Temple nodded. “We have two men watching them already. So far no one has bothered them. I doubt anyone means them harm. Right now, they want a story. That will die down in a few days.”
“I hope so.” Damn, she hated this for her parents.
Temple squared her shoulders. “Let’s talk about something else. We need to explore your options. Mostly because we need to set some standards for all the others. If we don’t figure out what the best course of action is, we’re going to be scrambling to solve a problem no one really considered soon.”
Emily nodded. She understood. What Temple was saying was that no one really expected this reanimation to ever occur until recently, so they hadn’t put much thought into what they would do with twenty-two revived people after they were brought out of preservation.
Temple leaned forward again, setting her elbows on the table. “I’m using you as a guinea pig here. I have no choice. You’ve met with many doctors which helps us understand the physical needs we’ll be facing. You’ve also met with psychologists who confirm your mental health. Technically that means you can go on to do whatever you want next with your life.”
Emily watched as Temple tapped the desk with her fingers. Nervous or thinking?
“The government wants me to put together a proposed package for each member of your team, giving you options. Paths you can choose from. Re-entering military service isn’t really a viable option. As far as the military is concerned, you’re deceased. They may make exceptions for anyone who wants to take that path, but we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”
Emily shook her head. “That doesn’t seem appropriate in my case.” Emily hadn’t entered the military out of some deep need to serve her country or give up her life. She’d entered to get the best education and work with the most renowned medical professionals in the world. Not that she didn’t respect her role and serve her country with pride, but she had always known she belonged in a lab. Was that still true today?
“I didn’t figure it would. So, that leaves several other options. One would be to relocate you with a new name in a new location. You would receive payments from the government in a gradually declining scale to help you become self-sufficient.”
“I’m not sure why any of us would choose what amounts to witness protection, but I suppose it’s possible.”
Temple shrugged. “Some of your team might not want to deal with the constant hounding from the media. It gives them an option.”
True. Especially if any of them don’t have living relatives or friends to connect them to their pasts.
“There could be an education option. I assume many of your team will want to pursue medicine, and they’ll need to reenter the medical field the same way anyone would who took ten years off. I know it won’t be quite the same because your memory is all there. But learning the latest advances will take time.”
“Makes sense.”
“The government would pay for this education and provide a living stipend to get through the process.”
Emily’s pulse picked up as she considered the position she was in. The media was on her ankles. Plans had to be made. She just wasn’t sure she was ready to make them.
“Another option would be a hybrid plan that would help you return to your job with Project DEEP in this location or take a job at one of many other government-run medical facilities around the country.
“There would be some education needed of course, but the long-term goal would be a return to government service. Educational expenses and a living stipend would be included in this package also with the endgame being a promised job somewhere within the system.”
Not necessarily here. Naturally. It hadn’t occurred to Emily that she didn’t have a guaranteed job right inside the building where she sat. It was mind-boggling since in her head she’d been working in this bunker just weeks ago. Not years.
She rubbed her hands together, thinking. How long was the government going to give her to make a decision? How long would they let her live in the bunker? What about Ryan?
She shook thoughts of Ryan from her head. She needed to be reasonable. A life with him was unlikely. He was in the middle of a path she stepped into, interrupting him. Anything she did would hold him back or draw him away from his passion.
Temple continued. “I can’t imagine the turmoil in your head right now. I don’t envy you. I’m here to help you figure things out, both for yourself and to pave the way for others. I realize all of your team has spent more time than you ever expected inside this bunker already a decade ago. It’s likely many of you will prefer to get out of Colorado. The hybrid option might be the most attractive. Starting a new life in a different facility would ease the stress of reentering society.”
“Does the government want us to remain moot about our preservation and reanimation?”
“No.” She shook her head. “It’s not realistic. It’s already all over the place. Obviously, there’s one critical detail we don’t want released to the public ever. But that shouldn’t be difficult. You surely don’t want to draw more attention to yourself over the legality of your death any more than anyone else does. And all of you signed a binding legal document a decade ago, confirming this agreement.”
“Of course.” The last thing Emily would ever want to deal with would be the media and religious attention she would get from revealing her legal death status.
“Anyone who chooses to take on a new identity and leave Project DEEP will no longer live with a threat to their safety. Plus, they’ll be able to eliminate the problem of having to explain themselves over and over again for the rest of their lives too. That might be attractive.”
“Yeah. Maybe.” Emily tried to visualize leaving her life and moving to a new city with a new identity.
Temple tapped the pile of folders on her desk. “I have a suggestion that might help you in the short-term. I’m setting up a timetable to aid the reassimilation of everyone. I’d like to ask you to help me nail down the details if you’re interested. It’s come to my attention that you probably wouldn’t be opposed to staying here in the bunker for the time being.” She gave a slight smile without meeting Emily’s gaze.
Emily flushed. There was no rule that said she couldn’t be in a relationship with Ryan, but it embarrassed her all the same for Temple to point it out.
“You would work for me. We’re cramped for office space, but I’ll set you up with a desk and computer and everything you need to help me put this proposal together and nail down a specific timetable.”
This was the first appealing proposal Emily had heard since she’d woken up. It wasn’t permanent, but it solved an immediate need and kept her from having to make life-altering decisions in a rush.
“You wouldn’t be working for Michelle on the medical side of things, but this would be just as important in the short-term and wouldn’t require you to deal with the stress of not being up-to-date in the medical community.”
“That sounds like the perfect solution. I’d love to help.”
“Oh, I’ve got something for you.” Temple reached into a drawer on her desk and pulled out a file. She was smiling broadly as she handed it to Emily.
“What’s this?” Emily cocked her head to one side as she took the file.
“It took some effort, but I got your social security number fixed so you are no longer seen as deceased. All the paperwork you need is in there to get your driver’s license and passport renewed. Stuff like that. We’ll need to prepare packages like this for everyone. It takes a lot of work to change the status of a social security number, even if you work for the government.” She laughed.
Emily didn’t know what to say. She hadn’t put any thought into this side of things yet. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Now, if you’d like, I can arrange for you to have your suite back. The one you were staying in before you left to visit your parents. It’s temporary, but we have the space for now.”
“Thank you again. I think tha
t would be best.” She tensed, wondering how Ryan would take the news. It seemed like a win-win to Emily. She would be close enough to see him and get to know him better without feeling like she was adding stress to his life.
Chapter 16
When Ryan stepped into his suite that afternoon, he froze in the doorway to his bedroom. Emily was packing her suitcase, the one she hadn’t even unpacked yet. “Em?”
She lifted her gaze, though he had no idea how she hadn’t heard him enter. Her expression suggested she was deep in thought until that moment. Now she lit up as if she was excited about something, a thought that was at odds with the fact she was packing. “Hey.”
He pointed at her belongings on his bed. “What are you doing?” If she was leaving the compound again so soon, he might actually argue this time.
“Good news. Temple says the suite I was staying in is available. I can have it back while I’m here.”
He lifted a brow, relieved she intended to stay in the bunker while concerned about her moving to another room. “Why do you need it?”
She came toward him and then set her hands on his chest, tipping her head back to look at him. “Lots of reasons come to mind.”
He ran his hands up her biceps and held her closer. “List them.”
“For one, Temple offered me a temporary job assignment so I can stay here until I figure out what to do next with my life.”
“That’s good. But it doesn’t explain the need for your own room.”
“Ryan… We’re taking a gamble. We can’t guarantee things will work out between us in the long run. If I stay in your room, people will talk. If we end up not together, it will be awkward. I don’t want you to feel pressured by me. You weren’t expecting to meet me at this point in your life.”
He swallowed. So many counterarguments came to mind, but he ignored them because she seemed set on moving into her own room. Maybe it had nothing to do with him and everything to do with her. Maybe she felt awkward about essentially living with him inside the bunker. Had someone said something to her? She could be embarrassed. Or perhaps she woke up this morning not feeling the same way about him that he felt about her.
No matter what her reasons were, she seemed intent on projecting her fears on him, and he wasn’t going to argue. He might not have years of experience with women, but his man card was solid in his wallet. Groveling to convince a woman to sleep in his bed was not in the cards. “Okay.”
She furrowed her brow. “Okay.”
He had no idea if that was a question or a declaration of relief or a statement of surprise. At the moment he needed to get back to his office. “Okay,” he repeated more firmly, releasing her, completely uncertain about her motives and a little miffed.
He didn’t have time for this. If she had doubts about his feelings for her, all she needed to do was ask. If her doubts were about her own feelings, she could either take the easy way out and get another room or talk to him. She’d chosen to get another room.
“I need to get back to the lab. Do you need any help with this?” He stepped back, rubbed his hands on his thighs, and then pointed at her luggage.
“No. I can get it.” Her voice was weaker. She glanced away. Embarrassed about hurting him or relieved. Lord, women were complicated.
“Okay. I guess I’ll see you later.” He spun around and left the suite, feeling ridiculous and uncomfortable. She hadn’t even told him what sort of job Temple had offered her. He’d lost track of that line of thinking the moment she said she was moving out. Her initial expression had been one of excitement, but then she’d dropped this new bomb.
Dammit. Pulling his mind back to his priorities, he picked up his pace and headed back to the lower level of the bunker.
Ryan missed dinner, perhaps on purpose. He stayed in the lab poring over data at his desk as if solving the mysteries of the random file he picked up would mean the difference between life and death for half the planet if he didn’t find a cure that very day.
Temple had hunted him down a few hours ago and given him the blow to his ego that he’d been followed to Omaha. At first he’d considered punching a hole in the wall, but then she had talked him down. No one blamed him. It would have happened sooner or later anyway. No harm was done.
The truth was he was frustrated. Pissed at himself. Hiding. Confused. Never mind what had happened outside the front gate, he was so worried about Emily, he couldn’t think. He’d talked himself into about nine different scenarios, all of them completely ridiculous and unrelated.
In his mind he could picture Emily on top of him last night, riding him, her hands on his chest, her hair a tumbled mess of gorgeous curls over her shoulders and down her back. The moment she came, when her mouth fell open and her head arched back, he’d never seen anything so beautiful. So perfect. So right.
That woman. That Emily. She didn’t just move out of his room because she had cold feet.
Another Emily haunted him too, though. One who had been an important research scientist ten years ago, which had only been two months ago for her. Her life was spinning out of control, and she needed space and time to pull herself back together and figure out who she was.
That Emily didn’t need to be pressured by a man who was falling so hard for her that he wanted to beg her to stay with him. In his bed. His life. His world.
He had no reason to be frustrated with her. He needed to let her go. Be who she needed to be. Learn who that was.
Yet another Emily spun around in his brain. One who slept in his bed last night and then woke up unsure. Scared. Not ready for the kind of commitment she might have thought he was asking for.
He never should have assumed she would want to stay in his suite and moved her stuff into his rooms. It had been presumptuous and unfair.
He took a deep breath, rubbing his temples, hating himself for walking away from her earlier, leaving her with almost no explanation. He lowered his gaze to the file in his hand again, trying to focus. The data he was staring at wasn’t making any sense to him. He’d gone over the numbers repeatedly. Something was still off.
Or perhaps he was so damn distracted worrying about his relationship with Emily that he couldn’t focus. He was in no state of mind to be working. He needed to find her. Explain. Something.
When he spun his chair around with that thought in mind, he found her standing in the doorway, wringing her hands, her face a little pale. “Hey,” she whispered. “I didn’t want to bother you.”
“No.” He pushed off his chair. “You’re not. I wasn’t…” He rushed across the room and took both her hands in his. “I haven’t been able to concentrate on anything all day.”
“My fault.” She lowered her gaze. “I’m sorry for earlier.”
He slid his hands up her arms and then lifted her chin with one finger. “I should be the one apologizing. You surprised me. I didn’t react well. I got a little freaked out actually. I shouldn’t have walked away.”
She gave a wan smile. “I realized after you left how it must have looked. I was so excited about Temple giving me a job that I was giddy. You would have taken that wrong when you came in to find me packing.”
He nodded. “I was shocked. I thought we were…together. I also realize that was presumptuous. We haven’t known each other long. You have a right to your space. You have so many decisions to make. You don’t need me pressuring you.”
Her eyes widened. “Pressuring me?” She flattened her palms on his chest. He loved it when she did that, leaning in closer until only a breath separated them. “I didn’t want to be the one to pressure you. When Temple offered me a room, it seemed like a good idea. You didn’t ask me to come here. I showed up on my own. You have too many things to worry about without a lost and confused woman in your space.”
He slid his hands around to her back and held her closer. “Baby, it calms me when you’re nearby. It takes my mind off so many fears. You bring me peace. I don’t want to be greedy, though. If you need your space, I totally understand. I�
�ll respect that in whatever form it looks like to you. But if this entire stupid day has been a misunderstanding, then let me be clear—I want you in my bed.”
Her face turned a gorgeous shade of pink, and she lifted onto her tiptoes to kiss his lips gently. “Are you done here?” She glanced past him, nodding toward his desk.
“Yes.” He smiled, tipping his face into her hair and inhaling her scent.
“Then let’s go back to your room where we can talk in private.” Her fingers slid down his arms until she took his hand and turned around, tugging.
He followed, willingly, saying nothing as they walked. When they were finally alone, the door locked behind him, she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him, while his scrub pants grew tighter by the moment.
“How about we compromise,” she murmured against his lips.
His hands went to her hips, pulling her closer so he could press against her belly. “Please tell me this compromise involves you naked in about five seconds.”
She giggled, the vibration sending a shiver down his body. “That can be negotiated,” she teased. “But what I was going to suggest is that I keep my separate suite for now. We can’t move in together just because we had sex last night. It’s not realistic. We hardly know each other.”
He threaded his hands in her hair and tipped her head back, forcing her to meet his gaze. “I know it’s been fast, but I know you better than anyone I’ve ever been in any sort of relationship with.”
She blew out a breath. “That may be, but I don’t even know me, Ryan. I have no idea who I am. There’s no way for you to know me.”
“So, we’ll figure it out together.” At the moment he was reaching for any loose thread in an effort to accomplish the most important goal—not letting her escape his grasp. Whether or not his idea was a good one remained to be seen. If she would just agree to stay, they could get to know each other, fill in the gaps, give their precarious relationship a chance.
Was it fair to her? Maybe. Maybe not. She rose onto her tiptoes and kissed his lips briefly again. “You have a lot on your plate. It’s pulling you in two different directions to babysit me also.”
Reviving Emily: Project DEEP, Book One Page 13
