So sorry for the late update. I've been busy taking care of a new pet.

Crystal's POV

I found Jackson at the helm shortly after we'd set sail.

Personally, I was surprised he didn't have his own trained monkey to steer the yacht for him.

He glanced over at me briefly before turning his attention back to the sunset. "I do hope you brought something-anything else to wear during our trip," He said.

I raised my eyebrows at him. "Trip? It's one gala. One," I corrected him. I looked down at the outfit I was wearing. "This will be just fine."

Jackson grimaced as he looked at me from head to toe. "No," He said flatly.

"Excuse me?" I said. "You said yourself everyone would be there to do business with one another, which means I'll blend right in."

Jackson grimaced as if my choice of clothing was bringing him actual physical pain.

Forgive me if I didn't feel inclined to please him of all people.

"Forget it," Jackson said as he looked me over once more. "I'm good with sizes. I'll pick out something for you."

I crossed my arms over my chest. "So what should I expect? Nothing at all?"

Jackson's amused smile grated on my nerves.

I shook my head. "Since you insist on me wearing something else-"

"I do."

"-then I'll go and pick out my own outfit."

"It better have a skirt either with it or attached to it."

I glared at him.

He held his hands up in surrender but the amused smile never left his face. "One thing I noticed about you during our brief time together, is that you were always in shorts or pants. I think I only saw you in a dress once."

I shrugged. "Shorts and pants are more practical."

"I don't care about practical." Jackson waved me off. "This isn't about being practical."

I rolled my eyes before looking him over from head to toe. "Am I to assume you'll also be wearing . . . anything else?"

He briefly tore his gaze away from the open ocean and glanced at me. "There's absolutely nothing wrong with what I'm wearing."

"You mean, other than the fact that it is so last season?" I purposely made my voice go up a few octaves and stuck my nose in the air.

Jackson looked less than amused for once.

I smiled innocently at him before turning and walking down the stairs to the lower deck.

"So, am I to expect you to show up dressed as a snake, Manipulative Bitch?" He called to me.

I stopped in the middle of the staircase, my jaw clenching. I didn't turn to him as I shouted my reply back. "I do hope you manage to make it to the gala without any accidents, Conniving Bastard."

I could hear Jackson laughing as I continued down the stairs.

***

Jackson was driving me up the wall. And we hadn't even been stuck together for a full twenty-four hours yet. That was a pretty damn scary thought.

Marrek had given me his satellite phone, so that I could always get in touch with someone-if not him-whenever I needed to.

What I really needed to do was ring Jackson's neck until he was red in the face. What I opted for instead was a long chat about the scheming, evil, disaster of a man who I was now stuck with.

I paused in my rant to the person on the other end of the phone, waiting for their reply. There was a long silence.

"Okay . . ." Julie finally replied. "Well, sounds like you have a problem on your hands."

I rolled my eyes even though she couldn't see me. "Thanks for stating the obvious."

"What are you going to do if you can't get the necklace back?"

I let out a sigh and paced across the master bedroom I had commandeered. "I don't know," I replied honestly.

"Well personally," Julie said. "I always thought that necklace was rather ugly anyway. I say, accept your losses and move on. I don't understand why you're going through all this trouble just for a damn necklace anyway.

I groaned and rubbed at my forehead. "It's complicated."

"It wouldn't be if you hadn't been a secretive bitch as of late. I forgive you for that, by the way."

I couldn't help but smile at that.

"Also," She continued. "I'm bored out my mind here without you, so if you need me over there to help you kick ass, let me know."

I smiled again. "You'll be the first, but I don't want to drag you into this mess unless I have to."

"Fine, whatever," She sighed dramatically. "But if you need a getaway driver, call me." There was shouting on her end of the phone. I heard her grumble a string of curses. "Alright!" She suddenly shouted, her voice sounding slightly muffled like she was covering the phone. "I said I'd take care of it!"

I could hear a deep voice shout back to her, but I couldn't make out anything they were saying.

Julie, I did not have a problem hearing.

"I'm impressed," She said and I could hear the sarcasm dripping from her tone. "I didn't think you could manage to get your head that far up your own ass!"

There was the sound of something breaking, several thuds, and a few of Julie's screams followed closely by a door slamming shut.

I waited for a moment before speaking. "Do I even want to know?" I asked her as I put my down and set it to speaker so I could look over some maps I had laid out over the table. As soon as we took the necklace back, we'd need a fast getaway.

I heard her laugh. "My brother's back in town."

I shook my head. "I guessed as much. Which brother?"

"Which do you think?" She asked me. "I'm about this close to killing him. He's only been here a week and already I'm ready to pitch him off the penthouse balcony."

I smiled. Julie had three brothers. Two older and one younger. Her oldest brother was Carson Owens and he was set to inherit their father's multimillion-dollar company. He was the most responsible and least likely to engage in his siblings' antics. Dean was the youngest, working his way through law school. He was quieter and nicer than his siblings, but he'd be right in the middle of any fights they start. James, on the other hand, was the second eldest and a famous Nascar driver and way more likely to get into trouble and drag Julie into it as well. Not that she needed much dragging.

He was also the one, who Julie was more likely to clash with.

"When's your brother's next race?" I asked her.

She groaned. "I don't know but I hope it's on the other side of the world and soon. I missed him until he actually showed up."

I heard someone banging on a door.

"You keep pounding on the door and I'll break your face with it!" Julie shouted.

"Well, she's a delight."

I looked up to see Jackson standing in the doorway.

"I'm going to have to call you back," I told Julie.

"Is that the conniving bastard? Don't hang up yet, I've got a few things to say."

I hung up before her color vocabulary choices were heard.

Jackson flashed me a smile. "I'm curious," He said. "as to why you never saw fit to introduce me to her. She is your best friend after all."

I shrugged. "I made a habit of only introducing her to people I intended to keep around," I smiled sweetly. "Sorry. You never made the cut."

Jackson clutched dramatically at his chest. "I'm truly wounded." He winked at me. "I don't think I'll ever survive."

I glared at him. "For your sake, I hope you're a good swimmer."

Jackson continued to smile. "I'd be more concerned for yourself, Babe."

"I can take care of myself."

Jackson made of show of smacking his hand into his forehead. "Of course," He said. "how could I forget, you models usually always carry some deadly weapon on your person. Tell me, are you going to blind me with your phone light?"

I wanted to hit him again, more than anything in the world.

I shrugged. "Personally, I was thinking more along the lines of tying you to the anchor and watching it sink to the depths below."

Jackson just raised his eyebrows at me before nodding in the direction of the maps laid out in front of me. "Dare I ask what it is you're planning?"

"The perfect place to dispose of your body."

Jackson made a broad sweeping gesture. "We're floating on the perfect place." He smiled, amused once again. "Try using your brain for once, though I realize that is a difficult request."

"Take your own advice." I shot back. "You're literally giving me suggestions on where to dispose of your body."

Jackson shrugged. "If I perceived you to actually be a threat, then I wouldn't say anything at all."

I glared at him.

He glanced briefly around the room before walking over to the suitcase I had left open on the bed.

"If you're going to try and remove me from this room," I said. "you'll have to do it by force."

Jackson smiled and shook his head. "I don't intend to move you. I'll just move back in."

"Good luck with that."

Jackson just continued to smile before starting to go through my bag. If I actually had anything worth hiding, I would have been bothered by it, since he wasn't going to find anything out of the ordinary, I left him be. Besides, I knew he was just doing it to get a reaction out of me and I wasn't going to give him the satisfaction.

"Good grief," Jackson suddenly spoke up. "I thought you were a model."

I frowned at him. "I am," I replied instinctively.

"Was," Jackson was quick to correct.

I clenched my hands into fists to keep from bashing his face in. Calm down Crystal, you still need him . . . for now.

"Then explain to me why you have packed such . . . hideous choices in clothes."

I rolled my eyes at him. "Just because I chose not to pack slutty dresses and shorts that go halfway up my ass, my clothing choices are hideous?"

He held up a plain cotton blue tank top. "I was expecting the finer things."

I rolled my eyes. "I'm so sorry I chose not to pack thousands if not millions of dollars worth of clothes. If you'll recall it was my intention to simply get the necklace back and be on my way. You and your stupidity have forced me to change my plans."

"We're going to a gala," Jackson stated.

I felt like rolling my eyes again. "And I'll be sure to pick up something that's outrageously overpriced to wear as soon as we get to the nearest city. Happy?"

He flashed me a wide smile before digging through my suitcase once again. He pulled out a red lace bra.

"Now this, I like."

I got up from my seat and snatched it from him before stuffing it back in the suitcase. "Get out," I ordered.

Jackson continued to smile. "I do hope you wear that under whatever dress you pick out. It'll be a fun surprise when I peel your dress off."

I glared at him. "The last thing I'm going to do is crawl willing into bed with you."

He smiled as he turned to leave the room. "I'll win you over . . . again."

I turned and grabbed the nearest thing before throwing it at him. It happened to be a vase. It hit the wall and shattered as he stepped calmly to the side and out of the way.

"You are not going to touch me, got it?" I said as I got in his face and continued to glare at him.

Jackson raised his eyebrows as if acknowledging a silent challenge. He tapped my nose. "We'll see about that."

I blew out a breath as he walked confidently away.

I thought about my options. About what I was going to do about that gala. And the answer was so simple.

He wanted me in a dress, fine. I'd wear a dress. I was also sure that while he was attending this gala, that he'd more than likely already conned various people there. Which meant it would be unlikely he'd want too much attention drawn to him. Yes, he seemed to thrive on attention. But not the kind that could potentially get him killed.

So, what was I going to do?

I was going to wear a dress like he asked.

But I was going to make sure all eyes were on me and inadvertently . . . him.

Carefully what you wish for, Conniving Bastard.

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