It was as if someone had opened an oven door right in front of me. The wave of heat licked every exposed inch of flesh, from my bare shoulders to my arms to my legs. The heat throbbed and then started to pulse, burning through the fabric of my dress to the skin beneath. I couldn’t seem to draw a breath, the room’s air suddenly desert-dry in my throat. The warmth seemed to slide around my breasts, underneath and then over the top, stroking my nipples in an elegant caress.
Some men undress you with their eyes; Luka was full-on groping me with his. Our gazes were locked together—he seemed as unable to look away as I was. The heat was rising and scalding inside me, destroying every coherent thought. Between my thighs I could feel the arousal tighten and turn to slick moisture. Another few seconds and I’m going to melt right into my chair.
Then Roberta’s voice, right in my ear. “Focus!”
I jerked and tore my gaze away. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Luka stare at me for one more beat of my heart...and then finally look away.
Roberta knew. She’d seen me on the security cameras, staring at Luka like some lovesick puppy. She was too kind to ask me what the hell I was doing—she’d just snapped me back to reality. I owe her one. Did Adam notice? Maybe not. Maybe it was the sort of thing only another woman would pick up on.
Maybe I could still pull this thing off.
Luka was marching out of the room. When he passed through the doorway, the whole room seemed to take a breath. I drew in a long, shuddering gasp myself and it felt like the first one I’d taken in minutes. Under the dress, my breasts still throbbed with remembered heat.
Next to me, Karen started to say something and then shook her head and stayed quiet. Clearly, she’d been affected by him a little, too.
She started to play and, after a few seconds, the rest of us did, too.
***
We played our first set and it went well. I wasn’t up to the standard of the others, but we were playing simple, well-known classics and I got through it with only a few mistakes. The others were friendly and sympathetic. I liked them.
All I could think about, though, was Luka.
As the party got started, he returned, tie now neatly in place. The fastened shirt didn’t do anything to hide the strong lines of his chest, though. Even with his jacket on, you could see the thickness of his upper arms and the solid sweep of his back, so wide from shoulder to shoulder. I kept my eyes off of him, except when he was looking completely the other way and I thought I could risk it. A couple of times, when he looked round and I was too slow to glance away, I could feel...something. Something dark and thick in the air between us, shot through with bright flashes. My whole body trembled like a magnet whose opposite is nearby.
I looked, very firmly, at my sheet music until the danger had passed.
After an hour, Karen put down her bow, rubbed her wrists and said we should take our break. We all stood. The two guys wandered off, probably in search of free wine. Karen pulled out a cell phone and went out into the hallway. That left me in the living room with about ten guests.
“Now,” said Adam in my earpiece.
I walked through to the hallway, trying to look as if I was just wandering and not really going anywhere in particular. On the way out of the living room, I nudged the door with my hip and then stepped through before it slowly closed, giving me privacy. The hallway was chilly—every time a guest arrived, the freezing night air rushed in. No one was hanging around out here. The bodyguard was still standing stoically at the top of the stairs but the door to the office was out of his line of sight. As long as no new guests showed up for a few minutes, it was just me and Karen.
I moved casually in front of the office door and then leaned back against it. Just an accidental push on the handle with my ass and I felt it swing silently open behind me. I took a deep breath. Karen had wrapped her arms around her against the cold and was turned away from me, trying to have a private conversation with someone—probably a boyfriend. Perfect. I figured I’d quickly step inside, slap the bug on the laptop and be back in the hallway in no more than five seconds.
I turned and took a single step into the office...and stopped.
Where was the laptop?!
I’d assumed it would be out and set up, but the desk was bare.
I reversed course into the hallway and pressed my back against the wall. Eyes squeezed shut, I stared at the after-image of the office in my mind. No laptop case on the floor. Nothing on the shelves but books. Unless it was actually hidden away in a safe or something, it wasn’t there.
“No, Connor,” Karen sounded embarrassed and yet turned on. “I am definitely not getting any more piercings. Especially not there.”
I knew I didn’t have to say anything. I knew Adam would be watching me through the security cameras. I found the one in the hallway, looked up into it and gave a firm shake of my head.
“Shit!” said Adam. “He must have taken it upstairs with him.” He let out a long sigh and I heard him rubbing the back of his neck. “There’s nothing you can do. Play the second set and then come on out and we’ll pick you up.”
As I walked back into the living room, I almost felt like crying. All that time and planning, all that practicing the violin, Roberta and Adam brought hundreds of miles from Virginia, all for nothing. My very first shot at a field op and it was a complete bust.