being kissed. He’d bet big money they were as soft as they were lush.
Her lips were so diverting, in fact, that it took him an extra moment to take in the rest of her. She wasn’t slender, but not heavy either. Sturdy was the word that came to mind. And curvy. Strong shoulders and legs were offset by breasts that would more than fill a man’s hands, and the kind of hips that would likely draw attention when she walked away.
And he should know. He’d had a lot of experience watching women walk away. Most often per his request.
Being decent, relatively attractive, and ridiculously wealthy should have been the trifecta of good fortune where meeting women were concerned. But he hadn’t found that to be the case, so much. The ridiculous wealth attracted all sorts, as did the good looks, which made it hard to tell if any of them were there for the decent person part.
Which made the irony of this particular night all the more perverse. Because, in truth, he was behaving quite indecently at the moment. He despised golddiggers, and yet here he was, stealing from the Hamilton family trove. Or hoping to, anyway.
He’d been waiting a long time to get back into this house, but Lionel was always here, or some brown-nosing assistant who worked for him. This was the first time in five years his uncle had given the entire staff off for the holidays and had left town himself, to boot. Trevor had jumped on the opportunity, despite the chaos it had caused in his own life. Thanks to their somewhat shared grapevine, he’d even known about the hired sitter, and had planned to get what he’d come for and be gone before she’d arrived. Then the storm had delayed his flight to Virginia, and he’d had to rely on luck to get up the mountain before she did.
Apparently luck wasn’t going to be on his side. But he was here now, and he wasn’t leaving empty-handed.
“I’m guessing you haven’t worked for Lionel before,” he said, nodding at the small notebook in her hands that she’d clearly been referencing as she’d snooped about. “Anything I can help you find? I make a pretty good tour guide. I’ll even throw in a few colorful family stories, if you’d like. We’ve had more than our fair share.”
“Why are you here?” was her only response.
He didn’t mind the bluntness. “I was going to surprise Lionel with a holiday visit, but apparently the surprise is on me.” Which was true enough, just not in the way she’d interpret it. He lifted a hand to stall her response. “I already called. I know he’s in Japan.” He smiled, walked closer. “Must be tough taking on a live-in assignment during the holidays.” He lifted his hands in the universal gesture of peace. “Since I’m here, I’d be more than happy to take on the sitter duties. I was planning on staying, anyway.” Not for two weeks, he mentally added, but if he could get her out of here, he’d have free reign to dig to his heart’s content, then he could always find someone else to come finish up the pet-and house-sitting jobs. It didn’t really matter what Lionel would think about coming home to find a new sitter with his beloved pets. If Trevor took what he’d come for, his great uncle would have a lot more on his mind than a replacement sitter.
“There’s a storm raging outside,” she said, “in case you hadn’t noticed.”
“I didn’t mean you needed to leave this exact instant, just that—”
“I do the job I’m paid for, Mr. Hamilton.”
“Oh, I’d pay you your full fee. It’s not your fault I showed up.”
Her scowl didn’t go away as he’d hoped. For most people, money solved everything. He was admittedly a little intrigued when it didn’t seem to be an immediate attraction for her.
“I start a job, I finish a job. Unless Mr. Hamilton—Lionel Hamilton—requests that I hand the sitting duties over to you, then I’m here for the duration.”
He wished he didn’t admire her integrity, as it would make things a lot easier, but he did. “Fair enough. For now.” He allowed his smile to spread when she arched a brow. “I’ll have to figure out the time difference between here and Japan, and check his schedule before I bother my uncle, but we’ll get it all sorted out. Unless you have a pre-planned time to communicate?”
She regarded him silently for a moment, then shook