At the sound of tires crunching on the gravel drive, Vivian hurried to the window, her lips curving into a smile as she watched Logan’s old truck come driving up. Moving to the kitchen door to help him with the groceries, she watched as he came in, several bags in his hands.

“Is there more?” she asked, moving to go outside.

He caught her arm, gently halting her progress. “I got it, Viv. Stay in where it’s warm.” He kissed the top of her head as he moved past, heading back to the truck. Re-entering, he brought a six-pack of beer and a bottle of wine. “Got you some Reisling. Know you like sweet white.”

Grinning at his memory, she said, “Go take a load off. I’ve been on my ass all day while working. I’ll get the pizza in the oven in just a bit.”

With a nod, he stalked toward the bedroom and she busied herself with dinner. Half an hour later the pizza went into the oven and she realized he was still in the back of the house. Walking around the counter, she headed down the hall. His door was shut but hers stood open a crack. Peering in, she startled, seeing two twin bedframes stacked up against the wall.

“Logan! What are you doing? Can I come in?”

The door swung open just as her hand was reaching for the doorknob. His large body filled the doorway and any thoughts of what he was doing bolted from her mind. He had changed into sweat pants, hanging low on his hips, his bare feet peeking out from the bottom. With a clean, white t-shirt straining over the muscles in his biceps and chest, she stared, speechless.

Logan felt her gaze as it roved from the top of his head to his feet and back again, her mouth hanging open and eyes wide. Reaching above his head, he placed his hands on the top of the doorframe, drawing her focus to his massive arms. Grinning, he asked, “Like what you see?”

She blinked out of her trance and, blushing, replied, “You know I do.”

He liked that there was no artifice with Vivian. No playing. Just honesty. “So, curious about what I’m doing?”

“Uh…yeah,” she laughed. “Why have you put the bedframes in my room?”

“‘Cause it’s not your room anymore.” Stepping back, he stood to the side, allowing her to see into the room.

Vivian’s eyes landed on the way he had arranged the bedding. He had gotten rid of the frames and placed the two twin box springs side by side on the floor, topped with the two mattresses, essentially creating a king-sized bed. With their combined blankets and pillows, she gasped at the perfect bed. Jerking her gaze up to his, her brow furrowed with uncertainty.

Stepping up to her, his chest a breath away from hers, he cupped her face in his hands, lifting it slightly so her eyes were locked onto his. “This takes away all doubt in your mind as to where I want you to sleep. The room hasn’t got a lot of space, so the bed has to be pushed up against the corner but, if you need to go to the bathroom, you can just crawl right over me.”

Smiling, she said, “I could sleep on the outside—”

“Nope, Viv. It’s protection. I sleep closest to the door. No one can get to you unless they go through me…and no one can get through me.”

“Oh…”

Leaning down the rest of the way, his lips moved across hers, whisper soft. “Babe,” he said, his mouth moving over her lips as he spoke, “we got time to initiate the new bed arrangement?”

“Pizza’ll be ready in fifteen minutes,” she mumbled against his onslaught, seemingly not caring if they ate pizza or not.

“That’ll do,” he said, lowering her to the mattresses.

* * *

“So, besides whatever they are concocting over there, it appears a love triangle might be happening.”

While the pizza was being devoured, Logan listened intently to Vivian as she described what she had learned. “Huh?” Pausing mid-bite, he waited for her explanation.

“It seems Nafisa has eyes for Rashad, who doesn’t pay attention to her, but Malik has his attention on Nafisa.” Suddenly, her eyes lost their sparkle when she added, “And I don’t think Farrah has a very good life. Akram acts like an asshole to her. She mostly cooks, cleans, and watches some old shows on a tiny TV in the kitchen.”

“What is he doing?”

“He’s on his laptop almost all the time.”

Nodding, he said, “I’ve been monitoring him, but so far it’s nothing important to us. He sets up meetings for the campus groups which is, actually, how he first got noticed by the FBI and DHS. Hell, who knows how long the CIA has had him on one of their watch lists. From now on, you can just focus on the lab. You’ll need to let me know as soon as I can get in there and tell me what to snatch.”

Swallowing the cheesy goodness, Vivian agreed, “I made serious headway today. Hopefully tomorrow will give me even more. I just wish I could see what they brought in today.”

“Any ideas yet?”

“There’s no way what they are dealing with is lethal.” She watched as he held her eyes, his undivided interest evident. “They only need to wreak havoc…cause chaos. Overwhelm a medical system, including doctors as well as hospitals and pharmaceutical companies. People can even be exposed, not know it, have no symptoms for a while, and then travel to spread the infections. And it can come slowly, giving the instigators time to introduce the bioterrorism agent into food or water and then disappear.”

“And that’s where I come in.”

Nodding, she smiled. “Yep. You can arrest them and turn them over to the proper authorities. Oh, that sounds good…just like in the movies.”

Logan swallowed ineffectively, the bite of pizza stuck in his throat. There would be no arrest. No trial. He alone was tasked with eliminating the threat. But no way in hell can Viv ever know that.

Patting him on the back, she frowned in concern. “Hey, are you okay? Did you swallow it wrong?”

Choking down the bite, he took the drink she held out. Finally, clearing his throat, he nodded. “Thanks. Sorry about that.”

“I suppose what we’re talking about is hardly a topic for dinner conversation.”

“My fault,” he said. “I’m the one who asked. Let’s take our drinks into the living room.” Standing, he placed the pizza plates into the sink and grabbed another beer. Refilling her wine glass, he followed her to the sofa, sitting next to her.

She twisted her body so that they were close but she was facing him. Taking a sip of wine, she smiled. “What else do you want to know?”

“So, back to what they’re cooking up. Right now, does it looks like I would be safe going in soon?”

Leaning back, Vivian tapped her nail on her wine glass as she thought. Hesitating, she opened her mouth then closed it.

“Come on, spit it out.”

Looking down at her hands, she said, “It would be so much better if I could go in and—”

“Not happening,” he growled. “Jesus, Viv. Don’t you get how dangerous these people are?”

She rolled her eyes, “Of course I do. I didn’t say I was going in. I’m just terrified of telling you the wrong thing and something happening to you—”

Pulling her closer, he said, “Not gonna happen. You’ll keep watching until you have a better idea of what we might be dealing with. Then, and only then, I’ll go in and get what you need. And we won’t do that until you instruct me on what to get and how to get it. Okay?”

“Okay,” she agreed, knowing that, at that moment, staring into his stormy eyes, she would agree to anything. And that thought scared her.