More Than a Mission - Caridad Pineiro [4]
Not that he would have called her hair just brown. As she had stood in the sun, he’d noticed the vibrant melange of reds, browns and even hints of blond. And her eyes—they had been more like the color of a rich sherry. As for the slim build, definitely slender but with curves in all the right places.
Losin’ it, he chastised himself. The lady might be attractive, but that did nothing to change the fact that she was suspected of killing nearly a dozen people. Including Mitch.
It was up to him to get close to her, to confirm whether or not she was the Sparrow and whether she had murdered King Weston’s heir, and then she could be punished for her crimes.
Which meant he had to attempt yet again to get her to hire him for the bartending position that was now vacant since Corbett Lazlo had arranged for a friend in London to hire away Elizabeth’s bartender.
Lazlo’s connections were part of what made the Lazlo Group tops in what they did—handling delicate and often-times dangerous investigations, like this one involving Prince Reginald’s murder.
Pampered and spoiled royals like Prince Reginald held little appeal for Aidan. From what he had read in the dossier provided to him, Prince Reginald had been a selfish dilettante who probably would have made a hell of a bad leader for the centuries-old island kingdom.
Not that he involved himself in politics, since his nomadic life rarely gave him reason to grow attached to any particular place, and he had no interest in what happened in this tiny little town. At least, not in anything that wasn’t related to this mission.
As for the Sparrow, he thought, she wanted professional? He would give it to her.
The bartending part was under control thanks to the earpiece and the program he had loaded on his and Lucia’s PDAs. He’d resorted to that after his best attempts at memorizing an assortment of drink recipes had failed. He was a magna cum laude grad of MIT in a number of majors, none of which included Mixology 101.
But now he had to deal with his other dilemma—getting the Sparrow to hire him. He walked to the closet. Inside were an assortment of jeans, but also a few suits. He wasn’t normally a suit-and-tie kind of guy. In some ways, he found them too much like the uniform he’d had to wear for so many years in the military. Now that he was in the private sector, he preferred his clothes to be casual. It suited his rebellious nature better.
In fact, the last time he had worn a suit had been to Mitch’s funeral two years ago. It was one of the suits in the closet. Somehow apropos, he thought, as he reached for it and pulled it out. The suit was dark charcoal-gray and designer—Helmut Lang. Mitch, who had always insisted that his clothes and women be top-drawer, had forced him to buy it, claiming that his friend was never going to meet the right kind of woman if he looked like a Hell’s Angels reject or a derelict surf dude.
Aidan had to admit the suit was gorgeous. Maybe it was just what the Sparrow had had in mind when she’d said that her type was someone more professional.
Watch out, Sparrow, ’cause here I come.
Elizabeth was running late. After doing all her shopping and advising her sous chef and assistants as to what to prep for inclusion in that night’s dinner specials, she’d decided to tackle the slightly overgrown flowerbeds in the back of the restaurant during her afternoon break. In this backyard garden, which faced the shore, she had created an area for alfresco dining and dancing beneath the stars.
She was rounding the corner of the building on the way to the front door when she smacked into someone heading toward the back patio. Hard hands grabbed hold of her to keep her from falling. “I’m sorry,” she said, noticing not just the strength in the hands clutching her, but the fine fabric of the suit jacket as she grabbed tight.
She finally looked up and the familiar blue of his eyes gazed down at her, nearly laughing. “No, I’m sorry. Your sous chef said you were out back.”
He released her and took a step away, which allowed her to get a complete picture of