She was what he wanted.
He’d been up most of the night, trying to decide how he would
do it.
Looking into her eyes. Yes, of course.
They were very blue.
It was time to let her know he was out there.
* * * *
Jake obligingly reached for a beaker on one of the shelves just above his head and absently handed it to the young woman next to him. Gillian Wesley, one of the other grad students, accepted it with murmured thanks. At the moment, they were the only two in the lab, which at this time on Monday afternoon wasn’t unusual.
Short and just slightly overweight, with curly brown hair and a good natured smile, she shot him another curious glance as she
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began to distill liquid from a pipette. “You are in a very good mood today, Jake. What’s up?”
“I had a…” he groped for the correct word, couldn’t find one descriptive enough, and finally supplied, “…a nice weekend.”
“Nice, huh?” She twisted the pipette closed and gave him a level stare.
He grinned. “Okay,
very
nice.”
“In short, you got laid. You have that self-satisfied look.”
“I didn’t say that.” Half-irritated, half-amused she could guess so accurately, he shook his head. They had worked together for several years now and were good friends. She had an oddball sense of humor, a very forthright way of speaking her mind, and because her sexual preference was for women, there wasn’t any
male/female tension between them either.
“You don’t have to say it. I can sense these things and guys are so transparent anyway.” Gillian gave a small snort. “Who is she?”
“No way.”
She propped one hip on the edge of the long table and folded her arms across her ample chest. “Let me guess, you caved and it was one of those leggy blonds in your cell bio class who are probably really English lit majors or something. I saw one in the hall the other day and her skirt was so short that the cheeks of her cute little sophomore ass were practically hanging out. Nice view, but way too obvious.”
He shook his head decisively. “I’m not in the habit of nailing students, Gilly. Give me some credit, please.”
“From the way that one was dressed, you sure could if you wanted to, my friend. If it wasn’t one of the blonds, who then?
Come on, give over. My sex life is so pathetic. I’ll settle for hearing about yours.”
Jake knew her last girlfriend had moved out a few months ago, but she seemed to be finally getting over it, because for a while she wouldn’t have been able to joke about it.
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“Yeah, well, sorry, I’m not talking.” He glanced at his watch, noting that the real subject of their discussion would probably be back in her office. Jana’s last class had ended a half an hour ago and he still had her key to the supply room.
It was ridiculous, because he wasn’t in junior high anymore, but he still felt an almost adolescent itchy desire just to see her.
As if on cue, the door opened and Jana came into the lab.
Today she wore a dark blue knit dress that was conservative in length and style, but there was nothing wrong with the way it clung to the curves of the body he now knew so intimately. Low heeled pumps in a matching color emphasized her fabulous legs, and as always, she carried off looking very attractive and feminine, yet entirely business-like.
Doing his very best to seem nonchalant, he said with as little inflection as possible, “Hello, Professor. I was just going to bring you your key.”
“No problem. I have a meeting in a few minutes and thought about it as I was passing by.” Jana looked and sounded absolutely normal and gave him one of her cool, distant smiles.
The problem was, she blushed at the same time.
A wave of color washed her cheeks and considering her normal poise it was unusual enough there was no way in hell Gillian wouldn’t notice it.
Quickly he dug in the pocket of his lab coat and produced the item in question, handing it over. “Thanks for letting me use it.”
“Certainly.” There was a slight disconcerted note in her voice that indicated her physical reaction and lack of control over it embarrassed her. “Have a good afternoon. You too, Gillian.”
A little too quickly, she turned left the room.
He turned back to the slide he was preparing with studious attention, but he could feel Gillian’s avid stare. After a moment, she said, “Jesus Christ. Quinn, are you kidding me?”
He glanced up, hopefully looking blank. “What?”
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“What the hell was that all about?”
“What was what all about?”
“How about the way she just looked at you and the way you looked at her…oh my God, is that why your weekend was so
nice
?
You and
Professor Johnson
?” Gillian’s expression was almost comically incredulous.
“That’s an interesting conclusion to come to so quickly for someone who is supposed to be a scientist,” he said disparagingly.
“The woman was in here for two seconds because I borrowed her key to the supply closet. There was no look.”
“Bullshit, I was standing right here, remember? Don’t get me wrong, you pretty much always look at her that way—that unmistakable I-want-to-fuck-you-bad look—but this time she looked right back. She
blushed
like she was remembering something, and considering you admitted already that you spent your weekend in the sack with someone—”
“I didn’t admit it at all,” Jake interrupted in exasperation, feeling uncertain whether to just tell the truth and swear Gillian to secrecy or keep denying it. The last thing he wanted was for any speculation to start circling through the department. Jana was leery enough of a relationship, and this might kill it before he even really got a chance.
Gilliam tugged out a stool theatrically. “I’ve gotta sit down. No wonder you were being so damned evasive.” She looked at him in her direct way. “You lucky son of a bitch, you’re my hero now.
How was it? No, don’t answer, I don’t need it. You’ve been walking around like you just won the lottery or something.”
With a long resigned sigh, Jake rubbed his jaw. “Would you mind keeping quiet about this?”
“Oh man, this is huge. Unapproachable Dr. Johnson and
Incredible Jake Quinn doing the wild thing. I’m supposed to keep that to myself?”
“I’d appreciate it.”
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“Okay, I suppose I can somehow manage, but only because we’re friends.” Gillian gave him a mischievous look. “But there’s a price. Keeping in mind I completely agree with you one hundred percent when it comes to hot Jana J., give me a couple of details.
Hey, you owe me that much.”
Relieved and a little amused, Jake asked warily, “Like what?”
“How many times, was there oral genital contact, are those her real tits, you know, things like that.”
He laughed and shook his head. “Quite a few, yes, and yes. Is that enough?”
“Quite a few?”
“I don’t keep a scorecard, for God’s sake.”
“You really
are
my hero.” Gillian grinned at him, looking a little wistful. “Dammit, I kept hoping Dr. Johnson was so standoffish toward the panting males around here because she was secretly gay.”
With complete confidence, Jake said, “Believe me, she isn’t.”
* * * *
What was she, sixteen?
Normally, Jana prided herself on being able to stay detached from her emotions. It had gotten her through Brian’s illness and limped her through the past two years.
Taking her keys from her purse, she inwardly uttered some inventive profanity as she went down the stairs. Jake had appeared composed and neutral, and certainly done nothing to suggest anything had changed.
On the other hand, she’d gotten all warm and flustered just being close to him. Unfortunately, from the look on Gillian Wesley’s face, Professor Lawrence’s other graduate student, she had noticed it.
See, this just wasn’t going to work out.
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But damn, he’d looked good as always. Those same worn jeans hugged his lean hips, he had on some sort of fraternity tee-shirt under his lab coat, and his dark hair, so soft and thick, had curled against his neck. He’d looked at her with as little expression as possible, but she didn’t think he could control the intensity in his beautiful dark eyes.
“Crap,” she muttered out loud as she walked down the
sidewalk.
Her car sat oddly at a tilt.
Jana approached and saw that both tires were flat on the passenger side. Not just low or slightly deflated, but completely flat.
That seemed unlikely.
The meeting had run over and she glanced around, all at once aware it was pretty dark already. The lot wasn’t empty, but nearly so, and it seemed prudent to retreat back toward the building. She did, going inside, and she punched in her sister’s number first, because Crystal would be a logical choice. Unfortunately, she got the answering machine at her house, and then voice mail on her cell phone.
Well, hell.
There was a phone book in her office and she headed back up that way so she could call a tow truck. Not sure if she should be glad or not, she saw that the light in the molecular lab was still on.
Jake?
She pushed open the door and peered in. Sure enough he was there, seated at one of the tables, his brow knitted in a frown as he looked at a piece of paper.
Jana cleared her throat. “Hello.”
He glanced up and came at once to his feet, his dark brows arching. “Hello.”
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“I have a flat tire,” she said. “Well, two. I’m going to call a tow truck, and was going to call a cab, but since you’re still here, would you mind giving me a lift?”
“Two? Are you serious?” His frown deepened significantly.
His uneasy tone echoed her own doubts. “Yes, it seems weird.”
“Yes, it does,” he agreed grimly. Of course, I’ll take you home, you know that. Call the towing company, and I’ll wrap this up in two seconds.”
“Thanks.”
While she could manage well enough on her own, it wasn’t a bad thing to have a capable male around Jana decided a little while later. For one thing, the two flat tires made her leery of standing out by herself and waiting for the tow truck, so to have a young, very healthy, broad-shouldered young man with her made it much better. He also talked to the tow driver, and they both ascertained her tires had been slashed, and if Jake hadn’t been there she thought she would have felt pretty rattled.
She was a little rattled anyway.
“I suppose you walked,” she murmured as they watched the truck—her BMW on board—roll away from the faculty lot.
“Yes, sorry. As you know, it’s only a couple of blocks.”
They began to walk, and he gave her a sidelong glance. “Any idea who would do it?”
Jana shook her head. “No.”
“Disgruntled student?”
“It’s never happened before.”
“All kinds of nuts in this world.”
“I suppose so.” She had a feeling her smile was a little wan.
This time, when they reached his apartment, he didn’t try and persuade her to stay but instead retrieved his keys and escorted her to his car.
It was quiet on the drive to her house, and Jana bit her lip as they pulled into the driveway, completely out of her depth. The
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weekend—plus this—was a little much, and to say she felt uncharacteristically uncertain was a severe underestimate.
Her life had been very calm.
Had been
. Before the Incredible Quinn.
“Thanks,” she murmured, reaching for the door handle.
“Want me to come in?” His voice was soft and low.
Well, her thoughts exactly
.
She had a shivery feeling of foreboding she didn’t like at all.
Yes, she wanted him to stay.
“I can sleep on the couch if you want,” he said evenly. “In the morning, I can drive us back to the university.”
“Why would I ever want you to sleep on the couch?” Jana asked with a touch of asperity and amusement. “I assume you remember Friday and Saturday night.”
“Hell yes, I do.” His mouth quirked attractively. “Well, I was hoping you wouldn’t go for the couch offer, but I’m trying not to push.”
Jana smiled. “I think I have some lamb chops in the freezer. Is that okay for dinner?”
“You mean in place of cold pizza? Yeah, that’s pretty okay.”
“All right then. Stay.”
She walked up the brick walk to the house and let them in, switching off the alarm before opening the door, but quickly reactivating it once they were inside. Jana headed straight for the refrigerator, took out the bottle of white wine he’d brought over, and opened it. “Believe it or not, I don’t drink much but I could use this,” she said conversationally as possible. “Tell me, did Gillian Wesley have anything to say when I left the lab today?”
He didn’t even have to answer.
Jana muttered, “That was my fault.”
Jake watched as she poured wine into two glasses. “Relax. She isn’t going to say anything.”
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“That would be nice of her.” She handed him a glass and took a convulsive gulp of chardonnay.
He grinned, a boyish curve of his mouth. “She’s a little jealous, but it’s understandable.”
He was usually pretty self-deprecating, and that seemed an arrogant thing for him to say. “Aren’t you a little full of yourself, Quinn?” Jana asked, an involuntary smile touching her mouth.
“Well, not jealous of you, but of me,” he explained, lifting his brows. “In case you haven’t noticed, she likes girls way more than she likes boys. If one of us were going to spend the weekend in bed with you, she’d much rather it be her than me.”
She wasn’t exactly shocked—she lived in a modern world and nothing was more liberal than a college campus—but still Jana wasn’t at all used to being the subject of female fantasies. “No, I didn’t know.”
“Oh yeah,” he said softly, sipping his wine as he leaned against the bar in her kitchen, all delectable six-foot plus of him. “Are you that unobservant, Jana?”