Page 27 of Protected By Artemis

She handed him her iced tea, and he took a sip, his gaze wandering over the waves. “The meeting was productive but draining. We have a lot to sort out.”

She nodded. “I can imagine. Anything I need to know?”

“Not yet. But we’ll get there. How was the plus-one social?”

“Interesting. I met Candice, and we joined a cooking lesson. Pauline made an appearance too.”

His brow furrowed. “Pauline? How did that go?”

“Let’s just say she wasn’t thrilled to meet me.”

He sighed, leaning back. “She’s…complicated.”

“Seems like it. But I’m here for the mission, not to make friends.”

“True. But it doesn’t hurt to have allies.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” she said, watching as a seabird flew overhead. “What did the app say?”

He checked the results of the scans of the alphas from the meeting. “The app didn’t find anything,” he said, sounding a bit frustrated.

She sighed. “It seems like we’re hitting dead ends.”

“It may seem like that,” he replied, “but finding out that the alphas aren’t involved is a good thing. But we still have a couple more to check out.”

“Okay,” she said, appreciating his point of view.

“I’m hoping to talk to one alpha, John Robertson the third. He’s a nice enough guy, but he wasn’t at the alpha meeting or the welcome cocktails.”

“What does he look like?” she asked.

“He’s…oh, there he is.”

She looked toward where he gestured and spotted a lone man at the far end of the beach, reading a book. When she turned back to Cade, she caught him staring at her ass. “That him?” she asked, pointing.

He smiled and stood up, nodding. “Yeah, that’s him. Come on.”

“Wait,” she said, slipping on her cover-up and hat. “The sun is out.”

She started walking, and the brim of her hat hit his shoulder. He made a face, but before he could say anything, she muttered, “Don’t even start.”

He put up his hands and smiled.

“Hmph,” she huffed and linked her arm with his. They started walking toward the man, who was engrossed in his book.

John Robertson III was a tall man with a neatly trimmed haircut and a lean, athletic build. Even while reading a book, his demeanor exuded efficiency and discipline, and his seriousbrown eyes missed nothing. When he noticed them, he scowled, obviously not pleased to see them walking up to him.

His expression was guarded while Cade introduced her, and then John’s phone rang. He pulled out a flip phone, the kind that didn’t have apps or internet access, and answered it. “One second,” he said, turning away slightly.

Cade and Artemis exchanged a look.What are we going to do now?

“Okay, I’ll go back to the villa and we can have a late lunch,” John said into the phone, then hung up.

She took the opportunity to sit down on the lounge chair next to John, facing him. She took a deep breath and started chatting him up, asking him about his day. John gave Cade a look that clearly said, handle your woman.

Cade shrugged and sat next to her. She pressed against him, and he wrapped his arm around her, his hand resting on her hip.

She smiled at John, who was still eyeing her warily. “So, what are you reading?”

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