One Blazing Night Read Online Free Page B

Someone accidentally made a call from the shower, so...”
    He hadn’t expected her to stop walking, and they nearly collided. He put a steadying hand at the small of her back.
    She jumped at the contact, then stiffened. “Sorry,” she murmured.
    â€œMy fault,” he said. “You okay?” She nodded and visibly relaxed. He lowered his hand, distracted by what was happening around them. The walls on either side of the fireplace had turned from white to violet. When he turned around, he realized the walls in the foyer were also shades of purple. It was fascinating. “Is that your technology?”
    â€œThe colors? Yeah. It’s in all the rooms.”
    â€œWhat determines the color change?”
    She cleared her throat. “The walls contain sensors that read the temperature of the person or people in the room. The sensors also pick up a lot of other things, like breathing and walking patterns, tonal qualities. They still need some refinement, but almost all the gizmos here do.”
    â€œThat’s incredible.” Matt turned slowly, taking everything in. “I can already see how effective these kinds of walls could be. In high-risk situations, in hospitals—heck, in homes and hotels. This is a big deal, Sammy. Same with the monitors. The potential is unlimited.”
    â€œThey’re all just prototypes. But you’ve probably stayed in some of the best hotels in the world. You’ll let me know how this compares, yes?”
    He nodded as she led him into the high-end kitchen for a second time. He found himself only half listening as she explained something about ordering food, but he figured it didn’t matter—he had the brochure; he’d figure it out. He wasn’t here for the whiz-bang stuff, except for the fact that Sammy designed it.
    It was clear this place made her tremendously happy. Those green eyes of hers glowed with beautiful intensity. She spoke faster, too, when she was describing the apartment’s amenities. Sometimes skipping words, then going back to chase them down. He loved every second of it.
    The technical stuff was utterly lost on him. But this was Sammy, the girl he remembered. The heels were unexpected, though. He knew she hated them. In fact, he could only remember her wearing them twice, and both times she’d taken them off at inappropriate times. Once, she’d been in the dean’s office with some big-money alumni. Matt hadn’t been there, but she’d told him that halfway through explaining her thesis, her feet had started killing her, so she’d taken off her heels and put them on the dean’s desk. She’d shrugged and wondered why he’d been bent out of shape about it. The alumni had handed over a major check, which was what she had been there for...
    Now she was walking him to the bedroom, and the walls were turning from violet to something much darker. When they entered the bedroom itself, the colors started climbing the wall, swirling as if there were smoke in the paint, or whatever it was.
    â€œOh, crap,” Sam said. “I forgot something.” She turned around and walked past him as if the apartment were on fire.
    He followed her back down the hall. “What’s going on?”
    â€œNothing. Everything’s fine. You can take your bags to your room if you want. I’ll just be a minute.”
    â€œShould I be worried?”
    The walls in the hallway had turned scarlet, and there was something about them that made him kind of...aroused. Not what he wanted to be. The two of them weren’t like that. If she caught him with a pup tent, he was not going to be happy.
    â€œYou don’t need to follow me,” she muttered over her shoulder.
    â€œJust hold on a second, will you? Tell me what’s going on.”
    â€œYour bag. In your room,” she said. “Now would be good.”
    Completely baffled, he stopped and watched her enter the kitchen and walk to