He shook his head. What a waste. Then again, giving lessons to geeks was preferable to any other kind of service she might be performing for her paying customers. Considering she’d worked for her late aunt and uncle when they’d held the reins, she definitely knew the score. Whatever that was.

He might not know her agenda, but he knew his own-and this ridiculous case wasn’t it. He’d pulled serious undercover work with drug dealers and pimps, yet here he was gearing up to make his awkward pitch to Charmed!’s sexy owner. He still had his doubts he could pull off the geek act and had a contingency plan in case he blundered. He wouldn’t know until he got inside.

He placed his hand on the doorknob. The metal was ice-cold from the cool spring air. Was she or wasn’t she? It was time to find out.

KAYLA LUCK threw a disgusted glance at the old heater, which refused to cooperate with reasoning or common sense. Heat was unnecessary in the spring but the cleaning crew seemed to have forgotten. They’d turned the heater up last night and turned the brownstone into a sauna. Kayla had finally gotten the dial to move, but the darn thing continued to pump heat. Between the rising temperature and the effort she’d exerted trying to fix it, she was hot and uncomfortable. Definitely not the way to begin a new class, so she hoped all the men received the cancellation message.

Unable to take the layers sticking to her skin, she peeled off her jacket, leaving herself dressed in a silk shell and trousers. When that didn’t help, she pulled at the light camisole that stuck to her skin. With a frustrated sigh, she glanced upward, at the bi-level unit she’d inherited along with the business.

While her sister Catherine’s share of the inheritance had enabled her to fulfill her dream of going to culinary school, Kayla had put off her own dreams in favor of running the business and bringing in income.