Free Ultimate Engagement by Lydia Rowan Page A

and let the rest of the meal pass in the haze of Alistair’s bragging and Adam’s fingers driving her crazy.
    When finally, mercifully, the dinner was over, she stood, but only after Adam had pulled the chair away from the table. She managed to suppress a moment’s laughter, but she vowed to tease him about his manners. Maybe she’d threaten to tell Seth about them.
    “Drink?” Alistair asked as everyone stood.
    He was looking directly at her and for a moment, Sloan wasn’t sure what to say.
    Then Adam, moving stealthily and silently, was standing behind her, his hand heavy on her side.
    “Thank you for a lovely meal, but I think it’s time for us to retire,” he said.
    He punctuated the last word with a squeeze and then lowered his hand until it rested on her hip. Then he stepped closer, pressed her other side against his and squeezed her again, eyes still locked on Alistair.
    He looked at her and then back at Adam and nodded, knowingly, enough to make Sloan blush, which she probably would have if he wasn’t pissing her off.
    “Enjoy your evening,” Alistair said.
    “Yours as well,” Sloan said, finding her voice from somewhere and managing to keep it polite though she felt anything but. She was almost feral with desire for Adam, which made meaningless chatter that much harder.
    Then she and Adam left the large dining room, nodding at a few of the couples they had chatted with when Alistair wasn’t monopolizing their time, and made their way back to their room.
    Adam held up a finger and then entered the room, pulled the device out of his pocket, and then walked around.
    He was sweeping for bugs, she realized, something he had done when they’d first arrived.
    She stood tense, again remembering that no matter how much she was around soldiers, no matter how much time she spent in their world, she wasn’t trained. Adam had done this the first time, but Sloan hadn’t considered the possibility someone could have come into the room while they were at dinner. That realization was one of the only things that had managed to penetrate the bubble that this morning with Adam had created.
    She needed to stay on her toes. This place, as opulent and exciting as it seemed, had an undercurrent that included some very dangerous people.
    A moment later Adam put the device back in his pocket and then nodded.
    “We’re good?” she asked.
    “Yeah. I didn’t find anything,” he said.
    “Do we have to do that every time?”
    He nodded. “It’s smart. At least until we have a better handle on what’s going on here,” he said.
    Sloan frowned and Adam moved closer to her. “What is it?”
    “Did the security guard make you uncomfortable?” she asked.
    “Which one? The asshole who couldn’t take his eyes off you?” he asked.
    Sloan shivered, remembering those cold eyes on her. “No, though he was…unpleasant. The one who was glued to Alistair’s side?”
    “Ah, the one who only pretended to keep his eyes off you?” Adam said. Sloan glanced at him, trying to interpret the undertone of anger she heard in his voice, or the fact that he had even noticed the guard whose eyes she had met more than once.
    Adam had seemed completely oblivious, hadn’t seemed to be paying anyone but her any particular attention, though she realized she shouldn’t have fallen for that. If nothing else, he was always alert, so it should have come as no surprise he’d seen.
    “Yeah, him,” she said.
    “Why do you ask?” he said.
    She shrugged, not exactly sure how to put her thoughts into words. “I don’t know… He seems different,” she said, knowing she was lacking specificity, but Adam still nodded.
    “I plan on finding out a little more about him,” Adam said.
    “He seems different to you too?” Sloan said.
    “All of Alistair’s men are too well-trained to be babysitting tourists, but he’s particularly of note. A little more than what’s on the surface,” he said. Then he lifted one corner of his mouth.