remembered Gina once telling him that women loved it when men noticed and commented on things like that.

  “Come on in. You look…beautiful.” There was no other word for it. “And your earrings and shoes match everything. I mean they match your dress.” Could he sound any more like a teen if he tried?

  She grinned and tilted her head. “Estevan, I would expect you to notice something like that. You pay attention to colors and patterns, don’t you?”

  He nodded, placing the bottle on the counter before he really did drop it on the tiles. It would be a shame to waste it. “Yes. Yes, I do.” She was right. He did notice things like that, but he hadn’t been thinking about palettes when he glanced at her earlobes or her pretty feet. He’d been picturing all that dark, curly hair spread out on a pillow, and those toes curled as he gave her the best orgasm she’d ever had.

  Slow down, dude. It’s only dinner.

  She sniffed the air. “Mmmm…I smell mangos and tilapia. Yum!”

  “You can thank Arizona for the mango idea. That’s how he bakes it.”

  “Great idea. Can I help at all?”

  “No. You sit. I’ll get everything ready.”

  “How about I make us a pitcher of margaritas while you take care of the food?”

  “Oh…sure. Okay. I have Triple Sec, sugar, and lime juice around here somewhere…”

  “I know my way around a kitchen. I’ll figure it out.”

  She hummed softly under her breath as she found what she needed, then asked where he kept his glasses. He had to reach over her to take them down from a high shelf, and as he placed them on the counter, he caught her staring at his crotch the way she’d been doing in the police station. He averted his gaze and returned to the food, only because the urge to kiss her was so strong that he knew if he did, they wouldn’t be eating for a long time. Maybe not until morning.

  A guy can dream, right?

  “Here we go.” She poured a small amount from the pitcher into a glass that she’d dipped in salt, after rubbing a lime on the rim. “Tell me what you think.”

  He tasted it. “Perfection.”

  She grinned, her beautiful turquoise eyes dancing with delight, then she pointed toward the table next to the doors leading to his patio. “Great. Are we eating inside?”

  “No, I thought we’d eat on the patio. Is that all right?”

  “It’s wonderful. I love being outside on warm summer nights.”

  They took everything out on the patio, and Estevan frowned at how much the wind had kicked up since that morning. “Looks like they might be right about that tropical storm heading this way.”

  Jade shrugged as she set out dishes and silverware. “We’ve had them before.”

  He smiled as they took their seats and she raised her glass. “You don’t worry about anything, do you?”

  “Oh, sure I do. Everyone does. But not about the weather. I mean, we live on an island. What can we do about it?”

  He clinked his glass against hers. “Well, at least you can evacuate.”

  “No I can’t. I mean, okay. Technically I can leave. But I’d never do that. No one at the station would, any more than the hospital employees or the people who keep the power on would leave. We’re essential, especially during a storm.”

  “I guess I hadn’t thought about it that way.”

  The twinkle in her eyes made his dick throb. “Besides. You think we want to leave this entire island in the hands of your ruthless relatives? Who knows what we’d return to?”

  Estevan chuckled. “A dictatorship, that’s what. Asa would declare himself supreme ruler, and Phoebe’s Playthings would have bought out every business on the island.”

  She laughed. “You’re probably right.” After she’d drained half her drink, she finally tasted the food, moaning in a way that caused him physical pain as he imagined her naked again. How was he supposed to get through dinner in this state? “This is amazing.”

  “Thank you. I’ll be sure to tell Arizona his recipe was a hit.”

  “I love baked fish. Actually, I love baked anything. I love the texture of food that simmers as it cooks, you know? Does that makes sense? It’s soft, warm, and gooey.”

  “Well I hope you like the vegetables, then. I only steamed them. They’re not that soft.”

  She bit into a piece of zucchini. “They’re great. Thank you for this. Really. It’s been a long time since I’ve had dinner with someone other than family or my girlfriends.” As soon as she said it, embarrassment graced her delicate features. “Oh wow. That makes me sound pathetic, doesn’t it?”

  “Not at all. I’ll tell you a secret so you don’t feel bad about yourself. Ready?”

  She leaned forward, treating him to the sight of her cleavage. “Yes. Tell me.”

  “I haven’t been on a date or had a woman over to my condo since Gina left the island.”

  Now she just looked sad, and Estevan wanted to crawl under the wicker table. “I’m sorry she did that to you.”

  He waved a hand in the air. “I’m over it. Really I am. It’s okay to talk about it.”

  “It’s hard for me to believe you never date.”

  “I was thinking the same thing about you.” She was gorgeous. What was wrong with the men on this island? Then again, he was glad right now that she wasn’t seeing anyone seriously.

  “I do date, I just don’t have relationships. There’s a difference.”

  “I agree. But why is that? Haven’t found the right one?”

  “The right one…” She chewed the food in her mouth and took a few sips of her drink before she answered him. “I’m not sure I believe in the right one. I mean, how do you know? What if you’re wrong? What if you find out something about that person that makes you realize you never knew them at all?”

  His heart gave a strange lurch at the pain in her voice and on her face. Everyone who had lived on the island long enough knew why her parents had been killed, but he rarely heard Santos talk about it. Had Jade ever been able to work through her anger and grief? He couldn’t imagine Santos allowing her to talk about it. He’d likely have told her to hold her head high and move past it.

  He watched her drain her drink, and then when she glanced around he took the glass from her hand and placed it on the table. He grasped her hands, trying to ignore the jolts of desire her touch sent racing through his body. “It’s okay, Jade. If you need to talk about them and the secrets they left behind, I’m here to listen.”

  Chapter Three

  Jade stared into Estevan’s eyes, wishing she could turn back time. She’d been wishing it for twelve years, and it hadn’t happened yet. “How much do you know?”

  “Everything. All of us do. I mean, anyone who’s lived here more than twenty years, at least.”

  Sh
e sighed heavily. “You know, for a long time, Santos tried to tell me it was truly an accident. That it wasn’t an execution. He tried to convince me that our parents had never refused witness protection, and that the men who swarmed this island after they were killed weren’t from the US Marshal’s office or the FBI.”

  “He was only trying to protect you.”

  “He even tried to tell me that when the marshals and FBI hunted down the executioners and killed them in the crossfire that erupted, that it hadn’t gone down that way at all. Even when the FBI told me that no one else is still alive who would come looking for us, and that we were safe, Santos tried to convince me that we hadn’t lived our entire lives in hiding. All because our parents had gone on their honeymoon in New York City and witnessed a mob hit while they were there.”

  Estevan stroked her palms, which she found soothing for some reason. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to dump all that on you.”

  “You have nothing to apologize for. I doubt you’ve ever had a chance to get all that out.”

  It was nice to hear someone acknowledge it. “Not really. Santos won’t discuss it. And my girlfriends get creeped out when I bring it up. I get that. It’s like something out of a movie. Things like that don’t happen in real life.”

  “Sure they do.”

  “I think Santos knew. I mean before they were killed. I think they told him, or least told him part of it.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  “He told me once that he became a cop because the people he loved needed protecting. I didn’t understand what he meant, and he wouldn’t elaborate. You know how he is.” Her big brother had more walls around him than any ten people Jade knew. It made him a great cop but a very tough person to get close to.

  “I know.”

  “And every once in a while he’d say something like that. Things that made no sense at the time. But then after their death, taken together, all those things he’d said added up.” She’d started keeping a journal after her parents were killed, and had written down everything Santos ever said that she thought was linked to their secret.