Chapter 2

Chapter Two

By the time Caesar had said goodbye to all the guests from the first round, Isla had peeled off the top of her wet suit and made herself comfortable at one of the tables. She tried to pretend to herself that she was studying the ocean view, but her gaze kept returning to Caesar. Biting her lip, she wondered if she could ask to borrow his phone again to undo her flirty move.

As he strolled forward to join her, a uniformed employee showed up with a laden tray. Isla watched Caesar thank the man and then take it from him. When he reached her a few minutes later, he set the tray down with a thump.

“I think Sadie thinks one of us has a hollow leg,” Caesar joked as he peeled off the top of his wet suit.

“I am hungry,” Jack professed as he took a seat across the table from Isla, leaving the chairs on both sides of her empty.

“Me, too,” Isla agreed, trying to look anywhere but at Caesar’s powerful chest. “Thanks for letting me crash your break time. Feel free to leave me here and do anything you need to do. I’m just enjoying the view.”

She felt her face heat when her gaze immediately focused on Caesar’s muscles instead of the beautiful panorama in front of them.

“It is gorgeous here at Danger Bluff,” Caesar agreed, seeming not to notice her perusal. “Okay, there’s two sandwiches of three different varieties. That means each of you has two to eat.”

“I’m good with anything,” Isla said quickly.

“I’m going to take a ham and a lamb if that’s okay…? I need to make some calls,” Jack told them as he stood and picked up his phone.

“Go for it, Jack,” Caesar said.

Hoping she didn’t look too eager for him to leave, Isla snagged one labeled as veggie. “I’ll claim this one.”

“Are you a vegetarian?” Caesar asked as Jack walked away.

“No, but I seriously doubt that you are,” she laughed, waving the sandwich to encompass his muscle mass.

“You’re right, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t like veggies. How about if we split these in half? Then we can try them all.”

She watched him carefully cut them all, knowing she’d never eat an entire sandwich, much less two. When he finished, she reached over and picked up one of the veggie halves.

“Brat,” he growled when she laughed at his expression. That only made her laugh harder.

With a gleam in his eye, he picked up the other half and took a big bite, foiling her plan to eat that one as well. As soon as he swallowed, Caesar growled, “Checkmate.”

When she was finally able to recover, she took a drink of the canned cola. “Thank you for letting me join you.”

“Of course. I couldn’t keep that view to myself. Tell me what you want to do on your private dive.”

“Are you thinking about taking me?” she asked, leaning forward eagerly.

“That depends on what you plan.”

“I’m going to be truthful. I think I can trust you.”

“Because I’m a Daddy?” he suggested, raising one skeptical eyebrow.

“Well, that and because you’re you,” she confessed. Isla didn’t know why she felt so comfortable around him. She just did.

“As long as you don’t tell me you have some long-hidden map to a secret buried treasure, I’m sure I can take you out,” Caesar teased.

Caught off-guard, she knew her expression gave her away when that statement came seemingly from out of the blue. Quickly, she tried to cover up her blunder. “Right? A treasure map. Who would be that lucky to have one fall into their hands?”

“Where’d you get it?” he asked. Obviously, she had not fooled him.

“I found it in my grandfather’s possessions. Grandma gave me the ledger he kept all his dives in. He loved scuba diving, even way back before all the fancy equipment.”

“It seems like you inherited his love for the water,” Caesar suggested.

“Yes. I wish I’d had him longer. We would have had fun together,” she said. “I was pleased to get his notes.”

“And in this ledger was a treasure map?”

“More like a drawing and a set of coordinates.”

When he looked skeptical, she added, “And a few notes about why he’d marked that for his next exploration.”

“Your grandfather marked down coordinates in New Zealand to explore?”

“He did. He had plans dating back to the seventies, but he passed away in a hurricane off the coast of Florida before he could follow through.”

“He planned to travel from Florida to New Zealand in the seventies? That was a long way to go back then,” Caesar pointed out.

“He was a pilot for one of the airlines. He traveled everywhere. Unfortunately, the airline sent him on a flight to Florida just before a hurricane hit. My grandmother never recovered. She didn’t go through his things for years. When she did, I got his dive ledger because I’m the only one who loves scuba.”

“And you flew here immediately?” Caesar sounded skeptical.

“I know it sounds crazy. I got the ledger three years ago. I didn’t even open it. I needed to get away for a while, and the thought struck me to recreate some of my grandfather’s explorations. That’s when I found the map. I asked around about it and got some pretty shady responses. I could tell they thought it was a fake and were only interested in taking my money. When no one else was interested, I decided to come see for myself. I needed a vacation anyway.”

“Now, that’s the best reason to come to Danger Bluff. How about you show me this map, and I’ll let you know what I think. If it’s near here, we could spend a good day diving, even if it’s totally fake.”

“Do I have your word you won’t try to explore where the map says the treasure is located without me?” she asked, studying his face closely.

“I’ve reached this point in my life without finding buried treasure. I’m looking for something even more precious,” he admitted.

“What’s that?”

“My Little girl,” Caesar told her softly.

“You’ve never found someone right for you?” she asked.

“I think I may have met her today.”

“You’re talking about me?” she squeaked.

“Is that horrifying?” Caesar said with a smile.

“No. I don’t know what to think. I didn’t come here to find a Daddy,” she said, her voice sounding a little breathless.

“Perhaps that could be an added bonus…?”

She considered his suggestion and nodded, “That would be just as exciting as a buried treasure.”

“That’s good because I seem to have a new entry in my contacts. Someone named Little Girl…?” He raised an eyebrow.

She tried to think of something to say and could only come up with, “Oops.”

“You are not sorry at all, Little girl. Perhaps you need a spanking,” he told her firmly.

“That doesn’t really happen,” she said with a laugh.

When he nodded, Isla heard herself say, “Maybe I do then.” Appalled that she’d been so brazen, Isla felt her face heat and knew she was blushing bright red.

Caesar reached around her to cup the back of her neck and pulled her close before offering, “I could be convinced to let you off with a warning this time in exchange for a kiss.”

Pressing her lips to his, she kissed him softly and started to move away. Caesar drew her gently forward again and claimed another kiss. This one was tender but beguiling. She opened her lips under his, and the handsome man deepened the kiss, making her squirm to the edge of her chair as she tried to get closer to him.

“Boss, the next group just turned onto the path,” Jack warned.

Caesar lifted his mouth from hers, and she could read the reluctance on his face. Her lips curved slightly as she celebrated that he was as affected as she was. “Eat some more, Little girl. Let’s go back out and let you swim like a fish,” he said as he picked up another half a sandwich and moved away to greet his next group as they wandered down to the dock.

She chose another, carefully wrapped up the rest, and stowed them in the small refrigerator under the counter. Taking a big bite, she chewed happily as she debated whether she needed to use the restroom. It seemed like a big hassle to take off the wet suit. Deciding that she’d be okay, Isla took another swig of her cola and settled back in her seat to wait for everyone to wander into the shady sitting area. To her surprise, she’d almost eaten a second half of a sandwich. She really had been hungry.

Popping the last bite into her mouth, she watched the handsome, self-proclaimed Daddy check everyone in. He spent a few minutes with everyone to welcome and put them at ease. He was a charmer. That made her nervous. Was he really all that she thought he was, or could he be hiding some secret?

Her grandfather’s notes had warned that he would need to be careful when he finally decided to hunt down the treasure. He had not dared pursue it immediately. No one knew he’d found a document hidden under the toilet lid in the library. He’d almost turned it in to the woman behind the desk but had hesitated to admit he’d tried to fix the clogged toilet instead of just reporting it.

Her grandfather had noted that he sat down to decide what to do. The chair he’d chosen had been on the edge of a group gathering for a genealogy meeting near the restroom. Everyone had jumped a few minutes later at the sound of a huge ruckus in the men’s room. It had sounded like someone had ripped a sink off the wall—or thrown the ceramic top of a toilet across the room. When others jumped up to check out what had happened, Isla’s grandfather had suddenly decided to become very involved in the discussion concerning the best research materials for tracing his family tree.

He’d caught a quick glimpse of the man who’d run from the bathroom as others had hurried in. That very man had been waiting at the main exit of the library when he’d walked out with some of the people in the meeting. Isla’s grandfather had noted there had been something in the vigilant man’s eyes as he’d scanned everyone who left. With the weathered paper tucked inside his ledger, her grandfather had abandoned his plan to return to the library to finish his research into the next place he’d wanted to explore for several months.

She remembered shivering when she’d read his accounting of that day. Even now, every time she unfolded that map, a chill ran down her spine. Isla wrapped her arms around herself.

“Are you okay? Getting tired?” Caesar asked, wrapping his large hand around her shoulder.

“I’m good. Sorry. A sad memory.”

“Go potty,” he said quietly. “Splash some water on your face. You’ve had a long travel day. That suit gets hot when you’re out of the water.”

“I’m fine,” she assured him.

“I’ll make that call when we get out there.” He held up his hand to stop her protests before they started. “I won’t allow you to be unsafe. If you’re okay, we’ll dive together.”

“Okay.”

Standing, Isla made her way to the small bathroom and peeled herself out of her suit. When she’d finished and righted her clothing, Isla washed her hands and followed his instruction to splash water on her face. Instantly, she felt better, whether it was from cooling down from the hot material, the water, or just knowing he cared. As she left the restroom, she found him watching for her.