Master of Fire Read Online Free Page A

WMDs.
    Giada’s margarita turned out to be electric blue and served in a salt-encrusted glass roughly the size of a goldfish bowl. Her eyes began to glaze before she’d finished half of it.
    Logan resolved to drive her home. And wondered whether he’d end up pouring her into bed while he was at it. His cock twitched in silent approval of that idea. Stop that, he told it. No seducing the coworker. Especially when she’s drunk.
    Which didn’t mean he couldn’t seize the opportunity to pump her ruthlessly for information. Maybe he’d be able to figure out if she was a Maja. Okay, not exactly fair—but if she was lying to him, she didn’t deserve fair.
    “So your file says you’ve got a PhD in organic chemistry.” Plucking a tortilla chip from the basket between them, Logan dunked it into the accompanying bowl of salsa, then popped it in his mouth. He paused a moment to let his abused taste buds adjust to the salsa’s nuclear bite. “Quite an accomplishment for a twenty-five-year-old.” Since it took about six years to work your way through the master’s and doctorate programs, most people were at least twenty-seven before they attained a doctorate.
    “Actually, I was twenty-three when I got my Piled Higher and Deeper.” Giada dunked a chip in the salsa, bit into it, then hissed and gulped margarita. “Early bloomer,” she managed, when she quit gasping. “I started high school when I was eleven.”
    “That is early.” He dipped, munched, and downed a cooling swallow of his Coke. “Was it rough, going to high school that young?”
    “Sucked. Everybody else was at least six inches taller. And to make matters worse, I was a fat little kid.” She crunched, sipped, and shuddered before taking another bite. He wasn’t sure whether she was brave or masochistic. “And I’m a freaking genius, which didn’t help.” Blinking slowly, Giada added in a tone of realization, “Shouldn’t have said that last part.” She appeared to worry about it for a moment before shrugging. “Anyway, IQ is just a number. Doesn’t mean a darn thing.”
    “Doesn’t it?”
    “Nope.” She shook her head. “ ’Cause being smart doesn’t keep you from being stupid. They had me tutor this guy once. Captain of the football team, quarterback. You remind me of him some. Gorgeous. Shoulders to die for. Face like . . . well, something gorgeous.”
    Oh, she was drunk.
    “I was so gone over him.” She sighed in remembrance. “Fat little twelve-year-old, helping studly eighteen-year-old get through calculus. He was so nice to me. Didn’t realize he was treating me like one of his brat little sisters. Even called me Squirt. Did I get a clue?”
    Since she seemed to actually expect an answer, he said, “Uh, no?”
    “ Heck no. I finally screwed up my courage and confessed my luuuuv.”
    Logan winced in sympathy. “Didn’t go well, did it?”
    “He was very kind.” She blinked hard. Logan had the horrifying suspicion the shine in those beautiful eyes was tears. “Very kind.” Heaving a sigh, Giada eyed her drink. Less than a third of it was left. “I need to stop drinking this.”
    “Yeah,” he said gently. “You really do.”
    She shoved the glass as far across the table as she could reach. Logan took it into protective custody.
    “I was fourteen when I went to college,” she continued. He suspected her eyes were not quite in focus. “I’d started growing boobs by then, shooting up and slimming down, but all that made me was jailbait.”
    “I gather you didn’t get asked out a lot.”
    Giada snorted. “Not by anyone who wasn’t creepy.”
    Out of sheer curiosity, he asked, “I trust I’m not creepy.”
    “Nope, but then, I’m not jailbait anymore.”
    He gave her a crooked grin. “No, you’re definitely not jailbait.”
    He didn’t think she was a Maja either. She was just too damned artless. He wasn’t even sure she knew how beautiful she was. Somehow he got the impression that in the back of her mind,