“Good. Then I get to teach you how to be a rule-breaker.”
“What makes you think I want to be a rule-breaker?”
His grin turned wicked. “You’ve got that look about you.”
Her pulse jumped, but she forced herself to focus. Then she took a deep breath, plastered on her best “I totally belong here and didn’t just glue glitter to my flip-flops” smile, and stepped into the Worthingtons’ perfectly manicured backyard.
When they split up, Aggie and Bea headed straight for a group of gossip-hungry blue-haired ladies. Winston smoothly joined a debate about local politics, leaving Jack and Cora to find a way into the house.
They made their way toward a side entrance, Cora’s heart pounding in her chest. Just as Jack tested a window in the bushes, a voice startled them both.
“Excuse me, what are you doing?”
They spun around to find a housekeeper eyeing them suspiciously.
Cora froze. “We’re, uh . . . checking for termites!” she blurted.
The housekeeper blinked. “In the rosebushes?”
“You’d be surprised where those little rascals hide,” Jack said smoothly, flashing a smile that could’ve charmed the thorns off the roses currently slicing into Cora’s arm. “Termites are crafty. Almost as crafty as they are dangerous.” He leaned in, voice low. “And almost as dangerous as letting a beautiful woman like you wander the grounds alone.”
The woman’s cheeks flushed pinker than the roses she was supposed to be protecting. “Oh, my,” she giggled.
Cora rolled her eyes so hard she was surprised they didn’t pop out of her skull and roll across the Worthingtons’ obscenely manicured lawn. “Almost as dangerous as flirting on the job, wouldn’t you say, Jack?”
Jack, the picture of innocence, squeezed her shoulder. “Mypartner here takes termite control very seriously,” he stage-whispered.
The housekeeper giggled again, clearly charmed. Cora would never again doubt the power of a man in a well-fitting jacket.
“We should really get back to work,” she said, tugging on Jack’s arm. “Those termites won’t catch themselves.”
“Of course,” Jack agreed, giving the housekeeper one last charming smile. “Thanks for your cooperation.”
As they sauntered away, trying to look casual, Cora waited until they were out of earshot before whispering, “Thanks for your cooperation?”
Jack leaned in, his breath tickling her ear. “Says the woman whose brilliant cover story was termites. In rosebushes. That’s the best you could come up with?”
She elbowed him in the ribs, gentler than she wanted to but harder than she should have. “Oh, I’m sorry. Would you have preferred I told her we were here to raid Nathaniel’s office for incriminating evidence? ‘Excuse me, ma’am, but can you point us to the nearest safe full of nefarious plans? We’re on a bit of a tight schedule.’”
He dipped his chin. “Fair point.”
“At least I didn’t try to flirt our way out of it,” she shot back, ignoring the fact that his arm was still casually draped over her shoulders.
“You wound me, Lockwood,” he teased, leaning in enough to make her pulse jump. “If I’d really been flirting, we wouldn’t have just gotten away with it. We’d have gotten VIP access and maybe even a private tour. Flirting’s a valuable skill.” His voice dropped, low and smooth. “You sure you don’t want a lesson?”
Her face heated up instantly.Was this what flirting looked like now? Because it felt similar to a cardiac event.“Pretty sure I can manage without your expertise,” she muttered, trying and failing to sound unaffected.
He chuckled. “Suit yourself.”
“Let’s focus on not getting caught, okay? I look terrible in prison orange.”
“Noted,” he chuckled, steering them toward a less crowded area. “But for the record, I think you’d be a knockout.”
She gave a very unladylike snort. “Do your lines always work?”
“Usually.” He shrugged. “What can I say? Women love a man with a bad reputation.”
She tried to roll her eyes, but her heart did an involuntary little flip instead. Being attracted to Jack was a very, very bad idea. He was trouble wrapped up in a sexy package, and she was already knee-deep in complications. She was supposed to be selling the café, packing up her memories, and getting out of town as quickly as possible, not swooning over a flirty bad boy determined to crash her carefully laid plans.
