The Gift Paradox: Unlikely Spies, #3

By Noelle Greene

All is calm. All is bright for a holiday wedding. 

This year, things will be different. Rose and Jackson can finally tie the knot. An easy gig researching coral reef loss is wrapping up. Best of all, Rose has an exciting secret, the best gift ever.

What could possibly go wrong? 

When Jackson is targeted by militants, their island paradise turns deadly. After anguished years apart, their long-awaited happiness is slipping away. 

If you like page-turners and sexy thrillers, don't miss this series, which begins with The Amnesia Paradox.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Noelle Greene
• Release date: Dec 24, 2017
• ISBN: 9781386646051

Noelle Greene

Noelle Greene lives in Northern California with her husband. She grew up in Memphis, Tennessee and Milwaukee, Wisconsin, studied advertising at San Jose State University and has lived up and down the West Coast, including Washington State and Southern California. Her background includes work in high-tech marketing communications and consulting, running a school library and raising two sons. She enjoys putting her own twist on popular romantic themes and tropes to create an emotionally satisfying read. Metaphysical, magical and mysterious topics always intrigue and inspire.

Book preview

❤️ You’ll want to read book 1, The Amnesia Paradox, first. If you’d like a gift download, go here to add your email to Noelle’s reader group.

Chapter 1

Jackson knew before she did.

He’d had his suspicions or, more accurately, his hopes, for weeks now. Even so, when her face crumpled while she searched the beach for her things, he didn’t immediately put two and two together.

Rose wasn’t one for drama, not since they’d found each other again. She was more apt to laugh at minor mishaps. He quickly made his excuses, ended his call and met her as she came up from the water.

He took in the tearstains, her trembling mouth, and the lone sandal dangling from her fingers. "That’s why you’re crying?"

She pressed her fingers to her mouth as if to contain her overflowing emotions and shook her head in pointless denial.

Over a lost flip-flop, he said, deadpan. Really?

The tears continued to flow even as she lifted one hand in a gesture of bafflement. He opened his arms and she rushed in. He held her tight against his chest and rested his chin on her hair.

This was his Rose—full of surprises, never a dull moment. He might not understand how her mind worked but he sensed what she needed and thank God for that. So he kept her tucked under his head and breathed in her scent, sunscreen mixed with salt water.

Today had been like every other day since they’d made this island paradise their temporary home. After they wrapped work for the day, Rose had dashed down the beach calling out the usual taunt about who’d be a rotten egg. She had stripped to her swimsuit, running headlong into the surf and leaving a pile of clothes and sandals a few feet above the water line.

It didn’t take a genius to predict what might have happened to her stuff.

Most afternoons he took his time and enjoyed the view first. Not of the beach, pristine though it was with its backdrop of lush Christmas palms and baby-powder white sand that felt like silk between his toes.

No, his preferred view was facing the ocean, watching that cute little rear plan its escape from her bikini. He would never get tired of that view or her teasing laughter as she dove through the breakers.

Ordinarily he went down and moved her stuff to higher ground before wading into the warm turquoise water. Their workdays often ended that way, with an evening swim. She liked to wrap herself around him as they watched the sun disappear behind the island’s craggy mountain peaks. Protected by a barrier reef, this lagoon was a bathtub compared to the treacherous open seas where they spent most of their time.

Today however, they had broken their pattern. Even the lagoon behaved out of character.

When Rose dashed off to swim, he’d sat cross legged on the sand and put in an urgent call to their boss. While he talked with Will Holloway, he watched her sleek curves flash in and out as she swam through the curl of breaking waves or bobbed up and over gathering swells. He liked watching her tackle the ocean in the same way she plunged into new experiences, with no holds barred.

He had been in the middle of telling Will about the recent, troubling developments when Rose misjudged a wave. Rather than rising with it, she got smacked by an early-breaker and knocked backwards into the churning surf.

She was a strong swimmer but caution kept his eyes glued to the spot where she’d gone under. A few seconds passed. The wave that hit her swept into shore and rushed up the slope. He stood to get a better view and listened to his boss with half an ear.

Out in the surf zone, the sea sizzled and foamed. She still hadn’t surfaced.

Where was she?

Jackson dropped the phone. He launched himself over the low waves, half-running, half-swimming. Fear had him by the throat and he thrashed like a madman to get out there and find her.

Just before he reached the spot where she’d gone under, she burst out of the water some twenty feet south, sputtering, with her hair streaming over her eyes and swimsuit askew. Shoulders heaving, she bent double, gasping and coughing.

It wasn’t until he had almost reached her that he realized she wasn’t choking.

She was laughing.

He stopped short. The waves dragged at his sodden, heavy shorts and knocked him around while she regained control and made her way to him.

Between gasps, she called, Did you see that magnificent wipeout?

She knew very well he had.

I got tangled up in seaweed and the current pulled me way over here.

He always watched out for her. What if he hadn’t been? What if he had been distracted by his conversation? What if she’d hit her head and lost consciousness? He pushed his next thought—the unthinkable one—away.

That’s twice I’ve almost lost this top, she said as she tugged her wayward bikini back into place. Remember Fiji?

The bikini top appeared to have shrunk. She followed his stare, looked down and plucked at the nylon triangles in a vain attempt to contain her overflowing breasts. They looked full and succulent. Her nipples stood at attention, begging for his mouth. Was it his imagination or had her breasts gotten bigger?

His cock stiffened and pushed against the seam of his shorts.

Annoyance and lust blended and came to a boil, churning like the surf all around them. His brain cells were scrambled and his IQ dropped fifty points.

He didn’t know what to do with these mixed feelings. Typical Rose. And typical Jackson. She consistently got a rise out of him, even at inappropriate times.

Her skin glowed in the setting sun and her mouth softened into an apologetic smile. Her red-gold hair was swept back from her face, even prettier now that she had filled out some. She was so beautiful and so precious to him and she had no clue. She still didn’t grasp how quickly she got to him, over the littlest things. Nor did she see how tied up in knots he was over her.

After all, it had been his brilliant idea to bring her to this sleepy fishing village on an outer island in the Philippines. He had foolishly thought this island was so remote that as long as they quietly conducted their coral reef research and minded their own business, all would be well. But he’d been wrong.

I hung up on Will, he said then, more curtly than he intended. I better call back and apologize. Damn it. I already woke him out of a deep sleep. It’s past midnight in Seattle and Will and Camille keep farmer’s hours. All of which Rose knew but he kept talking so she wouldn’t see his agitation.

He sloshed back to shore thinking that all he wanted was to take her home and spend the evening in bed, sinking into that luscious body he knew so well, yet could never get enough of. Even better, go back out there and make love to her while waves broke over their heads. He’d assumed that with time, the flames would settle down. But if anything, as the months passed, his need burned brighter and hotter than ever.

Her puzzled stare was like an itch between his shoulder blades while he called Holloway back. Rose had never had it as bad as he did. He didn’t doubt her love; however he knew—had always known—he needed her more than she needed him. That’s just the way it was. Someone had to be the one who loved more. He had more than a sneaking suspicion that Rose was so independent she didn’t need him at all.

So a few minutes later, when she came up from the water acting as if a lost flip flop was a tragedy, it threw him. Until he realized her emotional reaction supported his hunch. While he soothed her, he wondered: was now the time to bring it up? She’d been through so much. Though much healthier than she’d been a year ago, she was still more fragile than she would ever admit. She had forgotten how vulnerable she’d been last December. She rarely spoke about her temporary memory loss then, nor of the baby. Same story with the false positive episode in Hong Kong.

If he were right, this could be the best Christmas present ever, for them both.

But if he were wrong, he’d only cause needless disappointment and remind her of past grief. If a lost flip flop could trigger tears, what would the reminder of a truly devastating loss do to her?

He kept his mouth shut.

With their work here nearly done and their wedding now only twelve days away, he wanted her happy and relaxed. They would have plenty of downtime after the holidays. Plenty of time for seeing a doctor and planning their future.

When she wiped the tears away with the back of her hands and put on a fake smile that fooled no one, he sighed deeply.

I don’t know what’s wrong with me, she said on a watery laugh.

He lifted her wet hair from her neck and wrung it out. You need dry clothes and a good meal.

She had other ideas. She wrapped her arms around his waist, kissed