him across the aisle on the airplane.
As if his good opinion mattered, and Grace was afraid of losing it.
“Why would he do that?” Hunter muttered, mostly to himself.
Josh let out a breath. “I don’t know. Because he’s on the job?”
“Maybe the guy wasn’t that cute,” Stirling said, piping up in that surprising way he had, not bothering to look over his own laptop. Hunter could forget Stirling was in a room until he had something to say.
Hunter’s scowl unknitted, though. “Naw,” he muttered, dismally aware that his Midwestern accent had leaked through. “Guy even sounded cute. I think Josh is right. Grace is concentrating. This is for someone he cares about.”
“Dance Master,” Grace said on their coms, surprising them all. “We’re here. If you check us in, I’ll get our luggage.”
There was a moment, the sound of someone yawning, and then Artur’s voice, slightly groggy. “Of course. Let me cover the cab and give you money to tip—”
“I can get it,” Grace said, his voice surprisingly humble. “Get us checked in. I need a nap too.”
Hunter cocked an eye at Josh, who shrugged. “Like a cat,” he said, almost apologetically. “Good thing is, he can go from sleeping to zoomies in less than a heartbeat.”
“And then he stays stuck on zoomies for at least the next three years,” Stirling muttered.
“Only when chasing flies,” Grace said into the com, and Hunter masked a smile.
“No flies here,” he said. “It’s the frickin’ Westin.”
“Us cats will always find flies to chase,” Grace said through a yawn. “Zoomies are our favorite hobby.”
“Well, don’t forget to take your earbud out during your other favorite hobby,” Josh muttered.
“I thought you heard I wasn’t doing that this trip!” Grace protested, sounding legitimately hurt.
Josh looked blank for a moment, and then his eyes widened. “I was talking about sleeping, jackass! Unless you want to hear us talking to each other—”
“Yes, that’s fine. I’d rather know what’s going on,” Grace said without pausing. “I’ll sleep on my back and won’t smash your precious electronics. No worries.”
Hunter looked sharply at Josh. “Why would he do that?” he mouthed.
Josh grimaced and then mouthed back, “He doesn’t want to be alone.”
Hunter sucked in a breath and said just loud enough to be detected by the earbud, “We gotcha, Grace. Surveillance is a go.”
At that moment, a light came on across the corner from theirs, in one of the rooms two floors below. Hunter watched as the shades were drawn from the windows, and Grace pressed up against the glass, obviously searching them out.
Hunter sighed and stepped forward, purposely revealing his location when being stealthy and hidden was one of his most valuable skills. Grace spotted him, gave a huge smile, and waved madly, and Hunter gave a small twitch of his hand in return.
“See?” Grace said smugly into his com. “I knew you liked me.” And then, obviously to someone off coms, “Coming, Dance Master. I’ll set up your bags.”
The lights in the room next to Grace’s came on, and Hunter stepped back into the shadows.
Yeah. Shit. He liked the guy. If only he could avoid strangling him with his own toe shoes, his life would be gravy.
STIRLING NAPPED, curling up on a pillow in the corner instead of the bed. Josh made sure he had a throw, tender as a mother hen, and then rejoined Hunter on surveillance.
Hunter gave Stirling a look and then glanced back at Josh, who was sitting behind his com unit.
“Anxiety,” Josh mouthed, masking his own yawn. Hunter wondered at that; Josh had always been a pretty busy guy. He’d seemed tired this last week. Maybe he had a boyfriend?
But right now Hunter nodded. He’d figured. Stirling and Molly Christopher had been in a number of foster homes before being adopted by their parents—enough so that while not related by blood, they’d been so inseparable in the foster home that the Christophers had refused to separate them in adoption. They’d apparently had seven good years as a family before the elder Christophers had been killed in a suspicious boating accident, but Hunter got it. After having your security so savagely ripped away—again and again and again—getting it back wasn’t easy. That Josh had gravitated to Stirling and Molly as friends didn’t surprise Hunter either.
There was something about Josh that saw the good in broken people. Hunter himself was a prime example.
Together they were quiet for a moment, and Hunter took the time to differentiate Stirling’s gentle breathing from Grace’s over the coms.
Then Grace began to mumble. Nothing