Emerald Fire by Monica McCabe

Author:Monica McCabe [McCabe, Monica]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Kensington
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 19

Port Lucaya Marketplace was full of early morning shoppers as Chloe and Finn made their way along a seemingly endless stream of vendor stalls in search of something decent to wear on the flight home. She’d been in the same abused outfit for the last three days and desperately wanted something, anything, else to wear.

Just for a moment, she forgot about the horror of the last few days and enjoyed being in the Caribbean. She was staying at a gorgeous beach resort, had enjoyed dinner at a five-star restaurant, and spent the night having wild monkey sex with an incredibly hot bounty hunter. This morning it was espresso and an omelet bar, then shopping at an open-air market drenched in tropical sunshine.

She could breathe, relax, and even felt the beginnings of recuperation. Their injuries, the loss of the Emerald Fire, and the future prosecution of Lisa Banks, all got shoved to a back burner as she allowed herself to just feel normal. They still had planning to do, but for now she focused on the island experience of haggling with shopkeepers and picked out a couple brightly colored sundresses, a pair of sandals, and made a total impulse buy of a finely detailed starfish carved out of banyan wood.

A booth of colorful scarves caught her eye next, and she spent several enjoyable minutes running her fingertips over a variety of fabrics, lingering over the cool silks and admiring the stitching of hand-embroidered linens. But it was a delicate sheer scarf of pale peach that she pulled out of the bunch and draped across her arm, trying to judge the color against her skin.

“Pretty,” Finn said as he came up beside her.

She gave him a sideways smile as he deposited several bags at her feet. “You’ve been busy.”

“I came across a good source for vintage marine hardware.” He was all business and wouldn’t look at her, just rubbed the fabric of a frilly scarf at the edge of the table. “It can be hard to find.”

“Did you wipe out their supply?” she asked, eyeing the bags.

His brows drew together. “Just a few pieces. They’ll ship for free if the order is large enough.”

He looked uncomfortable, and she didn’t understand why. He was completely fine less than half an hour ago. What happened? Why was he acting so weird?

She got her answer when he reached into one of his bags and pulled out a narrow, elongated box. Without a word, he handed it to her.

“What is this?”

One shoulder lifted in a shrug. “I saw it and thought of you.”

“You bought me a present?” Happiness bubbled up inside her, and she smiled softly. Other than Uncle Jon and Aunt Sarah, no one had bought her a gift since she was fifteen. She blinked her eyes against their sudden blurring and stared down at the little white box.

Finn sighed and reached over to remove the lid.

She gave a small gasp. A stunning necklace stretched the length of the box, a single teardrop pearl centered on a silver chain while tiny seashells danced along either side.

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