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quarters, all of Sloan’s soft curves pressed against his body, and the instinct to lose himself in that softness not at all conducive to conducting a levelheaded intel-gathering mission. His imagination wasn’t helping. He had assessed and discounted the other guests, taken stock of the security, which left him with little to do but take in the scenery. Even Adam, who didn’t usually appreciate such things, could acknowledge that, and worse, he could imagine spending time in this place with a lover.
    With Sloan.
    He still fucking hated the beach, but it was easy to picture Sloan on it, the sun lighting the bright streaks in her hair. Could imagine Sloan underneath him, trapped between his body and the sand.
    Fuck. Get it together, Reins . That line of thinking would get him in trouble, so he shook himself and refocused, looking at everything else around him. The resort was on a peninsula, set off from more popular beaches and as secluded as it could possibly be. Adam could immediately see why this trip had cost more than a few of Lucian’s pennies.
    Smart of Sloan to add a little bit to his cover story about inheriting some money, because it would be hard for Adam to sell a story about him having the coin to pay for this trip.
    Everything was quiet, and there wasn’t another soul in sight, but Adam didn’t doubt there were eyes. So, instead of immediately heading to look around the resort, he headed for the huge pool and walked around it, hoping he looked like he needed some air.
    The resort was beautiful, but Adam couldn’t wait to find out more about it, see what was underneath the pristine surface, because something was definitely up here.
    He settled on one of the lounge chairs and waited, counting the steps of his approaching visitor. Thirty seconds later, Alistair Jones asked in his crisp accent, “All alone?”
    Adam looked over, nodded. “Yeah. The little lady is taking a nap,” he said, smiling when he thought of how Sloan would react to being called “little lady.”
    “Yes. It is a rather long journey. You’re not tired?” Alistair asked.
    Adam shrugged. “How could I sleep when there’s all this to look at?” he said, sweeping his hand out over the pool.
    “Your companion is rather lovely to look at too,” he said.
    “You looked at her close enough to notice? Don’t know how I feel about that,” Adam said, leaning back in the lounge chair, though he could feel his expression tighten and his eyes narrow a little.
    Alistair shrugged casually, gave Adam one of those reptilian smiles. “No insult intended. But I’m honest enough to acknowledge a beautiful woman when I see one.”
    “That she is,” Adam said, his eyes narrowing into hard pinpricks that pinned Alistair with a deadly stare. “Alistair, do you know the saying ‘look, but don’t touch’?” Adam asked as he stood slowly, wiped his hands together, and then brushed them down his pants.
    Alistair looked at him and nodded.
    “I have a slightly different version,” he said. “Don’t look. Don’t touch.”
    Alistair crinkled one corner of his mouth and then nodded curtly. “Understood.”
    “Good,” he said.
    Adam took the opportunity to walk away, not only because it was nearing time for dinner, but because he didn’t trust himself to stay in Alistair’s presence and not blow his cover. He felt like Alistair was testing him, trying to pump him for information, and it was clear his little statements about Sloan were an attempt to take him off his game, make him more likely to give up information. There was no way Alistair had gotten to his position by willy-nilly talking about other people’s partners; he was too calculating for that, Adam knew, so there had to be an alternative reason.
    Adam was stupid, but he wasn’t that stupid, so he tucked tail and made for his room for the moment.
    By the time he made it back to the hotel room, he was actually excited about the prospect of the mission because if nothing else,