Dr. Hudson blinks, her face softening. “You’re kind.”
When Duncan joins our group, Dr. Hudson leaves.
He watches her go. “She doesn’t like me.”
Abby covers her mouth to suppress her giggle.
Duncan shrugs. “It’s the truth. She puts up with me because Spencer thinks I’m a valuable member of the team.”
I stare at him. “She does?”
He nods and looks around us as the event staff starts circulating with trays of hors-d'oeuvres. “I hope they have spanakopita.”
He looks up at me. “You’re tall. Do you see any?”
Abby leans into me, probably laughing, and I look at each of the trays being walked around. “Target located, your eight o’clock.”
He pats my arm and is gone in a flash. My eyes move to Abby.
“Your coworkers are crazy.”
My eyes search her face for any lingering sign of annoyance at our interaction with Dr. Hudson. “Sorry about Dr. Hudson.”
She rolls her eyes. “Don’t worry. I’ve got her number.”
Curious, I ask, “And what is her number?”
Her hand glides up my chest to stroke my jaw. “You are a catch. She’s bitter she isn’t the one who caught you.”
I smirk, only mildly put out. “Not sure I’m thrilled to be the fish in this scenario.”
Her mouth stretches into a wide grin. “Hush, you don’t mind being on my line.”
My arm tightens around her. “You’ve got that right.”
“Mini quiche?”
A server with a loaded tray pauses in front of us.
I skipped lunch to pick up my tux so I grab one. “Thank you.”
Abby steps away. “I’m going to run to the ladies’ room.”
“Want me to walk over with you?”
She shakes her head. “Don’t be silly. I’ll be right back.”
Her crimson skirt swirls around her ankles as she walks away. I pop the quiche into my mouth and watch her go. More than just my eyes follow her movements. My chest swells knowing out of all of the men who’d kill to date her, she’s with me.
“Professor Hill?”
An older gentleman and a glamorous older woman approach me.
She is closer to me so I offer her my hand first. “Yes, and you are?”
She takes my hand and clasps it in both of hers. “I’m Flora Hiemer and this is my husband Claude.”
I shake his hand next. “It’s nice to meet you both.”
He nods, while she speaks. “Your paper on potential advancements to the Compton Telescope was fascinating.”
It isn’t every day that I meet someone who has read any of my papers. “Thank you.”
“Have you considered seeking a grant to explore them?”
It’s even less common to be approached by someone who seems interested in funding a project of mine. Normally, I have joined teams assembled after another scientist was awarded the grant.
“The grant I’m currently on is funded through the end of next year. I’d be open to discussions at that time.”
She smiles at her husband. “We will be sure to stay in touch then.”
“Ahh. Mr. and Mrs. Hiemer. I see you have found Professor Hill.”
My back stiffens as Dr. Hudson joins our group.
“We did. It has been a pleasure to get to speak with him.”
Mrs. Hiemer looks up at me. “Have you seen the reports the LIGO and Virgos network has been taken down for upgrades?”
I nod. “I had read that.”
“Why do you think they would do that so soon? Virgo was only two weeks into an observation cycle when it detected the gravitational waves of those black holes merging.”
“The significance of the upgrades will increase the volume of space it evaluates by eight. The last upgrades to Virgo took six years. They’re expecting the network to be back up by next fall.”
She frowns.
Her husband smiles sweetly at her. “She’s impatient.”
She doesn’t dispute him.
Abby comes to stand beside me. “Hello.”
I quickly introduce her to the group. “This is my girlfriend Abigail Thompson. Abby, this is Mr. and Mrs. Hiemer.”
Mrs. Hiemer’s eyes light up. “Are you also an astrophysicist?”
Abby shakes her head. “I’m a realtor.”
Her face falls but her husband quickly steps in. “How did you meet?”
Abby and I exchange a glance, her hand finding mine. “He tutored my brother in high school. We lost touch when he moved away but when he moved back he needed a realtor and the rest is history.”
The Hiemers shift closer together, their stance matching ours. “We were high school sweethearts as well.”
After a few moments, Mrs. Hiemer grabs her husband’s arm. “There’s Dr. Gurhnom. We must speak to him.”
Her enthusiasm for astrophysics is heartwarming. “It was so nice meeting you both.”
They wave goodbye before stalking after their next prey.
“If they continue to take an interest in you, it could be extremely beneficial to the department.”
I incline my head in Dr. Hudson’s direction. The research we do is limited to the funding we’re able to raise. Events like this one help us raise not only interest, but funds as well.
“Understood.”
Her eyes rest on Abby before she looks back at me. “Enjoy your evening.”
She turns and begins to walk away. Abby surprises me by dropping my hand and going after her.
They’re close enough for me to hear Abby say, “Could I speak with you?”
Dr. Hudson blinks at her before quickly schooling her features. “Of course.”
I take a step toward them but Abby quickly looks my way and shakes her head.
What is going on?
Together, my girlfriend and my boss walk toward the hall that leads to the restrooms and all I can do is watch.
Spanakopita in hand, Duncan appears next to me. “Oh shit man. That doesn’t look good. Did Abby ask her to take it outside so she could kick her ass for putting the moves on you?”
“What? No.”
He takes a bite and chews loudly. “Then what are they doing? Dr. Hudson doesn’t seem the type to need a buddy to go to the bathroom with.”
He’s right. “I have no idea.”
The loud chewing continues. “Aren’t you going to follow them?”
“Abby doesn’t want me to.”
He grabs the sleeve of my tux and I pray it wasn’t with the hand holding his food. “Could they be fighting right now?”
Shrugging off his hold, I glare at him. “Don’t be crazy.”
“Korean Meatball?”
Neither of us looks away from where Abby and Dr. Hudson went. “No thank you.”
After a moment Duncan says, “Abby didn’t tell me I couldn’t follow them. Want me to recon?”
As much as I want to say yes, I say, “No.”
He makes a humph noise but stays by my side. We don’t wait long before they come back into sight.
I look away. “Act natural.”
Duncan tries to link his arm through mine but I shake him off. “What are you doing? I said to act natural.”
He frowns, and then stops a server carrying mini wraps. “I’d love one.”
I’m torn between watching Abby and watching him stuff two wraps into his mouth.
My gaze moves back to Abby and I watch Dr. Hudson give her a genuine smile before she moves in a different direction.
When she’s close enough, her hand finds mine. “Thank you for not following me.”
Duncan swallows loudly. “She doesn’t look beat up. Did you just threaten her without having to resort to physical violence?”
Abby stares at him and then looks up at me. “Is he for real?”
“Duncan?”
He looks up at me. “Yep?”
“Go away.”
He mutters under his breath as he leaves. Som
ething about eating a wrap for me and this is the thanks he gets.
“You’re probably wondering what that was about.”
I nod. “Is it something you can share?”
Her hand squeezes mine. “I love that you’re asking, not demanding and yes, it’s something I can share.”
Since we’re somewhat surrounded by potential eavesdroppers, we move out of earshot of the people around us.
“I had a theory about the way she acted around me,” Abby starts.
When I nod, she continues. “She was romantically interested in you.”
“I did nothing to encourage her interest.”
She smiles sweetly. “Of course you did, you just didn’t even realize that by being you, brilliant, successful, handsome you, you were appealing to her just by existing.”
“Did she admit to being attracted to me?”
With a nod, she explains. “Imagine you are a female scientist in a male-dominated field and you’re not just one of them, you’re the boss. Now imagine how intimidating her credentials might be to most men. Then you show up and you check all of her boxes plus you’re a nice guy and not intimidated by her. Of course she’d want you.”
I chuckle at her phrasing and only wish I could send a reverse time capsule to my high school self just so he could enjoy Abby Thompson saying any woman would want me.
“Then along comes me, a non-genius level, moderately successful realtor, who steals you away.”
While I enjoyed her words moments ago, these ones concern me. “She doesn’t truly believe you stole me from her?”
She shakes her head. “Not really, just that I interrupted the opportunity for something to happen between you two.”
“Nothing was ever going to happen between us.”
She presses her hand to my chest. “That’s not the important part of our discussion. I don’t blame her for feeling that way. I get it and if you started dating someone else instead of me I might have felt the same way. Thing is, I know tons of guys that check all of her boxes and I’m going to start introducing her to some of them.”
“Wait, let me get this straight. My boss has been inconsiderate to you more than once and you’re going to try and set her up with someone?”
She grins up at me. “Pretty much.”
My jaw goes slack. “And, she agreed to this?”
She nods again. “I can be persuasive.”
Gripping her by the back of her neck, I take her mouth and I don’t do it fast. Rather, I take my time enjoying her lips, and her tongue. By the time I’ve taken my fill, she’s struggling to catch her breath.
“I love you so much.”
She smiles shyly up at me. “I love you too.”
My hands frame her face. “You’re the most incredible woman I’ve ever met. You truly give new meaning to the saying kill them with kindness.”
Her expression goes sleepy, like a cat about to purr. “Spencer.”
I kiss her again, this time softer. “You check all of my boxes and then some.”
When I drop my hands she looks away. “I can’t even take full credit for the idea. The girls and I came up with it at Finley’s bachelorette party.”
“You’ve been planning to talk to her? I had no idea it had gotten that bad, and it doesn’t matter who came up with it, you did it.”
“Hey guys. I think they’re starting to sit down for dinner.”
Abby and I jump apart and I spin to see Duncan standing right behind us. “How long have you been there?”
He taps his chin. “Since Abby said something about being persuasive.”
I exhale in relief that he didn’t hear our entire conversation. “It’s not cool that you were listening in.”
He looks confused and motions over his shoulder. “But, I was going to sit with you guys and dinner is starting.”
Abby grabs my hand. “Let’s go eat.”
When she gets a step ahead of me, she gives me a subtle tug. Glaring at the back of Duncan’s head, I follow her.
The rest of the evening goes as I expected it would. When Abby is being Abby, there’s not a person alive who won’t fall for her in some capacity. She’s clever, eloquent, and personable; a complete trifecta for any social gathering.
Sitting back, I watch as she charms our table with stories of her brothers. It’s no surprise, given how long Thompson’s hardware has been a staple in Woodlake, the Thompsons themselves are somewhat local celebrities.
“You’re a lucky man,” a donor whispers to me.
He most likely expected me to smile broadly and agree. I do agree, but I do it with all seriousness.
Abby catches my eye and shoots me an inquisitive look. Taking her hand from where it rests on the table, I lift it to my lips.
Since there was the potential we’d be out late tonight, I got us a hotel room nearby. While I’m looking forward to sleeping with her by my side, I’m ready for it to be the norm and not the infrequent special occasion it is.
I don’t want to be going back to a hotel; I want us to be going home, to a place that’s all ours.
“You sure you’re okay?” Abby asks, when the attention moves to someone else at the table.
“I’m imagining we already have our place and I’m wishing it was now.”
Her eyes that were worried, soften. “We’ll find a place and when we do, it will be the perfect home for us to start our lives together in.”
“How are you so sure?” I tease.
She tilts her head to the side and replies, “I know an awesome realtor.”
It doesn’t matter that we’re in a crowded room full of people who could decide whether or not any of my future projects ever receive funding, I kiss her.
Abby, not caring either, kisses me right back.
21
Abby
You love him, so what if he’s annoying the crap out of you because he won’t settle on a house.
“Okay, what about the light blue house on Federal Drive didn’t work for you?”
In the beginning, when Spencer could not find a house he liked I thought it was cute. I decided it was because he isn’t the type to settle and took that as a compliment since he fell in love with me. Now that it’s been two months since we decided to move in together and he still won’t agree on a house, it’s less cute.
It doesn’t help that Sam and Brent have been putting offers in on places around town. They got outbid on their first one, the homeowner wouldn’t agree to an inspection on the second, and the homeowner on the third changed their mind. They have somehow managed to agree on three different houses and I can’t manage to get Spencer to agree to one. Finley and Noah’s wedding was two and a half months ago. While we danced on the platform Noah and Asher built themselves, I assumed we’d be already living together for a month by now.
“The carpet would need to be replaced.”
I feel my eyes bugging so I take a deep breath and focus on schooling my features. “Honey, when we talked about it, I thought we decided some light work would be okay?”
Sheesh, it’s not like I’m asking him to undertake a crazy remodel like the one Finley and Noah did. Still, I assumed we’d find a place not long after their wedding. The way things are going now, it might be closer to after Asher and Paige’s wedding.
“We did,” He agrees.
“And, we’d pull up any carpet because we both prefer hardwood floors anyway. Knowing that, what the carpet looks like shouldn’t matter.”
He hauls me into his lap and presses his lips to my temple. As annoyed as I am, the effect of his touch is instant. I lean against him.
“Did you love the light blue house?”
My brows come together. “Love would be a stretch.”
His hand strokes up and down my back. “Why do you want to put an offer on it?”
Tucking my face into his neck, I sigh. “I’m sick of living apart. The light blue house isn’t perfect, but it isn’t that bad.”
“We’ve waited this long. We can wai
t a little bit longer for the right place.”
He’s right. I hate it and all of the not right houses we’ve looked at.
“This might sound dumb, but I imagined having a housewarming slash birthday party in our new house.”
“You never sound dumb and with an event planner and all of these weddings, I’m not surprised you want to plan something of your own.”
I lift my head to stare at him. “I never thought of it that way.”
His lips find mine and I forget how annoyed I was.
When he breaks our kiss, he lifts his head. “You mentioned you have plans tonight. Any chance I’ll get to see you after?”
My fingers trace his jaw. “Nadine and I are meeting for drinks. If Sam is sleeping at Brent’s do you want to wait for me at my place? I’ll probably be tipsy.”
His arms tighten around me. “You know I’d sleep there every night if you were comfortable with it.”
I shake my head and he drops his chin to rest on my shoulder. Sam doesn’t charge me rent. All I pay for is food and some of the electric bill. I already feel like I’m taking advantage of her enough even though it was her idea. There’s no way I’d feel comfortable with Spencer sleeping over there every night, even though I miss him when he’s at his parent’s.
What sucks is I know Sam doesn’t care if he stays over. Maybe if we had found the place and moved into it together it would feel like our place and not like I’m still crashing at hers.
“Someday we’ll find a place.”
“We will. Now, I have to ask since you’re having drinks with my boss, any chance you can find out how I did in my review?”
I swat at his gut, making him grab my arms and pin them. “We never talk about you.”
Now that my arms are behind my back, his face is directly in front of mine.
He pouts, his lower lip brushing against mine. “How quickly I’m replaced.”
My tongue darts out, taking a swipe across that lower lip. A grin flashes across his face before he kisses me.
A couple of months ago, I’d have never guessed we’d be joking about how Nadine used to have a thing for him. If I hadn’t have reached out to her and offered her myself as an ally instead of a rival, who knows where we’d be right now. She accepted my offer to serve as wing woman and we’ve become fast friends. Even though she no longer needs help from me to meet guys who check all of her boxes, we meet up now for the fun of it.
Fix My Fall Page 20