“Yet?” her assistant cried. “As in, you spent the night with Carter Burke?”
“I took him on a scientific adventure.”
“You had sex for science?” Penelope said with a throaty laugh.
“No.”
I had sex for me. I had sex because I finally met a man who makes me call my sister and charges my cell.
“I’ll talk to him again,” Ivy added. “I’ll…”
She closed her eyes and leaned her head back on the chair. What more could she do? She’d tried to show him why all medical research mattered. How curing every disease mattered.
“Ivy, did you tell him why this matters to you?” Penelope asked. “Have you explained your personal connection to the research?”
“Not yet. I…I didn’t want him to say yes out of pity. I thought if I could make him believe in our work…I didn’t want Carter Burke to question if I’d let my personal connection to this research cloud my judgment.”
“But it has,” Penelope said. “It’s part of why you practically live in this lab.”
“You’re right.” Ivy let out a hollow laugh. “But you’re always in the lab with me. Why do you put in the extra hours and effort?”
“Because all science matters,” Penelope said. “And I like my job.”
“So do I.”
“You’ll tell him?”
“This morning,” Ivy promised. She ended the call and dropped the phone to her lap.
How do I explain my connection to this research? Over coffee while wearing his blanket?
She sighed and opened her eyes. Through the sliding glass doors, she could see the Brooklyn Bridge glimmering in the bright morning sunlight. The suspension bridge connected his past to his present. The same held true for her. Staring at the bridge’s cables, a plan formed in her mind.
“Everything okay?”
She turned and spotted Carter standing at the edge of the living room. He’d pulled on a pair of jeans, but he’d skipped the shirt. His perfect abs called to her. His broad chest and muscular arms crossed in front of his pecs.
Maybe I should rethink my plan. If we return to the bedroom…
She couldn’t. Morning had broken the spell.
“Everything’s fine.” She rose from the chair, careful to keep the blanket wrapped around her naked body.
“Your sister?” he nodded to the cell in her hand.
She shook her head. “A friend reminding me that I have one more place to show you before our adventure ends. Do you have a car?”
“In the garage downstairs.” He turned and headed for the kitchen they’d passed on the way to the bedroom last night. “I’ll make some coffee for the drive.”
“Aren’t you going to ask where we’re going?” she asked.
He rested a hand on the entryway and looked over his shoulder at her. The muscles in his back coiled. He was perfect. Too perfect.
Did I really make love to this man last night?
“Surprise me, Ivy.”
Chapter 19