She didn't know how he could make his gaze feel like a touch. But Alyssa felt a path of heat ignite along the route his gaze took, and lingered, on her neck and on her chest. Cliche as it was, she felt her heart beat faster. This was more than a challenge, this was -
And she hadn't expected his response to be so smooth, so blase. There wasn't a trace of awkwardness in his words or his body, the way he held himself was at once relaxed and tightly coiled, as if waiting for a signal.
This was so very different than what she'd meant as a joke. It had the weight of something serious, of some marker in their relationship that Alyssa knew that she wasn't ready for. The mark of a good agent was knowing when a plan had gone south, and adjusting accordingly. Alyssa was a good agent.
"You never know," she said slowly, tilting her head lightly to the side which caused her hair to smooth away from her face and neck, leaving little wet trails as it did, "there might be some hot water left."
But this was not part of the mission. The noise from the TV came to her attention, and she broke her gaze to glance at it. Wincing, she commented, "That looks uncomfortable." Keeping her arm across the top of her towel, Alyssa shoved off and away from the dresser, towards the bed to pick up the remote control.