Page 5 of A Smooth Operator

But if I was really honest, which I tried not to be because it hurt so much. I was hung up on Remi Drake. The same guy who thought I was balling his father. Bless his crazy heart!

"No. Life's too busy right now," I demurred.

He nodded and then rose. "Well, I'll leave you to it."

He was nearly out the door when I decided to throw caution to the winds. "Martin, if you ever want to talk, let me know. We can go out for a drink."

Where had that come from? I wasn't the kind of woman who asked a man out. I was the one who turned a horrible shade of pale when someone asked me out.

"Ah, I—"

"As friends," I blurted out. I really didn't need him to get the wrong idea. I was already neck-deep in wrong ideas when it came to the men I worked with and for.

He cheered up at that, and I felt mildly insulted. Was I such horrible girlfriend material? Probably. Becky had been blonde, slender, and sophisticated. I was dark, curvy, and a complete nerd.

"Thanks, Echo."

My day didn't get any better. Some gene synthesis materials I was waiting for were delayed, which meant I had to scrap two of my experiments and start all over again.

To make matters worse, Aunt Fern called, which was never pleasant. She guilt-tripped me for buying a BMW and not sending her money. It worked. I felt guilty. I wired her a couple of thousand dollars. She'd retired and now lived in an elder-care facility where she had her own apartment. She hadn't made many friends and complained about how lonely she was. No way was Aunt Fern coming and living with me—because I wasn't ever going to feel that guilty.

And then my day went from worse to shit.

Remi Drake came looking for me. Martin caught him as soon as he entered the lab. Everyone knew who Remi was—the personable and attractive son of the CEO. Whenever he came for corporate events, he charmed the panties off of women and made men feel comfortable. That was his gift. He got along well with everyone. Not like me. I put my head down and hoped for the best by being silent and aloof.

Remi got friendly.

Just not with you, Echo.

"You want to see Dr. Devlin?" Martin asked Remi twice.

"Yeah," Remi said for the second time, still cocky and with no sign of discomfort at my boss openly wondering what the hell Remi needed to talk to me about.

"I just need to drop somethin' off for my sister," he lied with panache.

Martin frowned and then eased. "Ah, yes, Lani and Echo were in high school together."

"Yeah," Remi said as patiently as he could while he gritted his teeth.

I didn't lift a finger to help him. I pretended like I was so busy working through the clinical study data on my computer that I had no idea who walked into the lab.

"Great. Yeah. Great. Well, you know where she is."

"Thanks. See you around, Dr. Andersen."

Remi came into my office and closed the door behind him like he owned the fucking world. No, "Hello, hey, are you busy?" or "May I disturb you?" No, Remi just barged in. Now, every member of my team at the lab was going to wonder what the boss' son wanted with me.

He put the Rolex watch on my desk in front of him and sat down across from me. "Poopy," he paused and fumbled, "Echo."

He almost called me by that hideous high school nickname. I hated it and wondered if he was trying to piss me off like Tommy and some of the others did. Not wanting to give him the satisfaction of knowing he affected me, I smiled wide.

"Remi."

"I've been tryin' to get a hold of you all weekend."

"I know. It got pretty annoyin', so I blocked your number," I replied with a broad smile. I wasn't the kind of person that sassed others, but right now, I was feeling peevish.

"What the hell was that, giving me the fuckin' watch?"

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