Page 51 of Moonlighter

“Got it. Any other news?”

Gunnar shakes his head. “We still don’t know who that is in the break-in video if that’s what you’re asking. We may never know. In fact, it’s better if we never hear from him again.”

“I suppose that’s true.”

But what a frustrating job Gunnar has. My job always has an endpoint—you either win the game, or you lose. You advance, or you get knocked out. I like knowing where I stand.

“My boy is on the move,” Gunnar mutters. “I’ll be shoving off in a moment. Thanks for the drink.”

“Don’t mention it. But are you usually stuck on surveillance duty?” He’s my brother’s number two. I always assumed he spent his time in the background, keeping tabs on everyone else.

“This job is different every day.” He shrugs. “And that’s a good thing.” At that, he slides off the barstool and makes his way casually out of the restaurant, checking his watch like a man without a care in the world.

An hour later,I learn that swimming against a steady current is surprisingly difficult. Unlike swimming real laps, there’s no break every fifty meters. And after an hour, I’m wheezing like an old polar bear. Every stroke is harder than the last.

I’m trying to decide if I can last for another ten minutes when a pair of smooth and shapely legs appears in the water in front of me.

Alex is back. It’s the perfect excuse to give up.

I stand to greet her. Or at least I try, but the force of the current pushes me off my feet, and I end up struggling like a fool until I locate the off button.

Finally the current dies, leaving me standing chest deep in water, breathing hard. “Hi,” I wheeze.

She grins. “Hi, fake boyfriend. How was your day?”

“The usual. A nice long workout until my arms and legs felt like falling off. Then a healthy lunch, a little sunbathing naked on the terrace. And now a swim. About the same as yours, I guess.”

“I hope you didn’t burn anything important.”

“Don’t you worry.” I take a step closer and notice that she’s eyeing my abs. “And how was your day?”

“Oh, just the usual. Back-to-back meetings, negotiations, and brain-to-brain combat. One supplier tried to convince me that I should buy his batteries because they were especiallyproton neutral.” She tips her head back and laughs. “It’s like they can’t fathom that I have a brain.”

“Unbelievable,” I say, creeping closer to the hottie in the sundress. “I think that guy has the same degree as I do, though.”

She cocks her perfect head. “In what, exactly?”

“In bullshit and shenanigans.” Even as I say it, I dart forward, grab her by the hips, and pull her into the pool with me.

The shriek is deafening—louder than the door alarm, but much more fun. “Eric!” she howls.

“All this talk about your big brain,” I tease, holding her in my arms. “And yet you’re just sitting there on the edge of the pool, vulnerable as a kitten.”

“My dress!”

“What? Is it the kind that melts?”

She slaps my chest, but I don’t let go of her. “I was going to wear this out to dinner! We have a reservation.”

“Oh, shit. Well, if I’d known we had a reservation,” I deadpan, “I woulda done it, anyway. Hold your breath.”

“What? Oh!”

I lift us both a little higher in the water as if preparing to dive. Alex is a smart girl, so she catches on fast and holds her breath.

But what do I do? I kiss her instead.

Her surprise lasts, oh, half a second. But then her slippery arms wrap around my neck, and she kisses the hell out of me. Her ankles squeeze my ass, and her tongue slips into my mouth.