Page 10 of Frequency of Attraction

After the meeting, Elle held him back. She flicked her eyes up at the whiteboard covered in hospitality ideas. “What would you want as a first-timer in space? Whatdoyou want from that experience? You’re the perfect person to ask.”

Vadim nodded, trying to formulate a response that wouldn’t hurt her feelings. Elle loved his friend, after all, and had brought him cookies his first night in his new apartment. He pointed at the whiteboard. “This is all very nice, but these ideas aren’t for someone like me. To me, only the location matters. I just want to be up there. The experience, as you are calling it, is for people like Tate and Quinn. Do you know why people like them want to go to space?”

Elle frowned.“Because they can?”

“Right. But for me, and I expect for the lottery winners OrbitAll will be hosting, we want to go because wecan’t. For us, the quality of the welcome basket or the smell of Stratos’ cabin will have little bearing on an experience we’ve always been afraid to want too badly.”

Elle’s face crumpled, like his words had hurt her heart.

“Not to minimize what you’re doing, Elle. Your level of detail shows how much you care.”

“No, you’re right,” she sniffed. She seemed to be full of emotion, this woman. She’d been sniffling when she’d dropped off cookies, as well. “I think I needed to be reminded that being in space is the main event. Everything else is just—”

“Think about it like this. I care about the destination. You care about the journey. For anything that matters, you need to pay attention to both.”

She smiled. “Vadim, I think we’re going to make a great team.”

7

For the next week, Quinn found it impossible to avoid Vadim. The location of her office, the sheer number of meetings they attended together, and now even her damn parking spot all seemed to be working against her.

She frowned as Vadim roared by her in an obvious rental, driving way too fast for proper parking lot etiquette. The black muscle car, a Dodge, rustled her skirt as he flew by. He chose an open spot close to the hangar door that was usually reserved for guests.

Quinn unloaded her bags from the trunk and slung them over her shoulder, feeling the familiar ache in her neck from the multiple heavy devices. She shifted her shoulders but the pain didn’t ease. She heard Vadim exit his car, speaking loudly in Russian. The man had no volume control. A quick glance showed he was on the phone, headset plugged in. Black to match his car and outfit.

She ground her teeth together, annoyed at how good he looked in black. Her initial short-circuited reaction to him had not been a one-off situation. Every time she saw him, each time Vadim was near, every inch of her felt his proximity. She strode toward the hangar, frowning as he ended his call and fell into step beside her.

Her watch vibrated, but she didn’t check it.

“Good morning, Quinn.”

Her step hitched. He had never used her name before. The single syllable rolled on his tongue like bodies on a bed. Heat blossomed on her skin that had nothing to do with their desert location.

“Warm today,” she rasped, in case he noticed. He seemed to notice everything. One of his many irritating qualities.

“Hot as hell,” he agreed, still in step beside her.

Quinn scowled. “Are you ever going to let me forget I said that?”

“No.”

She opened her mouth to admonish him, but her body was suddenly lighter, unburdened. Vadim had lifted the bags from her shoulders. The gesture, his closeness, bounced around her body lighting fires.

See? Annoying.

Inside, he followed Quinn to her office and deposited the bags on her desk.

“Thank you.” The words took effort.

“Still think I’m annoying?”

Quinn snorted. One good deed did not erase a week of his teasing. Of lost sleep and lascivious dreams. Or the flashes of heat, of longing, that sprang to life whenever he was near. Vadim was dangerous. But he was also dedicated. She couldn’t fault his work ethic or intelligence. She’d seen him studying like his life depended on it and heard him use their lingo like he’d always been part of OrbitAll.

“Absolument.” Yes, he was still annoying.

“Good.”

That dark chuckle certainly wouldn’t change her mind. Damn that sexy Russian.

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