He followed her through the impressive suite and out onto a massive balcony. He’d seen it from the beach, but nothing could have prepared him for how wonderful the space truly was.
She didn’t stop until she was leaning against the balcony, looking out over the lit pool area several floors below them, the dark beach, and the moonlit waters beyond it all.
There was a private event that evening on one of the sundecks. Three of his crewmembers were there, bartending at the makeshift bars, while several others were at their normal stations. He suddenly felt guilty about being here with her instead of downstairs.
“Want to talk about it?” Jade asked suddenly.
He glanced over at her. “I should be helping out downstairs,” he said, without thinking.
Suddenly, she laughed and turned towards him.
“You surprise me yet again,” she said with a shake of her head.
“Why?” he asked with a slight frown.
“You’re here to catch someone who’s kidnapping children, yet you’re worried guests will go without a beer because you’ve taken some time off.”
He smiled. “I’m here to do two jobs,” he assured her. “I can focus on both.”
She tilted her head as she ran her eyes over him. “I believe you can.” Then she snapped her fingers. “That’s why you’re always looking around.”
He frowned. Was it really that noticeable?
“I just thought you were scouring for your next conquest.” She nudged his shoulder with his.
He smiled. “Maybe I was.”
She laughed. “Nope, I have you figured out now.” She sighed and rested her head back to look up at the sky.
“Oh?” he asked, moving slightly closer.
“Yup, I was right. You’re a smooth-talking Texan who loves his family and country music, rides horses, has a dog named…” She tilted her head as she ran her eyes over him. “Rusty or Chase. I’ll bet you even dance really slow,” she joked.
“No dog. I haven’t ridden a horse since I was ten. I detest country music. And dancing isn’t the only thing I do really slow.” He lifted his hand to brush a strand of her hair out of her eyes.
Her hand moved up to his chest, and he smiled when her eyes darted to his lips.
“Wyatt…” He thought she was going to step away, but, after a heartbeat, she closed the distance and laid her lips over his.
At that very moment, he knew he was royally screwed. Never had he experienced a kiss that actually caused him to shake. Every fiber of his being was consumed by her. Her soft sexy scent filled his nose. He lapped up the sweet taste of her on his tongue. Her soft body was plastered against his.
He wanted more than he’d wanted in his entire life. And he knew that was a danger. Taking one last moment to sear the feeling of her into his memory, he stepped back and dropped his hold on her.
“Jade, I…” He shook his head and took another step back. “This can’t get complicated. I can’t be distracted.”
Her hand moved up to her lips as her eyes ran over him. He didn’t want to hurt her. Hadn’t intended it. So, without waiting for her response, he turned and left as quickly as he could.
He was a coward, he kept telling himself as he made his way back down to the bar. When he got there, Shannon was nowhere to be found and there was still half an hour until closing time.
She’d locked up the liquor at least, but the register still had money in it. A fireable offence.
After finishing the shift, he closed out the two registers and tucked the money back into the safe hidden in a small supply closet, then headed out to his bungalow.
Most employees were local and were bussed from their homes all over the small island. But some of them were like him, living in rooms supplied by the resort. Most of them were smaller rooms facing away from the water.
His unique predicament afforded him one of the private bungalows farthest away from the resort. For his privacy, it had been arranged that he’d only get room services when he specifically called for it. Still, he kept most of his paperwork and his laptop under lock and key. The small safe he’d shipped to the resort personally was a top-of-the-line biometric safe. He knew how easy it was to break into a hotel room safe and wasn’t chancing anything.
For the next few hours, he went over everything in the case. Each person of interest. Each employee. Everyone. Including Jade and her parents.