he watched as her blue eyes flared wide in recognition. He couldn’t see her mouth because of the mask she wore, but he was willing to bet she was biting her bottom lip the way she always had when something bothered her.
“Grant?” She sounded almost as incredulous as he felt, and she tightened her grip on the clipboard she held, her knuckles going white under her skin.
A tsunami of words rose in his throat, all the things he should have said ten years ago now jostling and vying for expression. He swallowed hard. “Hello, Avery. Long time no see.” It was a lame greeting, but it was better than gawking at her like she was a ghost come back to life.
She was silent a moment, and Grant got the distinct impression Avery wanted nothing more than to turn her back on him and pretend he wasn’t there. But she was too much of a professional to let her personal desires get in the way of her job. “Grant,” she repeated evenly. “What a surprise.”
He tried to laugh to dispel the tension, but the sound came out as more of a strangled wheeze. “I know, right? Of all the gin joints in the world...” He trailed off and Avery smiled politely—he could see her cheeks move under the paper of the mask, but the smile didn’t reach her eyes.
“Indeed. So you’re the chief here?”
He cleared his throat, happy to change the subject. Besides, what could he say to make up for the past? It would take more than a few bad jokes to reach her now. “I am. I take it you’re the expert from the CDC?”
“I am,” she replied.
A fierce burst of pride came out of nowhere and made him want to hug her, but he knew better than to try it. Even when they’d been undergraduate students, Avery always wanted to be the best. She’d worked hard to rise to the head of their class, and thanks to her talent and determination, she’d had her pick of medical schools. It was no surprise that she was now at the top of her field.
A hint of sadness tinged the edges of his vision as he studied her. If he hadn’t been such a dumb kid, he would have been a part of her life all this time, would have celebrated her accomplishments with her. Instead he felt like a stranger, a realization made all the more painful, thanks to the closeness they’d once shared.
He deliberately turned his thoughts away from the past. “It’s not airborne,” he said, gesturing to her mask. “You don’t need that.” Her eyes were quite expressive, but he wanted to see the rest of her face so he could get a better idea of what she was thinking. Once upon a time he’d known all her expressions and had been able to practically see her thoughts based on how she held her mouth or lifted an eyebrow. Would he still be able to read her like that now?
Her eyes narrowed. “I was told the patients suffered extensive respiratory symptoms.”
“That’s true, but whatever is causing this disease doesn’t seem to be transmitted through the air. Why do you think I’m still alive?” His tone was light, but she didn’t smile.
She eyed him up and down, as if assessing the truth of his statement for herself. After a long moment, she lifted her hand and tugged the mask down, exposing her pert nose and full, pink lips to his gaze.
Grant felt the faint stirrings of desire as he stared at her mouth, remembering the feel of it against his own. Memories flooded his mind, assaulting his senses and overwhelming his thoughts. He fought to put them back in the box where they belonged, but in his sleep-deprived state, it was harder than usual to keep things under control. Desperate for a distraction, he cleared his throat. “What are you doing?” He gestured to the equipment being crammed cheek by jowl on the available counter space, and the boxes of what could only be lab supplies stacked on the floor.
Avery frowned slightly. “Setting up a field lab,” she replied in a tone that suggested this should be perfectly obvious. She glanced over to where a man was unpacking a box. “No, put the PCR machine next to the sequencer, please.” He nodded and moved to follow her instructions, and Avery turned back to Grant. “I was given a list of your lab equipment and brought some of my own to supplement it.”
Her presumption lit a spark of irritation in his chest, and he seized on the emotion, grateful for the change in his internal focus. “And you just thought you’d take over our dentist’s office?”
Avery glanced around the space, her expression making it clear she didn’t think too highly of that description. “It’s across the hall from your existing lab,” she pointed out reasonably. “It seemed like the best location, all things considered. And I was told you haven’t had a lot of demand for dentistry lately.”
It was true, but Grant still would have appreciated a heads-up before they’d taken over the space. “By all means,” he said dryly. “Make yourself at home, then.”
“Thanks.”
He stood there a moment, watching the men and women unpack. They moved quickly but competently, and as they worked he could see the organization of things take shape before his eyes. It was yet another example of the take-charge, can-do attitude Avery had always shown, no matter the circumstances.
Grant knew he should be relieved that reinforcements had arrived, but he still couldn’t shake his annoyance at the sense that things were spinning out of his control. Dealing with this strange outbreak had been difficult, and the deaths of four of his patients had made him feel powerless, a sensation he hated. Having to work with Avery, the woman he’d loved and lost, was just the icing on the cake of this crappy situation.
“I was told you wanted to meet with me?” His voice held a slight edge he didn’t bother to hide.
Avery glanced over at him, as if she’d forgotten he was standing there. “Yes. Do you have an office where we can talk?”
“Of course.” Truth be told, it was more of a broom closet than an office. But it was his space, and that was all that mattered.
She turned back and eyed the progress of her little group, apparently doing some mental calculations as to how much longer it would take them to finish setting up her domain. “Can I meet you there in half an hour?”
“Make it an hour,” he said. That would give him enough time to take a quick nap, which would reset his brain and allow him to shore up his defenses against the flood of memories her presence had unleashed.
“Great,” she said, sounding a little distracted. “See you then.”
Grant recognized a dismissal when he heard one. He turned and was surprised to feel a faint sense of anticipation as he walked away. He’d really screwed things up ten years ago, and she hadn’t hesitated to cut him out of her life. Despite all the reasons he shouldn’t care, it bothered him that their relationship had ended so badly. Part of him had always hoped to see her again, to try to make things right now that time had dulled the sting of his actions for both of them. And while he knew there was no way to repair all the damage he’d done, it would be nice if he and Avery could part company on good terms this time.
Provided they both made it out of here alive.
Avery took a deep breath and placed a hand on her stomach to still the butterfly wings fluttering inside. Why was she nervous? She was a professional, for crying out loud. She’d successfully worked numerous outbreaks in many different settings, ranging
