Undercover with the Hottie (Investigating the Hottie) by Juli Alexander

the weight on. “Are there people in this city who live on, like six or seven floors?”
    Logan laughed. “Stairs getting to you already?”
    “No. I was just thinking what a pain that would be.”
    “If there are, I'm sure they have an elevator. If they could afford that many floors, they could afford to ride in style.”
    “Makes sense,” I said.
    The top floor was a hallway with rooms leading off to either side.
    “Bedrooms,” he said. “I think there are four, and there are at least three bathrooms.”  He stopped in front of a large canvas on the wall between the rooms. “This is the one I like. It's one of her older works.”
    I liked it too. The painting depicted Broadway in an almost cartoon-like manner. The lines and colors were reminiscent of crayons, but the result was anything but childlike. “It's great.”
    “Have you been there yet? Broadway? The theater district?”
    “No, but I've seen it on TV.”
    “You are going to love living in the city.”
    I met his gaze. His eyes held excitement. “You love it here?”
    “Oh yeah. I've already been accepted at NYU for the Fall.”
    “Congratulations,” I said.
    His excitement showed in his smile and made him seem younger than eighteen.
    “You're a nice guy, aren't you?”
    He winked. “Don't tell anybody.”
    “I won't.”  Had I actually managed to flirt? Go me!
    “You don't sound like somebody from Chicago.”
    What? “We haven't always lived there.”  I hoped he wouldn't pry further.
    “Ready to see the roof?”
    “Yes!”
    He led me to the end of the hall where a door opened onto a balcony. A row of coats hung on hooks by the door. He lifted one from the hook. “Here. This will keep you warm for a minute or two.”
    I slipped my arms in just before he opened the door. The arctic blast nearly knocked me over. I braced myself. “Maybe you should go first,” I said.
    He gave me the chin nod thing that guys sometimes do when they get all cocky. Then he went out the door and up the steps to my left. I closed the door behind me and followed. I held on to the railing and didn't look down. I should have thought about the fear of heights thing before I'd decided to come up here. When I stepped up to roof level, the force of the wind increased. Logan reached out and I gladly took his hand.
    We were too low to see much of a city view. The buildings on two sides were higher, and I wondered how bad the windchill would be if they weren't blocking some of the wind. In front of me, a garden stretched out across the roof. Evergreen trees of all shapes and sizes were strung with clear lights. We walked further in toward the center of the roof. “It's beautiful,” I said. “Magical.”  I hadn't expected to see something living and growing on the rooftop.
    “I thought you'd like it. Matt will probably have to lock the door before too long so people don't wander out here and stay too long.”
    “Yeah, I guess you don't want somebody up here who has been drinking.”
    “You already saw somebody drinking?” he asked as if surprised. “We usually don't have problems this early in the night.”
    “Some guy with a flask downstairs.”
    “Matt has strict rules. No drinking allowed. That's why he only serves canned drinks too, so nobody gets roofied.”
    “That's pretty cool of him,” I said. It was unusual, and I suspected there was a reason. Most likely a sad reason. I didn't ask. I'd find out soon enough, and I didn't want to ruin these moments with Logan. I didn't like him as a boyfriend. I was totally into Will. But I had a feeling that Logan could be my first real guy friend. Well, he could if we were actually moving here.
    “We should walk the whole roof while we're up here. That way you can see everything and then we can go get warm.”
    We walked the perimeter, along a path lined with lights. “I think I would come up here every day. Even if I did freeze half to death.”
    “In the spring, there are flowers, and in the summer, they