“What? I can’t take my clothes off.” I trembled at the thought of disrobing in front of him. He was a stranger to me. He couldn’t see me almost naked. No matter how handsome he was.

I took a deep breath as I thought of the note. Was this a part of the master plan? I thought about David then. Handsome and not-really-with-it David. He’d be so angry if he knew that I was about to get almost naked with a guy I’d just met. I’d been with him for six months and he hadn’t even gotten that far. Though he knew that I wanted information about his family business, he didn’t know that our entire meeting and relationship had been orchestrated by me.

“Let’s do this. Okay, Bianca?”

“Okay.” We waded into the water and walked around, trying to find a rock with our feet.

“So tell me about yourself,” he said after a few minutes of splashing around. The ocean floor was soft and sandy, and I felt frustrated. Where were the rocks when I needed them?

“What do you want to know?”

“Describe yourself to me.”

“You’ve already seen me.” I was hesitant and too embarrassed to say more. “Twice now.”

“I barely saw you.” His voice was casual. “I can’t really remember what you look like.”

“I’m pretty average.” I shrugged.

“Tell me.”

“Well, you can already tell I’m about five six, not as skinny as a model.” I paused and waited for him to say something in response, but he didn’t. “I’ve got really dark brown hair and greenish eyes.”

“Greenish?”

“Well, they’re a brown-green.”

“Hazel?”

“No.” I stopped and dragged my big toe through the sand. “Hold on. I think I felt something,” I muttered, and held my breath. “False alarm.” I sighed. “Anyway, my eyes sometimes look green and sometimes look light brown.”

“Is that possible?”

“Yes.” I laughed. “It’s your turn.”

“My turn?”

“Tell me about you.”

“You saw me though. And the fact that you recognized me from the coffee shop means you do remember what I look like.”

“Barely. I can’t really remember what you look like,” I lied as an image of his handsome face flashed through my mind. “I just recognized your blue eyes, that’s all.”

“Well, as you can tell, I’m tall, dark, and handsome. The doctor would probably say I’m six two. I weigh in at a respectable two hundred pounds. Most of it is pure muscle.”

I rolled my eyes at his comment. He certainly wasn’t on the modest side.

“I’ve got dark brown hair, that’s almost black and blue eyes that twinkle in the sunlight.”

“Are you joking?” I groaned.

“Well, you asked.” He laughed.

“I wasn’t asking you to give me your online dating profile.”

“I don’t date online.”

“Of course you don’t.” I made a face and looked down at the water.

“Do you?”

“Do I what?”

“Date online?”

“I have in the past.” I cringed. “There are too many psychos online though.”

“Yeah, but I’m sure there are some nice guys as well. My brother dates online.”

“Good for him.”

“He doesn’t seem to have any problems.”

“Well, I think it’s easier for men. They have all the pickings. It’s us women who have to scramble.”

“You have to be careful online. You never know who you’re going to meet.” His words seemed casual, but I heard a hidden meaning behind them.

“You never know who you’re going to meet in real life either.”

“True,” he agreed. “You never really know what someone’s intentions are, do you?”

“No,” I responded. “No, you don’t.”

I thought back to Matt and how my life had taken a disturbing twist after talking to him. I had no proof that he was related to any of the crazy events that had happened, but I had my suspicions. I really hoped that Rosie had paid attention when I’d read her the e-mails I’d received. If she was okay, that could be vital information for her to give the police, now that I’d been kidnapped.

“I’m sure you do fine.” Jakob interrupted my thoughts. “A beautiful girl like you must have all the men lining up.”

“Thanks.”

“I mean, what with your winning personality, love of all movies and monster TV shows, and your green-brown eyes, well, I don’t know how any guy could turn you away.”

“Very funny.” I laughed slightly. “You forgot to add that I’m so captivating that someone chose to kidnap me.”

“It must be because you’re an heiress.”

“Trust me. I’m not an heiress.” I sighed. “So either they kidnapped the wrong person or they took me for another reason.”

“Yeah, who knows.” His voice was curious. “Why do you think you were being followed?”

“I’m not really sure.” I lied, not willing to tell him everything. “I think it has something to do with a research project I was involved with.”

“Ooh, political investigation? That sort of stuff? Is the mayor taking bribes or something?”