His Ex's Well-Kept Secret(2)

Unaware of his skepticism, Piper held her wineglass to her chest, her  eyes dreamy. "Oh, Jaeger, it's beautiful. A deep, dark blue, sleepy and  velvety and just, God, gorgeous. I just want to touch it, hold it, look  at it."

"It's difficult to comment on stones I haven't seen, but I wouldn't get  my hopes up if I were you," he said, keeping his voice noncommittal.

"I have a photo of them. Could you look at it?" Piper asked.

Jaeger nodded and sighed when Piper bent over to pick up her bag. The  cotton robe delineated her heart-shaped bottom, revealed the backs of  her thighs. He felt his boxers tighten as his junk moved up to  half-mast. The urge to sink into her heat was strong.

Relax. You'll have her again. Once more, or twice, before they went back to real life.

Piper walked back to him and sat on the arm of his chair, her fingers  dancing across the screen of her phone. She passed it to him, and Jaeger  looked down at the burst of blue on black velvet.

His heart stopped momentarily and his hand shook as he placed his glass on the table in front of him.

Jaeger enlarged the screen and focused on the biggest of the cut stones.  The quality of the photo wasn't great, but the color was breathtakingly  brilliant.

"Where did you say these came from?" he asked. Tell me again that you  think they're from Kashmir because, hell, you may be right.

"Through a great-great-uncle on my mother's side. He was a soldier in  the British army. Family legend says they come from Kashmir."

Yes!

Be cool, Jaeger told himself. If it sounds too good to be true then it  usually is. But the color and her family history suggested there was a  possibility of these stones being real.

"What else do you know about the original owner?"

"Just what I told you," Piper said. She tapped her screen with the tip  of her finger. "Well, what do you think? Could they be real? I've taken  them to other gem dealers who say they aren't."

Of course they would say that. She was young and pretty and an easy  mark. They'd make her a token offer, resell the gems and make a freakin'  killing. "Stay away from dodgy dealers," he muttered.

"But do you think they could be worth anything?"

Maybe she'd been in Ballantyne and Company because she was thinking of  selling them. If they were genuine, he was definitely interested in  buying. He slid his habitual I'm-not-impressed expression onto his  face-his excitement tended to inflate prices-and handed Piper a casual  smile. "I don't know. It's really difficult to tell from a photograph.  Let me look at them when we're back in the States. Can you send me the  photo?"

"Sure."

Jaeger rattled off his number, and within twenty seconds he heard the beep telling him the photo was on his phone.

"I really hope they aren't real," Piper stated, her expression glum.

Now there was a statement he'd never heard from a prospective seller  before. "Why on earth would you not want to be the owner of a collection  of stones worth, potentially, a lot of money?" Jaeger demanded.

"Because then I'd feel morally obligated to sell them to help my...to help someone out of a financial jam."

"You have people in your life who owe millions?"

Piper wrinkled her nose. "They're worth as much as that? No, tell me they aren't!"

"They could be, possibly, if they are Kashmir sapphires. But don't bank on it," Jaeger warned

"Maybe I should've just taken the first offer I received. A grand a stone." Piper muttered.

Ten thousand dollars? Jaeger felt sick. Although he was trying to remain  calm, trying not to overreact, he knew, somewhere deep inside him, that  he'd might've made the discovery of a lifetime. If they were real, then  hers were special stones.                       
       
           



       

"Will you promise to bring them to me, in New York? No one else?" He couldn't let the stones slip through his fingers.

Piper nodded. "Sure."

"I'll call you to set up a time."

Piper swung her legs around and placed the balls of her feet on Jaeger's bare thigh. Their eyes met and sparks flew.

Seeing desire flash and burn in her eyes, he slid his hand between her  thighs, sighing at the smooth, warm flesh. He opened his mouth to ask  whether he could see her again like this, not just at Ballantyne, when  they both returned to New York. Then he frowned. Why her and why now?

For more than a decade, since his early twenties-after crawling out of  the deep, dark mine shaft that grief and loss tossed him into-he'd  seldom pursued a woman beyond three or four nights. He didn't want to  raise expectations, didn't want any of his very temporary lovers to  think there could be a chance of them becoming permanent fixtures in his  life. He'd worn permanence once. He'd-briefly-been a father, and when  his daughter Jess died, he'd lost his lover, too.

Permanence now felt like an itchy, scratchy, ill-fitting coat.

Why was he thinking about losing his baby girl and the woman he'd once  loved while he was with this sexy stranger? He'd thoroughly enjoyed his  easy conversation with Piper, loved her offbeat sense of humor and,  hell, the sex was off-the-charts amazing. Three damn fine reasons he  couldn't see her again when they both returned to the city.

He liked her a bit too much...and that meant he had to move on.

"When are you going back to the city?" Jaeger asked.

"My flight leaves in the morning. You?"

He'd leave as soon as she did; she was the only reason he was still in  Milan. "Tomorrow, as well." Jaeger moved the pad of his thumb up her  smooth calf.

"When we meet in the city," she said, "let's be all business."

Whoa! What?

Piper's toes dug into the bare skin of his thigh.

"Don't look so shocked, Jaeger. If not for the sapphires, I'd never hear from you again," Piper stated, her voice not accusing.

Jaeger dropped his hand from her thigh.

"It's okay, Jaeger, I get it. It's not what you do." Piper continued.  "The problem with being the biggest playboy on the East Coast, one of  the famous Ballantyne siblings, is that the world knows how you operate.  You date a girl for a couple of days, maybe for a couple of weeks if  she's really, really lucky, and then you move on." Piper lifted her hand  when he opened his mouth to respond. "Don't look so worried. I knew the  deal going in."

"The deal?"

"This was fun, a moment in time, an unexpected encounter. So when we  meet again, we'll just chat about the stones and pretend we never saw  each other naked."

Jaeger didn't know he was going to speak the words until they flew out  of his mouth. "What if I wanted to? See you naked again, that is," he  clarified.

Surprise flashed across Piper's face, but it was quickly followed by a healthy dose of doubt.

"I'd probably ask you not to."

Okay. So not what he'd expected to hear.

Piper tipped her head to the side, her expression thoughtful. "Jaeger,  I'm a normal woman who has her feet firmly on the ground. I enjoy my job  as an art appraiser. I date. I have a full life. I don't need you to  sweep me away and into your world. I don't like your world."

"My world?"

"Big money, Manhattan, socialite city. It's not me. It'll never be me," Piper said, her tone and expression earnest.

"I'm not asking you to marry me, Piper, or even date me," Jaeger  replied, feeling irritated. This wasn't how the conversation normally  went. Usually he fielded the demands about when he'd be calling, when  their next date would be. He didn't particularly like that the shoe was  very firmly, and uncomfortably, on the other foot. "I was just wondering  if you'd like to-"

"-hook up again sometime?" Piper cocked her head, the corners of her  mouth lifting. When she exposed her neck, he wanted to nibble on her  collar bone, kiss that spot under her jaw. "Thanks, but no. Hooking up  is not something I make a habit of. This interlude will be a lovely  memory, but recreating this back home won't work for me."                       
       
           



       

Piper tucked a long curl behind her ear. "There's something about Italy  that's sexy and seductive. It's a place that subliminally encourages you  to seize the day and act out of character, and this-" Piper waved her  hand at his bare chest "-is very out of character for me. In the real  world, I sleep with guys only if I think we are going somewhere, if the  man has the potential to become important to me. Thanks to the tabloids,  we all know you don't do commitment, so that rules you out."

Okay, sure, that was true but... But? There was no but. She had him pegged!

Piper stood up and pulled the knot on her robe, allowing the sides to  fall open. The fabric framed her pretty breasts, and the moisture in his  mouth evaporated. With a small shrug the robe slid down her arms and  then to the floor, and she stood in front of him gloriously naked. She  straddled his thighs and gently touched his mouth with hers. "If this is  all the time we have, then we're wasting it, Ballantyne."