Bonnie nudged her as a cocky smile spread over her face. “Thinking about your romantic lunch date with him tomorrow?”
Gena nearly tripped over her own feet as she slid her foot back into her flip-flop. “Romantic? It’s not romantic. You heard him. He’s interested in my thesis.”
Bonnie snorted. “Oh, he’s interested in something all right, and hon, it’s not your thesis.”
“You think?” Gena asked as a sudden pang of anxiety swept over her. Was Helmuth interested in her sexually? She’d only just managed to talk herself into meeting him when she assumed it was strictly professional. Thinking he wanted something more from it all made panic well in her.
“He’s hot,” proclaimed Bonnie. “Really hot. Would it be overstepping as your friend to say that I hope you do him, and that he’s so enchanted by your bedroom skills that he doubles his funding offer?”
Gena’s head whipped around as she stared fully at her friend, her eyes wide.
“From the look on your face, I’d say that was a yes to overstepping,” said Bonnie.
“It’s not that, it’s just…umm…”
“Um, what?” asked Bonnie before she grabbed Gena’s arm. “Rene and I have talked about our past relationships, and our sex lives come up all the time.”
“I know,” said Gena, having gotten an earful on more than one occasion.
“But now that I’m thinking about it, the only time you’ve ever mentioned sex is when you told us about the dreams you’ve been having. With the hunky shark-shifter guy,” stressed Bonnie, a knowing look in her eyes. “Gena, tell me you’re not a virgin.”
Biting her lower lip, Gena blushed. “My parents homeschooled us, and we all finished our schooling very early and were in college surrounded by people older than us. I know for me, it was hard enough adjusting to life in the real world after having been raised by the type of parents I have. Sex was the last thing I had time to think about. At some point, I got so focused on my education and my career that I didn’t even stop to think about it one way or another. Then the dreams started.”
Bonnie looked up as if a sign from the heavens would make the conversation better. “Good Lord, woman. Do not tell Rene about this. You know how she is. She’ll make it her one mission in life to get you—”
“Not tell me what?” questioned an attractive blonde woman who came around the corner, seemingly out of nowhere. Rene had on a pair of shorts that barely covered her girlie bits or anything else. Her tank top was snug as well, and she looked to have opted out of wearing a bra.
That was a very Rene thing to do.
She also looked like a total knockout, as usual.
Gena just stood there, praying silently that Bonnie did not share the fact she was a virgin.
Bonnie squealed and hugged Rene. “We did it! We got the extra funding!”
Rene hopped up and down with Bonnie as the pair made loud, excited noises that drew the gazes of onlookers. Rene put her hands on Bonnie’s forearms but kept jumping. “We got the grant?”
Bonnie’s enthusiasm waned slightly. “Uh, no. We were passed over.”
“No? I thought we were a shoo-in for it,” said Rene.
Sadness touched Bonnie’s eyes. “I don’t know about that, but I thought we had a really good chance at it.”
“Tell me Roberts didn’t get it,” said Rene.
“I’m guessing he did,” said Bonnie.
“He’s such a dirtbag.” Rene’s lip curled. “There is no way we were passed over without a little help from that dickhead. He runs with a lot of palm greasers. He probably knew we didn’t get it before we did. You know he’s somewhere gloating and talking about how women have no place in science and that our facility should have just been closed when he moved on to greener pastures. Weird thing is, I’ve been doing some checking on him and where he landed after us, and no one has ever heard of the place he’s working for. They came out of nowhere.”
Gena kept her thoughts on it all to herself because she didn’t know Dr. Roberts as well as Bonnie and Rene, but even she had to admit that Roberts didn’t seem like the type to go work for an unknown. He liked to toot his own horn and that was hard to do with a company no one in the scientific community had heard of before.
Rene’s brows met. “I’m confused. If we didn’t get the grant, how is it we got the funding?”
Bonnie thumbed in the direction of Gena. “We had the meeting today and as it turns out, Mr. Bigwig has a thing for girls with fish tails and Gena.”
Rene’s jaw dropped. “For real? Hold up, fish tails?”
Gena wasn’t sure if she should take offense at just how shocked Rene appeared to be over the news Helmuth found her attractive. Since she wasn’t convinced Bonnie was even correct—that Helmuth did have an interest in her that way—she refrained from comment.
Bonnie laughed. “Oh yeah. He asked her out for a lunch date tomorrow on his yacht. He couldn’t take his eyes off her. Looked like a kid in a candy store.”
Rene managed to appear even more stunned than she had been. “Did you explain to her that he was asking her out on a date? You know how she is with guys coming on to her. I’m not sure how it is she manages to date.”
“She doesn’t,” Bonnie said under her breath.
Rene smiled. “I know.”
Bonnie snorted. “Pretty sure she really thinks he’s interested in her thesis. He asked her on a lunch date tomorrow to discuss it in depth. I’m a huge nerd, and even I was bored by her paper.”
Gena found it impossible not to laugh as well, knowing Bonnie was joking. At least she hoped she was. She’d put a lot of time, research, and energy into her thesis. Boring people to death had not been the end goal.
As she thought harder on it, she realized it more than likely did drag on in various spots. Moreover, Gena understood that not many people outside of the scientific community would find her thesis remotely interesting.
Rene cupped her mouth and teared up. “We really got the extra funding?”
Gena nodded. “We did.”
Squealing, Rene grabbed for Gena and hugged her.
It took some doing to pry herself from the woman’s grip, but she managed. Just in time, apparently, as Bonnie and Rene went right back to jumping up and down with excitement.
Rene tossed her arms out. “We have got to super celebrate tonight!”
“That is the plan,” said Bonnie.
Gena was about to speak when the overwhelming urge to look past her friends in the direction of Johnson Square came over her. She did, and at first, she wasn’t sure why it was she’d felt so compelled to focus on the area.
When she spotted two men sitting on a bench, somehow managing to fit notwithstanding their sizes, she froze.
It was him.
The man from her dreams.
The guy who started off as the shark who saved her life all those years ago before morphing into a man in the water. The same guy who then spent the rest of her dream, making her toes curl, and her body feel things she didn’t even know was possible.
Reaching up quickly, Gena rubbed her eyes and blinked, sure she was seeing things.
Nope.
The guy on the bench still looked identical to the one she’d been dreaming of. If she was hallucinating, it was extremely believable.
He’d been drop-dead sexy in her dreams. In the flesh, he was indescribably alluring. That was if he was truly there on the bench, and she’d not had some sort of brain malfunction.
A number of ailments and issues that could cause visual hallucinations came to mind. None of them were anything she was hoping for.
As she stood there, blinking in disbelief in the direction of the man on the bench, she couldn’t help but notice the dramatic flip-flops her stomach was suddenly doing.
“Uh, is she okay?” asked Rene.
“Not sure. Does it look like she might faint to you too?” questioned Bonnie.
“Yes,” answered Rene. “Should we make her sit down and put her head
between her knees?”
“Pretty sure we should find a hottie who is willing to put his head between her knees,” said Bonnie.
Rene laughed so hard she hiccupped.
Gena couldn’t comment. All she could do was stare at the men on the bench.
They were both incredibly attractive, but the one with blond hair was downright godly. And there was no doubt in her mind he was the same man from her dreams.
That wasn’t possible.
Of course, the odds of her walking along and running into the very stranger she’d been having naughty dreams about had seemed impossible to her five minutes ago.
Things changed.
On a dime apparently.
Then again, maybe the man just really, really, really looked like the man she’d been seeing in her dreams. Or perhaps her mind was filling in blanks with what it saw before it, rather than the truth of what it was.
A man who looked similar to the one she’d invented in her mind.
Very frigging similar.
Regardless, the man called to her in a way no other ever had. It was if he’d cast a fishing line and snagged her in the process.
Her heart felt as if it skipped a beat as she found it impossible to tear her gaze from him. Every ounce of her demanded she run to him. That she make contact with him. That freaked her out even more than the idea she’d been dreaming of him. Tossing herself at a man she didn’t know, or any man for that matter, was not something she was known for.
Get it together. It’s not the guy from your dreams. It’s just a guy who really looks like him. Stop freaking out.
She tore her gaze from his.
“Gena?” asked Rene. “You all right there?”
“No,” said Gena fast. “I mean yes. I’m fine. What were we talking about again?”
Bonnie looked concerned. “Getting the money.”
“Right,” said Gena, nodding. “Yay!”
“Has she eaten lately?” asked Rene. “Is this a low blood sugar thing or has she just lost her mind?”
“Might be both,” said Bonnie, all smiles still.
“Could be the heat,” supplied Rene. “It’s hotter than hell tonight.”
“Yes, he is,” said Gena, her gaze flickering to the man on the bench. He was certainly hotter than hell.
“He?” questioned Rene. “Yeah, she’s lost it.”
“With as much time as she spends with us, it was bound to happen,” offered Bonnie with a snort. “Surprised it took this long.”
The women high-fived and then looked at Gena.
“She’s still acting like a weirdo,” said Rene.
“Weird is such a relative term.” Bonnie waggled her brows. “Don’t you think?”
Gena stared hungrily at the man on the bench who was in deep conversation with his friend. Details from her dreams came flooding over her, making her body heat more. The things he’d done to her nearly made her moan just reflecting on them.
“Seriously, is the heat getting to her?” asked Rene. “Maybe we should head to a place with air.”
“I’m fine,” said Gena, still staring at the blond man.
He moved slightly on the bench and she darted behind Rene, allowing the woman to eclipse her view of the hot guy. If she couldn’t see him, he couldn’t see her.
Perfect.
Her upper neck flushed with embarrassment though she wasn’t sure why. She had no reason to be. That being said, she found herself stepping to the left quickly as Rene moved, keeping herself hidden from view of the men on the bench.
Rene lifted a brow. “Uh, whatcha doing?”
“Being weirder than normal,” said Bonnie with a big smile.
Gena gulped, her heart still racing, her body still hot. “Is he still there?”
“Is who still there?” demanded Bonnie, suddenly looking ready to rumble on Gena’s behalf.
Absently, Gena pushed stray strands of her hair behind her ears as she continued to hide behind Rene. “The guy on the bench over there.”
Rene laughed. “The two hot guys back over that way?”
Gena nodded. “The blond one.”
“Pretty sure they’re a couple,” said Rene.
Chapter Ten
Several minutes ticked by as Cody sat on the bench in the park, trying to wrap his mind around what Wheeler had pointed out. With the time that had passed, the little girl wouldn’t be little anymore at all. She would be fully grown. As he ran the date of events through his head once more, he realized she’d be around the age of twenty-seven now. Within seconds he was trying to imagine what she’d look like now.
Quickly flashes of a woman with long dark hair and pale, creamy skin ran through his head. They were fleeting and elicited responses in him physically that he wasn’t sure how to properly process. The way he imagined her to be as an adult was sinfully sexy
His frantic thoughts skipped quickly to if she was safe and happy now.
If so, what was she doing now?
Where was she living?
Did she have someone special in her life?
Was she married?
Cody’s entire body tensed at the idea she might very well be married with a family of her own. His shark thrashed around within him, unhappy with the idea any man would have gotten close enough to her to touch her let alone bed her. For some strange reason, the idea of her possibly being married set him on edge. He wasn’t sure why.
He wanted to know she was alive, safe, and happy. He just wanted that happiness to have been found in a convent or something of the like. Anywhere with vows of celibacy. Not with a man.
When Cody recognized his feelings on the matter as jealousy, he lurched and ran his hands through his hair, shaking his head as he did. Why in the world would he be jealous of what some random girl he saved years ago was doing now?
He could find no explanation for his feelings on the matter.
He let out a frustrated growl at the idea a man could have dared to touch her.
It was official.
He’d lost his damn mind.
No matter how illogical the feeling was, it was real to him and that freaked him out.
Wheeler snickered. “Mind blown?”
Cody nodded. “Honestly, my mind was less blown when I was being held and mind-fucked by assholes.”
“Took that better, did ya?” asked Wheeler, his lips setting in a thin line. It was easy to see the man was amused that Cody was losing his shit over the fact the girl wasn’t little anymore.
Cody swallowed hard. “Yes.”
“Want me to change the subject?”
“God yes,” said Cody, desperate to talk about anything other than the girl or Wheeler’s urination.
“Remember that time we were all in that pub in Australia, near the port?” Wheeler asked, reminiscing about the days of old.
Simpler times.
“I’ve spent a lot of time in pubs in Australia,” replied Cody. “You’ll need to be more specific.”
“The redhead,” added Wheeler.
“Redhead for me or for you?” asked Cody, as Wheeler tended to have a thing for women with red hair.
“You,” returned Wheeler.
Instantly Cody thought back to the hottie he’d spent the night with all those years ago. She’d been in the market to land a serviceman, and she’d managed to snarl Cody. Not that he’d needed much bait. Back then, a cool breeze could turn him on.
Those days were long gone.
“The good old days,” said Cody.
His friend nodded. “I went home with twins that night. Those were great fucking days.”
“I bet.” Laughing, Cody adjusted slightly on the bench. It wasn’t made for comfort. That was for sure.
“Good to be back?” asked Wheeler.
Cody had gotten back to Georgia at dawn’s first light. “Yeah. Colorado is landlocked. After a few hours, I get twitchy, and if I stay too long, I get hives. Wish that wasn’t true.”
A fly landed on Wheeler’s cheek, but th
e man made no sign of noticing or caring. It crawled around on his face, and Cody nearly smacked it away himself. He resisted as Wheeler stared out at the humans as they went on about their business, none the wiser that they were so close to apex predators.
So close to danger.
“I can hear their hearts beating,” said Wheeler in a hushed whisper, while rubbing the palms of his hands on the tops of his jean-clad thighs. The insect picked then to fly away as if it sensed just how on edge the man was and wanted no part of it.
Cody stiffened as he realized his friend was struggling with his vampire side again. It wasn’t the first time he’d seen Wheeler struggle with the darkness he carried. But the times were getting closer and closer together, and that was worrisome. The last thing he wanted was for Wheeler to end up like a number of the Outcasts had over the years—insane and a danger to themselves and others.
A few had even been turned into something far worse at the hands of a madman, but Cody didn’t want to think upon that more at the moment. Right now, he simply wanted to assist his friend.
“Sure. You’re feeling peckish and I’m sitting here, all full of blood and stuff. That isn’t the least bit concerning. Nope. Not at all. Where is a mobile blood bank when you need one? If I donate to the cause, do I get a cookie when I’m done?” asked Cody, wanting to insert humor into a non-funny situation in an attempt to lighten the mood. “Hey, would a bloodmobile be considered a food truck for your kind?”
Wheeler stopped rubbing his palms on his thighs obsessively. He did take a few deep breaths before running a hand through his ear-length brown hair. The pair were matched in height and build, but that was where the similarities ended. Wheeler’s dark hair was a sharp contrast to Cody’s naturally blond locks. Though Cody did have some brown hair around the nape of his neck. It was more of a medium brown, but it counted.
At least he assumed it did.
Wheeler grinned, his gaze darting to the street. “Yeah. If mobile blood banks had a bell and rang it while driving through town, I’d come running.”
Wrecked Intel (Immortal Outcasts®): An Immortal Ops® World Novel Page 15