Page 3 of All That Glitters in Pelican Point

“She’s brilliant. Grounded. Won’t give a damn about Cruz’s charm. Exactly what he needs.”

Emma gives me a knowing look and snorts. “So this is a double play. You get the ring. Cruz gets... emotionally cornered by a woman who won’t fall for his alphahole routine.”

“Efficient project management,” I say.

She laughs, shaking her head. “You’re insane. Is this another one of your save the world through matchmaking schemes? What happens when they kill each other?”

I grin. “I've already negotiated that with his show’s producers. In exchange for underwriting all the expenses for both Cruz and Dr. Evans, I get the rights to the footage. Regardless of what happens, I win.”

Emma rolls her eyes, muttering something about SEALs, big brothers and their ridiculous matchmaking tactics, and walks out. I glance back at the screen.

Crystal Evans is exactly what this mission—and Cruz Devlin—needs. And if the ring ends up on Candace’s finger when this is over, all the better.

Let the games begin.

* * *

CRUZ

Somewhere in the

Mediterranean Sea

Present Day

“Yo, Cruz,” calls Denny, my chief cameraman. “Got a cable for you.”

He leans out over the railing of the crew ship and passes it to me.

Cruz,

La Reina de Oro is lying off Pelican Point.

It’s not signed.

“Denny, who’s it from?”

“Unknown. Mike got it up in the New York Office and said you two had talked about it.”

I nod. “We’re about three weeks out. We’ll stop for supplies and get underway. Tell Mike to meet us in Pelican Point, Florida.”

Let the cameras roll…

1

CRYSTAL

It started with an email.

Subject line: Academic Opportunity—Fully Funded Maritime Research Expedition

At first, I thought it was spam. The kind of too-good-to-be-true offer that usually includes a Nigerian prince and a promise of riches if you just ‘click here.’ I was two seconds from deleting it when I noticed the signature. It was legit. The wording was polished, the formatting professional, and the institution doing the contacting—one I’d worked with before on a paper about colonial trade routes.

Still. All expenses paid? Pelican Point, Florida? Researching the legend ofLa Reina de Oro?

It felt suspiciously like someone had read my grad school thesis and turned it into a choose-your-own-adventure with a budget.

Okay, Crystal, calm down. Breathe.

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