Ignoring her, he unlocked the door just as she pulled the bottoms over her naked body. Her underwear was in the middle of the floor. She swore under her breath as she shimmied into the very unsexy T-shirt with All Saints emblazoned across it.

A rush of cold air entered the room, but nothing else. He stood, blocking the entrance with Bruno nosing past him, wagging his tail. Through the slit of space left between his waist and the doorjamb Kristi caught a glimpse of a red T-shirt and khaki-colored pants.

“Is there something I can do for you?” he asked.

“Oh, uh, I was looking for Kristi…Kristi Bentz,” a female voice asked. Mai Kwan. Kristi made a face. Great. Her snoopy neighbor. On the prowl again.

Kristi rolled off the daybed, hearing it squeak, tossed the covers over what was a mess of sheets and blankets, then kicked her bikini undies into a corner. Pushing her hair from her eyes, she came up behind Jay.

“You’re Dr. McKnight,” Mai said, extending her hand at that moment. “Mai Kwan, I’m a neighbor. I live on the second floor.”

Jesus! She was introducing herself to Jay? Now what?

“Professor. No PhD, at least not yet.”

“Hi!” Kristi tried to sound bright and cheery though she felt anything but chipper. She stepped around Jay, but Mai’s eyes didn’t so much as flicker in her direction.

She was zeroed in on Jay. “And you work in the crime lab, right?”

How did Mai know that?

“Yeah.”

“I didn’t know you two…” She motioned her hand back and forth, then finally looked at Kristi again. “I mean…I didn’t know you knew each other.”

“We went to the same high school,” Jay said.

Too much information.

“Was that why you stopped by or was there something else you wanted?” Kristi asked, wondering how to shut Jay up. To her horror he draped an arm over her shoulders. Damn him, he was enjoying this. She shot him a look she hoped would send him the message.

“I was just thinking you might want to go out for a run or get a cup of coffee or something,” Mai said. “But I see you’re busy, that you’ve got company, so…maybe some other time.”

Was it Kristi’s imagination or did Mai actually look slyly at Jay when she made the last offer? “It wouldn’t have worked this time anyway, I’ve got a ton of homework and then my shift at work starts in a few hours,” Kristi said. Why was she explaining herself? What she did was no business of Mai’s. Kristi only hoped to God that Jay wouldn’t be polite enough, or stupid enough, to invite the other girl in.

Jay suddenly snapped his fingers. “Mai Kwan. You called me a couple of days ago, right? About a piece for the school newspaper?”