The same reason he didn’t know why Hunter personally called her.
Then it hit him.
“Is Hunter a fan of your books? Is that why he let you work here for research?”
She laughed. “I’m not sure if Hunter has read many of my books, but his wife, Kayla, has. I think I lean toward women more than men. That’s wrong. I self-publish several series on my own and those are the sexy covers. But I publish three books a year with a big name publisher and that goes through my agent. Those you might have read.”
“I haven’t,” he said. “But I will. I’m assuming those are the covers that aren’t as sexy?”
“Yes,” she said. “Not always my favorite, but not my choice either. They know what they are doing and I just write the books.”
She stood up and moved toward his Kindle on the counter and picked it up.
“You want to see what I read?” he asked.
“Do you mind?” she asked.
“No,” he said. “You’ll find a lot of Steve Spencer on there. I told you I love true crime and anything else I’ve got to figure out or solve.”
She laughed. “He is good and very popular.”
He was scrolling through more information on Emma since she was looking at what he liked to read.
“Oh shit,” he said.
She turned quickly and he noticed she was grinning as if she held the prize information in the room.
She did. Until now.
“What did you find out about me?” she asked, smirking.
“Your bloodline,” he said.
She wiggled her eyebrows. “Guess you don’t have to worry about me being interested in your money.”
9
PERFECT HERO MOVE
“Ineed to absorb this,” he said, putting his phone down. “You’re really a Bond?”
“Nope,” she said, sitting back on the couch. He sat next to her. “I’m a French. But my mother was a Bond. She is Charlie Bond’s sister, who is Hunter’s father. I’m assuming you’re smart and your mind processed Hunter and I are first cousins.”
He nodded. “Which explains why he thought the whole thing was funny. You too. I couldn’t pinpoint any of this, but I knew something was off. Shit, Eli is your cousin too, and Griffin obviously knows who you are.”
Emma smiled and patted his leg. “Everyone knows the Bonds on the island. But in this case, Griffin is Eli’s best friend. Griffin is also married to another cousin of mine on a different branch of the family tree. I won’t bore you with a history lesson just yet. Maybe another day.”
“Thanks,” he said. “So, the night at the casino, was that research too?”
“It was,” she said. “I was in the surveillance room checking things out and taking notes. I can’t tell you any of that, but man,it was fun. Then the next thing I know, there is an Adonis on a screen.”
“Adonis?” he asked, lifting an eyebrow.
“That would be you,” she said, her finger popping his thigh. It was like a brick! “I had to come down and check things out on the floor and we ran into each other.”
He nodded. “I’m catching up,” he said. “Why don’t we order dinner? You’ve got to be hungry. Then I’d like to know more about you.”
“Really?” she asked. “Truly? Like about my family or me?”
