Page 35 of Hired for Research
If anyone who cared ever saw them.
She kicked that thought aside, stepping into the hotel lobby. A wave of heat made her skin prickle, and she pulled open her coat to relieve it.
“That’s a great idea. What time should I be ready?”
Even with her coat opened she could feel sweat beginning to bead along her spine. She wanted to take it off, but it was too much trouble to fuss with taking off her bag first when her room was only a couple floors away.
“Eight or nine. The guys get started pretty early, and we can grab breakfast on the way.”
Nodding, she agreed to meet at nine, waving to Jett as the lift doors slid shut. Her stomach was beginning to feel unsettled, and she hoped she wasn’t getting sick. She didn’t have a strict deadline to finish in Eden, but she’d prefer to be home, surrounded by her things, if she was going to be ill.
She stripped off her bag and coat as soon as she made it to her room. She was debating calling down to the desk to see if they had something for her stomach when the worst of it seemed to pass, her muscles loosening as she laid on the bed.
Sighing, she was asleep before she took her next breath.
***
Evelyn woke, feeling rested after falling asleep so fast. She’d meant to type up her observations before going to bed, but she wasn’t too worried about being behind. She doubted they were going to be out at the worksite the whole morning, so she figured she would have time to do it while she waited for more alphas to show up at the hospital.
Knowing she was going to be outside for a while, she peeked beyond the curtain, groaning at what she saw.
The sky was a deep grey, clouds rushing by high above. It was thankfully dry, but she didn’t trust it to remain that way with the way the trees she could see were leaning away from the wind.
Groaning again, she dug out her warmest tights, layering them beneath a loose black skirt that reached her ankles after she’d taken a quick shower. Pulling on a soft blue tank top, she put a blouse overtop that before shrugging into her coat. She hadn’t thought to bring gloves or a scarf, thinking the worst of winter was behind them, and she knew she was going to regret it.
She made her way down to where Jett was waiting for her in the lobby. The cold never seemed to bother him, yet he was just as bundled up as her, a knit cap pulled over his dark curls.
His eyes zeroed in on her bare hands resting on her bag, brows drawing together.
“Where’s your gloves? It’s cold out there.”
“I forgot them back home. I didn’t think the temperature would dip so much.”
He was pulling his off before she could stop him, holding it open for her to put her hand inside. Part of her felt guilty for leaving him without the protection, but part of her was glad she would have the extra layer to keep warm.
“I can always buy a pair if we pass somewhere that has them.”
She had to offer the token protest to assuage the guilt, but she was already holding up her hand for him to help slide it on. His warmth had soaked into the fabric and wrapped around her digits, sending goosebumps up her arm as he moved on to the second glove.
Once he was satisfied they were in place and not threatening to fall off despite being too large for her slim hands, he tugged on her collar to pull it tighter about her neck before giving a satisfied nod.
“If you start getting too cold just say so, and we’ll leave. There’s a storm that’s supposed to miss us, but just in case, we need to leave the worksite by ten.”
“When do they start work?”
If they were going to have to leave early, it almost seemed pointless to go if they didn’t start until later.
“They’re already there, so we can grab breakfast now or later. Up to you.”
Just the mention of food had the muscles of her abdomen tightening, leaving her with a queasy feeling. Being so bundled up inside the hotel was making her overheat, so she moved for the door as she answered.
“Later is fine.”
16. Jett
Jett almost called the whole thing off. The weather was definitely not conducive to standing around outside. Even the crew had almost canceled work for the day, but they were cutting it close on getting finished on time and they didn’t want to miss a whole day for a storm that wasn’t even supposed to hit Eden.
The worksite wasn’t far, about the same distance as the hospital from the hotel, but they had to go the opposite direction from the hospital, which meant they’d have a long walk once they decided to leave. He planned to be sure they stopped for breakfast before making the trek so Evelyn could warm up for a bit before facing the cold again.
