Page 79 of Her Captivated Hero

“Here’s what needs to happen. We need to measure the bathroom, and see if the lab will fit in there after we get it open,” she said decisively.

“Already ahead of you. I checked out the room specs before reserving the room. That’s one of the reasons I ponied up for the Palace Suite. The containment lab will fit when it’s unfolded.”

“Good, that’s good. The suitcases the lab comes in actually turn into tables, so that’s easy enough to set up. Then I put this equipment in there.”

“Do you take that with you everywhere?”

“What?” she asked.

Wyatt pointed to her black and white college notebook.

“Oh, I go through these like water. This is the one I started using when I came home from D.C. last month.” She went over to him and he moved two of the guns so she could sit beside him on the bed. “Here’s the sequencing that they did on the toxin last time.” She pointed to a page excitedly, then turned many pages forward. “But here’s a sample of what they took off the triplets. Can you see the difference?”

She looked up expectantly, and Wyatt gave her a crooked grin. “Doc, I’m not anywhere close to understanding that. I’m really honored you think I might have had a snowball’s chance in hell of comprehending it though.”

Riya felt the blush starting from her toes and ending at her forehead. Of course he didn’t know anything about this. Nobody but the other CDC scientists would have known. She was just so excited to share this with someone. At least Gray would have realized the importance of her differentiating between the two different samples. That was huge!

“Hey, don’t go feeling all bad. You should see the stupid shit I pull. It’s mostly with women.”

She laughed. How can I not, when he is so dang cute?

He got up from the bed and within five minutes had the biocontainment lab set up in the hotel’s luxurious bathroom. The CDC’s soft-walled lab came with a portable generator that powered the HEPA filtration system. Wyatt even had it worked out so she would step into the bathroom’s tub to scrub down between the two doorways of the biocontainment lab, so that she wouldn’t track any of the particles to the outside. Again, it shouldn’t be a problem, since it would be DNA specific, but it was still a good protocol to have.

“Riya, you’re kind of weird, do you know that?” Wyatt asked.

“Yeah, I do. But why are you saying it?”

“This bathroom has a whirlpool tub, a sauna, a steam room, and a huge vanity for you to sit down at, but you could care less. I cover it all up with aluminum and plastic and you’re a kid in a candy store. You’re just weird.”

Riya clapped her hands and grinned. “I know.”

Wyatt handed her a small earpiece. She looked at it, and twirled it around in her hand until she determined how to put it into her ear. Then he handed her something to go around her neck.

“It’s a throat microphone. It works better than the ones you see the kids using to play video games. You can whisper, and we’ll hear you.”

She shrugged. “Okay.”

“You’re going to want to change, right? There’s another bathroom, and don’t forget the butler’s pantry behind the bar.”

Riya shook her head in amazement at the extravagance and went to go grab her regular clothes out of the suitcase that stored the microscope. As she was getting into her jeans, she heard male voices out in the room. The rest of the men must have arrived. They were coming in through different entrances, since some of them were dressed more casually.

She felt her palms sweating. Even though Gray had explained things outside the Al Dhafra Air Base, they hadn’t had a chance to interact as she was getting ready to act the part of Wyatt’s girlfriend.

“Ow.” She hit her elbow against the sink counter when there was a knock on the door.

“Riya, are you all right?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” she told Gray.

“Can I come in?”

She opened the door. She was just putting on her shoes and socks.

How could it surprise her how tall he was? She should be used to it by now. Instead she found herself looking at an expanse of black in a tight t-shirt. She took her time wandering upwards to look at his face. Even his throat was sexy, then there was that scar on his lip and finally those blue eyes.

He pulled off the microphone around his throat and took hers off as well. He opened the bathroom door back up and threw them out. Riya heard shouts of laughter. She didn’t care. Gray pulled her into his arms. He cupped the back of her head, so she was tucked safely under his chin. She could hear his heart beating.

“My Buttercup,” he breathed.