Page 24 of The Marriage Negotiation

I stepped out onto the porch, locked the door, dropped the keys through the mail slot since the realtor already had a copy, and then walked down to the moving van.

As soon as I climbed inside, I felt the cool relief of the air conditioning. I just sat there for a moment, letting it cool my heated skin. "I am not going to miss the sweltering heat in Texas."

Zaq was fanning himself with his hand. "New York gets heat too, you know?"

"Maybe, but our building is equipped with a pool."

Zaq shot me a quick glance. "Seriously?"

I nodded. "Pool, gym, the works. It's also right across the street from Central Park."

"Damn, I'm sold."

Yeah, I had been, too.

Chapter Seven

~ Zaq ~

"We're here, Zaq."

I opened my eyes to find us surrounded by tall glass and cement monstrosities. I blinked for a moment as I sat up and looked around. There were a few trees planted along the sidewalks and some flowers and shrubs, but that was about it.

"Not much of a view."

Patrick chuckled. "The view is behind us."

I automatically glanced in the rearview mirror. "Oh, I found the trees."

"That's Central park," Patrick said. "After we get settled in, we can go for a walk if you want. Joe assures me that this end is pretty nice."

I turned to look at Patrick. "Joe?"

"Joe Navarro," Patrick replied. "He's that frat brother I told you about, the lawyer that flew out to Texas and helped me deal with my resignation paperwork."

"Oh, right. I remember." Sort of. Patrick had a lot of frat brothers. It was hard to keep track of them all. "And he lives in the building?"

"Him and his husband Jayce. They both work for Jake D'Amato, another frat brother who also lives in the building. Joe works in Jake's legal department. Jayce is a lab rat."

I raised one eyebrow. "Lab rat?"

"Jake hired Jayce to work in his lab. He's come up with so many groundbreaking projects that Jake just lets him run free and basically funds his dreams."

Must be nice.

"I think you and Jayce would get along pretty well, but be forewarned, he'll probably try to pick your brain once he knows you're a nurse."

I frowned, not connecting the dots. "Why?"

"Jayce recently developed an artificial skin to cover prosthetics. Not only can it be color matched to match a patient's skin color, but it makes the prosthetics stronger and more fire resistant."

My eyes rounded. "I've heard about this. It's in trials at several Veterans' Hospitals."

Patrick nodded. "If the trials pass the FDA, I imagine this artificial skin will go worldwide. With Jayce holding the patent rights and Jake backing him, they'll make a bundle."

Damn.

"What does that have to do with him picking my brain?" I asked, still not connecting the dots.

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