Page 101 of Tangled up in You

And they hadn’t even left yet. Not to mention her lack of self-preservation by traveling alone.

He also kicked himself that he didn’t recognize her at the bar.

I’m slipping.

Chris shifted in his seat, facing him. “Drop the silent act. What the hell?”

He blew out an aggravated breath. “I don’t know. There’s something about her that gets under my skin like a fucking splinter.”

“She’s cute, though.”

He glared at Chris. “That’s beside the point.”

“And she’s smart. I had fun talking to her. I think if you get past this you’ll like her.”

“Thank god we didn’t sleep with her. That would have made this all sorts of awkward. May I remind you Dr. Fornier-Thomaspersonallyarranged this? She could easily have us tossed notonly out of our cabin but out ofjobswith a snap of her fingers. She isn’t the last person I’d want to piss off, but she’s near the top of the list.”

“Yeah, well I irritated the shit out of you when we first met and now you want to marry me,” Chris noted.

“That’s not the same and you know it.”

“No, but it means you can put aside whatever this is and make an effort to reboot with her tomorrow, right?”

Mark didn’t respond because he didn’t knowhowto respond.

Thankfully, Chris let it drop. When they returned home Chris unloaded the groceries while Mark went to lock his service weapon in the gun safe.

CHRIS

When Mark retreated to their bedroom, Chris surreptitiously texted Jesse, making sure she knew where and what time to meet them for the orientation.

He was tempted to engage her in a conversation, but over text he knew it might be misconstrued and he didn’t want to make things worse between her and Mark.

Although he grew increasingly certain if Mark rebooted with her that they’d likely get along.

And shewasadorable. And smart. And made him smile, which was a rare hat-trick.

Maybe after they returned they could coax her into extending her visit and staying with them, at least for a few days.

Then again, she and Mark might hate the very sight of each other by then.

The next morning, they headed to Gardiner for the meeting in Mark’s work truck. Chris had donned a uniform shirt. Mark had acted quieter than usual the rest of yesterday and last night, and even this morning.

The BMW sat parked at the building housing Dr. Fornier-Thomas’ office. Mark didn’t comment but Chris knew from the man’s glare that he was irritated that they’d arrived twenty minutes early and Jesse still beat them.

Oh, I hope I’m right about her.

JESSE

Jesse felt nervous about meeting Dr. Fornier-Thomas because the scientist was well-known and highly respected in the field.

In person, she appeared decades younger than Jesse knew she was, but Jesse quickly forgot about that as they discussed Jesse’s instruments and algorithm.

She also felt smug she’d beat the men to the meeting.

When they arrived, Dr. Fornier-Thomas led them to a small conference room and left them alone. Jesse had prepared a slideshow, so the men would be up to speed. Not that she expected to need their help with that. And she detailed her planned trek to tackle the sensor installation.

When she finished, she closed her laptop. “Any questions?”

---