Except Glenn. The slimy bastard stared daggers at her from ten yards away.
She blinked and let her gaze roam as if she hadn’t noticed. Kurt loosened his hold, so she backed out of his arms and took his hand. “Care to take a stroll through the garden?” she asked.
“I’d love to.”
They walked hand-in-hand at a leisurelypace through the expertly sculpted topiary, a contrast to the wild growth at the edge of the manicured grounds. As they rounded the corner to the south side of the villa, she checked to see if anyone was following them. Glenn was still on the brightly lit dance floor with his partner, but another couple talked quietly next to a column on the porch, and a guard with an AK-47 set a leisurelypace along the edge of the dark wilderness.
Keeping her voice low, Caitlyn said, “That should be the place.” According to Shaylee’s intel, the workers slept in the house to their right. The two-story servants’ quarters mirrored the style of the great house with a much smaller footprint, maybe twenty-five hundred square feet total.
“Why don’t we check out that fountain?” Kurt said in a normaltone, nudging her toward a vine-covered pergola that led to a stone fountain, partially hidden from the main house.
Caitlyn swung their joined hands and faced him. “A less trusting girl would think you were trying to get me alone so you could compromise me,” she said, with what she hoped was a flirty smile that wasn’t as hard to fake as it should have been.
“A less trusting girl would be right.”
Oh my.She passed through the pergola and into the circular space created by trees that ringed the dry fountain. Kurt followed and sat on a cement bench, immediately tugging her sideways onto his lap. The hard frames of his prosthetic limbs caught her by surprise and she jolted. “Oh.”
“Too uncomfortable?” he asked.
“No. I just…forgot.”
“It’s okay. I still do too, sometimes,” he said, his weaksmile barely visible in the shadows.
Unsure how to respond, she pressed her hands to his freshly shaved cheeks, holding his dark gaze as she pulled him in for a soft kiss. He held the back of her head and tattooed her mouth with whisper-light, breathy kisses that made her heart race.
“The guard went around the corner, and the couple moved inside,” he said before gently sucking her lower lipinto his mouth.
She ran her tongue across his upper lip.
With a groan, he took the kiss deeper, their tongues gliding sensuously as his warm hands slid up her ribcage. He kissed his way across her jaw and down the sensitive skin of her neck.
Oh, God. She pressed her aching breasts to his muscular chest, helpless under the soft, wet press of his lips and the gentle scrape of his teeth. He’dreduced her to an incendiary bundle of nerves ready to explode at his lightest touch.
What the hell were they doing? She dragged her fingers across the short, silky hair at the base of his neck and urged his head up. To soften her sudden withdrawal, she gave him a quick kiss on the lips and scanned the garden. “Looks safe now,” she whispered, as if it had all been for show.
His chest rose andfell in time with hers. “Right.” He sounded a little dazed as he loosened his hold and let her slide from his lap. While she straightened her dress, he sat motionless on the bench with his eyes closed, taking deep, measured breaths.
“You okay?” she asked.
“Never better.” He slowly stood, rubbing his palm across his mouth, his amazing mouth that made her system go haywire. With a quick glancearound, he stood and clasped her hand in his. “Let’s do it.”
Kurt released Caitlyn’s hand and followed her along the narrow, shrub-lined path that led to the servant quarters. The only light came from the tree-filtered moon and a dim bulb over the front door of the two-story outbuilding with plantation shutters on every window.
Why the hell had he agreed to Caitlyn’s scheme again? He couldstill taste her sweet, salty skin on his lips, still feel her soft curves under his palms and her breasts crushed against him. And, God help him, if he could, he’d stash her away and pick up where they’d left off.
Real life was far better than his dreams. How the hell was he supposed to go home and forget about her now? Only a fool would think he could be part of this ploy without getting hurt.
But then, he knew a little about surviving pain.
You’ll live. Just get your head back in the game.
A fat raindrop splashed onto his nose, and within seconds, the sky opened up.
Caitlyn’s pace picked up, but they were already drenched. His dress shoes slipped on the wet tiles, forcing him to tread carefully. The last thing he needed was to end up on his ass.
When they reached the narrow shelterof the porch, Kurt used his dripping-wet body to block her from view of the main house while she tried the door handle.
“It’s locked,” she mouthed. Her wet hair stuck to her face and lay in clumps on her shoulders. Water droplets fell from her nose. She was beautiful, even soaked and bedraggled, her dress glued to her body.
