“Well, not really, but...” As interesting as this side of him was, she hadn’t lost sight of her goal. “Maybe I should start from the beginning.”

“Or maybe you shouldn’t. You realize, don’t you, that you blew your cover at the club last night with your jujitsu moves? Nobody’s going to buy you as my social media specialist any longer.”

Something she’d already figured out. Church bells chimed in the distance, and she plunged ahead. “Her name is Faiza. She’s only nineteen, and she’s been working for the family since she was fourteen. She’s sweet and smart, and she only wants what we take for granted. A chance to be free.”

He scowled at a ragged bean plant.

“She dreams of going to nursing school so she can take care of preemies, but right now, she’s little better than a slave.”

He ripped up the bean plant and tossed it aside, crunching on what was left of the lollipop. She moved in on him. “Please, Coop. It’s Sunday. The club’s closed. All you have to do is go to the Peninsula tonight and have a manly chat with the prince. Think of it as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get an insider’s look at a different culture.”

He tossed the lollipop stick in a compost bin. “I’m happy with the culture I’m already in. Except for my thieving waitstaff...”

A tiny red sugar crystal lingered at the corner of his mouth, and the memory of that ridiculous kiss came back to her. She instinctively licked her lips. “Your waitstaff is basically honest. And if everybody felt the way you do, there’d be no hope for international peace and understanding.”

“Thank you, MissUniverse.”

“I’m merely pointing out that you’re being very narrow-minded.”

He jabbed a soil-crusted finger at her. “At least I have a mind. And I seriously doubt my spending a night reliving my glory years with a Middle Eastern oil baron is going to do squat for international relations. As for the rest of your plan...” He shuddered. “I’ve done a few things in my life I’m not proud of, but what you’re asking is creepy.”

“It’s heroic! It’s a chance at redemption for the sins of your past.” Like that kiss, she thought, but he hadn’t brought it up and neither would she. Although he seemed to be thinking about it. How she knew that, she wasn’t certain. Maybe she simply felt it. Or maybe it was something else... The calculating look in his eyes. A certain wiliness... What was he up to?

He dipped his head and brushed the corner of his eyebrow with his thumb. “If I were going to do this... which I’m not... I’d expect something in return. What are you prepared to offer?”

“What do you want?”

“An interesting question...”