And now? He must be somewhere on the fairgrounds partying—maybe on the Ferris wheel with a groupie, or feeling up a former cheerleader in the Haunted House.
Her stomach growling, she walked with her sisters into the Come Again and came face to face with a drunk Chad throwing back shots and kissing all the girls, but not making them cry.
Chapter Thirteen
Chad was in pain the next morning. His head throbbed, and his stomach was queasy as sunlight slammed his overly sensitive eyes.
Where was he?
He was naked except for his boxer shorts and the bedsheets tangled around his legs. He patted the four-poster bed he was on and glanced around the strange room. The walls were papered with pink flowers, and the comforter was also pink. Perfume bottles and makeup littered the cherry wood dresser, and a partially finished quilt hung over a rack.
He put his hands over his eyes and groaned, wondering which woman had taken him home the night before.
Swinging his feet to the floor, he sat up, but the room continued to spin. His mouth felt like dried cotton, and the persistent throb in his head made him want to throw up.
“A-anyone h-here?” he called out.
Where were his clothes?
Using one of the posts on the bed, Chad wobbled to an armoire and opened it. Nothing but women’s clothes inside.
He needed to pee, and he wasn’t sure where the bathroom was. Had the woman who took him home gone off to work already?
Carefully, he opened the door to the bedroom and peered down the hallway.
“Oh, you’re awake,” Aunt Anne said, hustling toward him. “How are you feeling? Hungover, I bet.”
Chad let out a breath of relief. “How’d I-I g-get here?”
“Marsh and Mike brought you back,” she said. “Bathroom’s empty. Would you like something to eat? Bacon and eggs?”
“W-what time is it?”
“Almost noon,” his aunt said. “Don’t worry about work. I called Mason and told him you’re sick.”
“I have to go in. There’s an important meeting with Dr. Forster. I have to present my proposal.” Chad groaned as he held his stomach.
Why had he let himself get drunk? This was stupid, something a college freshman would have done. Except he’d never gotten drunk in college or anywhere else.
An excruciating forty minutes later, Auntie Anne dropped him off at work. She handed him a packed lunch bag. “Fireworks show tonight on Klein Hill. Your mom wants to see which one of the women you’ll be seeing it with.”
Chad sighed and thanked his aunt. He should never have promised his mother he’d reenact her Sapphire Falls Festival week—the one where she’d fallen in love with his father.
If she wanted to experience it, she and Dad should come and do it themselves—all over again.
“You look like something my cat dragged in.” Samantha was the first to greet him when he entered the lab. “You missed the presentation this morning with Dr. Forster.”
“Is he still around?” Chad cast a glance toward Amber’s lab space.
She sat at her workstation with her back turned, staring intently at her computer screen.
“Yeah, but before you talk to him, he wants all of the genomes you’re proposing.” Samantha also cast her gaze at Amber. “She’s busy doing my sapsucker pests.”
Harrison walked up and punched him in the bicep. “My tomato seedlings are next. No taking cuts, and Kiran has his wasps.”
Damn. Chad had plumb forgotten to collect more dung samples from the cows at Aunt Anne’s farm. What the heck was wrong with him?
He couldn’t afford to lose focus his first week of work.
“I think I better go back to the farm and get my microbes,” he muttered.
“You mean the ones marked fudge, brownie, and mud pie?” Samantha laughed. “I heard Helen and her gang are out of the hospital, and they’re not too happy about missing the softball game.”
“Or the shot-for-a-kiss game last night,” Harrison piped. “You da man! How many did you kiss?”
Chad had no time for gossip and innuendo. He needed to get those samples stat. Amber was supposed to be hired to assist him, and now everyone else was using her time.
This wasn’t right.
“As soon as I get my samples together, I’m going to ask Amber to get them sequenced,” he said, in as authoritative a voice as he could muster. “She’s my assistant. Not yours.”
“Excuse me?” Samantha put her hands on her hips. “Who said she was your assistant?”
“Mason. It was one of the reasons I took this job as opposed to the one out in California.” Chad stood his ground. He’d taken a lower salary in exchange for not having to do his own genetic analysis.
“Really?” Harrison’s voice was high-pitched and shrill. “He told you Amber’s your personal assistant?”
“Yes, he did,” Chad reiterated. “So, you two better hope she gets your stuff done, because once I return with my cow dung, she’s going to have to drop everything.”
“We’ll see about that,” Samantha said. “Hey Amber. Come here for a sec?”
Amber clicked a pause button on her screen and slowly turned to face them. Her eyes narrowed, she came toward them. “What’s going on?”
“Chad here says you’re his assistant,” Harrison said. “That you have to prioritize his work ahead of ours.”
“Are you kidding me?” Amber shot a glare at him. “I’m no one’s assistant. I’m a researcher in my own right, and sequencing DNA for you guys is not my main job. I’m setting up an epigenetics study with Dr. Forster, and I have several experiments I’m in charge of.”
“That’s what we thought,” Samantha said. “I told Chad you’re doing my sapsuckers right now, and that Harrison’s next. He says he has priority because Mason told him you’re his assistant.”
Amber’s lip curled and she pointed at Chad with her index finger. “You arrogant son of a— Who do you think you are waltzing in here demanding I give you priority? You must have misunderstood Mason. I bet he said I’d assist you with your genome analysis, but in no way, shape, or form am I your assistant.”
“That’s exactly what Mason said to me.” Harrison nodded. “He said you would assist my genome work and get credit on any papers I wrote—not that you were my assistant.”
“Same here,” Samantha piled on. “An assist is helping on a level playing field. An assistant is a subordinate.”
“Well?” Amber glared at Chad. “Aren’t you going to say anything?”
“I-I know wha-what M-Mason said t-to me.” Chad spun around and marched from the lab with as much dignity as he could retain.
Mason had been clear. He would back him up. Amber was a resource he offered to sweeten the pot along with the sign-on bonus and the salary advance. The company in California had given him a counter offer with more money and lab space.
He wasn’t going to be pushed around by his coworkers and denied the priority processing he’d been promised. His microbe work was orders of magnitude more important than Samantha’s sapsuckers and Harrison’s tomato seeds.
Didn’t they understand that microbes were the entire reason plant life was possible? That without microbes to fix nitrogen into the soil, agriculture would not exist?
Chad stomped from the lab and called for a taxi to take him back to Auntie Anne’s. There would be no firework watching tonight.
He had samples to culture and microbes to analyze, and whether Amber liked it or not, she would have to pull an all-nighter to get his report in by the deadline tomorrow morning.
* * *
Amber’s blood boiled all afternoon as she finished the results for Samantha and Harrison. Kiran wasn’t ready with his sample and neither was Chad, but she wasn’t going to stay late for them.
She and her sisters and their dates and mates were going to the fireworks show on Klein Hill.
The shock of seeing Chad surrounded by drunk women cut her to the quick. Even Candi had admitted to her s
he was better off without him.
It had been a close call only because she had admired Chad from a distance. She hadn’t really known him, just saw his brilliant mind and the good looks he’d hidden behind the long hair, glasses, and beard.
There would be other men in her future, but for now, she needed to dedicate herself to establishing her credentials as a researcher.
Having Dr. Forster in her corner was a benefit, as long as she could fend off his amorous advances. Thankfully, he was professional at the meeting this morning and never mentioned the softball game or the fact she’d run away from him. All he’d said was, “Don’t take the loss so seriously. In life, you win some, you lose some. You’re doing good if you win more than you lose.”
Completely neutral and nonthreatening.
Amber finished the report for Samantha and wrapped up the data for Harrison. She zipped up the files and sent them to their respective emails.
The sun didn’t set in Nebraska until nine o’clock, so she still had time for dinner before meeting her sisters at Honey and Max’s house to take off for the show.
She turned off the lights in her area and shut down her laptop. Pushing away from her desk, she swiveled her office chair as someone cleared his throat behind her.
The hairs on the back of her neck prickled, and she raised her eyes.
“Chad. What are you doing here?”
He thumbed his cell phone, and her phone jingled with a received text.
“It’s seven o’clock and I’m going home,” she said, not bothering to look at the text message he sent.
“I-I n-need y-you to f-finish my microbial DNA s-samples.” His expression was guarded and firm, not blinking.
“Too bad. I’ve already worked a full day.” She stood to level the playing field. “If you’ll excuse me. I’m leaving now.”
“No. Please.” He blocked her from exiting.
She closed her eyes, shaking her head and taking a deep breath. “I’m done for the day. Get out of my way. It’s not my fault you were hungover and late to work today.”
“I-I checked w-with Mason. He s-said to pri-prioritize my work.”
“He hasn’t said anything to me. And newsflash, I’m not your assistant.”
“Y-yes, you are.” Chad stood ramrod straight. “You w-were promised t-to me. You’re v-very important.”
“If I’m so important, then why didn’t I get a sign-on bonus?”
“I-I don’t know.” He scratched the back of his neck and shrugged. “But, you need to g-get my job done by to-tomorrow. W-we can c-call Mason right now.”
“Fine.” She’d call his bluff. Extracting her phone, she placed a call to her boss.
“Hello,” Mason said. “I saw Harrison and Samantha’s results. Kiran is going to be late, but have you done Chad’s?”
“Actually, that’s what I wanted to ask you about,” Amber said. “Chad claims you hired me to be his assistant.”
“Is there a problem?” her boss’s voice sounded perplexed.
“No, no problem, it’s a matter of prioritization. I have my own report to write up and a proposal for the Haiti investigation.” She felt a surge of sweat dot her forehead and turned away from Chad who was staring at her in an entirely inappropriate way.
“You’re supposed to manage your own time effectively,” Mason said, clearly annoyed that she’d disturbed his dinner.
“Right. I want to know if I’ve been promised to Chad over the others.”
“Chad’s work is the key to our entire field trial,” Mason said. “That should be clear to you.”
“Sure, thanks. I’ll get right to it,” Amber said, feeling deflated. “Sorry to disturb you.”
It took Amber several seconds after Mason hung up to raise her eyes to face Chad. She hated eating crow, and even though Mason hadn’t directly said she was Chad’s assistant, he’d clearly put her below him.
“Email me what you have and I’ll get to it,” she said, curtly. “You may leave now.”
Her stomach growled with the realization that she would not only miss dinner, but also the fireworks show—all because Chad had gotten drunk, most likely slept with some floozie, and woke up hungover.
So unfair.
Chad stood there, not leaving and not moving. “I already emailed you.”
“You don’t seem to be stuttering around me anymore,” she observed, sitting herself back into her work chair. “Guess you’re over me. It’s a good thing, or else it would have been hard to work together.”
He pulled a chair from the adjacent workstation and settled his large body into it. Instead of talking, he texted her, and this time, she was too curious to ignore it.
The first text from a few minutes ago read, We need to talk.
And the second one read, I agree with keeping work and personal life separate. However, I’m not over you by a long shot. Let’s work now and get this done, and if we have time, let me take you to the fireworks show.
She nodded slowly, her emotions all in a jumble. What was he doing torturing her? He’d had a fun night with the women in town, and now he was telling her he wasn’t over her? What did he want from her? Special favors at work? Or was he feeling the same magnetic chemistry that made her skin tingle and her nerves come alive whenever they were in the same room together?
Swallowing hard, Amber booted up her computer and dug into Chad’s data. At some point, he left her alone, and for that she was grateful. She delved into the program and manipulated the entries, until she made sense of the output.
The aroma of barbecue briskets, French fries, and coleslaw invaded her work area. Chad carefully cleared a pile of folders from her table and spread a red and white checkered tablecloth.
Wordlessly, he placed a vase of yellow roses at the center of the table, lit a candle on a glass holder, and then pulled out steaming boxes of hot food. He set paper plates, napkins, and plastic utensils in front her.
She checked the program to make sure it was compiling the results, then turned to the spread of food, her mouth watering.
“Thanks for getting all of this,” she said, catching his eye.
“You’re hungry,” was all he said as he served her a scoop of potato salad, a scoop of coleslaw, a few fries and a cluster of onions and pickles on her plate, and then cut a healthy chunk of brisket for her. He set a bottle of mineral water in front of her.
She nodded, feeling a strange warmth glow in her chest. “This is an awfully kind thing you’re doing for me.”
“Nothing more than y-you finishing u-up my genome for me,” he said. “Sorry I w-was late.”
“It’s okay. You were probably hungover from your wild night out.”
“Yeah.”
They ate in silence, with the food melting in her mouth.
Before she devoured her last piece of brisket, Chad put a hand over her fork. “W-wait. I forgot t-to take a-a pic-picture f-for my mom.”
Amber sat back to let him capture the half-devoured feast and waited while he texted it to her.
Her return text chimed on his phone, bringing an achingly sweet smile to his entirely too handsome face.
Amber wanted to avert her eyes, feeling like she was invading his privacy, but she couldn’t help being drawn by the delighted expression on his face.
He chuckled at something she wrote, then typed back.
“S-she wants a pic-picture of us.” His voice stumbled as he caught her staring at him.
“Who, me? The coworker? Didn’t we take a picture yesterday at lunch?”
“W-we did. She l-likes you.”
His admission was innocent and charming at the same time. In many ways, he was childlike and squeaky clean, but the image of him drunk and slobbering over all those crazy women quickly dispelled that notion.
“Sure, fine,” she said, getting into position next to him. “Only problem, you need to explain to her that I’m just your coworker. I don’t want her to think anything different.”
He didn’t answer. Inste
ad, he turned the camera into selfie mode and set the three second timer. He slipped an arm around her and held her close. At the last second, he turned and kissed her on the cheek.
“What was that for?” Amber reared back, alarmed. “She’s going to think I’m your girlfriend, or are you showing her all the women you can kiss?”
He grinned as he sent the selfie to his mother. Moments later, Amber’s phone jingled with an incoming text.
My mother wants to know if you’re my girlfriend.
“I knew it,” Amber exclaimed. “You’re misleading her.”
I wish you were.
“You do not,” she argued.
I’ve liked you for a long time.
“But you went home with another woman last night,” Amber blurted. “You didn’t even see me at the bar. You were so drunk.”
I went home with Marsh and Mike and woke up at my aunt’s house.
“Still, you let every woman in Sapphire Falls get a piece of you.”
I’ve never been drunk before. It won’t happen again. I promise.
“It’s not good for you.” She placed a hand on his arm, mollified that he hadn’t gone home with another woman. “Did you really mean it about wishing I were your girlfriend?”
She was treading on dangerous ground, but the thought of him locking lips or other body parts with another woman just about killed her last night.
He grinned at her and nodded. “But y-you were s-so mad at m-me b-be-ca-cause I h-hit a homerun.”
“Was not,” Amber denied, before putting her hand over her mouth. “Maybe I was.”
Actually, she was upset about his fan club of hot country women.
“Y-you hit a homerun, t-too.”
“But yours was a grand slam, only because I was so stupid to walk Derek. If I’d struck him out, we would have won.”
He shrugged, quirking his eyebrow. “N-next time, we’ll be on the s-same team.”
“Good idea.” She took a quick glance at her computer to check on the program. “Still processing. What do you want to do now?”
“I can k-kiss y-you?” His grin was rakish, bringing out double dimples on each cheek.
“Why do you have to be so tempting?”
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