waited.
“Okay, I need to see your vintage diamond collection.”
That surprised her. “Which one? We have several.”
“Persia. Circa 1500 B.C.”
Something akin to a warning tickled her spine. Esther stepped back a pace and the door creaked open before she could stop it. “That is way vintage. You must be joking.” She hoped so. She didn’t like where her thoughts were taking her.
He was inside before she even blinked. “I can assure you, I’m not.” He immediately started looking over her, around her and through her. “I’ll only take a moment.”
“Yeah, I got that.” With a sigh and a bit of curiosity, she allowed him to stay. But she locked the door and put out the Closed sign anyway.
* * *
Cullen Murphy scanned the big, tastefully cluttered shop that was reputed to be one of the premiere antiques stores in New Orleans, maybe in the South, according to everything he’d heard from Jefferson Carlisle. But Cullen didn’t care about dainty teacups or two-hundred-year-old sideboards. He only had one prize in mind. This woman’s father had hidden that prize and Cullen had to find it before anyone else did. And since he had some very nasty people hot on his trail, now would be a good time.
If he could get past Lady Golden Eyes. She obviously had no clue why he was here. That was good, for her sake, at least. Giving her another covert glance, he noted that behind those granny glasses, she did indeed have golden eyes. And a cute little tulip of a face. Her long hair, tucked back from her face in an oh-so-proper coil at the nape of her kissable neck, sparkled with all the color of rich, shining copper while the scent of jasmine and spice sizzled all around her in an intoxicating cloud.
Why did he have to stop and smell the perfume?
No time for that kind of entertainment, however. He’d prepared himself for getting to know Esther Carlisle, but now he reminded himself he didn’t like emotional entanglements. So…on to the job.
He needed to find that diamond.
“If you could tell me why you’re here, Mr. Murphy…” she said from behind him, that exotic scent making him think of faraway places.
He turned, brusque and to the point. “Cullen, please. I’m an archaeologist and I also enjoy collecting rare jewelry, specifically diamonds.” Thankfully, these days he collected exotic gems the old-fashioned way—legally.
“You did mention diamonds,” she said, hurrying to the long jewelry counter, her every move as tightly coiled as the annoying, whining clocks lining the walls and shelves. “I’ll show you what I have and then, I’m closing. Deal?”
“Deal,” he said, holding out his hand.
She took it, stared at it as if it were a snake and then shook it, her tiny grip surprisingly strong. “You said you’d come a long way?”
“Aye. All the way from Dublin, luv.”
Her catlike eyes widened at that. “Dublin, Ireland. Well, we have a couple of exquisite pieces reputed to be from Persia, very old and amazingly huge, but I don’t think we have anything dating back thirty-five hundred years. Most pieces such as that belong in a museum. Exactly what kind of diamond are you looking for?”
Cullen whirled and took off his hat, then dropped his satchel on the counter. “A chocolate one.”
* * *
Chocolate?
He did mean business. But surely he couldn’t be searching for the one diamond Esther had put out of her mind long ago. Chocolate diamonds, a rich sparkling golden-brown in color, were very rare indeed. Rare and beautiful. Her father had been fascinated with a certain rare chocolate diamond.
Esther pointed to her diamond collection on display in a glass-sealed, secure case. “I don’t know if I have any chocolates. They’re extremely hard to come by.”
While her handsome guest studied the sparkling jewels inside the locked cabinet, she studied him. He was all alpha male, stalking the jewels like a big cat. He seemed to fill the huge vastness of her shop, making everything shrink.
Especially her.
Esther felt tiny and invisible with such raw power crashing into her staid, boring world. The sound of the ticking clocks seemed to vanish into the dusty recesses of the building, only to be replaced with the drum, drum, drumming of his fingers against the double-paned glass. Was she having an incredible dream or was this man really flesh and blood? And could his purpose for being here center on a crazy folktale?
The very folktale that ultimately destroyed her father?
Confused but calm, she blinked and tried to assert her authority. “Can you describe this particular diamond?”
He stared into the lit showcase, the glow from the spotlights causing his dark face to look almost sardonic. Almost.
“It’s close to fifty carats, loose, not set. Rectangular in shape. Possibly a ragged-type rectangle.” He stood to turn toward her. “Have you ever heard of the chocolate diamond that was supposedly a part of the treasure the pirate Lafitte hid somewhere on Barataria Bay?”
Esther’s hand went to her mouth. “Oh, that diamond.” Her worst assumptions had been confirmed. She grew warm. Her pulse beat a rapid path against her temples.
Her father had been obsessed with the stories of the ancient fifty-carat diamond. But he’d never been able to find it. Mainly because he’d never actually searched for it. He’d mostly enjoyed speculating about the myth and the legend of such a jewel, to the point of becoming completely obsessed. And quite ill before he’d died. How could she have forgotten all of his late-night stories and conspiracy theories?
Maybe because she’d blocked a lot of unpleasant memories? She’d certainly tried to put that particular bedtime story away for good. And that was the main reason she’d stayed away from his office upstairs.
“That’d be the one,” Cullen replied, intensity oozing out every pore. He studied her as if expecting her to jump up and down in delight. “I’ve done a lot of research and traced it back to Louisiana. Do you know of it?”
Esther almost giggled, but it was nervous laughter not happiness. “Everyone around here knows of it. But that’s a legend, part of the folklore that swirls around Lafitte.”
“I believe it exists,” Cullen said, his tone serious.
“I can see that,” Esther retorted, tired of this foolishness and determined not to get sucked into the absurd story again. “It might exist, but I can assure you I don’t have it here.” If her father had ever gotten up the gumption to search for the elusive diamond and if he’d found it, she would have known.
“I was told—”
Her heart did a little spin of a warning. “Whoever sent you here was mistaken.”
“Are you sure about that? I mean, this is a very important diamond, a true piece of history.”
“I understand that, but I don’t have
