“Gabe said there’s some confirmation letter on your desk?” she relayed.
Liam’s eyes narrowed. “I put in a request for a brain for when one is available, which might not be for months. And please tell Gabe to stop reading my mail.”
Gabe crossed his arms. “Natalie, please tell Liam that I can hear him. And you can remind him that just getting a brain is no better than adding a whole body to his already extensive inventory. A brain can come with an attached spirit too, you know. Case in point, the last brain, which arrived along with the spirit of an angry boxer with CTE. He was real fun to be around.”
Ignoring Gabe, Natalie said to Liam, “That reminds me. I forgot to tell you. I found this article from the New York Times about the doctor in charge of the Harvard donor program who was selling body parts. To like normal people to make creepy displays and stuff. Teeth, skin, brains. It was pretty horrifying. He’s in big trouble. You didn’t buy any of your parts from him, did you?”
Liam’s dark brows rose. “I receive research specimens on loan from the Albany Medical College Anatomical Gift Program, which I will return to the college for a respectful burial. I don’t buy the parts. Jeez, Nat, it’s not like ordering an oil filter from AutoZone.”
Her eyes widened as a forgotten car-related item on her To Do list surfaced through the hundreds of other tasks rattling around in her brain. “Uh oh.”
“Uh, oh, what?” Liam asked, his voice lower, gruffer, sexier than usual.
“You’re in trouble,” Gabe singsonged.
Gabe was correct in that. Liam took automobile maintenance much too seriously.
“You mentioning AutoZone just reminded me. My car’s inspection expired on the first of this month.” She cringed and waited for the expected reaction.
Even Liam’s exhale sounded frustrated. “Natalie, dammit, just drop your car off and leave it there for the day for them to inspect. The garage is literally one block away. You can walk home from there.”
She glanced at the door, the open sign already flipped. The lock already unlocked. “I know, but I can’t leave now. The shop’s open.”
“Fine. I’ll drop it off for you before I head to the lab.”
His eye roll was adorable and irresistible.
She moved forward and planted both palms on his chest, staring up into the sea green of his eyes. “Thank you, baby.”
“Ugh. Gag. I’m out of here.” Still fake gagging, Gabe disappeared via the front window he’d entered through.
Now that they were alone, Natalie delivered a thank you kiss to Liam’s lips.
The feel of his scruff against her skin was like an aphrodisiac, heating her from the outside in. Sending tingles straight through to her core.
She pulled away before things got too heated for the middle of the open shop, but she did say, “You are the best boyfriend ever.”
“Yeah, I know.”
His grumble made her smile. Liam only pretended to be grumpy. It was like his suit of armor.
The truth was beneath that gruff exterior, he was a big old softie. It was irresistibly attractive. But even with as much as she’d like to lock that door again and drag him back to bed, it was time for work.
Reluctantly, she turned toward the counter to fire up the computer… and spotted that damn mail again.
Mood immediately shifting, and not for the better, Natalie tugged a single letter from beneath the rubber band.
“So now I get to spend the next hour going through all this.” She glared at the stack as she slipped her finger into the corner and tore into the envelope… and immediately sustained the world’s worst paper cut.
She hissed at the pain then sucked on the wound, tasting blood.
“You know you could just toss it all,” Liam suggested.
“I can’t. What if there are bills mixed in?” she answered, glancing at the offending letter that was now free from the deadly envelope.
It began with big bold words scrawled in all uppercase letters and punctuated by an irrational number of exclamation points.
HOW DARE YOU!!!!!
