“Come on. I’ll show you around.” I gathered up my trash, then showed Colt to the bathrooms so he could wash his hands. No dirty hands in the lab.
I badged us in and Colt looked around. “So, what are you trying to figure out?”
“Glioblastoma in children. How, why, genetics, you name it,we’re trying to figure it out.”
“Damn. And glioblastoma is?”
“An aggressive and malignant brain tumor. The leading team for brain cancer nationally is here in Columbus, so that’s why I’m here.”
Colt smiled, wrapping his arm around my side to tap my hip. “That’s incredible. I mean, terrible that it exists, but awesome that you get to figure it out.”
“And that I’m in your city?” I supplied.
“That is one massive benefit for me personally,” he said.
We paused and stared into each other’s eyes. “I’m glad you’re here,” I said, and he looked like I just told him I figured out how to bottle lightning. All that talk about kissing had me fifty kinds of stirred up. My lips popped open and I didn’t realize I was looking at his until they quirked upward.
He lifted a finger and booped my nose. “And I’m gladyou’rehere.”
Giddy feelings swirled through my body: a flutter here, humming blood there, the desire to drag my lips over the space next to his Adam’s apple. I knew if I lunged at him, he’d receive it. But there were cameras all over the lab, and I felt suddenly on the spot. “Wanna see the mice?” I offered.
“Mice?” he asked, scrunching his nose in his ever-Colton way. “I thought it was ‘lab rats’ for a reason.”
“Mice are easier for what we’re doing. I understand if you don’t want to see them.”
He shook his head. “I definitely want to see them.”
After he’d seen the sights, we came to a lull by my desk. I rolled my lips between my teeth and looked at the exceedingly narrow space between us. “I hate to say it, but I should probably get back to it.”
“Yeah, of course.”
“But thanks for bringing me dinner.”
Colt grinned. “You’re much happier now.”
My throat tightened and made some gurgly noise as I looked up at him. I was happier when I saw him calling, but I wasn’t sharing that little tidbit. The goal was to not get his hopes up. “I’ll walk you out.”
Just before we left the lab area, he pointed to a door on our right. “You didn’t show me that room.”
I waved a hand. “Oh. It’s just a storage closet.”
Colton paused and lifted a brow. “A storage closet, you say?” He stepped a little closer. “I feel like I’ve read something about a storage closet before.”
My heart sped up and my eyes widened. He was talking about the billionaire book. He was ready to act out a scene now. Some combination of adrenaline and sex hormones hit my bloodstream as I considered the risk, the fact that we could really go for it. “I do believe you have.”
He pursed his lips. “No pressure from me. And I wasn’t even thinking of that coming over here.”
I planted him with a look, but I couldn’t keep a straight face.
Colt held up his hands. “I didn’t! But, you know, if you’re ready for that . . .”
He slipped one hand into his pants pocket and sifted the other through his hair.
Was I ready to jump the bones of a man who spoke to me in stern tones and made me eat my favorite food? To let that man touch me, kiss me, tease me? I met his gaze.
“I’m ready.”
His eyes widened, and he took two quick breaths. “Okay. If you get scared or don’t like something, I want you to say something. Or pinch me.”
