Page 4 of Nico

"IT?" I asked, impressed.

"Surveillance systems. Monitoring. Digital security."

Interesting. Very useful, actually. Modern threats didn't always come from physical sources. Sometimes the most dangerous person sat behind a computer screen.

We entered a conference room. A man with glasses was already seated at the table.

He looked to be in his mid-thirties, maybe older. He wore a calm expression, and had a neat appearance. A laptop sat open in front of him. He stood when we entered.

"Tony Alvarez," he introduced himself.

His handshake was firm and confident. Every inch of him screamed competent, and I I liked him immediately. Tony didn’t engage in unnecessary chatter, and he didn’t seem to know or care who Logan was.

Excellent. If this was the person handling our security coordination, things might actually go smoothly. Tony nodded toward Logan.

"Pleasure to meet you,” Tony said. Then toward me. "And you."

“Likewise,” I said.

This man understood boundaries. I could work with that.

Cooper began explaining the security structure. He talked about camera coverage, access points, patrol schedules, and emergency protocols.

Everything sounded organized, reasonable and efficient. For the first time all day, I started relaxing. Maybe this filming schedule wouldn't be a nightmare after all.

The conference room door exploded open. I actually thought something had gone wrong. My instincts immediately sharpened.

"Sorry I'm late!" A voice blurted.

A younger man practically stumbled into the room carrying a laptop, two phones, a backpack, and what appeared to be three energy drinks.

He nearly dropped all of them, recovered, dropped one again, then recovered again. He had dark hair, bright blue eyes, and far too much energy.

Words seemed to pour out of him faster than gravity could keep up. For a second, I just stared. Cute. The thought arrived so unexpectedly that it caught me off guard.

He wasn’t movie-star handsome, wasn’t the least bit polished…but simply cute. He had the kind of face that looked permanently on the verge of either laughing or getting into trouble.

Who the hell was this guy? Before I could wonder much further, my wolf stirred. The reaction was subtle at first. A flicker of attention, then curiosity.

Then the newcomer's scent reached me. My wolf immediately became interested.

I frowned. That was new. I'd dated men before. Heck, plenty, over the years. Some relationships lasted a few months, some only a few weeks. My wolf had never cared one way or the other.

Attraction had always been entirely my business. This was different.

My wolf wasn't pushing forward or doing anything dramatic. He simply lifted his head and paid attention in a way he never had before. Which, unfortunately, made me curious too.

I shut that line of thinking down immediately. There was probably a perfectly reasonable explanation. I'd spent the last several years focusing almost exclusively on Logan's career.

I was in charge of security details, travel schedules, public appearances, and even crisis management. Dating had fallen somewhere near the bottom of my priority list.

Fine. Maybe all that meant was I hadn't gotten laid in far too long. That was certainly more believable than whatever nonsense my wolf seemed to be suggesting.

Satisfied with that explanation, I turned my attention back to the newcomer, just in time to watch him nearly drop one of his energy drinks for the third time.

"I got the message and then I was finishing the firewall update and then Sarah needed help with the server thing and then somebody unplugged the backup system for some reason which honestly should probably be a crime because who does that and…”

He finally stopped, looked up, saw Logan, and froze. His eyes widened, then widened even more.