An Honourable Seduction. Brenda Jackson

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СКАЧАТЬ appointment at ten thirty and I need to ready my ink.” And then he was gone. Rafe didn’t say a whole lot except to his customers.

      The door chime alerted her that she had a customer. Jamila, who worked part-time and usually only in the mornings, had taken time off for a day of beauty—hair, nails, pedicure, bikini wax, the works. Her boyfriend worked on a cruise ship that was due in port tomorrow. Swan was happy for Jamila and happy for herself as well. The cruise ships always brought in tourists who wanted to purchase authentic handmade jewelry.

      She walked out of her office as a man perused her jewelry display case near the door. That was good. While he checked out her jewelry, she would check him out.

      He had a nice profile. Tall, broad shoulders that looked good in a T-shirt and a pair of muscular thighs that fit well in his jeans. He had diamond-blond hair that was neatly trimmed and his hands were the right size for his body.

      There was something about the way he stood, straight and tall, that all but spelled out military man. And the way his legs were braced apart, as if he had to maintain his balance even on land, spelled out navy.

      Too bad. She didn’t do military men. In all honesty, lately she hadn’t done men at all. Too busy.

      And then there was the issue of Candy’s divorce. Swan knew she shouldn’t let what had happened to her best friend darken her own view, but Swan was known to claim whatever excuse suited her and that one did at the moment.

      And speaking of the moment, she had looked her fill. She needed to make her first sale of the day. “May I help you?”

      He turned and looked at her, and every cell in her body jolted to attention.

      Wow! She’d seen blue eyes before, but his were a shade she’d never seen. They were laser blue; the intense sharpness of the pupils captured her within their scope. And his features... Lordy! The man had such gorgeous bone structure! There was no way a woman had ever passed by him and not taken a second look. Even a third, while wiping away drool.

      “Yes, you can help me.”

      And why did he have to sound so good, too? The sound of his voice—a deep, husky tone—made her throat go dry.

      “All right,” she said, walking over to him. She knew she had to get a grip. Her store had been closed for two months due to the hurricane, and now that the tourists were returning, she needed to catch up on sales.

      “And how can I help you?” She didn’t miss the way he was looking at her. She saw interest in his eyes. There was nothing wrong with that. She took pride in her appearance because she had been raised to do so. Leigh Rutledge Jamison, who’d been a Jamaican model, had taught her daughter that your appearance was everything.

      Pain settled in Swan’s heart. She missed her mom so much.

      “I’m looking for a gift for someone.”

      Swan nodded as she came to stand beside him. Not only did he look good and sound good, but he smelled good as well. She glanced down at his hand and didn’t see a wedding ring. He was probably buying a gift for his girlfriend or soon-to-be fiancée.

      “What do you have in mind?”

      “What do you suggest?” he asked her.

      “Well, it depends,” she said, looking into those gorgeous eyes.

      “On what?”

      “What the person likes. I make jewelry from stones, but as you can see, there are a number of them, in various shades, colors and styles.”

      He smiled and Swan felt a tingling in the pit of her stomach when a dimple appeared in one of his cheeks. “I honestly don’t know what she likes. Her tastes change from year to year. It’s hard to keep up.”

      Swan nodded. “Oh. Sounds like the two of you have known each other for a while.”

      His smile widened even more. “We have. I would have to say I’ve known Mom all my life.”

      “Your mom?”

      “Yes. Her birthday is next month. I was passing by your shop and thought I would drop in to see what you had.”

      A racing heart for starters, Swan thought. So the woman he was thinking about buying jewelry for was his mother. “Well, I’m glad you came in. Let me show you what I have.”

      “All right. There looks to be a lot of nice pieces.”

      She appreciated the compliment. “Thanks. I made most of them myself.”

      “Really? Which ones?”

      She led him to the area set aside for Swan Exclusives. “These. Most of the stones come from India, Argentina and Africa.”

      He leaned in to look. “You did an excellent job.”

      Whoever said flattery, especially coming from a good-looking man, would get you anywhere knew just what they were talking about. “Thank you.”

      “I’m David, by the way. David Holloway.” He offered her his hand.

      She took it and tried to ignore the sensations that suddenly flowed through her from the contact. “Nice to meet you, David.” She quickly released his hand. “And I’m Swan.”

      “The name of the shop.”

      “Yes.”

      “It’s a unique name.”

      “Yes, my parents thought so. On their first date, my father flew Mom from Jamaica to New York to see Swan Lake.”

      “Some date.”

      “Yes, he was trying to impress her.”

      “I take it he did.”

      Swan chuckled. “Yes, because he actually flew them there. He had his pilot’s license.”

      “Now I’m impressed.”

      She didn’t like bragging about her father but there were times when she just couldn’t help it. “He served in the air force—that’s where he learned to fly. And then he went into the navy after deciding he wanted to be a SEAL. That’s when he met Mom, while he was a SEAL. She hadn’t known about his stint in the air force until the night he rented a plane to fly them to New York.”

      Why was she telling him all this? Usually she wasn’t chatty. “What about this one?” she asked as they moved to another glass case. “I call this piece Enchantment.”

      “Why?”

      “Look at it,” she suggested, leaning closer to the glass. He followed suit. “This is one of my favorite pieces because the teardrop gemstone necklace is pretty similar to my very first piece.” No need to tell him that she’d made that one for her own mother.

      “It is beautiful.”

      Something in his tone made her glance over at him, and she found him staring at her СКАЧАТЬ