by Susan Crosby
“Sure?”
“Yes. Positive.”
He patted her shoulder, then joined Ted. Only a few words of their discussion reached her. Experiment. Risk. Won’t know until…
Were they on the brink of success, then? Did they have something ready to try? Wouldn’t there be all sorts of hoops to jump through for the government first?
She used her feet to push her chair to her desk and opened the box, pulling out a few folders, then turning on her computer, trying to accept defeat by reminding herself that when push came to shove, she may not even have followed through on her plan. She just wasn’t sure she could live with doing something so unethical.
Sometime later Sara Beth felt herself in motion. Ted was pushing her chair to the lab door.
“What? Hey! What’re you doing?” she asked, holding her feet up as they went.
“You’re taking a break. You didn’t hear me call your name five times. I think I’ve rubbed off on you.”
Not yet, you haven’t, but there’s hope. The thought made her smile, as did his taking care of her, worrying about her.
“Go fuel yourself,” he said as she stood. “I don’t want to see you for at least a half hour.”
“Breaks are fifteen minutes.”
“Are you arguing with your boss?”
“No, sir. I just don’t know how to take a half-hour break. I can do an hour for lunch, but a break? Can’t.”
He didn’t roll his eyes, but he might as well have. “Whatever.”
She laughed. “May I ask,” she said, getting serious, “if you and Chance have discovered something new? Something exciting? I couldn’t help but notice that you both seemed so intense.”
“Maybe. That’s all I can say at this point.”
The look in his eyes gave a different answer. “You did.” She squeezed his hand. “I won’t say anything, I promise.” Yet another secret to keep. She grinned at his caution-filled expression then she left the room, knowing he hadn’t shut the door yet and was watching her.
Her heart was lighter. Even though she’d hoped so much to see her mother’s folder, she knew it would have weighed on her, too.
It was better this way.
Ted waited until Sara Beth was out of sight then he grabbed his cell phone and made the call he’d wanted to make for years.
“Hey, Ted. How’s it going?” came the voice on the other end.
Caller ID had taken the element of surprise from phone calls, Ted thought. “Good. They’re going really good.”
A few beats passed. “Are you saying—”
“Nothing definite, you understand. But more hopeful than ever. Want to meet and talk about it?”
“You have to ask?”
Ted kept his gaze on the door, in case Sara Beth—or Derek—approached. Derek would be the last one Ted and Chance would tell.
“How risky is it, Ted?”
“If nothing else, it might actually make you healthier.”
A quick, deep laugh came across the phone. “Not a chance. I’ve been preparing for this, following every detail of the regimen you put me on months ago. Vitamins, lots of sleep, eating well, exercise, no hot tub. I’m so healthy I should be the poster boy for it. Hell, Ted, I’m even doing yoga.”
“Good. All those things help. But I don’t want you to worry about risk. The compound is all natural—vitamins, minerals, protein enzymes, amino acids.”
“Seems too easy.”
“I know. Guess we’ll find out in a few months.”
“Okay. Man. Okay. Thanks, Ted. You don’t know—”
“I do. Want to meet for dinner?”
“Yeah. How about six o’clock at Shots?”
Ted frowned. “Why there?”
“Noisy, anonymous.”
“We could meet at my place. I even have some furniture now.”
“Humor me.”
Ted was confused but agreed. He wouldn’t mind going out for dinner instead of having takeout. And he’d heard that Shots was the place to go. “You got it. See you then.”
He hung up then dialed Chance. “Six o’clock at Shots.”
“I’d prefer the Coach House. It’s much quieter.”
“His choice. He wants noise.”
Ted slid his cell phone into his pocket. Now that they’d come this far, he wanted instant results.
So much for patience being his strongest asset.
“This is good,” Lisa yelled into Sara Beth’s ear. “Thanks for dragging me away.”
“Purely selfish of me,” Sara Beth replied, a partial truth, since she really believed Lisa needed a break, but so had Sara Beth after the day she had. Shots was the answer.
They’d shouldered their way into the fray of happy customers, found a small table and landed there. Sara Beth had ordered a margarita in honor of her mother. Lisa was nursing a peach mojito. Burgers and fries would be up soon.
Sara Beth leaned back and surveyed the room. She always changed into street clothes before she went home, but plenty of people were wearing scrubs or at least the comfortable shoes they all tended to wear.
“We got a lot of work done today,” Sara Beth said, leaning close to her friend. “I can see an end to the investigation.”
“That’s great. I hope that’ll be it, and Chance and Ted can relax.” She hesitated. “Well. Look who just walked in.”
Sara Beth followed Lisa’s gaze, spotted Ted and Chance with a man she didn’t recognize. “Who’s that with them?”
“I don’t know. Attractive, though.”
Sara Beth studied the man. He was about the same age as Ted and Chance, not quite as tall, but attractive wasn’t a word she would use to describe him. Powerful and intense, yes. Alpha, yes. But, simply attractive? “They all seem really out of place. Doctors don’t tend to hang out here.” In particular, Ted didn’t fit, Sara Beth thought, wondering if he would notice her and what would happen because of it.
But the crowd was dense, and they found their own table as a couple got up to leave. The only one facing Lisa and Sara Beth was Attractive Guy, and he was only looking at Ted and Chance, at least until the waitress went up to take their order. Then he looked around, his gaze landing on her and Lisa and holding for a few long seconds, long enough to make Sara Beth squirm.
“Intense conversation going on there,” Lisa said as their burgers and fries arrived. They each took a big bite, nodded their heads at how good and juicy the burgers were, then Lisa picked up the conversation.
“So, what’s new with you?” she asked.
“I’m falling for Ted.” She hadn’t meant to say it like that. She’d meant to dance around the topic, get some general advice. But she and Lisa were best friends. There wasn’t much they didn’t share.
“Ted? Him, Ted?”
Sara Beth nodded and bit into a hot, salty French fry.
Lisa sat back, looking stunned, then she smiled. “Wow.”
“I know.”
“Have you been…dating?”
“Sort of.” She gave her a rundown of their “dates,” and said they were meeting this coming Saturday, too. “I don’t know what to do. I thought I would help him the one time then back away. I thought I could do that. But I can’t.”
“Or rather, you don’t want to.”
“Right. I don’t want to.” She pushed a piece of lettuce more securely under the bun and stared at it. “I don’t know what to do.”
“You can’t just have fun with it? With him? He won’t be your direct supervisor for much longer.”
Which stung, too, Sara Beth thought. “But he’s a doctor. And he’s stayed single all these years. And he’s absentminded, you know, which apparently has caused many of his relationships in the past to end. Or so he said. I would just be another in a string of forgettable women.”
“You don’t know that.”
“Are you encouraging me toward him?”
“I’m not discouraging you.” She smiled and waved. “He just spotted us. He’s coming this way.” Th
ey watched him walk over. “Hi, Ted.”
“Lisa. Sara Beth. You didn’t mention you were coming here tonight.”
“I didn’t know until the last minute,” Sara Beth said. “Come here often?”
“My first time, actually. It’s…loud.”
She grinned. After all the quiet hours he spent in the lab, then in his otherwise empty loft, she could see why he would notice the noise even more than she did. “I recommend the burgers.”
“Thanks.”
“Who’s the man with you?”
“An old friend, in town for the day. How’re you, Lisa?”
Fascinating. Not only did he change the direction of the conversation, he didn’t name his friend, nor bring him over for an introduction. Sara Beth wondered what Ted’s well-mannered mother would think of that. Chance waved, but that was all.
“What is this? Institute night?” Lisa said, looking toward the front door. “Brother Derek just arrived.”
Sara Beth couldn’t imagine anyone more out of place, even more so than Ted. Derek had an air of entitlement about him. Fitting in wasn’t something he did well.
He spotted them and headed toward them. Sara Beth felt Lisa stiffen beside her. Considering how close Lisa had been to her big brother all her life, Sara Beth was surprised at how reluctant Lisa was to see him now. Because of the money problems Lisa had alluded to earlier? He was the CFO of the institute. He would know before anyone else if they were in trouble.
“Good evening, all,” Derek said, and got lukewarm greetings in return. “I haven’t seen you here before, Ted.”
“My first time.”
“Are you alone?”
Ted gestured toward where Chance and the other man sat. “I’m with friends.”
Everyone looked that direction. Even from a distance, Sara Beth saw Ted’s friend go rigid, his already intense expression turning icy. Derek’s, too, Sara Beth noticed, then he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and answered it. She hadn’t heard it ring, but maybe it was on vibrate.
“My friend just canceled,” he said, slipping his phone back in his pocket. “Good to see you, sister dear. We should have dinner sometime.”
Lisa didn’t say a word. He left, not stopping to say hello to Chance.
“That was strange,” Sara Beth said.
Ted told them to enjoy their dinner and returned to his table. Sara Beth picked up her burger again then noticed that Lisa had shoved her plate away, her food not even half-eaten. She didn’t usually waste food.
“I shouldn’t have let you talk me into coming tonight, Sara Beth. I need to trust my instincts more.”
“Who could’ve predicted that Derek would show up? And don’t tell me this has nothing to do with him. You were fine until he came along.” Her voice drifted off as Ted, Chance and the stranger got up from their table and went to the door. Ted lifted a hand toward her. “Getting even weirder,” she said.
“I’d like to go, too.”
Sara Beth wanted to talk more about Ted, about what she should do. If she could talk it through, she might get a better handle on her feelings before she and Ted spent another Saturday together. But even if she and Lisa stayed at the pub, Sara Beth probably couldn’t get the help she needed. Not tonight, anyway. Lisa was too distracted.
“I’m sorry, Sara Beth. I’m not good company tonight. Oh, look. Carrie and Lorene just got here. They can take my place at the table.”
“I don’t want to stay without you. Just give me a couple of minutes to finish my dinner.”
Carrie and Lorene, both institute employees, pulled up chairs and livened the conversation until Lisa and Sara Beth paid their bill, then Lisa drove Sara Beth home.
“Again, I apologize,” Lisa said, double parking.
Sara Beth gave her a big hug. For a moment, Lisa leaned into it.
“Call me night or day,” Sara Beth said. “We’ve been through a lot, you know?” Closer than sisters most of the time.
“I do know. Thanks. Keep me up-to-date about how it goes with Ted. You’ve been ready to settle down for a while now. Maybe he is, too.”
“I think he’s married to his work.”
“I get the same impression. But that doesn’t mean it’s impossible.”
“Maybe.” Sara Beth opened the car door, then turned to look at her friend. “Night or day, Lisa.”
She nodded.
Sara Beth spent what was left of the evening doing laundry, paying bills and making out a grocery list—mundane, mindless chores that allowed her thoughts to run freely, which only left her more confused. How could she fight her attraction to Ted? Should she? She admired so much about him. Respected his intelligence and dedication. And she’d spent a whole lot of time wondering what it would be like to kiss him, to touch him, to feel him touch her beyond the mostly accidental brushes so far.
As she was climbing into bed, her phone rang.
“I hope this isn’t too late,” Ted said.
“Not at all.”
“I didn’t want to bring up our personal lives at work.”
“Okay.” She prepared herself for the worst. He’d decided to keep his distance from her, keep their relationship business only. Or maybe Tricia had gotten to him. Or—
“I’d like to take you out to dinner on Saturday after we’re done at the loft. As a thank-you. Would you like to go?”
“Yes.” Maybe she should’ve hedged a little, but she was so relieved, the word just flew out.
“I could either take you home to change, or you could bring clothes with you when I pick you up that morning. Whichever you’re most comfortable with.”
“Okay. Thanks.”
A small pause, then, “You’re probably wondering why we left Shots.”
“A little.”
“We decided it was too noisy.”
“Really? I would’ve said it had to do with Derek.”
Silence, then, “Yeah. I get tired of defending my research to him. I’ve said over and over that a practical treatment will take time. We’re going to put a dent in it, I hope, then maybe another and another. One step at a time. Everyone needs to be realistic.”
“You’re right. Hopes are high.”
“As are mine for that burger. I’ll try another time, maybe, when there isn’t a need for conversation.”
“They make good fish and chips, too.” She smoothed her blanket. “We left soon after you. It was a noisier-than-usual night.”
A few beats passed. “I guess I’ll see you in the morning, Sara Beth. Sleep well.”
“Thanks. You, too.” She pressed the off button then hugged the phone to her chest. She had a date with Ted Bonner. A real date, not a date of desperation, like the dinner with his parents, or a please-help-me-decorate date, but a get-dressed-up-and-go-to-dinner date.
And only three long days to decide whether to risk giving in to her feelings or ignore them.
Chapter Nine
Over the next few days, anticipation of her dinner with Ted replaced Sara Beth’s letdown over not being allowed into the vault. Strangely, however, since he’d extended the invitation, they’d lost their ability to talk easily to each other.
Did he regret inviting her?
He’d picked her up on Saturday morning right on time. They’d shopped for hours, buying almost everything left on their list, once again having it all delivered the same day. She’d brought her change of clothes with her, not wanting him to have to drive her home, find parking and wait for her while she got ready.
After they’d hauled empty boxes and bags down to the trash, and before she got ready for dinner, they both sat on the sofa, their feet propped on the new coffee table, an oversize ottoman covered in a fabric that complemented the brown leather sofa. They’d finished hanging all of his art, had decided he would need a few more pieces, but only when he found something he loved. She was especially happy with his bedroom, not just the art, but the luxurious bedspread, in a gorgeous black and chocolate brown fabric that suited him exactly.
“Did I say how good you look in jeans?” she said, toasting him with her soda. He was wearing jeans and a white dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up. Not completely casual, but very sexy.
“You may have mentioned it a few times. I think I got the point, Sara Beth.” He returned the toast. “We did well.”
“You should throw a party.”
“Why’d you have to go ruin my good mood?”
She laughed. “Most people have a housewarming, you know. You’ll get a few plants, which you need, some bottles of good wine—”
“Which I also need,” he interrupted.
“Right, because you can’t afford to buy your own.”
He grinned.
“And you’ll get other stuff you’ll never find a place for,” she went on. “Can’t mess with tradition. Plus, you’ll make your mother happy.”
“True. I’d make her happier if I announced I was engaged.”
Conversation came to a halt. Sara Beth didn’t squirm, but only because she made herself sit still. Ted, on the other hand, put his feet on the floor and took a long sip of soda.
“Sorry,” he said after a minute.
“No problem. I think that point had already been established at your parents’ anniversary party. So, have you seen Tricia since then?” She hoped she sounded really casual, as if his answer wasn’t crucial to her well-being.
“We’re having dinner tomorrow.”
If the previous silence had been loud, this one was deafening.
“I seem to be making room in my mouth for both feet today. Would you accept it as a compliment that I don’t have my usual self-censors up?”
She had to think about that. She could be flattered—or not. A man who was romantically interested probably wouldn’t talk about taking another woman out to dinner.
“I guess not,” he said. “I do apologize.”
“Forget it. She’s an old friend, and I’m not your girlfriend. It doesn’t matter.” Her words came out more harshly than she’d intended. She had begun to feel proprietary toward him. She’d had a hard time keeping her hands off him in the lab, and he’d often made excuses for getting close to her, bending over her shoulder to look at something on her monitor, when he could’ve just sat next to her.
