And she had.

More than he expected.

A waitress arrived instantly, taking their drink order and scurrying off. The awkward silence had nearly strangled him by the time the woman returned.

“Thank you,” Sam told him when the waitress delivered their drinks. “For the drink.”

Elijah grinned, glancing away from Sam and down to his drink now sitting in front of him, thankful for the shadows that partially hid his face. He didn’t know what Samantha might read in his expression, but he knew it would likely be enough to send her running in the opposite direction.

Elijah had absolutely no idea what it was, but his response to Samantha was... God, it was fucking unexpected. That’s what it was.

“My pleasure,” he told her, his gaze sliding up to meet hers once again.

Logan had mentioned more than once just how incredibly beautiful his wife was, but Elijah knew men did that all the time. In a husband’s eyes, his wife should be the most beautiful woman in the world. From experience, Elijah had expected Samantha to be pretty. He had not, however, expected her to be quite as resplendent as she was.

The woman was magnificent when she was naked, – something he had learned last night – but she was even more radiant in that short, shiny dress.

Ok, so maybe Samantha wasn’t drop dead, super model gorgeous, but she was incredibly attractive. More so than her outer beauty, there was something in her eyes, something that had reached out and grabbed a hold of him by his shirt collar. He wasn’t sure what it was, but he’d be damned if he knew what to do about it.

When he’d arrived at Devotion tonight, he had half expected to find out that he had imagined all of it. The way she had pulled him under her spell with just a look. It had been real. Very real.

“Tell me a little about yourself,” Sam said, her eyes darting over to Logan and then back to him. “I’m afraid my husband hasn’t told me anything about you.”

“That doesn’t surprise me,” Elijah said softly, smiling back at her. “I just met him last week.”

“The two of you just met?” Sam asked dubiously, her voice rising an octave or two as she glanced between the two of them.

“Technically, yes,” Logan answered ruefully. “However, I’ve known of Elijah for quite some time.”

Samantha laughed. “Well, that makes it all better then.”

“You could say we’re business associates, although we hadn’t met face to face until last night,” Elijah provided, smiling back at her.

“You’re…” Sam’s eyes widened as her sentence trailed off.

Elijah raised his eyebrows, encouraging her to continue.

“Elijah Penn.” Sam said his name, a hint of recognition in her tone as she looked at Logan who merely nodded. “Ahh, interesting. You’re with Virtual Impact.”

Interesting?

“I am.” Elijah wasn’t sure he needed to add anymore to that.

Sam’s smile confirmed it. “Well, it’s nice to put a face with a name. I’ve known of you for quite some time too.”

“I hope what you’ve heard has been good,” he teased.

“That depends,” Sam offered teasingly. “If XTX got the deal they were looking for, it was wonderful. If not… Well, you understand.”

Elijah laughed. Yes, he understood all too well. It was business. “I guess since you aren’t running from the table, it wasn’t bad enough to make you send me on my way.”

“If it were, I wouldn’t be sitting here now.”

Elijah believed her. Just the look in her pretty green eyes told him she didn’t say things she didn’t mean. And if Samantha didn’t like him, he already knew she wasn’t the type of woman who would sit there and pretend that she did.

“I guess it goes without saying that you’re a member of Devotion?” Again, Samantha glanced back and forth between him and Logan.

“I didn’t have to jump anyone at the door to get in, no.”

Samantha laughed, a hearty sound that sent an odd shiver down Elijah’s spine. What was it about this woman?

“Since you’re a member, I don’t have to assume that you’re interested in… What are you interested in, Mr. Penn?”

“Call me Eli, please,” he replied. Lowering his voice just a hint, he leaned in a little closer. “I’m interested in whatever you’re willing to offer.”

Samantha’s sharp inhale made his body harden. She wasn’t offended, that much he could tell.

“Since you obviously enjoy watching,” Samantha began, her voice lowered the same way his had been, “I’m wondering whether you like to participate.”

“Is that what you’re offering?” he asked bluntly.

“If I am?”

“Then I’d say I’d love to participate with you.” Elijah glanced up at Logan then, noticing the other man was smiling. He was trying to hide it, but it was there.

Returning his attention to Samantha, he added, “And after watching such a magnificent scene last night, I will admit I’m quite anxious.”

Not that Elijah would actually make a move tonight. Tonight was about meeting her, getting to know her a little. Then, if things went well from there, he’d be in touch with Logan tomorrow. Or vice versa.

As far as he was concerned, he was ready to go home with them tonight.

And wasn’t that fucking crazy?

* * *

Sam was still a little in shock. And the fact that her equilibrium was slightly askew had more to do with Elijah and the fact that Logan had clearly set up this little introduction. Only he’d intended for them to meet last night.

Nice way to be introduced. Naked, while a man watched her husband give her an explosive orgasm.

Wait. “Question. If you’re so interested, what happened last night? I can only assume that we were supposed to be officially introduced after you stumbled upon us.”

She’d learned a long time ago to always expect the unexpected from Logan. After all, that’s how she’d been introduced to Luke and Tag, respectively.

Elijah looked away briefly. When his eyes met hers again, he looked contrite. “I hope you’ll forgive me for my behavior last night. I panicked.”

“Panicked? Because I was naked?”

Elijah laughed. “Not at all. In fact, I’ve never seen anything hotter.”

Even the memory made her body temperature soar. Taking a sip of her drink, she tried to cool herself somewhat while she waited for him to continue.

“I just got a little lost in my thoughts. That’s all.”

Sam had no idea what that meant, but she didn’t want Elijah to feel as though this were an interrogation so she opted to let it go. For now.

“I take it the two of you have talked a little more than in passing?” She already knew the answer and it absolutely explained Logan’s anticipation about last night.

“We have,” Elijah answered. “Your husband speaks his mind.”

“When I find something I want, I tend to go after it,” Logan admitted. “And when Sam wants something, I pull out all of the stops.”

Sam leaned slightly into Logan who was standing behind her. “I’m not fooled,” Sam told Elijah. “He’s very protective of me. Despite his present excitement, I know this wasn’t a spur of the moment decision.”

“I doubt it was either,” Elijah stated as he glanced behind her to Logan.

Sam couldn’t help but notice the slight hint of an accent, one that had little to do with being in America and more to do with somewhere else entirely. “Where are you from?” she found herself asking curtly.

“I was born and raised in the UK,” he confirmed.

Yep, undeniably a British accent. Or at least what was left of one. “You’ve been in the US for a while, huh?”

“Since I was twenty-three.”

Sam nodded as she tried to decipher just how old that would make him. Since she had nothing else to reference, the math wasn’t going to work out. By the way that Elijah’s golden brown eyes twinkled, she figured he knew what she was aiming for.

She could tell he was older than she was. He was probably older than Logan was, but not by much.

“I’m forty-two.”

Yep, he knew. Sam smiled and she knew she looked incredibly guilty, but Elijah didn’t seem to mind at all.

Before she could question him on a more personal level, Trent Ramsey sidled up to the table, beer in hand and a huge smirk on his face.

“Elijah. Sam. Good to see you,” he greeted.

When the actor didn’t address Logan, Sam glanced over her shoulder and noticed that Logan wasn’t behind her as he had been a minute earlier.

“He said he’d be right back,” Elijah told her.

Sam watched him, trying to figure out how he would’ve heard that if she hadn’t. She didn’t get a chance to ask when Trent addressed Elijah once again.

“If you have a few minutes later this week, I’d like to talk. If not, I’ll catch up with you next week.”

“I’ll be around,” Elijah told him. “Unless something changes, I’ll be here until Thursday.”

Sam wasn’t paying much attention to what the two men were talking about. She was too busy admiring her present company.

God, the man was incredibly handsome. And she wasn’t talking about the pretty boy actor either. Everyone knew Trent Ramsey was a good-looking man, but she was referring to Elijah Penn.

The man was... He was devastatingly attractive; there was no doubt about it. From his short, dark hair, those golden brown eyes that seemed intently focused on her, his dark eyebrows and long, black eyelashes, he was well put together. Sam was just as fascinated by the heavy, dark stubble along his jaw and chin, and the bronze color of his skin that said he spent quite a bit of time outdoors.

But there was something else about Elijah that caught her breath. Almost as though there was a vulnerability that he wasn’t trying all that hard to hide. Sam clearly didn’t know him well enough to know whether she was reading him correctly though. Obviously, Logan must’ve felt comfortable with the man because he’d left her alone with him, so Sam figured for now, she’d go with it.

“Good to see you again, Samantha.”

Sam looked over just in time to see Trent waving as he walked away, a devilish glint in his eyes.

Yes, she’d clearly just been caught eyeing Elijah. By Trent no less.

What that said about her, she didn’t even want to think about.

Before she had to do just that, Logan walked up, placing his warm, comforting hand on her back.

“Well, it’s getting late. I really didn’t want to keep you out tonight, but it was pertinent that I get to meet you. To apologize,” Elijah said, his full attention once again on her. “If you’d be so inclined, I’d love to see you again, Samantha.”

So inclined? Ok, now she was speechless.

Logan’s hand slid into her hair, his fingers twining gently through the strands and Sam realized he was just touching her for the sake of touching her. She turned to look up at him and the heat she saw in his eyes told her exactly what he was looking forward to.

Turning back to Elijah, Sam said, “I’d like that too.”

And that was the understatement of the century.

* * *

Before Elijah could get away so quickly, Logan spoke up. “Why don’t we stay for a while? We can go check out what’s going on.”

Sam looked at him inquisitively, but Logan just smiled down at his wife. For whatever reason, Logan wasn’t ready to call it a night. Not just yet.

He was very much aware of the attraction between Sam and Elijah. It was plainly written on both of their faces. And after last night, Logan wasn’t quite ready for Elijah to disappear again. It seemed to be something he did often and Logan had a feeling it was due to the man’s desire to keep himself isolated. He’d probably been that way ever since his wife passed away.

“What did you have in mind?” Elijah asked, hiding his surprise well as he came to his feet when Sam did.

“Nothing specific. Rumor has it that Mercedes has reserved one of the glass rooms tonight. I’m curious as to what they’re going to do.”

Sam looked up at him, studying him. He had no doubt that she had figured out he was stalling. But thankfully, she didn’t call him on it.

For the next few minutes, the three of them weaved their way through the crowd, stopping to talk to people they recognized. Logan introduced Elijah to anyone he didn’t know, which, as it turned out, was quite a few people.

Logan was heading toward the main attraction – the glass enclosed rooms – when he heard Mercedes talking to Shane Gibson.

“Care to watch?” she asked Shane as Logan, Sam and Elijah moved closer.