One Sizzling Night(4)

As soon as he opened Sam’s front door, perfectly placed lights came on in the apartment. The temperature was a few degrees cooler than outside, without a trace of humidity. He immediately liked the open floor plan with the foyer spilling into a room that was both modern and welcoming, with expensive-looking artwork on the walls. But the art couldn’t compete with the magic happening inside the walls—they changed color as he walked through the sleekly furnished living room.

Just to make sure he hadn’t lost his mind, which was a legitimate concern, he went back to the marble foyer. Sure enough, the wall colors shifted from a pale blue to a paler blue, then a faint green and finally beige. When he returned to the living room, it was different again. This time the walls turned from pale pink to violet.

It wasn’t just a gimmick, either. Sam had explained that the walls contained body sensors, and Logan really did feel calmer as he walked into the open kitchen. It was high-end in every way, and when he opened the pantry door, he realized he could stay there for a month without missing a single meal.

Sam was going to make a fortune with this place. He found the master suite at the end of a short hallway. It was huge and the bed was a California king. Man, it just kept getting better. He dumped his duffel bag on the bed and put his computer case on the floor.

Goddamn, one look at the shower insured he’d be taking his time. No door to speak of, a boatload of sparkly tile, and more jets than La Guardia. All that was missing was an ice-cold beer...which was probably in that industrial-sized refrigerator in the kitchen. He’d have to go grab that first.

Yep, he found the beer. His favorite brand, too. There was a lot of delicious-looking food in the fridge, but there was only one thing he cared about at the moment. He popped the top and took a drink, a burst of hops hitting his nose. When he lowered the can, he froze.

A woman stood in the living room staring back at him.

Tall. Blonde. Gorgeous.

And naked. Almost.

A white towel covered most of her breasts, but if she bent in pretty much any direction...

Looking away would be the right thing to do. Only, he didn’t know who she was or why she was there.

Logan wiped his mouth. “I think you might be in the wrong apartment.”

“No,” she said, weirdly calm for a woman wearing only a towel and facing a strange man. “I’m sure I’m just where I’m supposed to be.”

“Well, hell, you’d better be a hologram.” Logan nearly choked at the crazy thought. “Although Sam did say the apartment came with everything.”

“Excuse me?” The woman narrowed her eyes. They looked green but he had to get closer to be sure.

“Are you...real?” He moved a step toward her. With all of Sam’s tech voodoo he honestly couldn’t tell. “Can I touch you?”

“Not if you want to live to finish that beer.”

Logan smiled. “Sam knows I like feisty women.”

“I wish she’d warned me that you’re delusional.”

Okay, so she knew Sam or at least that Sam was a she. “What am I supposed to think with you greeting me in a towel?” He checked out her legs. Man, they were long. “For the record, no towel would’ve been better,” he said and took a pull of beer. Then swallowed quickly. “Wait. It was Lisa. She sent you, didn’t she?”

“No one sent me.” She inched back, daring him with a glare. “I’m beginning to seriously hope you aren’t Logan.”

“Guilty as charged.” He didn’t know what to think at the moment. Except that since she knew Sam and who he was, she probably wasn’t trespassing. “What’s your name?”

“Kensey. I’m here for the conference but I couldn’t find a room anywhere in the city,” she said, shifting slightly to her right. “You’re early.”

If she moved another centimeter, he’d be seeing her religion. It was bad enough that the image of her shapely legs was now burned into his brain, and all of his conversational abilities had been overtaken by the potential movement of that small towel.

He needed that shower ASAP. Or ten minutes of privacy. Either one would do.

“Who’s Lisa?”

“My kid sister.”

“And you think she sent you a hooker?” The woman raised an eyebrow. A lovely eyebrow. All the parts of her that he could see were lovely. He doubted he’d ever used or thought that particular word before, but this gorgeous blonde in the tiny towel brought out the poet in him. Among other things. “Interesting family,” she said, with a look that didn’t just dismiss him. It dismissed him with prejudice.

“I don’t have to play nice with you,” he said. “I have no idea who you are. Until I speak to the owner of this apartment, I get to assume anything that makes sense to me.” He moved a few inches to the right and said, “Call Sam.”

Just like that, a screen appeared on the wall behind her. It looked like a large computer monitor with Sam’s company logo in the center. He could hear a phone ringing, the call signal created by the Skype program.

Seconds later, Sam herself was in the center of the screen. Her eyes widened as she got a load of Kensey. “Damn it, Logan. I’ve been trying to reach you. What the hell’s wrong with your cell phone?”

“Nothing.”

“Look again.”

He retrieved his phone from his jacket. It was off. He’d switched it off on the plane in a vain attempt to get some sleep, and had forgotten to turn it back on. That was worrisome on several levels. He turned the damn thing on. “Why were you trying to reach me?”

His cell phone beeped five times in a row. He slid it into his pocket while avoiding looking at the seminaked woman beside him.

“To tell you that you’d have company for the week. I assume you’ve introduced yourselves?”

“Not exactly.”

“Look, Logan, she’s one of the good guys. I know I promised you the place to yourself, but this is kind of an emergency, so please be okay with it.”

He hadn’t decided if he was happy or not, but if Sam said Kensey was good people, he believed her. “You gonna be around?”

Sam frowned. “Aren’t I always?”

Sam wasn’t her usual cheerful self. Normally, she never left a conversation before filling him in on what she was up to. In detail. He rarely understood what she was talking about because Sam was in a class by herself. He wrote her mood off to the security conference. She had a lot of spyware—not just for computers, but for equipment that men like him needed if they wanted to stay alive. She must be up to her neck in clients. “I’ll call you later. And Sam? The place is unreal.”

That made her smile. The definition on the wall monitor was so incredible that he could count the freckles on her nose.

She turned her attention to Kensey. “Sorry about this,” she said. “Yesterday and today have been nuts. I’m normally completely on top of things.”

“I understand. No problem.”

“You’ll get along great with Logan. He’s interesting. And funny.” She glanced at something behind her. “Sorry, I’ve got to run.”

With that, she vanished from the monitor. And the monitor went with her.

“Satisfied?” his guest asked.

“So you know Sam. And you’re here for the conference?”

“Yes.”

“Who do you work for?”

“Neil—” She pushed the hair off her right shoulder, making her appear even more naked. “My boss and I have parted ways. I’m currently freelancing. I understand you’re military?”

“I was, but we’ve also parted ways.”

“Do tell,” she said, moving her hips half a millimeter to the right. “I can’t wait to see if this is the part where you get interesting and/or funny.”

Good thing he’d had a lifetime of training with his sister so he was able to sidestep that comment like a crack on the sidewalk. “Sure you’re not chilly in that outfit?”

Her lips lifted a fraction of a second before settling back into a straight line. “If it bothers you, I’ll go change right now.”

“No. Nope. Doesn’t bother me at all.” He smiled. Tried to remember what she’d asked him about. And wondered how he could move over to where he’d be covered from the erection down without making it obvious that was what he was doing.

“How was your breakup with the military?” she asked.

“Amicable. For the most part.”

“I’m guessing you’re going to the conference because you’re in the security business?”

He nodded. “Cliché as that is. Even civilians need protection.”

“That’s very noble of you.”

“It keeps bread on the table and beer in the fridge. What about you? I think you would make one hell of a personal guard.”

She laughed, her eyes bright with surprise. Green. Definitely green. “I’d be terrible at it. I’ve got no training at all.”

He couldn’t help shaking his head. With those looks and that insane calm in a situation that would make anyone else run for cover, he imagined she’d do just fine. “What do you have training in?”

“You know what? I’m getting chilly. So, we’ll talk again, Logan...?”