Page 55 of The Agreement

It had to be something important.

Another car joined the rank at the very end, close enough to her that she could hear the lyrics being belted by a singer through the speakers. That was, until the driver killed the engine and the music cut off abruptly.

The man who jumped out of the driver’s seat was ... different. Katee could tell straight away that he wasn’t the same as the other men he seemed to be following behind. It took her a moment to figure out why.

He had a kind face.

It was hard to look away.

One she didn’t recognize.

Even if it felt like she did.

His dark hair slicked back under a large palm, and piercing blue eyes roamed around the driveway. He examined his surroundings as though he needed to take it all in again. Because he hadn’t seen it before—or maybe he just didn’t know it well enough to be comfortable.

Katee leaned further to the side, beyond the hedges and the safety of the stone. She wanted to be able to see him more clearly, and what he was doing. He, too, pulled out matching duffle bags from the rear of his car. He threw them both over his left shoulder, the handles gripped tightly in one fist, and slammed the trunk shut.

It was then when Katee creeped along the wall a few inches more with her eyes wide and lips parted in silent question, that the handsome young man looked over his shoulder.

His eyes met hers instantly. She hadn’t expected him to see her considering the rest of the men barely hesitated outside of their vehicles before heading for the house. They hadn’t been concerned with their surroundings, or who might be watching.

This man wasn’t the same.

She expected anger or surprise from the stranger about her spying—anyone else who was heading to the mansion’s front entrance—would have reacted with exactly that. As they usually did whenever she got in their way.

From this man, she got a smile.

A big one.

Warm, and bright.

Like a silent hello.

Handsome, she thought. He looked like what Maria said about the men that played in the movies her nanny enjoyed watching. Strong features, and a smile that was impossible not to notice.

Katee’s heart raced in her chest when he didn’t immediately look away and go back about his business, and his smile didn’t falter. You’re going to get in trouble, a voice in her head hissed. She just didn’t care to listen. That familiar feeling she had about the man only intensified when he seemed to recognize her, too, and wasn’t bothered by her presence.

Except they didn’t know each other.

At all.

“Hey,” he called out.

And waved.

He raised his voice a little to make himself heard as she was still quite a distance away from where he had parked. All she could do was smile back, not daring to offer anything more. Her gaze drifted over him, taking in the navy silk shirt with the buttons undone near his throat, his dark slacks and leather shoes. He had his thick, black hair styled back slick, and his beard neatly trimmed along his jaw and uninked throat—another thing that made him different from the other men.

He looked presentable.

Ready ... for something.

She just didn’t know what.

Katee resisted the sudden urge to wave back—to tell him her name, and introduce herself because that was respectful, even though she knew she wasn’t allowed to. Maria’s warnings were never far from her mind. She was never to say her name to anybody, especially not the men who sometimes wandered the halls of her home.

But the man looked so ... kind.

He had eyes that said so, and his smile made her think he might say hello. Would he let her talk, too? Would someone finally want to know what she was thinking—and oh, what a relief that would be.