Book Read Free

Absolute Zero

Page 20

by Anlyn Hansell


  I miss your mouth.

  The object of his text opened and closed before finally clamping shut. Her fingers started typing quickly.

  Surely you can find someone in all

  of Scotland to smart off to you.

  She hit send and her lips curved upward, waiting for some sort of snarky reply. She didn’t have long to wait.

  That’s NOT what I was talking about.

  Her sharp intake of breath was the only sound in the otherwise silent room. How could he do that to her? Make her body flush and her heart rate double by some black letters on a backlit screen? Crazy. This whole…situation was crazy. Her body was practically buzzing with sensation as she pondered texting back. Or maybe she should just let that go, turn the phone off and get some sleep? The phone buzzed again.

  Go to sleep. Stop texting me.

  Goodnight, sweet Anne.

  She stared at the screen for who knew how many minutes before she hit the power button and plunged the room into darkness. After settling the phone back on the nightstand she placed both arms next to her on the bed, laying ramrod straight and staring at the ceiling.

  This couldn’t go anywhere. He was playing some kind of game with her and she should just blow it off.

  It wasn’t as if anything could really happen anyway. He was too far away and he visited infrequently. She would think about her project instead, she told herself resolutely. She wouldn’t be able to sleep anyway thanks to McClellan and his slyly suggestive texts.

  She gave up after five minutes. Memories of his voice or an image of his one sided grin or some snippet of a conversation would interrupt her thoughts, finally causing her to punch her pillow and flop to her side in a huff.

  This wouldn’t do.

  She prayed that he stayed on his side of the ocean.

  *****

  He folded his arms behind his head on the pillow, staring up at the darkened ceiling. He had a full day ahead of him as usual and he should think about that instead of thinking about her.

  What was it about her? Her face? That perfect body? Or maybe that mouth of hers? Maybe it was the fact that she was so determined to be standoffish. When he kissed her, she was anything but. She was warm and willing and the little sounds she made – she probably didn’t even realize she was making them. She was consuming his thoughts and apparently his body. He could feel the thickening, the blood rushing from all other parts of his body to an area begging for release. But there would be no release. Nothing as satisfying as burying himself in her, at least.

  This was such a new feeling for him, he realized. Even Shelby…

  Don’t think about her.

  He blew out a loud breath, letting it cleanse him in some strange way. He was alone. It was OK…

  She wasn’t like Anne. She was transparent and so completely open about who she was and what she wanted when they first met. Their marriage was more of a mutually beneficial situation that suited them at first. He needed acceptance, she was the town princess – the attraction he felt for her didn’t manifest itself until later in their relationship. She was heartbreakingly beautiful but she turned out to be one of the ugliest creatures he’d ever met. Her heart was black and yet he focused on her face, her charm, the way she manipulated everyone in town, including him.

  She wanted the big house on the hill, she wanted the money and the stature to solidify her place in society and she received it. He was a fool to let himself think that she might have one gram of feeling for him. He would never make that mistake again. Or at least that’s what he had previously told himself.

  Enter Anne, a woman so intriguing to him and the amazing thing was; the more she tried to distance herself, the more she made herself even more alluring.

  Who was she? How did she wheedle her way into his conscious in the space of a week and a few days? Why? Why was this happening and what on earth was he going to do to stop it? He knew nothing of her and she certainly wasn’t the type to offer up information freely. He could always have her checked out…

  He grabbed his phone and opened a text box but instead of searching for the Security firm he contracted with, he scrolled down and hit Mrs. Craigh’s number instead.

  What does my schedule look like next week?

  He pressed send and flopped the phone back on the bed next to him. Almost immediately he grabbed it again and fired off another text.

  Private jet - Get me some options and pricing? Thanks.

  *****

  Anne popped her laptop open on the conference table Monday morning, much the same as the rest of the people seated around it. Idle conversation floated throughout the room as she concentrated on searching and clicking on the file she sought.

  This was so different than the last meeting she sat in on. None of the stress, no palpable cloud of doom hanging over the room. It was actually quite pleasant. Rand hadn’t arrived yet but his Assistant Andrea was placing packets of papers in front of each person, joking or responding to comments as she made her way around the table.

  “Where’s Paul?” she heard someone ask and it caused her eyes to wander to the time stamp on her screen. It was 9:00 on the dot.

  “Hopefully he’s not leaving his fate in the hands of a temperamental copier,” Carol commented before the majority of the table’s occupants snorted – Anne included. She couldn’t help herself. Just the thought of McClellan dismissing someone from a meeting seemed ridiculous. So different from Rand…in fact, the entire place was a polar opposite environment without McClellan stalking the halls, striking fear into the hearts of the masses…

  He had sent one more random text over the weekend to which she didn’t respond. She had formulated many responses in her head but they never quite made it onto her screen.

  I’m sorry - but this is completely inappropriate…This is wrong…I’m sure you’re a very nice guy, but this just can’t happen…I think you would agree that this shouldn’t happen…Isn’t there anyone else you could harass? Personally, she liked that last one the best but it stayed in her head and would remain there. Besides, it truly seemed like the more she attempted to push away, the more determined it made him. Maybe not responding was the best route?

  She looked around the table as the conversations continued, realizing that the complete opposite rang true in her dealings with her new coworkers. Distancing herself only seemed to make them all the more determined to help break her out of her shell. Of course, they would assume she was shy and to some extent, they were correct. She was shy, but that wasn’t really the problem. The problem was her past. If they only knew how screwed up her life truly was, they would probably run in the other direction.

  She had politely declined invitations to happy hour and other events they seemed determined to include her in. Instead of lessening their requests, it only seemed to prompt more invitations. Apparently they were a bit slow in the hint taking department and it was troubling. She had even declined a few invitations from Shay but she would prove to be the most resolute one in the bunch. In fact, she called twice last week and once over the weekend, each time receiving some contrived story about being otherwise occupied. It was almost more exhausting to come up with excuses than it was to just accept an invitation to appease them. And maybe she would. They were nice enough people, Shay especially. She reminded her of Beth. There was no rule that said you could only have one friend in the world, she mused as her eyes scanned the faces around the table.

  Rand wandered in and her eyes immediately fastened on the time stamp on her screen. It was 9:03. He was late to his own meeting and the thought made her grin. McClellan would have an apoplectic fit if he knew. Mr. Punctuality…

  “Good morning!” He stated with a smile, receiving smiles back including one from Anne. Rand had that effect on people, she had learned quickly. This meeting should go much, much better than the last one, she thought as she straightened in her seat. Even Paul scampered in after Rand was seated, finding the last seat at the table and plunking his body into it to absolutely
no response from the man at the head of the table. He simply didn’t seem fazed at all and instead began running down a list of agenda items on the front page of the packet that was handed out. It should be a relatively quick meeting, just brief updates on projects and requests for supplies and in Anne’s case, equipment.

  She looked down at her screen briefly, moving her cursor down to the brief summary she had typed up over the weekend. She had also researched the equipment, local distributors and price comparisons and prepared a small chart to display her findings. For whatever reason, the sound of Rand’s voice stopped in mid-sentence, causing her eyes to lift toward him. His eyes were glued to the conference room door as well as everyone else’s in her line of site as she slowly followed their gaze with her own.

  Her heart practically stopped for a split second.

  Then her stomach dropped.

  McClellan dominated the doorway; his eyes scanned the room before resting on Anne’s for a second before they swept over to Rand.

  “Good morning,” he said to otherwise silent room. Every person including Rand stared back at him with widened eyes and opened mouths.

  “Surprised to see me?” he quipped before a grin formed on his mouth. How ridiculous they all looked at that moment. It was almost comical.

  “What? Ah…” Rand stammered.

  “What am I doing here? Is that what you were going to ask?” he responded as he took a step into the room. “Well, it’s my company, for starters. If I wish to pop in to a facility, I believe I’m well within my rights, eh?” He looked around the table, searching for an empty seat and finding none.

  It was all he could do not to back track his gaze and focus on Anne. She was wearing a fitted blue shirt that only accentuated her bright eyes all the more. The hair that normally swept across her forehead and hid one eye was pulled back with some sort of clip revealing her entire face and making her look younger for some reason.

  She was a sight. She was also distracting him, he realized as his eyes forced themselves to rest on Rand’s frozen expression of shock instead of her.

  Movement from the corner of his eye caused him to switch his attention to Andrea as she pushed back from the table and stood.

  “Here. You can have my seat, Sir,” she stated before grabbing her notebook and laptop.

  He gave her a slight nod and a small smile as he walked over and sat down on the vacated chair. Anne watched as Ryan and Nancy both scooted in opposite directions to probably put more distance between them and the new arrival to the table. She wondered if it was done unconsciously on both their parts. It almost made her smile before she caught herself.

  An uncomfortable silence still hung in the room before Rand cleared his throat. Andrea walked to the corner of the room, placing her laptop on the side table and stood next to it before Rand finally spoke.

  “We’re, ah…this is our weekly update meeting,” he stated to McClellan before raising the packet in his hand as some sort of proof.

  “Wonderful. Just pretend I’m not here. I’ll just observe,” McClellan stated. Anne held back the snort that wanted to escape at that statement. In fact, she could imagine many feet under the table were probably kicking the foot next to them. She observed a couple sets of rolling eyes and hoped that McClellan didn’t notice. She flicked a glance toward him and determined immediately that he would not have noticed.

  Because he was looking straight at her. Again.

  She quickly looked down to the screen in front of her wondering if the flush she was feeling creep up her neck was a manifesting itself on her traitorous cheeks. Probably. She wanted to groan in frustration but kept her lips clamped.

  “Ok, so…” Rand started before McClellan’s voice interrupted him.

  “Wait.”

  All eyes snapped back to McClellan.

  “I’m sorry, but you’re not actually planning on standing for this entire meeting are you?” His attention was centered squarely on Andrea, causing her to shift her weight nervously from one foot to the other.

  “I, ah…”

  “Go get a chair and bring it in,” he stated in a tone that implied she may possibly be the biggest dumbass in History, or at least it seemed that way to Anne.

  Apparently Andrea didn’t move quick enough to suit him. He was pushing his chair back a second later. “Never mind, that was rude, eh? I’ll go get one. Carry on,” he stated over his shoulder as he wandered through the door.

  All eyes centered on Rand as he shrugged his shoulders. His eyes were wide and a nervous looking grimace marred his expression before his features became stoic once again. McClellan was wheeling an office chair in the room causing a flurry of movement on the opposite side of the table. It was like the parting of the Red Sea to hastily make room for another chair.

  What a ridiculous bunch of asses we must look like, Anne thought. He was just a man, after all. Intimidating as all get out, but still…

  Maybe she caught glimpses that no one else at the table had ever seen. Unless of course he sent them flirty texts, instant messages, bought them flowers, popped up at their houses for a visit…kissed them passionately.

  Do not blush, she commanded herself. This was undoubtedly going to be the most awkward hour anyway. She didn’t need to make it any worse by replaying their past encounters in her head.

  Concentrate. She had a fair amount of input in this meeting and she would not allow herself to get sidetracked by a set of intense blue eyes across the table. Blue eyes that once again were trained on her, she noticed before looking down again.

  This was going to be the longest meeting.

  *****

  “So, I rewrote my abstract, which I’m still formatting but I hope to have it done tonight,” Carol stated before her eyes caught and held Anne’s from across the table. “We did determine that the cells I was planning on using were probably not the best option…”

  Please don’t give me credit. Please don’t… Anne sent out a silent plea to Carol. Already her name had been mentioned three times in the meeting from three other participants giving her credit for helping them. She purposely avoided looking at McClellan, almost certain that one of his dark brows would be raised.

  “…so Anne and I came up with three compounds we’re going to study…”

  Anne’s eyes involuntarily shifted to his and sure enough, his expression was exactly as she imagined.

  Shit. Shut up Carol, PLEASE.

  It was a futile thought. Carol just kept talking, and he kept staring and in that moment, all she wanted to do was slink down her chair and disappear under the table, much the same as the last time she was in this room.

  “Can I ask a question?” McClellan cut Carol off mid-sentence.

  “Why do I employ any of you? Seems to me, all I need is Ms. Bennett. Tell me, do you ever get any of your own work done?” He was addressing her, his eyes glinting almost dangerously.

  Oh. No.

  She stared back at him, her mouth open but nothing came out, thankfully.

  “Ms. Bennett? I asked you a question.”

  “I’m…ah…” her pulse began pounding and her body warmed with his intense scrutiny.

  Think. Wait. What was the question? Oh god…

  “Ms. Bennett…”

  “I’m just thinking of what I’m going to say before I actually say it,” she blurted before her eyes widened. That sounded so familiar. Apparently it was familiar to him too. Did she just imagine it or was that a ghost of a smile forming on his lips?

  “That’s a first,” he commented quickly.

  A snicker followed by a quick cough served as a reminder that there were other people in the room. For a moment, she almost forgot…

  “Yes,” she replied.

  “Yes, what? ‘Yes’, that’s a first or ‘yes’ you have time for your own project?” he responded in a cool voice.

  “Yes, I have time for my own project,” she stated quietly.

  “Good. Let’s hear about it.” He folded his arms across his c
hest and sat back in his chair. If she wasn’t mistaken, the look on his face was almost smug. She itched to remove it.

  With her palm.

  Hard.

  “Umm,” she looked to Rand. Technically it was his meeting after all.

  “Go ahead, Anne. You were next anyway. Thanks Carol,” he added, giving the other woman an acknowledging nod.

  “Ok,” she swallowed back the sudden lump that decided to form in her throat. A small cough seemed to help. She stared at the screen in front of her. She would not look up.

  “I’m waiting on the stem cells I ordered so I can continue Discovery. Point of admin requires samples from the Pons instead of the Pre-frontal Cortex like I originally asked for. They’re actually easier to get, so I should think I can continue this week. If I get the results I suspect I’ll get, I’ll be ready to draft my IND within the next two months. The research was pretty far along, but not ready for Pre-Clinicals yet. I’m going to supplement with Niacin as a promoter, we’ll see if that helps sustain…”

  “What are we talking about here?” McClellan’s voice rang out causing her to finally take a breath.

  “What?”

  “What is this? What’s the classification?” he asked, causing her eyes to reluctantly leave her screen and settle on his.

  “Second generation anti-psychotic, but not exactly, it’s…unique.”

  “Behavioral medicine?” This time his eyes traveled to Rand.

  “I had Anne take over Ron’s research. They have similar backgrounds; I assume that’s why he hired her.”

  “That’s not our core competency,” McClellan stated in a bland tone.

  “No, but from what Anne tells me, this could be rather revolutionary in the treatment of extreme aggression,” Rand answered in a calm voice.

  “That’s not our core competency,” he repeated in the same tone, almost as if he were speaking to a child. It made Anne fidget in her seat.

 

‹ Prev