Thin Ice

by Maryann Jordan

  “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.

  19

  Logan watched the couple climb out of the small airplane and listened to them as they excitedly talked about the scenery they had viewed. They thanked the pilot and he could not help but grin, thinking of the number of trips he had done, just like that. He recognized it wasn’t a bad gig, but the rescues were more challenging, as well as rewarding.

  Turning the wrench, he tightened the last bolt and glanced at his watch, wondering how Vivian was doing. His thoughts turned to her often and, even with all his SEAL training, he seemed unable to call a halt to her entering his mind constantly.

  Grinning, he thought of their new sleeping arrangement. They might have to contend with the dip where the two mattresses were pushed together, but they slept much more comfortably. Hell, the sex was better not being afraid of breaking the bed. So far, they had spent the past week curled in each other’s arms after making love long into the night. Sex with Vivian had surpassed anything he had ever encountered. Sweet sex. Fun sex. Adventurous sex. Wild sex paired with soft kisses. Damn.

  “Hey Preacher!”

  Looking up, he saw Iggie standing next to Oscar. Waving, he tossed his wrench and walked over. Shaking hands, he asked, “What are you doing over here?”

  “I promised Sadie I’d take her on a trip for our anniversary and heard some folks in the bar talking about going up to a lodge in Nome that’s supposed to be fuckin’ gorgeous.”

  “Sounds nice.”

  Iggie dropped his chin and stared at his boots for a moment, before adding, “We can’t be away from the Saloon too long. I was just going to take her for a night…but, uh…it’s kind of a long drive.”

  He grinned and crossed his arms over his chest. “You looking to fly?”

  “Well, I was hoping you could take us in your helicopter.”

  “You don’t want a plane—”

  “Nah. Sadie, she doesn’t care much for flying and I was hoping that maybe you and Vivian would come with us. You two being newlyweds and all…figured you’d like a nice night out.”

  “When are you thinking about going?”

  “This weekend—”

  “Hell, man. You don’t plan too far ahead, do you?” he laughed, shaking his head. Dropping his chin for a moment, he stared at his boots, the guilt of mixing work with pleasure having never occurred in his careers. The chance to give Vivian a night in a nice lodge, on a real bed that didn’t separate when they turned over… He knew the Zamans would observe their Holy day and the others would not be coming for a visit, making it a perfect day for Viv to have a real chance to get away for a break. It’s just one night.

  He uncrossed his arms, placing his hands on his hips. Glancing at Oscar, he caught the man’s nod, and stuck out his hand toward Iggie. “Well, all right. Looks like we’re taking a trip this weekend.”

  The relief on Iggie’s face was palpable as he shook his hand. “Oh, man, you’ve just made me and Sadie so happy. I thought we’d leave early Saturday morning, get there, get checked in. There are hot springs nearby and we’d have most of the afternoon, evening and then that night. Sadie’s brother can watch the bar on Saturday night and then we’ll be back on Sunday.”

  Chuckling, he said, “Sounds like you’ve got it planned.”

  Turning to walk away, Iggie said, “Uh, do you think Vivian will want to go?”

  For a moment, he thought of her during the past week, each day bent over the laptop, observing the neighbors and taking meticulous notes. Nodding, he said, “Oh yeah. Viv’ll be up for the trip.”

  “Are you crazy?”

  Logan looked on as Vivian stood in the middle of the living room, her hands on her hips, her eyes wide and her mouth definitely not in a smile. Not knowing how to answer her rhetorical questions, he said, “Uh…”

  “Logan! Spending the weekend, in close contact, with another married couple who think that we’re married? How the hell are we going to pull that off?”

  His shoulders relaxed as his mouth quirked up. “Viv, we got this. It’s easy. Fly there, spend time by ourselves, have a great night in a lodge in a bed that isn’t on the floor with a dip in the middle, and fly back. Babe, it’s no problem.” Thinking his words would soothe, he stepped back a half foot when she rounded on him, her hands now waving in the air.

  “No problem? Oh, my God! Logan, this is not about sex! How can you even think a
bout sex when most of the weekend we’ll be trying not to screw up our cover!”

  Wisely deciding to not tell her how he could be thinking about sex, he remained quiet as she began to pace across the floor, her hands once more waving about.

  “This isn’t about us having a whoop-de-doo weekend, Logan. We’ll be stuck in your helicopter for about four hours each way. What will we talk about? Huh? How do we sound like a married couple?”

  Walking toward her, he reached out to place his hands on her shoulders to still her pacing, but she ducked away and continued her rant.

  “I don’t know you! I don’t even know where you’re from. I don’t know your parents’ names, much less anything about them. Or if they’re even alive…” Swirling around suddenly, her face scrunched as a frown settled on her features. “Oh…are they alive?”

  “Yeah, babe. They’re alive—”

  Relief flooded her face as she said, “Thank God. But see? I didn’t even know that!”

  “We can pull this off. We don’t leave for another two days. We’ve got time to learn about each other,” he cajoled. Grinning as he stepped forward, he added, “We’ve spent a lot of time together in the past two weeks.”

  She stepped backward, the back of her knees hitting the coffee table and her body stiffening. “You’re kidding, right? Logan, I hate to break it to you, but a week of sex hardly makes us a couple. It takes a helluva lot more than great sex, and a lot of it, to be able to be a couple.”

  Staring into his eyes, which had morphed from bluish to stormy grey, Vivian felt her body quiver.

  “What the fuck are you saying, Viv? That what we have isn’t real? Doesn’t mean something?”

  Letting out a shaky breath, she shook her head slightly. “I don’t know. I don’t know what we have. We haven’t exactly talked about what’s going on between us. We talk about the job. We talk about the neighbors. We talk about what we’re going to fix for dinner. And we have sex.” Wrapping her arms around her middle, she sucked in her lips, blinking rapidly as the sting of tears hit the back of her eyes. Not even knowing why she was upset, she felt foolish for her rant.

  Reaching out, Logan pulled her gently to him, feeling the tension in her body. Saying nothing, he hoped his body would offer her the solace she needed. After several minutes, he felt her relax slightly, her breath leaving her chest in a long sigh.

  “I’m sorry,” she mumbled, her face buried in his t-shirt.

  “I’m the one who’s sorry,” he admitted. “First, for leaving you here in the house for so long. And second, for not realizing you…well, us…we need more.”

  “More what?”

  “More understanding of what we’re becoming.”

  She leaned her head back and asked, “When you were a SEAL, did you have to spend days or weeks cooped up, planning, analyzing, being bored until the mission finally came to fruition?”

  Chuckling, he nodded. “You just described it perfectly. Everyone thinks we ran around with special weapons all the time, raiding buildings, rescuing whoever the fuck needed it. Taking down the enemy, whoever the fuck it was at the time.”

  Vivian watched as his eyes moved from hers to someplace over her head. She licked her dry lips, watching him swallow several times.

  “But what no one ever saw were the endless days of planning, or sometimes just waiting…desert, jungle, mountains. Wherever. Just waiting until we could strike.”

  “Sometimes I feel so out of my element here,” she confessed. “I’m used to a desk job in the lab. Get samples, run tests, analyze the results. Wash, rinse, repeat. I thought I’d like an assignment working in the field, but…” Her voice trailed off, uncertainty filling her words.

  “But you didn’t count on us,” he supplied.

  She nodded against his broad chest, loving the way his body gave off such heat that the warmth penetrated deep inside.

  “Listen, we’ll work on getting to know each other better, which isn’t just for the trip. I want to know more about you. I’m interested in everything there is to know. We just have to focus on what we are doing here so much, that it doesn’t leave a lot of time for anything else.” He watched her eyes narrow and quickly amended, “Well, okay. We did have time for sex.” Breathing a sigh of relief as her lips curved slightly, he added, “But, Viv, I thought I’d made it clear that this wasn’t just a fling.”

  Nodding, she said, “I know. You did. I guess I just can’t quite wrap my head around what it is.”

  “Let’s not worry about labels right now. Let’s get to know each other. Kind of a crash course in Logan and Viv.”

  Barking a laugh, she asked, “Crash course?” Sighing, she nodded, “Yeah, you’re right. That should do to get us through the weekend.”

  “You know,” he added, “a day in a lodge with a hot spring isn’t the worst way to spend the weekend.”

  Her smile was her only response, but as he gave her a squeeze and walked back into the kitchen, she thought if she lost her heart to him and he did not feel the same, the memory of the weekend might kill her.

  20

  “Where do you want to start?”

  Deciding to get comfortable while learning about each other, Logan lay sprawled on the bed, his back on the pillows piled against the wall. Vivian sat crossed legged, her feet tucked up underneath her and, with her back against the other wall, she faced him.

  Thinking for a moment, she said, “I guess with basics.”

  “Thirty-three.”

  “Huh?”

  Chuckling, he gently tapped his toes on her knees. “How old I am…thirty-three.”

  “Oh. Right. Uh, I’m twenty-eight.”

  Nodding, he watched her lips quirk as she stifled a grin.

  Pursing his lips, he narrowed his eyes. “Now what?”

  “Sorry,” she chuckled again. “It just struck me that we were of a compatible age.”

  Arching an eyebrow, he repeated, “Compatible age?”

  “Yeah, I’m not living with some old man and you’re not robbing the cradle.”

  “You’re impossible,” he grumbled.

  “Then you’re a dirty old man!”

  Lifting his toes, he dug them into her waist, finding her tickle spot easily. Screeching, she grabbed his foot, jerking it away while lifting it as high as she could.

  “Hah, got you,” she declared proudly.

  With a deft flip, he twisted his body so that his foot was no longer in her hand and he was straddling her body, her legs trapped by his much larger ones on either side and her hand held tight above her head.

  “Who’s got who?” he grinned, leaning down to place a kiss on her nose.

  Vivian struggled to knock him off, but only managed to become more entrapped. She watched, horrified as his free hand snuck down toward her stomach, his fingers wiggling. “Who’s an old man?”

  “Not you, not you! I promise, not you!”

  Moving his mouth to hers, Logan kissed her, hard and fast, knowing anything more would have them getting to know each other naked with him inside of her. And as much as he wanted that, he also knew they needed this time. Swinging one leg over, he helped her sit up, but this time settled her closer to him so that they were still facing each other, but her body was much nearer.

  “I guess it wouldn’t take much torture to get me to talk, would it?”

  “‘Fraid you wouldn’t make it as a SEAL, babe, but I like you just the way you are. Squeamish tickling and all.”

  They sat silent for a moment before he asked, “Why don’t you tell me about your family?”

  The immediate smile on her face let him know he had chosen wisely.

  “You already know about my grandparents. My mom grew up in tiny Tanana, and went to the University of Alaska in Fairbanks. There she met my dad. He was a geologist, working for an oil company. He believed firmly in preserving all of Alaska’s beauty and his job was to work to find ways to mine without damaging the landscape. Mom was an education major. It was her passion to teach. Onc
e they met, they never dated anyone else. It was love for them…right away.”

  Smiling at her recounting, he asked, “Did they stay in Alaska long?”

  “For a while. I was actually born in Fairbanks, about two years after they married. But, much to my grandparents’ sadness, Dad got transferred to the Redding office in California. I don’t have any brothers or sisters, so it was just me and my parents. I finished school there, went to get my undergraduate degree in Biochemistry close by at California State University, Chico. From there, I got hired by the Department of Homeland Security. That was fabulous, because they paid for me to continue my education with Dr. Kendall Rhodes—the woman you rescued when her plane crashed.”

  “Well, she was truly rescued by a friend, Marc Jenkins, who works for a security company out of Virginia. When they got caught in a storm, I managed to get a helicopter in to get them both, with some of the other men from the Saints.”

  “Saints?”

  “That’s the name of the company. Saints Protection and Investigations.”

  “Wow…that’s impressive.” Shaking her head, “I keep wondering why on earth I took this assignment since I don’t know how to do any of this kind of work.”

  “I think you were right, Viv, when you said you were chosen because you have the training for the substance analysis and the heritage that allows you to fit in easily.”

  Vivian focused on his eyes, the color holding her captive once again. Blurting, “You’ve got the prettiest eyes I’ve ever seen on anyone,” she blushed and then moaned. “God, I can’t believe I just said that. I sounded more like fifteen than twenty-eight—”

  “No way, babe,” Logan said, leaning forward to take her hand in his, rubbing his thumb over her delicate fingers. “That was…nice.” Wishing he could have come up with a better description, he realized how out of practice he was with dating…flirting…hell, just having a heart to heart talk with a beautiful woman.

  “So, tell me about California,” he encouraged.

  “I know this sounds so typical, but I love the sun. That’s why Alaska would never work for me…the change in sunrises and sunsets would kill me. Part of the year, they have only four hours of daylight, and others, only four hours of darkness. I could handle the daylight.” She pointed up to the curtain. “That’s why most places have room-darkening shades. If it’s light outside, you can make it dark inside. But if it’s dark outside…ugh. Lamps just don’t seem like sunlight.” She watched him lean back, the grin on his face warming her as she realized she had slid off topic again. “Sorry, I got sidetracked by talk of sunshine. Anyway, I’ve been working out of the Sacramento office for the past four years.”