Chapter 3
ALEX
Alex’s fingers flew over the keyboard, his mind racing as he programmed the device to infiltrate the Bancrofts’ secret security system. Hidden in a makeup compact, he hoped it would be easy enough for Ava to position.
His nose wrinkled as he wondered if he should stop the project and tell Ava to cancel her afternoon plans with Slick Sebastian.
In front of him, Kyle paced the floor of the living room, chewing his thumbnail. He twisted to face him, his hands on his hips. “She shouldn’t go, right?”
Alex stared at the doctor for a minute before he shifted in his seat. “Probably not, but telling Ava not to do something is like…waving a red cape in front of a bull.”
“Wow, really?” Kyle asked, his voice sounding surprised.
“Yeah,” Alex said, continuing his typing as he realized there was no way to talk her out of this plan.
He stopped again, shaking his head. “Okay, we need to clear the air. Why did you kiss Ava?”
“Ohhh,” Kyle said, his lips tugging into a wince. “That.”
“Yeah, that,” Alex said.
“I thought…” Kyle puffed his cheeks out.
“You know, she was so great when we were saving Sierra. And I thought we had this connection. So I just…kissed her, and then she said you two were together, and there was nothing more after that. I swear. Please don’t ruin my credit score and issue warrants for my arrest in six states. ”
Alex stared at him before he slowly nodded. “Right, okay, I won’t.”
“But you totally could, right? That’s what Ava said.”
“Yeah, I could…Ava said that?”
Kyle nodded. “She did. But not because I kissed her. She was threatening me to tell her who else was in a fake marriage that I kissed.”
“Who?” Alex asked.
“Grant and Julia. Please don’t say anything because they’re not anymore, but they were when I kissed her, I swear.”
“My dude, you have a serious problem with the whole kissing of married women thing.”
“I know. I know, I do. It’s…I’m working on it.” He stretched his arms to the side with a grin. “Sierra doesn’t call me Crazy Kyle for nothing.”
“Right…well, just don’t kiss Ava again, okay? I’ve seriously got enough to worry about with Perfect Stubble Sebastian and Rosebud Raven.” Alex frowned as he returned to his program.
Kyle perched on the edge of an armchair, leaning closer. “Right? I mean, what is it with this Sebastian guy?”
“Ava’s beautiful,” Alex said. “He’s not the first guy who’s hit on her, and he’s probably not going to be the last.”
Kyle bobbed his head. “Right. She is beautiful.”
Alex flicked his gaze to the man, his features a warning. “Don’t hit on her again.”
Kyle held his hands in the air. “I promise I will not. I’m just making an observation.”
Julia shuffled into the room with a soft smile.
“Hey, Sunshine,” Alex said as he transferred his program to the wireless device designed to provide him access to the security system. “How are you holding up?”
“I’m okay. Sierra is doing much better. Grant and I were just heading over to the hospital to see her. How are you doing after all the excitement?”
“I’m hanging in there. I’m glad to hear the Peak Princess is improving.”
“Me too,” Julia said with a grin. “I am sorry we aren’t being of any more help to you at the moment.”
“It’s fine,” Alex said. “Family first. Plus, you made the introduction last night, so maybe something will come of that.”
He hoped it would give the current plan being employed to get closer to the Bancrofts.
“Well, with any luck, we should be available soon. I’m really hoping Sierra is out of the hospital soon.” Julia waved her crossed fingers.
“If you need any medical services, just let me or Ava know. We can get round the clock nurses, equipment, whatever.”
“Thanks, Alex,” Julia said with a smile. “Kyle, you coming to the hospital with us?”
Kyle shot Alex a sideways glance before he shook his head. “No. I’m going to stay here at command central. We’ve got a little operation underway.”
Julia cocked her head, her brows furrowing. “Oh, uh, right. Okay, well, good luck. And if you need anything, I’ll have my phone.”
“Thanks, Julia,” Alex said with a wave.
After one last confusion-filled glance at her stepson, Julia shuffled from the room. The front door closed a few minutes later.
“You could have gone to the hospital if you wanted,” Alex said.
“And leave you and Ava here to deal with things alone?” Kyle leapt from his seat, shaking his head. “No way. I’d rather stay here in the thick of things than be verbally abused by Sierra. The pain meds make her really cranky.”
Ava’s heels clicked across the tile floor in the foyer, and Alex’s breath caught as she entered in a bright pink dress.
“Whoa,” Kyle answered, his jaw dropping. “You can’t wear that.”
“Says who?” she challenged.
He poked a finger at Alex. “Alex. He does not approve.”
“Alex bought me this dress. So, he’s already approved it.”
“When I bought it, I didn’t really think you’d be wearing it to impress Slick Sebastian, so…”
Ava patted him on the shoulder with a smile. “Well, think of it this way…I’ve impressed you and Kyle first. Sebastian got third dibs.”
Alex shook his head at the words. “Yeah, that doesn’t help.”
“Do you have my little device ready?”
“I do,” he said with a sigh as he held it toward her. As she reached for it, he pulled it back. “This needs to be in that room for at least two minutes for me to get a good hold on the system, okay?”
“Okay.”
“Two…very long minutes.”
“A lot can happen in two minutes,” Kyle said with a nod. “Lots of things. Our kiss happened in well under two minutes.”
Alex wrinkled his nose. “Please don’t list all of the things that can happen in two minutes.”
Kyle huffed out a chuckle. “Well, I couldn’t list all of the things. Just some like a stolen kiss, a hand wandering to her–”
“Stop, stop, please stop,” Alex said with a shake of his head.
“You two are blowing this way out of proportion,” Ava said with a shake of her head as she grabbed the device from Alex’s hand and shoved it into her purse.
“Really?” Kyle questioned. “How do you plan on getting into said panic room? Hmmm? Something along the lines of… Gee, Sebastian, I was wondering if I could see your panic room, if you know what I mean?” He fluttered his eyelashes.
Ava screwed up her face as she shook her head. “No, I’m going to tell him I lost an earring, can I check the panic room for it?”
Kyle’s eyebrows raised, and he and Alex shared a glance.
“That’s smart, Sparky. Good idea.”
“Do you two seriously think that I’m going to sleep with Sebastian just for information?”
Alex fixed his gaze on his keyboard as Kyle crossed his arms, staring at his shoes.
“Honestly,” Ava said with a shake of her head, “you two are impossible. I’m leaving.”
“Wait, wait.” Alex rose from his seat with a pearl brooch in his hand. “I have a present for you. A token of my esteem, if you will.”
Ava glanced down at it as he pinned it to her dress. “It’s a camera, right?”
“It is a pearl brooch,” Alex said with a grin.
“With a camera?”
“Maybe,” he answered.
She offered him an amused smile before she kissed him. “I’ll put my comm device in so I can hear your running commentary.”
She twisted on a heel and disappeared from the room.
“Thanks, babe!” he called after her as he grabbed his earpiece from his pocket.
“Wait,” Kyle said, sinking onto the couch next to Alex. “I want in on this.”
Alex hesitated for a moment before he held up a finger and rose from his seat. He dug through a drawer in the side table before he passed an earpiece to Kyle.
“Thanks,” the doctor said with a grin. “You two are so much better at this spy stuff than Dad and Julia. I’m impressed.”
Alex lifted his chin as he logged into Ava’s camera, the image of her steering wheel filling the screen. “Thanks.”
“So, does she mind that you listen in on her?” Kyle asked, his features pinched.
“No.” Alex shrugged as he searched his mind for an instance when she’d mentioned being upset over it. “I’ve actually hacked her webcam a number of times just to see her when she didn’t live here, and she thought it was sweet.”
Kyle arched an eyebrow. “Seriously? Wow. I feel like if I did that, I’d end up as the bad guy in a psychological thriller.”
“You need to find a girl as cool as Ava,” Alex answered as the sun glinted off the wheel, glaring into the camera.
“I don’t mind it at all,” she said. “I don’t have anything to hide from Alex. And aw, Ace, that’s sweet.”
He smiled at the screen. “I meant every word.”
“The trick is, you need to find a girl who gets you, Doc. Who knows that if you’re hacking her webcam, it’s because you love her not because you’re controlling.”
“I’m not controlling,” Kyle said. “Am I? Maybe I am.”
Ava chuckled through Alex’s headset. “I don’t know you that well, but you don’t seem controlling. Just quirky.”
Kyle wrinkled his nose. “Quirky sounds terrible.”
“I’m quirky. I think Alex is quirky. We like quirky,” she answered as the image shifted. “Here I am. Wish me luck, boys.”
“I feel like we should not do that,” Kyle answered.
“I agree,” Alex added. “Best I can do is come home safe and soon.”
She chuckled as she rang the doorbell, and a maid answered. “Mr. Bancroft has asked that you meet him in the back. I can show you the way.”
Alex studied the feed from her pearl cam as she made her way through the house to the back. The sun glistened off the sparkling water of the pool.
“He’s poolside? Really?” Kyle said, his tone unimpressed.
Ava stepped to the edge, and Alex spotted something moving through the water. A second later, Sebastian broke through, slicking his hair back as he climbed out in a tiny swimsuit.
“Oh, come on,” Kyle groaned.
“Seriously,” Alex said with a shake of his head. “He just happened to be swimming right now?”
“This is a total setup.” Kyle rolled his eyes.
“Yeah, nothing says ‘look at my super tight abs’ like climbing out of a pool, then sauntering over to grab a towel.”
“Looks like you weren’t as available as you said,” Ava said coyly through their earpieces as he toweled off.