Page 48 of Love Me Fearless

“Where were you before that?”

“Getting my PhD, then did some work for Big Pharma.” He sets down his coffee and breaks off a corner of the scone and pops it in his mouth.

“What kind of work do you do as a chemist?”

His eyes warm for an instant, like he’s pleased I remembered this bit of background. I wonder if he’s not used to that. “Critical materials separations.”

I pause mid-bite of my toast. “Uh, forgive me but I don’t know what that is.”

He laughs, making the faint crow’s feet at the edge of his eyes wrinkle, like he laughs a lot. “It’s just a fancy way of saying I figure out how to isolate different types of chemicals or materials from a system.”

“And this is a matter of national security?” I ask, risking a bit of a tease.

He swallows a bite of scone. “Can’t build those fancy rockets without the kind of science I do. But we’re also doing some cool stuff with carbon capture, which could be helpful in addressing climate change.”

“Sounds meaningful,” I say.

He sips his mocha and licks his lips again. “I work with a great team.”

This is Hutch’s reply to a compliment too. I force a breath to cool my inner fire because I’m so over Hutch crawling into my thoughts.

“Did you always want to be a doctor?” Chris asks.

“Since summer camp in sixth grade. I broke my arm and the camp nurse was my rock and my shining star. I never forgot it.”

“But you’re a doctor, not a nurse.”

I level him with a steady gaze. “I don’t take orders well.”

He laughs, throwing his head back a little, as if he’s delighted. “It’s good to know what you like.”

My already buzzing insides give a little jolt. Apparently, what I like is Hutch throwing me over his shoulder and goading me to deep-throat his gorgeous cock.

I glance out the window for a moment, willing my mind to climb out of the gutter. “My dad is a captain in the fire department and leads the local search and rescue team. He ran our family like he runs his crew.”

Chris nods. “That must have been interesting.”

“Things are better now, but growing up, there was a lot of friction.”

“How does your mom handle it?”

I laugh. “They divorced when I was five.”

His lips twist in a grimace. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

“They’re actually really good friends now. In fact, the three of us had breakfast together yesterday.”

“I guess if they’re happy.” He gives me a good-natured shrug.

“They’re definitely happier apart.” The base of my skull starts to throb.

“Wait, I think I’ve met your dad,” he says, a mixed expression on his face. “Oh heck, I have. Parker Greely, right?”

This shouldn’t surprise me, yet sometimes it makes Finn River feels smaller than it really is. “You actually just missed him. I ran into him right before you showed up. How do you know him?”

“I volunteer with Search and Rescue sometimes.”

“What drew you to join?”

---