Khizar absently brushed his fingers through Jacqui’s hair as they laid tangled together on the blanket. He hadn’t expected to feel this way. It was supposed to be all business, but he felt real emotion for this beautiful woman resting her head on his chest.

Jacqui was unusual, at least in his experience of women. She didn’t need constant reassurance or a lot of material things. Even though he showered her with gifts, she accepted them with a grace that said she would have been just as happy without them.

Khizar knew that Jacqui wanted him for him, and he felt guilty that he wanted something else from her. He cared for her, that much was true, but he still needed to find that diamond. He found himself even more committed to ensuring that, when he eventually left her alone, she would have everything she ever needed or wanted.

He had been so sure that what she needed couldn’t be him. But maybe, once he had the diamond, maybe he could change that.

“Thank you for the fireworks,” Jacqui murmured, tracing her fingers over his skin.

Khizar chuckled and Jacqui seemed to know exactly what he was thinking. She poked him in the side.

“Not those fireworks,” she blushed. “The sparkly ones.”

Khizar tried to sound offended. “I’m not sparkly enough for you?”

She poked him again. “You know what I mean.”

He arched an eyebrow. “Well, I don’t know. You got more than one sparkly thing tonight.”

Jacqui held up her left hand and admired the extravagant diamond ring. There was one large center diamond, with two almost as large diamonds on either side, set on a delicate platinum band.

“You’re right. This is definitely sparkly.” She sighed happily. “I rather like all my sparkly surprises tonight.”

He laughed. “I’m glad. I hated to be away from you for those days, but it took me some time to put everything together.”

Jacqui was quiet again. Khizar thought that she’d given him a good opening, and now was a good time to bring up William Bauer.

“I had to go make a special trip to one of my jewelers to get the ring, you know. And I had him make a few special changes to it.” He rubbed his finger over the ring, and her hand. “There’s not another ring like it in the world.”

“Thank you. It’s special and I love it.”

Khizar shifted a bit, like he had just thought of something.

“You know, it’s funny. He asked me who I was planning on giving the ring to, and I was telling him about you. I mentioned your name and that you were a baker living in Milwaukee. I was really surprised when he said he thought it was funny that I was proposing to William Bauer’s great-niece. I didn’t realize you were related to Bill.”

Jacqui twisted her head to look at him. “Who?”

“Bill Bauer. He mined diamonds—was one of the best ever at it, really. He actually owned a diamond mine in my home country.”

Khizar felt her head move against his chest as she shook her head.

“Sorry, Khizar, I don’t know who that is. He sounds interesting, though. Did you know him?”

Khizar’s head spun. How could she not know who Bill Bauer was?

“Yes, I met him several times. He was irascible, but he was one of the best miners out there. His workers swore that if he said a vein was good, it would pay out better than anything else out there. He was a good man too; I liked him.”

He was still confused. Jacqui sounded like she really didn’t know what he was talking about. But she had to have known him, even if she wasn’t in contact with him when he died.

“So, you’re not related to him?”

She shook her head again. “I don’t have any living relatives.”

His shock at not getting the answer he expected contributed to a far blunter response to that than he would normally have given.

“He’s not living, actually. He died a few months back.”

“Oh, Khizar, I’m so sorry. I know it’s hard to lose someone.”

She sounded completely sincere, concerned for him and sad for his friend.

Khizar didn’t know what to say next. James’ information had been solid, but maybe he had somehow managed to track down the wrong relative? Was there another Jacqueline Bauer in Milwaukee?

Or was Jacqui lying to him? The diamond was worth enough that people had done crazy things in a quest to buy or steal it from Bill; if she was aware of its value, she might have known exactly who he was the whole time and what his goal was. Maybe she’d been playing him all along?

He spared a moment to feel some guilt at his thought that Jacqui might have lied to him. Khizar had certainly concealed his intent in courting her, taking it to the extreme of proposing without any intention of marrying her. If she had done the same, it was only fair.

He tried one more time. “So you don’t have any idea who William Bauer is?”

Jacqui lifted her head, propping herself up on his chest.

“I don’t, I’m sorry. It’s funny that we have the same last name, but that’s all.”

The earnestness in her eyes convinced him that she was telling the truth. And now, Khizar didn’t know what to do. Jacqui was his only lead, and if she wasn’t related to Bill—or if she was but didn’t know—he wasn’t sure what to do next.

If Jacqui wasn’t his path to the diamond, was it time to leave? His heart gave a sudden, wild thump at that idea and his brain echoed it. Khizar didn’t like the idea of just leaving Jacqui anymore. He liked her, maybe even more than liked her.

What if he was meant to find Jacqui all along?

Khizar mulled that thought over for the rest of the night, long after he and Jacqui went back to her apartment. As he fell asleep, his arms wrapped around her, he couldn’t shake the thought that maybe, all this time, he’d been looking for the wrong thing.