verify anything else. She’d intentionally avoided conversations with him because her throat closed when she was around him, something that never happened with anyone else. She always wanted to comb his hair away from his forehead with her fingers, too.
When Sara Beth and Lisa reached the lab, they stood side by side peering through the glass at the man inside. Tall, dark and gorgeous was a cliché, but the description fit him, if in an intellectual way. His hair brushed his neck, but she figured he’d just forgotten to get a haircut lately. Every so often he got it cut, and when he did, it was very short, as if he couldn’t be bothered with regular trims.
He truly fit the stereotype of the absentminded professor: black-framed glasses; long white lab coat, pocket protector and all, his personal uniform; along with a white or blue dress shirt and dark slacks.
She shouldn’t find him sexy, but she did. She’d heard he often forgot to eat, which was probably why he was so lean and wiry, and which also made him look even taller than his well-over-six-foot frame.
Lisa knocked. He continued entering information into a computer, his fingers flying over the keyboard. She knocked again. Still no response. Sara Beth looked to see if he was wearing earbuds and listening to music. He was only thirty-two, of an age to blast tunes in his head and work at the same time. No earbuds were visible, no dangling cords, either.
“Let’s just wait until tomorrow,” Sara Beth said, tugging on Lisa’s arm. “He’s in some impenetrable zone, that’s for sure.”
“I wonder if a fire alarm would get his attention?”
Sara Beth stared at her friend. “You wouldn’t—”
“Of course not.” Lisa laughed. “I was thinking out loud. You know, what would happen if? Would he hear it in time to escape?”
“He can’t be that bad. Come on. Let’s just go. He’s doing important work, and we shouldn’t disturb—”
Lisa entered her security information, turned the doorknob and stepped inside. Sara Beth sighed and followed.
“Good afternoon, Dr. Bonner,” Lisa said as she drew close.
He didn’t startle, but Sara Beth saw awareness click in. For one thing, he blinked. He held up a hand briefly then continued to type.
Sara Beth glanced around the lab. The two waist-high lab tables were neat and orderly, even loaded with equipment as they were—microscopes with projection screens, computers, other high-tech pieces she couldn’t identify. Then there was the low-tech, standard lab equipment—stainless-steel sinks, glass vessels and tubes. Everything seemed to have its place, all order, no chaos.
Why aren’t you on a date tonight, Dr. Gorgeous? she wondered. He was young, handsome and gainfully employed. She’d always assumed he played the field as much as his inveterate-flirt research partner, Dr. Demetrios, did.
“Ms. Armstrong,” he said finally, turning toward Lisa. “And Ms. O’Connell. What can I do for you?” His gaze zeroed in and held on Sara Beth in an unnerving way as he gave her the same kind of complete attention he had given the computer just moments ago.
Not a multitasker, she decided, fascinated, as he took off his glasses and set them on the tabletop then shoved his fingers through his rich brown hair. She itched to do the same.
“I know you’ve been frustrated, Dr. Bonner,” Lisa said, “at being unable to find answers to the protocol problems.”
“An understatement.”
“Well, I’ve brought the cavalry.” Lisa turned toward Sara Beth. “We’ve decided to free up Sara Beth from some of her regular assignments and let her help you and Dr. Demetrios with your investigation.”
For a few long moments he stayed silent, his expression giving away nothing, then he said, “Her help is gratefully accepted.”
That was way too easy, Sara Beth thought. Which was a good thing, right? If they could work without dissension, they could cover a lot more ground more quickly. Maybe she wouldn’t feel as if she was spying, either. And maybe her pulse would stop pounding so hard.
“On one condition,” he added. “Call me Ted. You, too, Sara Beth.”
Sara Beth waited for Lisa’s reply. Lisa’s father, the institute’s founder, had always insisted on using titles. But then, not only was he retired, he was almost completely bedridden. He never came into the institute anymore.
Lisa’s shoulders relaxed. “Except in front of patients or VIPs.”
“Fair enough.”
“Should I call Dr. Demetrios or would you like to tell him?”
Ted pulled a cell phone from his pocket and pushed one button, then waited. “I hope I’m not disturbing you, Chance.” His brows went up at whatever Dr. Demetrios’s response was. “I’ll make it quick, then. I just wanted you to know that Ms. O’Connell will be assisting us for a while so that we can get to the bottom of the issues around here.… Yes, Sara Beth.… Yes, the one with the long, dark red hair. How many other Ms. O’Connells are there? You work with her every—Oh. A joke.”
He tipped the phone down. “When are you starting?”
“Immediately,” Lisa answered.
Pride made Sara Beth not want him to know she didn’t have a date for Valentine’s Day, so she started to say she would start the next day, but he spoke first.
“Is tomorrow okay?” he asked Sara Beth. “I have plans tonight.”
So. He did have a date. “That’d be fine.”
“Tomorrow,” Dr. Bonner said into the phone. “Yes, I’ll do that. Bye.”
He slid his phone back into his pocket. “Chance extends his thanks.”
“I’ll leave you two to work out a schedule.” Lisa headed toward the door. “Sara Beth, you can plan on giving ten to fifteen hours a week to the project.”
Then she was gone, and Sara Beth was left with Dr. Bon—Ted. Without Lisa as a buffer, they would have to talk.…
“I’m looking forward to working with you,” she said, twining her fingers. “I hope I can help you find the answers you need.”
“Me, too. It’s been frustrating. I’m a scientist. Discovering the truth is what I do.”
The way he said that made him seem like a superhero, a man whose ethical core was the heart and soul of him, as if truth mattered more than anything in the world.
“What can I do?” she asked.
“Nothing that you’ll find exciting. In fact, it’s tedious and painstaking, but it’s the only way to get the answers. We need to know if previous doctors implanted too many embryos or manipulated the statistics to boost the institute’s success numbers and therefore increase funding. So far we’ve been working with our more recent computerized records, but in order to dispute some of the claims, you might spend time reading old files from the archives vault, cross-checking and rechecking test results from before the
