Page 16 of Love in the Lab
Now, I wait.
I can’t focus on my work; instead I keep running to the window to check if he’s back yet. Finally, I see his truck in the lot and watch as he walks through the front door. I estimate how long it will take him to come up the elevator—or stairs, he seems like a stairs guy—and enter the office, based on how long I observed it took him to exit before lunch.
My calculations are only thirty seconds off. He’s quicker than I expected.
I lean back in my desk chair just enough to see Jonathan approach his cubicle. He lifts the lab coat from the back of his chair and starts putting an arm through one of the sleeves. He stops and frowns. Pulls his arm back out. Looks at the lab coat. Checks the badge on the pocket. And tries again to slide his arm into the sleeve.
The look of raw confusion on his face is thrilling. I feel a surge of adrenaline, mixed with giddiness and pride. I know I’m smiling like an idiot, but I can’t help it. I keep watching Jonathan and can tell the very moment when understanding dawns. He lifts his head, a half-smile on his lips, and looks directly at me.
I quickly snap my chair upright and focus my attention on my computer screen, clicking around like I’m in the middle of something important.
A beat or two later, I hear a throat clearing behind me. I swivel in my seat to see a smirking Jonathan, stuffed into the too-small coat. It hangs open in the front; he couldn’t button it if he tried.The cuffs are halfway up his forearms, the fabric pulled so tight around his biceps that it reminds me of sausages. Sexy sausages.Wait, what?
“Good afternoon, Dr. Delaney.” Jonathan bobs his head. He lifts his elbow and tries to lean it against the cubicle wall but can’t get his arm high enough.
I hold back a laugh, but I know he can hear it in my voice when I respond, “Dr. Stanch.”
His eyes twinkle as he asks, “Is this how it’s going to be?”
I shrug and shake my head but don’t say anything.
“Okay, then.” The twinkle in his eyes turns to a glint of challenge. “Good,” he says with a nod, then turns and walks away.
He wears the damn coat the rest of the day.
Jonathan’s retribution is swift, and though not unexpected, it still catches me by surprise. Two days later I’m at my desk when Lila, one of the grad students, hands me a napkin with a jelly-filled donut perched on top.
“There’s donuts in the breakroom,” she says with a smile. “I brought you one.”
My stomach growls, and I realize all I’ve had so far this morning is coffee. I accept the donut from her with a grateful sigh.
I take a large bite and realize my mistake instantly. It’s not jelly inside this donut. It’s toothpaste. The sharp mint flavor mixes jarringly with the saccharine frosting and flaky pastry. Without thinking, I spit it onto my desk, dropping the rest of the donut onto my lap, and use the napkin to scrub the taste from my tongue.
“Lila,” I say through a gag. “Where did you get this donut?”
Her eyes are wide. “Um, I was in the breakroom and saw the box of donuts, and Dr. Stanch handed me this one and said it was your favorite.”
Of course he did. I stand up and whirl around looking for Jonathan, oblivious to the donut tumbling onto the floor. I find him leaning smugly against the wall outside the breakroom, arms crossed over his chest, dark curls flopped across his forehead.
“I’m sorry, Dr. Delaney,” Lila trills, her tone panicked. “I don’t know what happened.”
The nerve of this guy! Using a poor, unsuspecting grad student as a pawn in his nefarious scheme!
I pat Lila’s arm reassuringly. “Don’t worry, Lila.You’renot the one in trouble here.”
I use the napkin to clean up the mess of donut on my desk and floor. I walk past Jonathan on my way to the garbage can.
“Good morning, Dr. Stanch,” I say primly.
He nods, hazel eyes glittering. “Dr. Delaney.”
When I get back to my desk, I grab my phone and open the text chain with my sisters. Desperate times call for desperate measures.
Molly:
Code Red, ladies. I need prank ideas.
Chapter six
