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Before she can answer, I spot the side door where all the hired help is supposed to enter and sign in.
“We go in there,” I say, tugging her onto a small brick path. But I stop walking and face her, needing an answer to my question. “What impresses you?”
“Someone who possesses good qualities.”
“Such as?” I press.
She tilts her head, thinking. “Kindness, loyalty, courage…honesty.”
Damn.That last quality hits home hard. Something I need to work on. Because in my profession, sometimes lying is unavoidable.
“I’ve never lied to you,” I murmur, tucking a reddish-brown wisp of hair behind her ear. “And I promise to always tell you the truth.”
“We should probably go in—”
I grab her hand, pulling her back when she tries to walk away. She stumbles a step and I catch her, hauling her right up against my chest. “You’re always running away from me.”
“Because you’re dangerous,” she breathes out, her fingers curling into my shirt.
We’re so close, and all I want to do is kiss her, taste that intoxicating sweetness of hers again. Breathing her soft vanilla scent in deeply, I lightly trail a knuckle along the edge of her cheekbone. “Don’t be so quick to fly away, little Sparrow.”
Her lips part in invitation and I lean down, unable to stop myself from kissing her. My lips barely brush hers before someone rushes past us, clipping our shoulders as they head into the side entrance. We abruptly pull away and she quickly turns, smoothing her hands through her hair.
Disappointment floods me. Again.
Later.
“C’mon,” I murmur, forcing myself to get control of the desire pumping through my veins. “We have a job to do.”
She nods and we walk through what can only be the servants’ entrance. Because I have no doubt this side door, tucked away from the grand main entrance, is only used by the hired help. Hell, Torres probably doesn’t even know it exists, which makes it an absolute advantage for us.
Now that we’re so close to the party, the mild air fills with the sounds of chatting, laughing guests, clinking silverware and the strains of music from a band. We sign fake names and jot down the current time on the required sheet attached to a clipboard, and then someone directs us to the pool.
“Who hires people to swim in their pool?” Hunter asks.
“Someone who can,” I answer.
She makes a little humph sound. “I don’t really understand the point.”
After weaving our way through tall palm trees and a variety of fruit trees, we step onto a back patio made up of tan and white stones.
“You’ve gotta be kidding me,” she murmurs under her breath, walking forward and looking up.
The pool hovers above the patio and has a glass bottom. It’s absolutely surreal, totally striking. It works amazingly well since the house is made up of different levels. There’s a second pool, too, here on the ground floor, but the star of the show is the one above us.
Just beyond the second pool, there’s an expansive glass wall that’s been pulled open. It looks like it connects to the garden and a golf course. The sprawling, open-plan house is insanely extravagant and far too much for any one person.
“Fancy,” I comment dryly. There are a couple of cabanas, and I nod at them. “Let’s change.”
Hunter chooses the one on the left, so I step into the other one and quickly remove my clothes, stuffing them in my small bag. I’m already wearing my swim shorts and adjust them. They’re far smaller and shorter than the trunks I normally prefer, but when in Spain…
Plus, the moment Brighton laughingly suggested Speedos, I refused. Stuffing my generous junk into a tiny pair of Speedos is a wardrobe malfunction just waiting to happen. Tonight’s job doesn’t include a strip show. Although, if it were Hunter stripping, I might change my mind.
Pulling in a deep breath, I grab the plush black robe hanging on a hook, slip it on and prepare myself. Seeing Hunter in a bathing suit is going to make me want things. Things I can’t have right now. And God forbid I get a massive hard-on and embarrass myself in front of her and a few hundred guests.
Stepping out of the cabana, I wait for her, watching guests mingle through the glass in another part of the house. My earpiece crackles and Addie comes through loud and clear.
“Is everyone in position?” she asks, and we all check in. “Then let the search begin.”