I.”
Disappointment stabs at me. I want this payday. I wanted to impress Riptide. I need this payday.
“I do have a proposition for you,” he surprises me by saying, removing a checkbook from his pocket, and then proceeding to write a check before handing it to me. “Sometimes old school paper makes an impact. I believe this is one of those times.”
I accept said old school paper and my lips part at the sixty-thousand-dollar figure. “What is this for?”
“I’d like a unique piece of jewelry for a client. She’s a collector. Something one of a kind.” He glances at my hand. “Something one of kind, like your daisy, Aria.”
I go cold inside, my throat drier than a desert. One of a kind? Like my ring? The room spins a moment but I manage to remain composed? “What does she like? Flowers? Butterflies? Classic jewels?”
“She likes one of a kind. Find her something to blow her away. I have a lot of money riding on this.” It’s hard to think right now, but I manage to remember a jewel on the Riptide list. “I might have something.” I hold up a finger. “Give me a moment.” I tap my phone and it takes a few moments but I produce photos of a stunning emerald bracelet. Presenting him the images, I add, “It belonged to a member of a royal family.” I continue and read him the details of the family.
He slides through the photos and then offers me my phone back. “How much?”
I glance at my listing which reads: The client wants seventy thousand but will settle for sixty. The commission is twenty percent, of which I get forty percent. Six thousand dollars. It’s not much, but it will help with my mortgage. “Seventy-five,” I tell Ed. “It’s been validated by Riptide Auction House and comes with paperwork.”
He whistles. “Steep, but I’ll take it. Arrange delivery and I’ll pay the remaining balance on possession and inspection.”
He stands and walks me to the door. “We should do that dinner, Aria. I do believe you and I could work magic together. But it’s going to require some quality conversations.”
“We’ll see if you approve of your purchase first,” I say, sidestepping the invitation.
“I know I will.”
I depart and by the time I’m in the elevator, I’m already texting Savage. Once I’m outside, I dial Kace. “Are you with Mark?”
“I am and why do you sound excited?”
“Tell him I sold the royal stone for seventy-five thousand. I have sixty thousand of it in my hand.”
“Did you now?”
“Yes.” There’s a smile and lots of pride in that one word. A little win feels really big. “Tell him, Kace,” I urge.
He murmurs the news to Mark and then says, “He wants you to meet us at Riptide. He wants to see the check himself.”
“That man, I swear, Kace. He’s just—”
“Should I supply a word?” he offers.
“No. You’re with him.”
“Exactly.”
“You’re bad,” I scold.
“Don’t you like that about me?”
I smile. “Sometimes.”
“I know when.”
“Stop,” I order. “The check is made out to me. I need to go deposit it, so it’s going to take a few days to clear my bank.”
“It won’t with mine,” he says. “Meet me at Riptide. I’ll handle it for you.”
“Kace—”
“Aria,” he says softly. “I got this. You got this. Congratulations.”
We disconnect and I smile all over again. I did this. He’s right. And I’m proud. I head toward the subway when an SUV pulls up and the window rolls down as Savage motions me forward.
I hurry forward and climb inside. “Where to, my dear?” Savage asks grandly.
“I need to go to Riptide.”
“Adrian,” Savage says. “to Riptide, where Mark Compton thinks he rules, but Crystal is queen and has him by his balls.”
I facepalm and sink back into the soft leather of my seat, laughing, until my gaze catches on my ring. Ed called it a one of a kind. It is. It’s one of a kind and special, but he couldn’t have known that. The one true daisy in the wind. That’s what my father had called Kace, and those words just feel too close to one of a kind.
That coincidence is still bothering me when we arrive at Riptide. Kace is at my door waiting on me when it opens, lifting me out of the backseat. My feet settle on the ground and I catch Kace’s lapels. He catches my waist. Suddenly, we’re at eye level, and a blast of awareness shakes me to the core. It’s sexual. It’s red-hot chemistry. It’s emotional. It’s so