by Amelia Jade
“What is it today?”
“Another offer from EPP.” She opened it and quickly scanned the attached document. “Look at that, they’ve even upped their offer from the last one by another ten percent.”
She and Jacob both laughed. EPP, or EuroPharmaPrix, was one of the biggest pharmaceutical companies on the continent, if not the world. They’d been relentlessly trying to buy the research her lab was working on.
“Like that’ll happen,” Jacob snorted.
Although he was more of a dour and impressionable personality, the opposite of her outgoing but strong-willed, they both shared one thing in common: a hatred for “Big Pharma”, as they termed it. Their lab was independent, and it would stay that way. When they finally found the cure they’d been working on for so long, it would go into public hands, to be made for a tiny fraction of what B.P. would try to charge for it.
“Never,” she agreed, and sent the email away to the trash bin, where it and everyone who worked for EPP and its rivals belonged, in her opinion. “Though they’re starting to get more persistent. Do you think they’ve got a sniff at how close we are?”
“Maybe? I don’t see how, though.” Jacob started tapping a pencil on his desk as he thought, a habit she’d long since gotten used to. “Not unless somebody talked.”
The lab employed a grand total of eleven people, and Michelle could vouch for all of them. She doubted there was a leak.
“I don’t know,” she said at last. “Let’s see what else. Hmm. That’s new.”
Jacob’s chair slid across the floor until he could peer over her shoulder. “Michelle,” he read. “An investor will be arriving at the laboratory today. Please give them a tour. They have been vetted and are to be given complete access. Answer any questions they may have with our permission. Signed, Molly G. Sims, Board of Directors.”
Michelle rolled her eyes. “Yay, I get to play tour director. How wonderful.”
Jacob laughed, rolling back over to his desk. “That’s why they pay you the big bucks,” he said, still smiling.
“Lucky me.”
“Hey, maybe if you do a good job and they decide to invest, we’ll get enough money to hire someone else. Another brain here could help us advance things pretty quickly, you know.”
“That depends on if it’s someone with a brain like yours or not.”
Jacob feigned being hurt, clutching as his heart. “Oh, my pride has been woundeth by thou. Whatsoever shalst I do!”
“Learn to speak Shakespeare would be a good start.”
Her coworker frowned. “You’re really annoyed by this, aren’t you?”
“Sure. I have to do it, because we need all the money we can get. We’ve been lucky that whoever the board deals with has continued to invest money into us for four years without us producing anything concrete yet.”
Michelle had only ever met Molly. The board didn’t do anything regarding the lab’s day-to-day operations. From what she understood, they oversaw a bunch of various investments, one of which just happened to be the lab. They didn’t care what she and the others did as long as they didn’t go over budget.
“You just want to spend all day trying new variations, don’t you?”
She shrugged. “We’ve gotten this far; derivatives are essentially all we have now, otherwise we go back to the drawing board.”
“I know.”
“To answer your question, yes. I am frustrated. I don’t want to be wasting my time on this, but I know it’s important to the lab as a whole, so I’m going to do it, and I’m going to do it with a smile on my face as well.”
“You’ll be fine,” Jacob said, dismissing her irritation. “They didn’t make you the head of the lab when you were twenty-eight for no reason.”
“Don’t remind me.” Michelle had no idea why she’d gotten the position she did. Almost fresh out of her PhD, she’d been told a new lab was being constructed and they wanted her as the head. Four years later, she was still there. To her, it was a minor miracle, and not one she wanted to discuss, lest they realize their mistake.
“Does it say when he’s going to arrive?”
“No. So let’s see if we can get some work done first.”
Jacob nodded in agreement, but the phone rang before she could even read the next email.
“Is someone spying on me?” she complained, staring at the phone.
“With what? There are no cameras in here.”
“That we know of,” she joked, well aware that the only cameras were outside the building. With a sigh, she picked up the receiver. “Hello?”
“Hi, Michelle. There’s a gentleman here to see you. Said he has an appointment?”
“Send him in, Lindsay,” she told the receptionist. Only after she hung up the phone did she realize that nothing had mentioned to her the potential investor’s name. Great. What a start to her pitch.
Standing up, she straightened her clothes in a vain attempt to look more professional. Frowning at the way her loose-fitting jeans and olive-green t-shirt clashed with that image, she snatched up her white lab coat, draping it overtop, hoping that might help offset the casualness of her outfit.
Today is just not the right day for any of this. I wonder if I can call out sick before he gets here.
The doors parted and someone walked into the offices. Michelle’s jaw dropped as she took in the tall figure with granite-gray hair, well-defined facial features that lacked the sharp, hard edges that would make him appear unfriendly. He was clean-shaven, but the stubble was still visible even this early in the morning. A long aquiline nose stood profile on to her, until the man turned to look at her.
“Kase,” she said dully, shocked to realize she knew the man. Sort of.
His eyes locked on to her, making her shiver now like they had four and a half years ago when they’d first met. They were distant, almost cold, but with just enough warmth to be deceiving. When the light hit them just right, they seemed to glow silver, something she remembered vividly.
“Hello, Michelle,” he said, smile and voice both coming across awkward and almost reluctant.
Wasn’t she supposed to be the one who didn’t want to be there, not him?
“What are you doing here?”
“I’m here to look at the lab.”
Her jaw dropped as she stared at him agog. “You? You’re the investor coming by to see if we’re worthy of your money?”
The giant started to say something, stopped, started again, shook his head, and settled on a nod.
“Fantastic.”
Kase. Last name unknown, possibly nonexistent. Like Cher. Or Bono. Except not famous or a singer. As far as she knew. That one karaoke night she’d been rather wasted, which made recalling his vocal ability hard.
“Don’t look so unhappy to see me,” he joked.
“Right. Because I haven’t heard from you in four years. Since I got this job, to be exact. You just disappeared out of my life.”
He looked away. “Yes, I did.” There was no trace of apology.
“Well this is more awkward than someone trying to fistbump the English Queen,” Jacob remarked, standing up and walking right into the washroom without saying another word.
Kase nodded, looking around the lab, not saying anything. He definitely seemed unhappy about it all, too. Was that because he had to put up with her? Michelle was no expert on human behavior, but nothing about his reaction so far had said he was surprised to see her there. Did he dislike her so much that he couldn’t hide it for the length of time it would take to conduct a tour?
“Well, how lovely. Shall we get started?” she asked through a smile that couldn’t possibly have reached the rest of her face.
“Of course. The sooner this is over, the better.”
You took the words right out of my mouth, you dick.
“That seems to be your normal way of doing things,” she said tartly. “So, begin.”
Kase chewed his lip at
her comment, but just stood there.
She sighed. “What do you want first, a tour? Do you have questions? Why are you here, Kase?”
He ignored her last question. “What are you working on at the lab?” He shrugged out of his coat, revealing the button-up drawn tight across his frame.
She remembered that body, the firmness of his muscles and the way they looked dripping with water. The way they felt under her palm as she touched him flirtatiously. He’d always been the best-looking man that had ever shown any interest in her. Interest that had ended before they’d done anything but kiss. The most attractive, and also the most confusing. She’d decided he was probably gay—it was easier that way, less of a blow to her ego.
“We’re working on a cure to a muscular degenerative disease.”
“Seriously?” He seemed surprised.
“Yes. We’re close, as well. Very close.”
We need to be. There isn’t much time left.
Kase looked impressed. “I wasn’t told that. Amazing, and you’re the one leading the research behind this cure?”
“Yes. I was appointed as head scientist—we’re not big on actual titles here—when the lab was first built four years ago. I’ve held that position ever since.”
“Good for you.”
Compliments? What the hell is he playing at now, she wondered. The abrupt switch from one mood to another had caught her unprepared, and now she was reacting to him instead of taking the lead, which frustrated her. “Umm, thank you,” she said, speaking more to fill the silence than anything.
“Well, are you going to show me around?” he pressed.
“Sure, though knowing your reputation with tours, I’ll be surprised if you’re still around at the end of this one.”
Chapter Three
Michelle
She turned and headed toward the labs to hide the look of regret—and mixed satisfaction—that was on her face. Michelle couldn’t hide her emotions for the life of her. She was an open book to anyone who could read people. Usually it wasn’t a problem, but with Kase, she’d prefer to try to keep him from knowing what she was thinking or feeling.
It would be easier that way, so when he disappeared again, she wouldn’t be left hurt and exposed like before. It had been a harsh lesson, and one she’d never truly recovered from. Throwing herself into her work in hopes she could find a cure before it was too late for those who needed it, she’d never found the time to date, never quite able to get over how he’d left her.
“I’m sorry about that,” Kase rumbled, suddenly a step behind her.
Michelle didn’t want to talk about it. “Did you win the lottery?”
He cleared his throat. “Pardon?”
“The lottery. Did you win it? I didn’t know you had this sort of money to invest. You certainly didn’t act like it the last time I saw you.”
She heard him take in a deep breath of air. “I just never showed it,” he said. “Does it matter?”
“I suppose not, no. That’s neither here nor there. Though I am curious as to why you want to spend it at this lab. Specifically the one where I work. Don’t you think that’s a pretty big coincidence?” She paused outside one lab and faced him, her arms crossed.
Kase smiled, a big, lopsided thing that somehow immediately penetrated her barriers, putting her a little more at ease. “I don’t believe in coincidences.”
Holy shit. He was flirting with her! Momentarily stunned by the abrupt brazenness of a man she hadn’t seen in almost half a decade, Michelle stumbled over her response.
“I don’t really care about the specifics,” Kase said. “I’m not from a science background; most of it would be mumbo-jumbo to me.”
She frowned. “What do you want me to say then? Everything in here is science related.”
“Tell me about working here. Is it a good place to work?” Now he seemed genuinely interested.
“Uh, yes. Yes it is,” she admitted. “I’m not sure I’ve had a single thought about leaving, or taking anyone else’s offers, since I’ve started.”
Kase came alert at that. “Anyone else’s offers?’
“Oh, sure. Rival labs ask me to come work for them from time to time, but usually it’s the pharmaceutical companies. They don’t know how to take no for an answer. They can’t seem to understand that I would never work for them.” Her voice grew darker as she spoke, remembering some of the clandestine offers she’d been made, to betray the lab she was with and to bring all her research to theirs. Assholes.
“I see. That’s quite an endorsement to this lab.”
She nodded. “They showed a lot of trust in me. A lot. They hired me as the lead scientist here almost right out of grad school. Do you have any idea how rare that is? Since then they’ve let me run the lab as I see fit. How could I leave that and go somewhere else?”
He nodded. “How indeed. I’m glad to hear that even if you were to leave, it sounds like you would do so in a proper and respectful manner.”
“You mean I wouldn’t just suddenly disappear without warning?”
Kase winced. “Yes, exactly like that.”
“I waited for you,” she said softly. “I waited three hours, hoping you’d come back. Then I started crying. Do you have any idea what you did to me?”
“Yes,” he said softly. “I’m sorry, I had no choice.”
She wanted to bite his head off, but the pain in his voice was undeniable. He’d hurt over it too. If he was about to tell her he was back now, she would knock him out. Nobody made someone wait four and a half years to show back up.
“Right. Well, back to the lab. What other questions do you have for me?” Her Head Scientist persona was back and firmly in place. No sense in dwelling over the past; she needed to look ahead to the future and securing his monetary investment so that they could keep doing their research here.
“What about the rest of the staff?”
“What about them?”
“Do you like them? Are they good at their jobs? Are there any that should go? Any people you feel should be brought on board that currently aren’t?”
“Oh. That.” She shrugged. “They’re good. Jacob and I head up the two teams of researchers, while I’m in overall command. I stay mostly hands off, though—we’re all working toward the same goal. I just decided what the goal was when we started, and since then everyone has sort of fallen into a job.”
“How many staff do you currently have?”
“There are eleven of us, including myself. Ten scientists and Lindsay our receptionist-slash-administrator-slash-personal-assistant-slash-doing-everything-amazing-person.”
Kase smiled. “Sounds like she needs a raise.”
“We could all use raises,” she admitted. “The budget has been the same since we started here, and the cost of living and of research equipment has gone up in that timespan. I’m assuming that’s why the board has you in here taking a look. They want to see if they can up our yearly budget.”
Kase nodded, looking deep in thought. “Yes, that’s probably it, I’m sure. Well, maybe something can be arranged then,” he said cryptically.
“So, who’s working today? I see some people in the labs here.”
“Right. Well, you met Lindsay. Jacob was the gentlemen you scared off to the toilets. In there, looking at our long-term results cages, are Jenny and Clark. Miles is around somewhere, but he’s a bit of a recluse, doesn’t like to talk much, so we probably won’t see him.”
Kase was looking around, nodding. “Is he the tall workout buff?” he asked with a smile.
Michelle frowned. “No.” Miles was short and rotund. “There’s nobody here besides you who would fit that description.” Was he attempting to make some sort of joke? She was quite confused by it all.
“You’re positive? Tall, golden-blond hair? Kinda rough on the looks department.”
She kept shaking her head. “I’m telling you, there’s nobody here who matches that de
scription, Kase. They would stand out like a sore thumb around the rest of us.”
He frowned and started walking deeper into the labs.
“What is it?” she asked, scurrying after him, trying to keep up with his long legs.
“I saw someone like that through one of the windows back here,” he said, approaching the last room.
“Impossible. There’s nothing back here. It’s literally just an empty room that we’ve not needed to use yet. It’s kept permanently locked.”
“Nonetheless,” he said. “I did see them.” He sniffed at the air, wrinkled his nose.
“Ah, yes. This room adjoins the specimen room. It, um, well, the mice leave a certain odor, shall we say.”
“Yeah.” Kase tried to open the door, but it was locked like she’d said. “Do you have the key?”
“Not on me, it’s back at my desk. I’m telling you, though, there’s nobody here by that description.”
“Can we check the cameras?”
She shook her head. “No cameras in the labs. The only ones are outside the building.”
Kase frowned. “You have nothing inside?”
“No, why would we?”
“What if someone breaks in?”
“And does what? Nothing in here is sellable on the open market. Only specialized places could even understand half of what we keep here, Kase. That sort of stuff makes it very easy to track.” She shrugged.
“Right.” Kase was still looking through the windows, as if expecting someone to pop out and say “Boo!” at any moment.
“What else can I do for you?” she asked. “If you don’t want to see the actual experiments or anything. Do you want to meet the other staff?”
“Maybe later,” he said, turning his attention back to her so strongly she felt the urge to take a step back. Or forward. Either seemed like it would be the right move.
“I see. Well, is there anything else I can do then to secure your investment?” Michelle worked as hard as she ever had to keep her face neutral, hoping she wasn’t failing too miserably. What the hell was she doing? Had she seriously just propositioned him with sex in exchange for money? Because that’s certainly what it sounded like to her!