Page 12 of Love in the Lab
Olivia:
Nicole
Nicole:
Okay… remember you asked for it
Nicole:
Adam is taking me on the sweetest date tonight! It’s a tour of a candy factory where we can create our own chocolate bars at the end! [heart eye emoji]
I groan. I’m so happy for my sister, really. She’s dated some real duds, and I’m glad she and Adam found each other. He’s a super nice, super good guy.
But also I’m just a smidge … jealous? Which is stupid, I know. No sense wanting something I can’t have. I’m not sure any man would want to put up with all my … eccentricities once he got toknow them. If I loved that man, I’m not sure I’d want to put him through that anyway.
I set my phone on the coffee table and turn on the show. Oh well. I’ll just lose myself in the romance of Avonlea instead. While this newer adaptation strays quite a bit from the original, it’s well done and easy to watch. The movie series from the eighties is hard to find without buying the DVDs or paying for a special streaming service. I do love it, though.
Beaker jumps up next to me and settles on my lap. I stroke her back absently as the opening credits come up on the TV.
I sit back and relax. And that’s when the itching starts.
Chapter four
Jonathan
After I dropped Molly off at home yesterday afternoon, I went to the last two sites by myself and got the samples we needed. The cab of my truck smelled like lavender the rest of the day. The fragrance seemed to radiate from Molly the minute she was drenched. Her shampoo, maybe? Either way, it lingered in my nose long after it faded in the truck.
Now we’ve got a few days for Molly to recover in the lab before we need to venture out again.
As I walk into the lab, I feel uncharacteristically nervous. My palms are sweaty, and my muscles feel twitchy. What am I nervous about? Seeing Molly?
I sawa lotof Molly yesterday. Her drenched clothes didn’t leave much to the imagination. They clung to every curve, though I tried my hardest not to notice. Strangely, I think seeing her in my sweatpants and T-shirt, baggy as they were, caused an even more intense reaction in me. I liked it. A lot. I found myself fighting these primal urges to protect and defend her. In evolutionary terms, men are biologically predisposed to protect their mate and offspring to ensure the survival of their genes. But Molly isn’t my mate. I don’t want Molly to be my mate. Molly would never want to be my mate.
I’m pulled from these ludicrous thoughts when my boss approaches me.
“What exactly happened yesterday?” Dr. Gantt asks.
“What do you mean?” I ask quickly, my mind still on Molly in my clothes. Molly changing into my clothes in the back seat of my truck. Her stunning blue eyes narrowed at me as she scarfed french fries while wearing my clothes and sitting in my truck—
“Molly called in sick today.”
A flash of adrenaline makes my stomach tighten. “What? She was fine when I dropped her off yesterday.”
Dr. Gantt puts a hand on her hip. “She said she had an allergic reaction to mosquito bites. Didn’t y’all wear insect repellent?”
I did. Plus, I had on long sleeves. The mosquitoes didn’t bother me. But … Molly had on short sleeves, and did I ever give her the spray to put on? I’m guessing no.
Good thing Molly isn’t my mate. I’d do a sucky job protecting her.Great.Another reason for her to dislike me.
“Do you mind if I go check on her?” Dr. Gantt narrows her eyes as if trying to analyze pieces of a problem. “I feel responsible,” I explain. “I forgot to make sure she had insect repellent on.”
“Go ahead then. Tell her we’re all thinking about her, and that I hope she feels better soon.”
“Thanks.” I turn around and head back out the door. Of course I can’t show up empty-handed, but I’m also not sure what she likes, other than boneless barbeque wings, which don’t seem appropriate at nine in the morning.
I do know a New Orleans treat that everyone loves, though. I can stop on the way.
I grab the paper sack from the passenger seat and walk toward the entrance to Molly’s apartment building. It has an intercom system with labels for each of the residents. I find the code for “Delaney – 2B” and punch it in.
