Free Beauty and the Beach by Diane Darcy Page A

do you get out of it?”
    “Your company, no one trying to set me up, and the assurance your father is well motivated.”
    That made sense. She held out her hand. “Deal.”
    He grasped her hand in his big, warm grip and a slow burn built in her blood and tingled up her arm. Startled by the sensation, she lifted her head to look into Adam’s face.
    Satisfaction gleamed in his eyes and he smiled slowly. “Deal.”
    A small shaft of fear clawed its way to the surface. She’d always considered herself a cautious individual--never considering herself to be particularly daring--but standing there, in the dark, near the edge of the cliff, her small hand engulfed in his large one, she wondered if her instincts had deserted her.
    Had she just made a deal with the devil?

Chapter Five
     
     
     
     
    ADAM WATCHED ISABELLE LEAVE, AND once she was inside he sank onto his recliner, crossed his arms, and listened to the ocean. Now that he was alone, he wondered if he’d come across sounding like an idiot. Stay here and have fun? Who did he think he was fooling? Of course he was hoping to start a relationship with her.
    And then what? He’d prosecute her father? Granted it would be his insurance company doing the prosecuting, but he was pretty sure Izzy wouldn’t see it that way.
    Why did Stephen have to take the necklace in the first place? Why couldn’t he have stopped at Walmart and bought a gaudy, cheap necklace fit for any high school prom in the country? He'd pretty much ruined things between Adam and Izzy. Just yesterday, at the hospital, she'd promised him a date at the end of the summer with a shy smile and an excited look. Now she probably didn’t want to see his ugly face.
    He sighed. He wished he knew what to do. He should probably send her home and resign himself to the fact that he’d lost his chance with her. He could tell her that, in a moment of passion--hers because she was frantic to protect her father and his because he was so angry about the betrayal--they’d struck a strange bargain and they should both back out of it, go their separate ways, and let the insurance company do whatever it did in cases such as these.
    He sighed again. He could argue with himself all night, but it wouldn’t change a thing. He wasn’t going to alter the situation. He liked Izzy in his house. Maybe that meant his temporary insanity was becoming more permanent. No doubt the insurance company would tell him so, and no doubt his mentor would agree. But at the moment, he just didn’t care.
    He craned his neck and saw Isabelle’s bedroom light and watched as she shut the frilly curtains. Feminine and pretty, the bedroom really did suit her.
    He wanted to keep her. But how?
    Best-case scenario, her dad really did find the necklace. No harm, no foul. Adam could even be unbelievably generous and give Stephen his job back. Then what? How would Izzy feel about him? Relieved? Grateful? Like she never wanted to see him again for the rest of her life?
    If he’d wanted to play the hero for her, he should have given Stephen the time he’d asked for and told him to keep Adam updated. He rubbed his head. He was going insane. It was a $100,000 necklace! You didn't just excuse something like that. It was the best piece he'd done to date. A reputation maker. The gems and gold alone were worth a fortune, but when he remembered the time involved, the planning, the hours he'd worked on it. No. He wouldn't just forgive and forget. Even for Izzy.
    He swung his legs to the side of the recliner and looked up at the bedroom window again. What he wanted was to take the time he did have with Izzy and romance her. If and when things went bad, she'd know him better, would understand, and hold Adam blameless. If her father had to live with the consequences of thievery, it wasn’t Adam’s fault.
    In the meantime, he'd let Isabelle get to know him, give Stephen more time, and while her father looked for the necklace, Adam would romance Izzy to the best of