Page 41 of Saint

Bending down, he slammed his mouth against hers, gripping her waist and a fistful of the skirt of her dress, feeling it rise up. His fingertips touched her bare legs, his mouth exploring her delectable lips and tongue.

Finally pulling back, he stared down at her shocked face, tears filling her eyes.

“Why did you do that?” she whispered.

“I shouldn’t have to explain that.” He walked off toward the grove and the others, leaving Stephanie behind him.

Touching her lips, she was breathing so heavily she could hardly stand upright. She’d been kissed a few times, but nothing like that. Nothing that made her feel as though her world was turned upside down.

He was the most frustrating, confusing, obstinate man she’d ever met. She couldn’t continue this way. She just couldn’t. When all this was over with, she would transfer to another company or simply go out on her own as a contractor.

No matter what, she couldn’t remain here with Brax.

Brax was looking down at his feet as he walked into the grove. Saint and Pax looked up at him, both men frowning, knowing that he’d gone to speak to Stephanie.

“What happened?” asked his twin.

“I kissed her.”

“And?”

“And what? I kissed her, and hopefully, that will make her stay,” he said, filling his plate.

“Jesus, you really are stupid,” said Saint. “You think because you kissed her, she’s going to stay? Did you tell her how you feel?”

“No!” Everyone turned to stare at the three men. “No. I didn’t. I kissed her, and that should tell her.” Saint just shook his head in disbelief.

“She’s going to leave, and it’s going to be your fault when she does.”

He watched as his twin and best friend walked away from him, then turned to see if Stephanie was coming toward the grove. When he didn’t see her, he dropped his plate and walked toward his own cottage as others stared at him. At this point, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich would be better than this torture.

“That boy is really struggling,” said Irene.

“He is. But he’ll get right soon enough. I just hope it’s not too late,” said Ruby.

“Me too, Ruby. Me too.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

“Ms. Fryar, what is this?” asked one of the three remaining guards holding up his cell phone to a video. She stared at it and frowned.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“This,” he said again, turning up the sound and handing her the phone. She watched the video, shaking her head at the image of herself.

“No. No, that’s not me. I didn’t say those things. I didn’t do those things!” she yelled, tossing his phone back to him.

“You’re crazy. I don’t care how much you pay me. This job sucks. We’re leaving.”

“You can’t! Where is John? John!” she yelled.

“John left this morning after seeing the video. You’re on your own, lady. Good luck.”

She couldn’t believe it. Someone was using artificial intelligence to play a game with her. It couldn’t be the group she was after. It wasn’t possible. They had skills, but none of them had the ability to produce something like this using AI.

Pacing back and forth in front of the window, she scanned the beach for any trespassers but saw no one. She couldn’t hide in the house forever. She had to get out and find these people, especially the one she truly needed.

If she couldn’t get her hands on the little engineer, she’d be forced to try and figure everything out herself, and she even had her limitations.

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