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Fogle Towers. The next morning.
The sun had just started to break through the morning fog, when Logan slid over to the picture window, his coffee cup in his lap. When he had turned on the computer, the Cale shipping schedule was still up on the screen and it stared at him, daring him to go after the kidnapped girl.
"Oh, damn it. The worst Max can do is say no!" Logan spun away from the window, sliding his coffee cup onto the counter. Throwing his jacket onto his lap, he grabbed the keys and made his way to the elevator. Pulling out of the garage, he pointed the car towards Max and Kendra's apartment. .
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Streets of Seattle.
Max pedaled on, having already finished five deliveries that morning. Normal seemed bent on giving her more assignments than everyone else to make up for the shift she had missed the previous day, when she had been trying to rescue Matt and Logan. She definitely wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of seeing her give up. But her mind wasn't really on delivering packages.
She couldn't get the missing girl out of her head. Her heart went out to the girl and her family, but she didn't see how they were going to get her back. Her Manticore training told her that she had no business doing an 'op in a foreign country by herself without local support or local contacts. Her gut told her that it wouldn't be an option for Logan to go to Thailand either. His confidence had been shaken by his encounter with Bronck. No, Logan probably wasn't going to wander too far from home right now, even if he wanted to rescue the girl too.
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Max and Kendra's apartment.
Logan hit the button in the elevator a few extra times for good measure, hoping to get to Max and Kendra's front door before he lost his nerve. By the time he sat outside their door, waiting for someone to answer his knock, he could hear his own heart pounding in his ears.
The door was ajar and he pushed it open with a squeak.
"Would you be needing any foreplay? Maybe a little morning pick me up? Perhaps you prefer the hot caffeinated kind? Or shall we skip ahead to the main course?" came Kendra's sultry voice from inside the apartment.
"I think the caffeinated kind will be fine. It's Logan, Kendra," he said, coming into the apartment.
"Oh." Kendra appeared in the doorway of her bedroom, tucking the belt of her short pink robe into a knot. She looked surprised, but only raised one perfect eyebrow in a question mark. Her pale face betrayed nothing as she sat down on one of the barstools. It took a lot more than an unexpected visitor to make Kendra blush.
"Max isn't here. Been gone for four hours already. Normal said he'd have her head if she didn't get in extra early today. She said she might come back for lunch, though."
Logan looked up at Kendra. Max's roommate might not be embarrassed at being caught a bit underdressed, but Logan felt his own ears warm a few degrees. Since he had landed in the chair five months ago, Logan hadn't felt quite comfortable in his own skin. And it seemed that other people didn't feel comfortable with him either. Okay, maybe it wasn't that bad. Maybe it was all in his head. Still, he had no problem feeling the heat from Kendra. The look she gave him seemed to say that he was a man worth having and for that, he was flattered and a little grateful.
"Since you're here anyway, might as well have a cup of Joe. One of my students pays me in fresh ground, so it's our little slice of heaven."
"Sounds good. What else are you cooking? It doesn't smell like you're just making coffee in here," Logan crossed over to the tiny kitchen. "Smells a lot like the Pasta Tricolore I missed the other night."
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Kendra countered, finally reddening a little. "I just thought I'd heat up a little of the sauce that Max made the other night, since you didn't eat it.
"Is that right?" Logan answered, pushing up to the stove.
Kendra took the sauce off the stove to show Logan and offered him a spoonful.
"It really was good," she added. You missed out. She was pissed, you know."
"Believe, me. I know." Logan handed back the spoon, dripping a spot on the floor.
"Oh. Sorry."
"I got it," Kendra bent to wipe up the drip as Logan rolled smoothly forward to put the full pot back on the stove.
"Hey, quit it. What's the idea?" Kendra looked up at Logan. The trim of her robe had somehow gotten tangled in the wheel of his chair. He backed up to try to release it, but the sheer fabric wrapped further around the axel.
"Oh great," Kendra said, starting to remove her robe, exposing one bare shoulder.
"Whoa! What are you doing?" Logan pulled the robe back up around Kendra's neck, bending over the wheel trying to free the stubborn fabric. "Give me a little more slack. I can get it out."
"You're going to rip it, you know." Kendra knelt on the floor at Logan's feet now, lithely flipping around to face him now, her head almost in his lap. Her robe threatened to open again, exposing what Logan was quite sure would be a nude Kendra underneath.
"Oh, hell. You're going to have to get closer." Logan fiddled with the delicate fabric.
Trying to get a better look at the wheel, Kendra rose up on her knees…and bumped heads with Logan.
"Ow, watch what you're doing!" Logan looked up at Kendra, his glasses askew. She took one look at him and dissolved into a fit of giggles. Logan found himself smiling too. He reached down to pull up the robe, which was still sliding down her arm. He felt his gaze sliding south down her outstretched arm and forced his eyes elsewhere…anywhere.
Logan straightened his glasses and looked up. Kendra's laughter had fizzled out. Max stood in the doorway, looking at them both. Kendra tried to stand up, but nearly fell over as her robe, still caught in Logan's chair, brought her up short.
Max stared at them for another second, her face inscrutable. Then, she turned on her heel and walked toward the door.
"Wait! Max! Come on, please!" Kendra called after her.
Max left the apartment, closing the door softly behind her.
"Oh, for Pete's sake, this is ridiculous!" Kendra muttered. "I give up."
And with that, Kendra flung aside the robe and strode into her room, slamming the door. Logan had been too shocked to avert his eyes, so he was able to confirm that, indeed, Kendra was not wearing anything under her robe.
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Less than a minute later, Kendra emerged from the bedroom, now clad in a yellow kimono. She continued the conversation where she had left off.
"I can't believe that happened, Logan. You're just going to have to explain everything to Max. I have never been caught with my hand in the cookie jar, holding a friend's cookie. I don't intend to start now. Never a friend's cookie. Maybe an enemy's, but never a friend's."
"Kendra, she's not my cookie. And she isn't mad at you, I don't even know why she'd be upset. If you insist, I'll page her and make sure everything's okay." Logan wheeled around and headed for the door. "I told you, we're not like that. She just doesn't see me like that."
Logan spun around quickly and headed out. Kendra touched his shoulder, stopping him on his way to the door.
"She sees you like that. I've spent a total of 15 minutes with you and it's crossed my mind that you'd be worth a few moves. So, I guarantee you that Max is spending all those nights exchanging moves with you, but she isn't just thinking about chess..
It was Logan's turn to blush hotly again. Two quick pushes brought him back out into the hallway. He breathed a sigh of relief as the door slammed behind him.
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