Insider (Exodus End #1)(74)
Author: Olivia Cunning

“Hey! I bet you have a tattoo of your precious camera on your ass cheek.”

“You would be wrong,” she said, her face flaming.

“Are you willing to prove it?”

Oh lord, Dare Mills was flirting with her. Completely harmless flirting, she was sure, but still, definite flirting. First Max and now Dare. Maybe guys had always flirted with her and she’d been too dumb to realize it.

“You could ask Logan,” she said. “He’ll vouch for me.”

“What?” Dare covered his mouth, pretending utter shock. “Logan has seen your ass cheek?”

Toni drew her eyebrows together. “I think he has. I’m not sure. He spends most of our naked time staring at my boobs.”

At Dare’s unexpected bark of laughter, Toni nearly jumped out of her boots.

“I’m sure they’re an eyeful.” He lowered a pair of invisible shades to give them an appreciative look.

Toni swatted at him. “Stop. These are supposed to be serious, professional interviews.”

“I thought you were looking for the real us.”

Rattled, she lifted her notebook against her chest like a shield. “Right. That’s the idea.”

“Then you’re going about it all wrong,” he said. “Just talk to us. We don’t bite.”

She nodded, knowing he was giving her good advice, but also realizing she’d be as exposed as they were if she just talked to them. She wasn’t sure she was prepared to open herself up to the scrutiny of four worldly men.

“Unless you really do have a tattoo on your ass,” Dare said. “Then I will bite.” He made a biting motion and produced a little growl.

Toni stood abruptly and headed for the nearest exit.

“Where are you going?” Dare asked.

“To the tattoo parlor. Where else?”

He was still laughing when she entered the bathroom and shut the door.

with Logan Schmidt

When Toni returned from the bathroom, she found Logan sitting with Dare in the lounge.

Logan noticed her standing in the doorway and smiled at her. “Is it my turn now?”

“Yes, Logan. You’re next.”

“We’re already finished?” Dare asked, his green eyes wide with surprise.

“Our interview completely deteriorated. There’s no way we’ll ever get it back on track today.” She looked at Logan, who was grinning rather smugly. “I hope you’re more serious about this process than Dare was.”

She’d wager the chances of that happening were less than her chances of winning Olympic gold in the decathlon.

“I’ll try my best to behave.” He plastered his most angelic look on his face and pressed his hands together in a prayer pose. With all those soft golden curls framing his face and those pale blue eyes of his, he actually looked sweet.

“Let me know how that goes,” Dare said with a laugh. He rose from the sectional and headed toward the door. Toni caught his arm and pulled him outside the room so Logan wouldn’t overhear.

“I’ve decided you’re right about how to get the best answers for my questions. I’m going to ditch the formal interviews entirely and just talk to all of you.”

“So you’re not going to interview Logan? He’s going to feel left out.”

“I have other plans for Logan’s interview. So if he asks if my questions were about your sex life, just play along, okay?”

Dare grinned and shook his head at her. “I think that man is a bad influence on you.”

“And I will be forever grateful.”

She released Dare’s arm and patted his biceps before returning to the lounge and sliding the door shut. Logan sat with his left ankle resting on the opposite leg, hands linked around his bent knee. She took a moment to admire the cut of his shoulders and arms and chest, having a deeper appreciation for his musculature now that she’d seen how much effort went into looking as good as he did. His toe began to tap, as if he struggled to contain his seemingly boundless energy.

She crossed the room and sat beside him, picking up her legal pad to pretend she was reading her prepared questions as she messed with him.

“John Entwistle,” he blurted.

Toni blinked at him in confusion. “Huh?”

“The musician alive or dead I’d want to spend the day with.”

She sat up straighter, excited to discover some common ground between them. “Oh, I love the Who. My dad and I used to sing ‘Love, Reign O’r Me’ to my mom and dance her around the kitchen every morning before she went off to work. It never failed to make her laugh.” She hadn’t thought about that for years. The memory was equally warm and heart-rending. She wondered if her mom missed those silly moments with Daddy as much as Toni did.

“Your dad sounds like a lot of fun.” Logan grinned.

“He was. He and my mom were so different yet so perfect for each other. He was so affectionate and tender and fun-loving. She’s ambitious and innovative and beautiful.”

“So you got the best of both of them,” Logan said.

Toni rubbed at one eye beneath her glasses. “I can only aspire to be like either of them.” She smacked Logan on the foot with her legal pad. “How could you?”

“What did I do? I’m being perfectly charming over here.”

Honestly, he was, but how could she tease him with her pretend questions if he knew the real ones in advance? “You read through my questions, didn’t you?”

“Just a couple. So now you’re supposed to ask why I chose John Entwistle.”

“It’s obvious. He was an amazing bassist.”

Logan nodded in agreement. “He was. But that’s not the only reason why.”

“Then why?”

“The night before the first the Who reunion tour concert, the man died with a stripper in his bed at the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas. If that isn’t the most rock star way to die, I don’t know what is.”

Toni shook her head at him in disbelief. “I do hope you’re joking.”

“Seriously. The dude was fifty-seven years old and still rocking the mattress with hot chicks.”

Toni smacked his foot with her legal pad again. “That is so crass, Logan.”

“Maybe, but it’s still an awesome way to go.”

“I thought he died of a cocaine-induced heart attack.” When her father had learned of Entwistle’s passing, he’d been devastated and even used the tragedy to press his Just Say No agenda on his impressionable daughter.