One Sizzling Night. Jo Leigh

No. It was fine, although I might’ve avoided meeting him wearing only a towel.”

      “I don’t know how you managed to stay so calm. I would’ve just died.” Sam’s cheeks reddened. “Of course I don’t look like you.”

      “Stop it.” Kensey shook her head. “Don’t underestimate yourself. Oh, and speaking of looks, you couldn’t have warned me that Logan is hotter than hell?”

      “I guess I’ve known him too long. He just looks like Logan to me. One of my college buddies. But yeah, all the girls back at MIT loved him.” Sam wrinkled her nose. “Huh. Now that I think about it, all the guys I hung out with were pretty good looking.”

      “Now that you think about it?” Kensey laughed. “Did you ever look away from your computer?” But what did she know? She had no friends at all, except Neil. She’d always been so worried about guarding her past that she hadn’t exactly welcomed new people into her life.

      Well, after this week, maybe she’d make some friends with her fellow inmates at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility.

      “Yeah, a group of us hung out. I was the only computer geek. Logan studied political science, forensics and languages. He speaks four. Anyway, our friendship was mostly accidental but it turned out to be one of the best parts of university life for me.”

      Kensey started to ask which languages, but thought better of it. She couldn’t think of Logan as anything but a temporary roommate. In fact, she couldn’t afford to think about him at all, so she changed the subject. “The body sensors you mentioned yesterday...that’s what’s causing the walls to change color, right?”

      Sam nodded. “They’re heat, movement and tone sensors that can pick up if you’re having a rough night’s sleep and cue up something soothing to listen to. Or if you’re anxious, they’ll surround you in calming colors, scents and sounds,” she said patiently, though there seemed to be a lot of activity buzzing around her. “I’m sorry. This week is kind of hectic.”

      “It’s fine, Sam. Really. I’ll figure things out. Thanks,” Kensey said. “For everything.”

      “Listen, I want you to know if you need anything, you can reach me pretty much all the time. Even if I’m at the exhibition hall. I promise we’ll meet in person at some point.”

      “I look forward to it.”

      “Me, too.” Sam smiled and disappeared, leaving the wall just a wall.

      Except it wasn’t just a wall—it could read her moods. It was all so crazy. She would’ve loved being here under different circumstances. And Logan with those sexy hazel eyes? Under different circumstances, she would’ve loved meeting him.

      Sharing the apartment would have been much easier if he’d been unattractive. And meeting him for the first time while she was wearing only a towel? Fantastic. At least they wouldn’t have much interaction this evening. She had to get ready to crash Holstrom’s reception at the Mandarin Oriental.

      Kensey flipped on the light and walked into the large closet, a nice hint of cedar rising from the floor. She hadn’t noticed the scent before. Probably because she’d hung everything as quickly as she’d grabbed and purchased the clothes a few hours ago.

      She looked at the long row of clothing: dresses, skirts, blouses, pants. All of it gorgeous. And sexy. Way sexier than anything she normally wore. But then, these were costumes. More expensive than anything she’d ever owned, and integral to the character she was about to play.

      She’d been worried, at first, after she’d done a bit more research about Holstrom, that she wouldn’t be able to get his attention. From what she’d read, he didn’t seem to go for tall blondes, but that wasn’t enough to dissuade her. She knew he loved being the center of attention, and, tonight, she would bring that to him in spades. Then, after he was hooked like a trout, she would vanish into the night.

      And come back here to have her coronary in private.

      She decided she would go with the beautiful flowing number by Donna Karan for tonight’s party. The dress was the color of turmeric and clay, strapless and tight around her chest, with an airy, semitransparent skirt that flowed past her ankles. She hoped it was enough to get her into Holstrom’s reception and catch his eye. If he proved challenging, there were a few things she could do. The simplest of which would be to drop her small clutch at his feet. Eye contact would be easy once he picked it up for her.

      God, all this reminded her of her father. Wherever he was. Before he’d taken a runner, she and her father had lived the high life. They went to extravagant parties and ate at the best restaurants in New York City, Paris and Rome. The memories made her heart race—but not in an entirely good way. Believing she could get Holstrom to show her his secret collection had seemed easier two hundred miles away in Tarrytown. But it wasn’t as if she had much of a choice.

      After applying a good deal more makeup than usual and slicking her hair completely off her face, she checked her new dramatic look in the mirror. She decided against wearing any jewelry. It took her a minute to believe she was staring at her own reflection, and then she was ready to go, slippery clutch in hand.

      “Hey,” Logan said, as he walked down the hallway from his bedroom. “I’m going to order a pizza. Want in?”

      He blinked at her. Damn, he was good looking. The way his jeans fit him, the V of a tight waist and broad shoulders. His sun-streaked brown hair was slightly damp and slicked back. She would have loved to stick around and see if he was everything Sam claimed, but she couldn’t.

      “I’ve got someplace to be,” she said.

      He returned the toe-to-head scan. “Wow.”

      Kensey smiled. Managed to look flattered but not overly so. “Thanks. Pizza would’ve been good, though,” she said, and probably shouldn’t have. “But now, I’ve got to run.”

      “Have you ordered a taxi yet?”

      “Yes. Thanks.”

      The way his gaze moved down her body, slowly, then lingered on where the silky fabric grazed her thighs made her want to squeeze them together. If Logan’s reaction was any indication, the dress was doing its job.

      His dark brows lowered. “Did you forget—” He met her eyes, cleared his throat and looked away. “Have a good time.”

      Fairly certain she knew what he’d been about to say, she tried not to laugh. The flow of the dress was very tricky. Depending on the angle, the lighting, the motion of her body, it appeared as if she might be naked underneath the translucent fabric.

      He turned around and headed back toward his room, the walls on both sides turning varying shades of red as he hurried down the hallway.

      * * *

      THE TAXI RIDE had been good for her, a way to settle and get comfortable in her role. Logan’s reaction had helped. She knew she’d picked the perfect dress. The slight alteration she’d made to the bodice made her breasts look larger than they were. But undeniably, it was the stunning gossamer fabric and what it revealed that would help her pass the next test.

      A tall beefy man in a black suit stood at the entrance to the banquet room where Holstrom was hosting his reception. Thirtysomething, with hard features, she could tell he wasn’t an ordinary rent-a-cop. A member of Holstrom’s private security team, she imagined. This might not be as easy as she’d hoped.

      “Good evening. May I see your invitation, please?”

      Standing tall but looking at him through her eyelashes, she pretended to check inside her small clutch. She sighed with a hint of impatience, then snapped the catch shut and dipped her finger and thumb into her bodice, between her breasts.

      The man tried not to stare. But he couldn’t seem to help himself.

      Her smile turned pensive, not that he’d noticed. Interesting, because he seemed a little old and seasoned to be quite