Now was his chance to talk to Amber. Except what could he say? He’d wanted to bid on her to get her first Sapphire Falls dance, and now he was stuck with the cheer squad of 2009.
“H-hi!” Chad managed to cast a salutation from his throat. “I-I w-wanted t-to talk, talk, t-to y-you.”
“What for?” Her eyes shot an unfamiliar species of daggers at him. She’d never hated him before. Was always stiff and polite around him. What happened?
“W-we w-work to, to-get-gether.”
“Sure, but it’s not Monday morning,” she said. “And thanks a lot for ambushing me. You never told me you were the rock star Mason hired last minute.”
“R-rock st-star? I-I’m a sci-scient-t-tist.”
It was no use. He couldn’t even get a word in when she was around. How would he ever get a date with her? How would he ever turn her attention away from Dr. Forster and all of the other men who vied for her in this new community?
Things had been safe in New York City, because she, too, hid behind her glasses and lab coat. She’d been too dedicated to her studies to date. Too busy and shy to go to any parties in midtown Manhattan.
He’d been able to watch her from a distance, satisfied that once he got his degree and earned his own money, he’d be able to take her out on dates.
If he could only ask.
Tucking his hands into his pockets, he shuffled out of the parking lot, by himself.
He needed to clear his head and his throat.
It was a long way back to Auntie Anne’s, but he didn’t want to be alone in his apartment, where the concierge greeted him only because it was his job.
Chapter Eight
Chad’s uncle dropped him off at the budding industrial park near the giant indoor dirt bike track. The IAS complex consisted of greenhouses, warehouse space, and office buildings with spanking new labs.
His brand-new truck was at the Auto Center down the road after Helen and her friends drove it into a ditch. To top it off, they’d been booked for drunk driving and taken to the hospital.
Thank goodness they were all over twenty-one, or he’d be in big trouble for supposedly providing them with a combination of Booze and a brand-new truck.
“Stay safe and have a good day,” Uncle Carl said, handing him another tiny cooler, this time filled with a sandwich, salad, and a Mason jar of fresh milk from the udder of Fudge, Mike’s favorite brown cow.
Chad thanked his uncle and alighted from the truck just in time to see Amber step out of the passenger seat of Dr. Forster’s Porsche 911 GT3.
The doctor had walked around his car and opened the door for her, giving her a hand to yank her from the low position of the sports car, causing Amber to stumble into his arms.
Chad gritted his teeth and hurried to the entrance lobby. Mason and his colleagues were already there. Chad opened the door and said hello, but they walked by him, all smiles at Amber and Dr. Forster.
“Good morning.” Mason held out his hand to Dr. Forster. “I see you’ve met our genome specialist, Miss Myers, already.”
“I’ve had more than the pleasure,” Dr. Forster said in a self-satisfied voice. “She’s brilliant among other things. Where did you find her?”
Chad’s stomach broiled in pain. Had she slept with Dr. Forster? Spent the night with him? Had the whole orange juice and toast routine? How could he have lost Amber in a single night when he’d been plotting and scheming for years to make his move?
“NYU,” Mason replied, answering Dr. Forster’s question. “So glad you could swing by here. These are my research assistants.” He introduced the group of younger scientists gathered near him: a black woman named Samantha, an Asian man named Harrison, and an Indian man named Kiran. “I’ve another new hire, but he hasn’t shown up yet.”
“You mean the germ man?” Dr. Forster tossed his head back and laughed.
“Yeah, Chad Powers,” Mason said. “Can’t miss him. The man looks like a cave bear.”
Oh, Chad’s spirits flagged. They hadn’t recognized him, and they were making fun of him right on the spot.
He tried to speak out, but Amber raised her flawless voice and looked his direction. “Chad’s over there.”
All eyes zeroed in on Chad, and he waved lamely. “I-I uh, got m-my hair c-cu-cut.”
“Chad, that you?” Mason peered at him as if he were an interesting specimen. “I like it. You’re almost bald.”
Yep. The guide comb on Auntie Anne’s trimming shears had been on the short side, but overall, he couldn’t complain—other than the fact Amber seemed to hate him all of a sudden.
Or maybe now that she had Dr. Forster in her pocket, she looked down her nose at him. Meanwhile the other research assistants gave him the once over, their faces friendly.
“You’re the guy with the F-250 Super Duty King Ranch those cheerleaders crashed in the ditch?” Harrison gaped with an amused grin.
Chad nodded, unable to speak with Amber so close to his side.
“You let them drive your truck?” Samantha chuckled. “Big time mistake. Did you hear what happened at the hospital?”
Chad shook his head miserably.
This time, everyone laughed, including Mason, Dr. Forster, and Amber.
What could be so funny? The women were probably drunk. Hopefully none of them got hurt.
Kiran slapped his thighs, bent over in laughter, while Samantha stuttered, “Th-they a-ate y-your, ha, ha, ha, d-dung, ha, ha, samples.”
“D-dung? My coll-collec-lec-tion?”
“Y-yes. Serves them right for ripping you off,” Samantha said, almost gleefully. “They said you told them you had brownies, fudge, mud pies, and lava cakes, and they were too drunk to tell!”
“You even labeled the cow dung, brownie, fudge, and mud pie.” Harrison was laughing so hard he almost fell backward.
“Th- those wuh-were the c-c-cows’ n-names.” Chad managed to expel the words, and then he too, felt a long, release of laughter roll through his belly. “I-I c-can’t buh-believe they ate them.”
Mason clapped his hand on Chad’s back. “Good job, bud. You singlehandedly took down some of the meanest girls in town. Adrianne tells me they terrorize newcomers and think they’re the town queens.”
“Did you bid on Helen purposely to give her diarrhea?” Samantha asked, still giggling. “Because if you did, I’ve got to hand it to you, Powers. You’re the new hero of Sapphire Falls.”
“H-hero?” Chad felt himself perspiring from all the attention heaped on him. “B-but, they ate my s-samples! I-I need to g-get them prepped for anal-anal-analy-ly-s-sis.”
“Plenty of time for that,” Mason said. “All of you are going to work with Dr. Forster on our upcoming projects in Haiti. Then I’m letting you all off early today for the Co-ed Softball game. Let’s make IAS look great today.”
* * *
Amber loved her new coworkers—well, almost all of them. Chad, her supposed acquaintance from NYU, was glum and silent the entire morning, despite the good chuckle they had over the cheerleaders’ dung eating episode.
He seemed okay to chat with Harrison, Samantha, and Kiran, but whenever she approached, he clammed up and looked at her with an emotion she couldn’t decipher.
Did he resent her being here, or was he jealous he had to share her sequencing skills with the others?
No matter. She’d already made friends with the other researchers. Samantha was a riot and promised to take her to Omaha if she ever wanted an infusion of city life. Harrison was a clown with his jokes and pranks, and Kiran was quick with his insightful and piercing wit.
After the tour of the facilities, Mason had retired to his office with Dr. Forster, leaving the assistants to their assignments.
Amber found a window seat and set up her computer. She downloaded the software she needed and made sure she had access to the company’s database. Her email was already set up, and she quickly looked over the results of a test with plant-sucking aphids and the bacteria they needed to produce essential
amino acids from their mostly sugar diet.
The hours passed pleasantly, but when she next checked her email, there was one from Chad with a single line of text. We need to talk.
Okay, so the brute was direct and brusque, and rude. But he was her coworker, and she had to figure out a way to work with him.
Mason had already assigned her to his dung collection project. Her job was to isolate the genes in the bacteria of the healthy cows versus the ones in the gut of the sick cows.
At least she didn’t have to dig around and collect the samples. Yeech!
She typed a similar one liner back at him. Have lunch with me.
Oops! How did that come out so date-like?
Crap. She’d already hit send.
His reply came back swiftly. Great. I have an extra sandwich and salad. My aunt always packs more than I need. How about the park? It’s a short walk.
She replied. Sure. I’ll text you when I’m ready.
His next email contained his phone number.
Her heart beat faster as she entered his number into her phone. Why was she so excited about a lunch meeting to discuss working together?
All she wanted was him to be friendly to her and to treat her as an equal. It wasn’t as if she wanted to marry him.
Yikes, where had that thought came from?
Chad Powers never gave her any indication he thought of her in a friendly way.
All of this was one-sided hero worship from afar. She slapped the side of her head. Why did he have to turn into the Town Hero? And of all places, turn up here in her new home?
She’d been fantasizing about meeting up with him at a biological conference way out in the future, when she’d made a big name out of herself, top in her field. He would be awed by her accomplishments—maybe enough to ask her out, or at least have a drink after one of her lectures or presentations. They’d be two professional scientists, each with their own labs, and they could collaborate and possibly write papers together. He would admire her for her prowess and ability to string ideas together. Which would lead to asking her on a real dinner date.
It was supposed to be at least ten years in the future when she was well established. A safe distance in time and space, fertile ground for her fantasy relationship.
Not now, blindsided on day one at her first job out of college.
Clean shaven, he was exactly the Clark Kent the wild hair and beard had hidden, and she felt ripped off. She was the one who was supposed to unmask him and be the first to see him without his caveman cover-up.
She was the one who knew him when he was a big dork, and she was the one who’d known since freshman biology class that she and Chad were made for each other.
But had she done anything about it?
No, of course not. She had no social skills, and she couldn’t flirt her way out of a foxhole. Now that he was the town hero, why, even Mason had said so, all the sweet, sexy country girls would be setting out their welcome mats complete with casseroles, baked goods, and spiked sweet tea.
Chapter Nine
Chad waited outside of the IAS office building at precisely twelve noon. Kiran and Harrison had asked him to have lunch with them at Dottie’s Diner, but he’d begged off, saying he had to meet a woman friend for lunch.
They’d teased him about Helen and the Class of 2009 Cheer Squad but had thankfully gone on without him.
His stomach roiled, and his heart felt faint. Cold sweat dotted his forehead, and his palms were soaked. He hummed to himself, trying out his voice, but it kept cracking every time he thought of Amber.
What was he going to say to her? He was the one who said they needed to talk. But his throat wasn’t working, and his tongue felt like lead. Now, it was affecting his job. His boss and coworkers had noticed his stuttering, which didn’t happen unless Amber was on his mind.
That was the reason why he’d kept away from her in school, why he’d never chosen her to be his lab partner, and why he’d turned down a request from her advisor to have them work on a project together.
When graduation came, he’d had several job offers, and he’d been sorely tempted to take any of the other jobs. Only the thought of never seeing Amber again had compelled him to sign on with Mason. He’d gotten what he wanted. She was assigned to help him with classifying his microbes, but he couldn’t speak to her. Couldn’t speak at all when she was around, and now, he might be forced to resign.
He swallowed water from his water bottle and tried the “do, re, mi,” scale to loosen his vocal chords. He recited the list of essential amino acids, and ran through the Krebs cycle, but all he could manage was a tongue-tangled mess.
“Hi, you wanted to talk to me?” an assertive female voice sounded behind him.
Chad startled, splashing his face with water from his water bottle and cursed under his tongue. Wiping his face with the back of his hand, he turned to Amber’s stricken expression.
“W-what’s wr-wrong?” he asked.
“I’m sorry I scared you,” she said, her large dark-brown eyes seemed to swallow him whole.
“L-let’s g-go, t-t-to the puh-puh-park.” He couldn’t waste painful words on small talk. Maybe the brisk walk would clear the air. He picked up his cooler and turned toward the street.
“Why? What’s at the park?” she asked, her long strides easily keeping up with him.
“Nuh-no-thing.”
“Then what’s the rush?” She sped up and turned, standing in front of him to block his way. “Are you always so rude? Or is it only to me?”
“N-not y-you.” He blinked and swallowed the hard, dry lump in his throat.
“I don’t get it.” She frowned, her lowered eyebrows making her even cuter, if that was possible. “You get along with everyone else at work, but you don’t have two words to say to me. Now, you want me to go to the park to have lunch with you, away from everyone else. Why?”
“I-I wuh-want t-t-to get a-a-long.” He hated his tongue and his damn throat.
“So do I.” Her expression softened. “I guess we didn’t get off to a good start because I accused you of ambushing me. Sorry. It’s not like you have to tell me you’re taking this job. Maybe you didn’t even know I was coming here.”
“I-I knew.” He coughed and tried to clear his throat.
“Okay, so you knew.” She continued walking, and he followed along. “But you acted like you didn’t know me, even though we graduated from the same school. Samantha’s already asking about our vibe, worried we won’t get along. Harrison thinks you have the hots for me, but I assured him it was quite the opposite.”
Chad choked and sputtered on his spit. Maybe it would be better to cut his losses now. He couldn’t possibly date Amber, when he couldn’t even function like a normal human being with her around.
What had he been thinking?
They walked in silence the two blocks it took to get to the park. It was a beautiful green expanse of lawn surrounded by lush shade trees. A picnic area sat beside a ball field, the site of this afternoon’s co-ed softball game.
Silently, Chad laid out the checkered table cloth his aunt had provided and anchored them with biology text books. Amber sat on the bench and stretched, seeming relaxed enough to remove her lab coat.
He was surprised to see her wearing a short cropped top that exposed her midriff and tight white jeans. Her hair was still rolled up tightly in a bun, but she was to him, the vision of a goddess.
He set the food out, glad that Aunt Anne had packed such generous portions, including paper plates and cutlery. Perhaps she’d suspected he’d want to share with a coworker, especially since he’d spilled to her about Amber and how he wasn’t able to bid on her at the Dance Auction.
“Wow, this is quite a spread. I love Reuben sandwiches.” Amber reached up and loosened her hair, shaking it out.
Chad’s mouth went even drier than before. Her long hair cascaded smoothly down her back, rippling like shiny ribbons, and boy did he want to run his fingers through her silky mane
, among other things.
She kept talking, “Such a beautiful summer day. So different from back in the city, isn’t it?”
He grinned like an idiot and nodded, unwrapping the salad.
“Did you have fun last night?” she asked after he set a sandwich on her plate and poured her a cup of milk.
He shook his head.
“No?” Her eyebrows creased. “I guess not. After all, they wrecked your brand-new truck.”
He nodded, giving up on talking. He was happy as long as she sat there and carried on a monologue. At least she wasn’t spitting in his face or calling him an asshole.
“What happened to you? Why did you leave? I saw you turn tail and jog away.”
That was because she’d accused him of ambushing her and called him a rock star.
Chad shrugged and swallowed a bite, not wanting to ruin the moment.
“Oh, I remember. I was upset at you for not telling me you were coming here too. I already apologized, okay?” She stirred dressing into her salad.
“Y-yes,” he managed to utter.
“If we’re going to work together, then we should call a truce.”
He nodded eagerly, and his gaze shifted to her sensuous mouth as she crunched on the salad. A truce would work. So would kissing and hugging and doing other more intimate things.
Abruptly he lifted himself across the table and kissed her on the cheek.
“I, uh, wh-what—” Her eyes grew wide and she stared at him. “What was that for?”
“F-fr-friends?” He recovered, feeling his face flush with heat.
“Okay, friends.” A shy smile graced her lips. “I’m glad you didn’t have a good time last night.”
He wanted to ask if she’d had a good time, but that would be too many words, and he didn’t want to know the answer unless it was a “heck no.”
For now, it was good enough she hadn’t slapped him for that impromptu kiss, and he was still in the race—or at least not shut out. She’d surprised him with a lunch invite. He would have thought she’d stick to Dr. Forster, but thankfully Mason was monopolizing his time.
Sapphire Falls: Going Gets Hot (Kindle Worlds Novella) (My Country Heart Book 4) Page 5
