An Inconvenient Affair (The Alpha Brotherhood #1)(35)
Author: Catherine Mann

He leaned back against a table of surveillance prototypes, listening. Hoping for what, he wasn’t sure.

“What can I say?” She shrugged. “I told you right from the start that I have a history for picking bad guys. Eventually, I figure it out. In this case, Barry’s arrest just sped up the realization process.”

Usually he rocked at being analytical underneath all the jokes, but right now it was tougher than usual. Still, he forced himself to sift through the words. She didn’t love Barry Curtis.

“Okay, then. I can live with that.”

Too bad one realization led to another. She doubted her ability to choose the right guy to love, period.

Leaning her elbows on her knees, she pinned him with her eyes. “How can you be jealous when you’ve only known me a few days?”

“Who says I’m jealous?” Lame answer for a smart dude.

“Really? You want to try and bluff?” She laughed…then realized her robe was gaping. She straightened fast and held the part closed. She was shutting down and if he didn’t do or say something fast, he could lose headway in his goal of… What?

He knew damn well what. It didn’t matter how long he’d known her. He was certain. He wanted her in his life. Permanently. But he wasn’t sure she was ready to hear that yet. She might not have loved Barry, but she’d been burned badly by the relationship.

The timing needed to be right. He couldn’t afford to screw this up.

So he shoved away from the table and stalked toward her, at least letting all the possessive feelings show. “I’m not jealous so much as pissed off that the bastard hurt you.” He pressed his hands on either side of the chair, bringing their faces nose to nose. “I want to beat the crap out of him then hack his identity and wreck his credit. Got a problem with that?”

A slow smile spread over her face. “No problem at all.” She tugged his bottom lip between her teeth. “And just so we’re totally clear, I think your hats are sexy as hell.”

Ten

Her time here was surely coming to a close.

Hillary floated on a raft, warm waters of the infinity pool lapping over her. She watched Troy swim the length of the pool. Lights underwater illuminated him powering through the depths, while the stars twinkled above on a cloudless night.

She and Troy had all but lived outside and at the lagoon since they’d arrived five days ago. They’d taken walks—made love in the forest—shared exotic delicacies—made love in the cabana. Learned personal details from political views to a shared preference for scary movies. Eventually they’d made their way inside to dodge the rain, enjoying a horror film in the theater-style screening room.

Like a real date.

But real life intruded often enough to keep her from getting too comfortable, too complacent, too eager to believe in something beyond the fantasy. Daily calls from Salvatore let them know he was getting closer. Barry Curtis’s accomplice had been tracked slipping over the channel into Belgium. They were on his tail and expected to catch him at any time.

What amazed her most was how easily Troy and Salvatore had maneuvered this whole situation while keeping things anonymous. Calls from her sister indicated the public was eating up tabloid stories of Hillary and Troy gallivanting around the globe, wining and dining in a different country every night.

While she’d enjoyed their dinner in France, she had to admit, the time alone with him was more precious.

Troy surged to the surface beside her. “Hey, beautiful.” He lifted her hand and kissed each fingertip. “We’re going to be waterlogged by the time we leave this place.”

“Is that a bad thing?” Especially given the attention he was lavishing on her hand at the moment.

“Not at all.” He rested his elbows on the edge of her raft. “Just checking to make sure you’re cool with how little time we’ve spent in an actual bed.”

He’d been attentive, romantic, and she was so tempted to think there was more going on here. But she needed to remember this would end soon. Life back in D.C.—in the real world—would be different. It always was. Still, she would miss the peacefulness of this place.

She toyed with his hair, longer now that it was wet. “Sleeping in the cabana was romantic. And watching the sunrise on the balcony—amazing. The past five days have been better than any vacation I could imagine. You’ve got the perks of this place down to an art.”

“An art? What do you mean?” He trailed the backs of his fingers along her breast, down her side and over her bare hip. They’d never gotten around to putting on clothes today.

She was totally naked other than wearing her diamond cow necklace.

“If you’ve never brought anyone here, where did you romance all those women you were linked with in the tabloids?” She hated the hint of jealousy leaking into her tone regardless of how hard she tried to tamp it down.

“Are you jealous?”

Hell, yes. “Curious.”

“Everything in the tabloids? All false.” His face was stamped with deep sincerity. “I was a virgin until I met you.”

Snorting on a laugh, she rolled her eyes. “Right.”

“Serious,” he continued, with overplayed drama. “I’ve lived like a monk. My staff put saltpeter in all my drinking water so I could save myself until the day I met you.”

She splashed him in the face. “You’re outrageous.”

“So you’ve told me.” He snagged her hand before she could splash him again, his face truly earnest now. “Would you rather I detailed past affairs? Because that’s all they were. Affairs. Not relationships. Not serious. And never permanent.”

Her stomach fluttered at the turn in the conversation. “Is that what we’re doing here? Having an affair?”

“Damned inconvenient time for an affair, if you ask me.”

“Okay then, are we having an inconvenient affair?” Those butterflies worked overtime, so much so she couldn’t even pretend she didn’t care about his answer.

“What if I said this isn’t an affair?” He pinned her with his eyes as they floated together in the center of the pool. “I saw you, and I had to have you.”

The possessive ring in his voice carried on the wind. Exciting in some ways, and perhaps a hint Cro-Magnon in others.

“That sounds more like I was a piece of cheesecake on a tray at a restaurant.”

He winked. “I do like cheesecake.”