Page 100 of Never Sleep with the Enemy

LOGAN

Iunlock the door and hold it open for Katrina. She slips inside, moving swiftly, her big eyes wide, her chest rising and falling with the quick cadence of her breath.

“What is this place?” she asks, glancing around as I do one last scan of the block to make sure we weren’t followed.

“Priscilla’s rental,” I say, shutting and locking the door behind us. “She’s in LA this week, but we’ve been using it as a practice space.”

“Ah,” Katrina hums. “Nice.”

I pass her by, stepping deeper inside. “Prissy?” I call out, my voice echoing through the empty house.

Katrina listens for a reply. “We alone?”

“It would appear so.” I catch the smile pulling at her lips. “Are you all right?”

“My heart’s still pounding a little,” she admits. “But I’m all right. You?”

I nod, my eyes dragging down the length of her corset. “Want me to loosen that for you?”

She inhales sharply as I step behind her. “Actually, yeah. If you don’t mind.”

I untangle a few of the laces in the back. “That better?”

She takes a slow, deliberate breath, the biggest one she’s probably taken in hours, and exhales.“Yes.Thank you.”

I stay close, letting my hands drift down the bare planes of her shoulders, feeling the warmth of her skin. She tilts her head at just the right angle—an invitation, if I wanted it.

Katrina swallows hard. “So, uh... does Priscilla have anything to drink around here?”

I let my fingers slide down the length of her arm, then take her hand. “Let’s go look.”

We move through the foyer, past the scattered living room furniture and the instruments still set up in the center of the room. Her heels click loudly on the kitchen tile, but as soon as we step inside, she kicks them off with a sigh.

“Finally,”she mutters to herself.

I chuckle and open the fridge. Not much inside. A couple of water bottles. An open ginger ale. And... that’s about it. I grab the two bottles of water, handing one to Katrina.

“Yes,” she says, accepting it. “Proper hydration.”

I watch her as she twists off the cap. As she brings the bottle to her lips. As she gulps it down.

As she realizes I’m staring.

“What?” she asks, wiping the excess moisture from her mouth.

“Nothing, just...” I hesitate, caught in the moment, giving myself one last goddamn second to come clean. But the second passes, and I smirk instead. “You look beautiful tonight.”

Katrina narrows her eyes playfully. “Earlier, you said I looked stunning.”

“Would beautiful be an upgrade or a downgrade from stunning?” I ask as I peel my jacket off and drop it on the counter.

“I don’t know,” she muses. “We should test them.”

She straightens, standing taller, her chest pushing forward in a way that makes it damn near impossible not to stare.

“Logan, you look stunning,” she says.

I grin.

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