“Kate?”
“Huh?”
“I said you owe me fourteen pairs of boxer briefs. Unless you want to go the other way…”
“Fourteen pairs,” she muttered. Definitely territorial about underwear. Male wants exact same amount so no lack of resources.
He tipped her chin up. “What’re you thinking so hard about?”
“I need to get my laptop.”
“Why?”
“I need to write some things down. Our activities caused a lot of firing neurons in the aftermath.”
His lips twitched. “Okay. Animal enough for you?”
“It was most satisfactory, but perhaps next time we should do as the animals do.”
He broke into a wide smile. “I’m with ya. Doggie style.”
“Chimp style,” she corrected and immediately clamped her mouth shut.
He studied her for a moment, which made her squirm. She really didn’t want to share her chimp findings on him just yet. She’d yet to finish the experiment, and she still needed to analyze the data and search for patterns. Besides, she suspected he might not like the comparison. He was touchy about the strangest things. They were, after all, primates. To distract him, she dropped to the floor and went on all fours, offering herself in a nice open way like a female chimp would.
“Fuck,” he muttered. “If only I could. You’re killing me, Kate. Tonight.”
She smiled to herself, stood, and headed to the foyer in search of the purple panties that matched her bra.
“Ah, Kate,” Ian called. “I don’t have my boxer briefs yet, do I?”
She huffed. “You’ll get them tonight.” She snagged her panties, but before she could get them on, Ian was there.
He snatched them away and grinned. “You’ll get them back when I get mine.”
“You won’t even know if I’m commando or not, you’ll be at work.”
“Oh, I’ll know.” He kissed her. “I better get ready.” He headed to the bedroom, her panties twirling around his finger. Argh.
She had a drawer full of panties in the bedroom, but he was in there, so she’d wait. For now she’d let him think he got his way. The male ego required boosting sometimes, she’d observed.
She trailed back to the sofa and found her clothes. She pulled her shorts on first. Actually, this didn’t feel so bad without the panties. The shorts were a soft cotton. She sat to reach for her bra on the floor and ooh! This commando thing felt kinda nice. “Mmm,” she said.
Ian chuckled, returning to the living room, where he was zipping up his black pants over his new black metaphorical reminder boxers. His shirt was draped across his forearm, and he held his socks and shoes in one hand. “I wanted to watch you dress. You like being commando?”
She tipped her head up to look at him. “Mmm-hmmm.”
“Why did you say chimp style?” he asked, dropping the shoes and socks and pulling on a black button-down shirt. “I’ve never heard it called that.”
She stood abruptly. Her breasts bounced from the sudden movement, which had the unintended effect of drawing his attention to her chest. Note: breasts are a good male distraction. He seemed to have forgotten his chimp question. That gave her time to steer the conversation to an important topic.
“I have your question for today.” She’d been tackling one important topic per day, which was her condensed version of the twelve-part experiment. They were on the ninth part. She was cautiously optimistic about the results. Some things were still troubling and/or puzzling. The territoriality issue being at the top of the list. Also what was the deal with the mixed-nut jar? Why did he get mad that she ate all the cashews? Why did they have to be eaten in random handfuls? Wasn’t the point of a mixed-nut jar to choose what you felt like eating?
He closed the space between them, his gaze never leaving her breasts. “Yeah, what?”
“What’s the most important thing to you in a relationship?”
“Nudity.” Eyes still glued to her breasts.
She crossed her arms. “You said you’d take our science experiment seriously.”
He reached out with both hands and pinched her nipples, sending a rush of electric pleasure through her. She dropped her arms and watched as his thumb and forefinger on both of his large hands rolled her nipples and then tugged. Her knees went weak as her breath left her in a whoosh. “Please,” she whispered.
He dropped his hands and held her by the shoulders a foot away. “You’re insatiable.”
“It’s your fault,” she countered.
He gave her his lopsided smile and retrieved his shoes and socks. “Put your clothes on if you want a better answer from me. I can’t think when you’re naked.”
She quickly put on her bra and shirt because she really did need to get part nine figured out. “Okay, I’m dressed. Now tell me the most important thing to you in a relationship.”
He bent down and tied his shoes. “Honesty.”
She beamed and padded over to him in her bare feet. “I’m always honest.”
He looked up at her and gave her a warm smile. “Then you must be the most important thing in a relationship.”
She blinked, momentarily stunned. And then her heart filled to bursting. Like she could just float away on a cloud of love. Wow.
He stood, gave her a quick kiss, grabbed his laptop bag from the foyer table, and opened the door. “See ya tonight, and you’d better be commando,” he threw over his shoulder and left.
Swoon!
She rushed back to her laptop. Male’s words of praise weigh heavily with female. Reciprocity is in order.
Four hours later, Kate showed up at Ian’s work with a pretty silver gift bag decorated with hearts containing his lunch. She’d picked up his favorite ranch chicken sandwich from his favorite neighborhood place and put it in the gift bag so it would be a surprise. On the short train ride over to the MIT campus, she tried to think of the best words of praise for whatever it was Ian did at work. She came up with fantastic, impressive, and very nice. Those would work well for any level of technological sophistication she found at the lab. It helped to have words at the ready in new situations; otherwise she got lost in thought and people sometimes took offense, thinking she wasn’t paying attention. The problem was she paid too much attention, which made her think deeply.
She reminded herself to buy him more boxer briefs later since he was so attached to them. She’d pulled on another pair of panties from her drawer (Ian had kindly emptied two drawers for her for their captivity experiment). She figured Ian wouldn’t notice if she wasn’t commando at his work. It wasn’t like he’d be groping her there or peeking in her shorts to check.
When she got to the lab, a standalone two-story brick building at the edge of the MIT campus, she buzzed to be let in. She peered through the glass in the top half of the door and saw a tall woman walking by. Kate buzzed again, and the woman turned and headed straight toward her. Short sleek black hair, sharp brown eyes, high cheekbones, slender with big breasts. Kate swallowed hard, shocked and hurt and angry all at once. She had no idea that she worked here. But there was no time for a freak-out because the beautiful woman was almost at the door.
Kate braced herself for impact.
The woman pulled open the door, her brown eyes direct. “Kate, I wondered when you’d show up.”
Kate stood face-to-face with Ian’s girlfriend of three years. Ex-girlfriend. The woman who’d given him an ultimatum and been dumped over it. The same woman who wouldn’t let Ian spend time with Kate as a friend because she knew that Ian and Kate had a history.
Kate drew herself up to her full five foot two since the other woman towered over her. “Hello, Morgan. I’m unsure if Ian has informed you of this, but we are now engaged to be married.” Dammit. She always got too formal when she was upset.
Morgan stared at her for a long moment. “I have been informed.” Her lips curled into a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “You look shocked to see me. Ha! I can’t wait to hear Ian talk hi
s way out of this one.”
She turned and stalked off to where Kate assumed Ian worked. Kate followed, her heart racing, her mind chaotic with all the implications. How long had Morgan been working with Ian? Was this why he took the job? Was she his boss or vice versa? And also what the hell!
What the ever-loving hell! Was this honesty? The most important thing in a relationship? Morgan was back in his life? How long had this been going on?
“Look who I found,” Morgan caroled, peeking into a glass office. She yanked Kate front and center. “Your friend Kate.”
Ian startled from where he sat at his desk. His gaze darted from Morgan to Kate and back to Morgan.
Kate was so furious, so beside herself, she didn’t even know where to begin.
“Go back to work, Morgan,” Ian said.
Morgan just stood there, smirking. “She sure looked surprised to see me. Guess you didn’t tell her about you being my boss. How you especially sought me out as a new hire. What all that means.”
Kate’s jaw dropped. The gift bag hit the floor, falling from her limp hand.
“Stop it,” Ian snapped at Morgan. “Get out of my office.”
Ian turned to her. “Kate—”
“Bonobo!” Kate hollered, whirled and stomped away. A bonobo was a monkey that used sex to get what it wanted. She used to think he was a nice alpha chimp, but no-o-o-o, everything was clear now.
Ian was a bonobo with a capital B.
Chapter Eleven
“Kate, wait!” Ian took off after Kate. He knew this looked bad, but he could explain. Morgan was stirring up shit. She’d always been jealous of Kate. Always accused him of lying when he said they were just friends. “Slow down!” he called because Kate was practically running.
She peeked over her shoulder and yelled, “No!” Then she turned, slammed into Shawn Vogel, who had at least two hundred pounds on her, and bounced. Her arms windmilled, but Shawn grabbed her and held her upright.
Shawn, with his short dark brown hair and neatly trimmed beard, was a favorite among the women in the AI lab. A rare specimen—the body of a linebacker, the sharp mind of an engineer. He smiled down at her. “Hey, cutie, where’s the fire?”
Kate stared, eyes wide. “Who are you?”
“Shawn Vogel. I work engineering on the driverless cars.”
“Kate,” she breathed.
“I got her,” Ian said, tugging Kate out of Shawn’s beefy hands.
Kate yanked away from Ian. “Leave me alone.”
“Got yourself a little spitfire,” Shawn said. “You know what to do with all that fire?”
“Mind your business,” Ian snapped.
Shawn winked at Kate. “Because I do.”
Kate tittered and smoothed her hair. “Thank you, Shawn Vogel. If you’ll excuse me, I really must be going.”
She turned to go, and Ian grabbed her hand before she could make her escape. “I want to talk to you in private,” he said.
Kate scowled and muttered, “Stupid bonobo.”
Shawn grinned. “Later.”
Ian lifted his chin at Shawn and turned back to Kate. She was glaring at him. At least she wasn’t gazing after Shawn. “Let’s go outside to talk.”
She walked with him, muttering the whole time about reciprocity and the complete breakdown of the primate communication system, which made no sense, but he figured he should just let her get it out.
When they got outside, he took both of her hands for their talk so she couldn’t get away. “Morgan was just trying to make you jealous because she’s always been jealous of you.”
“Why is she here?”
“She’s got a contract to work on the space project.”
“So you’re her boss?”
“In a way. She has to keep me and Dr. Wilson up to date on her progress, but she’s a contractor, so her boss is still her boss from the company where she works.”
She yanked her hands free. “Uh-huh. And where is this all-important honesty in our relationship, huh?”
“I didn’t lie about anything.”
“You never told me your beautiful ex-girlfriend was working with you!” she shouted at the top of her lungs. “Stupid bonobo! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!” She paced back and forth and then jabbed a finger at him. “This is going in my report.”
He was somehow missing something really important here, but he wasn’t sure what. “Why do you keep calling me a bonobo? What is that?”
She glared at him and spoke through her teeth. “A bonobo is a monkey that uses sex as currency to get what it wants. I used to think you were like a nice alpha chimp, but you are clearly the bonobo brand of monkey.”
He scratched his head. “Okay, monkeys?”
“Yes!”
He let that one slide. “I don’t use sex as currency.”
“You use sex to get what you want and to avoid communication, which is the cornerstone of a solid relationship!”
He looked around, hoping her voice wasn’t carrying back to anyone in the lab. He lowered his voice, hoping she’d lower hers too. “I don’t need to use sex to get what I want from you. I get what I want just from being with you.”
She crossed her arms. “How long has she been here?” At least her volume was back to normal.
“Just started today.”
“Then why did she make it sound like she’d been here a while? She said and I quote, ‘Kate, I wondered when you’d show up,’ like she’d already been here a long time.”
He pulled her into his arms, and she didn’t wrap her arms around him, but she didn’t pull away either. “I told you she was messing with you. She always accused me of having more-than-friends kind of feelings for you. And you know she had good reason to be jealous because I did. You’ve always had my heart no matter how far apart we were or how many people were between us.”
She rested her head on his chest. He stayed quiet, knowing she liked to listen to his heart beat and that it calmed her. She looked up at him, her blue eyes direct through her glasses. “Why didn’t you tell me she was going to be working here?”
“I was going to tell you once she started.”
“Why wait?”
“I don’t know. I guess I figured there was nothing to talk about until it happened.”
“For future reference I would like to know stuff the moment it happens.”
“Okay, so noted. See, this is good communication. No sex involved.”
She grimaced. “So she just started today and you told her we were engaged.”
“Yes.”
“Did she ask if you were involved with someone, or you offered this information?”
He thought quick. Morgan had cornered him in the break room, where he was getting coffee and said she’d missed him. He’d immediately told her he was engaged. How much should he tell Kate? He didn’t want her to worry unnecessarily. He took one look at Kate’s direct gaze and decided to be like Kate—honest to the very last detail. He told her exactly what happened word for word.
Kate swallowed and looked over his shoulder. “She’s very pretty. And smart.”
He cupped her jaw and turned her back to him. “So are you.”
“Ian, you’re biased because I sleep with you. I’m not that pretty. Morgan looks like a model—”
He slid a hand into her hair and gazed into her eyes. “You’re the most beautiful sexy woman I’ve ever met. Honest.”
Her bottom lip stuck out in a pout. “But I’m not tall and thin.”
“You’re petite and curvy. Believe me, that works for a guy.”
“My hair’s always messy. Hers was in a sleek stylish cut.”
He stroked her hair, admiring the shades of gold and the shine. It was in a messy half bun, as usual, only he got to see it loose and flowing in bed. He loved that. “Guys like long hair. Trust me on that too. I love pulling out your hair band and running my fingers through it.”
“I’m a nerd.”
He met her eyes and grinned. “So am I.”
/> She snort-laughed.
He pulled her close and kissed her. “I love you. And nothing you can say will convince me otherwise.”
Her eyes got shiny. “I love you too.”
“C’mon, you want to see what we’re working on?” He entwined his fingers with hers and tugged her back to the door.
“How long will Morgan be working here?”
“Contract is for a year.”
“Great.”
Ian walked ahead of her, slid his ID card over the sensor, and opened the door. “What made you stop by today?”
“Reciprocity,” she replied.
He joined her in the hallway. “Because I visited your lab?”
“No, because you said something sweet about me being important in a relationship, so I wanted to do something nice. I brought you lunch.”
He tensed. “Did you, uh, cook?”
She smacked his arm. “You can relax. You’re not going to get food poisoning. I brought you takeout. Your favorite ranch chicken sandwich.”
“Aww, thanks.” He walked down the hallway. “You know who would make a good couple?”
“Who?”
“Morgan and Nate.”
“Nate’s much too nice for her.”
“Not really.”
“Ian! He’s one of the nicest guys I know. Morgan’s an instigator and not the good kind!”
“Well, this instigator is going to be spending a lot of time with your fiancé,” Morgan said, appearing behind them.
Kate turned. “You’re a liar! Hold me back, Ian.” She pulled her elbows back for him, and he obligingly held Kate back. Not that she’d have a chance against the much larger Morgan. “I’m gonna go gorilla on her ass!”
“Stupid bitch,” Morgan muttered and brushed past them, heading toward the stairs.
“Morgan,” Ian snapped, “apologize to Kate or you’ll be meeting with Dr. Wilson about your future here.”
Morgan stopped halfway down the stairs and turned. “Sorry,” she muttered.
“Your apology is accepted in the manner in which it was given,” Kate said. “Halfheartedly and with no sincerity whatsoever.”
Kate turned in the opposite direction of Morgan, and Ian followed. God, he loved this woman.
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