Page 65 of Her Bully Alpha

I chewed on my lower lip. I knew people had been asking me more if I was going to return to work. If I had changed my mind at all about staying home. Jay hadn't asked, and I knew he would happily agree no matter what I said.

"But to answer your question, no. I would never be a stay-at-home mom. I wouldn't want my child to grow up and think I couldn't do it all." Katie stared ahead. "Being a scientist is a large part of who I am. And while I don't look down at women who are, I wonder if they miss who they used to be."

The light changed, and we started to cross the street. "But that isn't in my future. I'm a lot closer to buying a dildo and calling it my husband than I am to finding a man and marrying him."

I gave Katie a gentle chuckle. "I'm sure your future husband is just around the corner. I never expected that I was going to be here six months ago. If my past self saw me now, she would probably shit herself."

Katie laughed, nearly tripping over her feet. "My god, you paint a beautiful picture."

I smirked. "Says the woman that brought up dildos." I elbowed her. "You're a beautiful woman. You have someone out there. You just haven't met him yet."

She shook her head. "I doubt it, and with how busy I am right now, I'm okay with not having one. I can't have anything getting in the way of my work. I don't need a distraction."

We took a left turn, getting closer to her lab. I always shivered when I got close to the building. The building was large and without life. It reminded me of a prison cell. The inside wasn't any better; it was white everywhere you looked, and it smelled like cleaning supplies. The lights were extremely bright inside, and several security guards surveyed the area.

Katie always had a different reaction when she spotted the building. She said the lab was an extra home to her.

She smiled, a sparkle gleamed in her eyes, and she had a skip in her step as she grew closer.

"I will never understand how you get so excited to be here," I sighed, scanning the building over. "It's so…empty of life."

Katie laughed. "It's how I like it. And it's not empty of life. It's clean and organized. Everything has a place."

I gave her a look. "Your lab is just as terrible. It's white and empty."

Katie nodded. "It's sterile."

I snorted. "I think the correct word is uncharacteristic."

Katie laughed. "And your office is what exactly?"

"Warm and welcoming." Katie had stopped by one to invite me to lunch. So, she had seen my office, which was the opposite of her lab.

"I don't exactly get a choice in the matter of what my lab looks like, Sam."

"I know, but still. You should be able to hang up pictures. You could have a plant or add something in there that says it's your space."

Katie frowned. "I don't have many friends to take pictures with."

I scowled at that, wondering why. After I got to know Katie, I realized that she was intelligent and funny. She enjoyed rambling off information and got excited about the oddest things, but everyone had quirks. I didn't understand why people weren't friends with her.

"Well, we are friends, and we've taken pictures. Hang those. Just promise me I look good in them before you hang them."

Katie smiled softly. "You're probably the first person who would say we're friends."

I tilted my head. "What about Nessa and Kirk? You're friends with them, aren't you?"

She made a face and shook her head. "They hired me to make a birthing chart for them, not the same. They are nice to me because they need something from me, which is most people. I can't count those because they need me."

While I understood her point of view, that didn't mean you couldn't become good friends with someone because they needed you for work first.

"I think that's okay. I have some friends that were clients first. I got to know them because of work, but continued to hang out with them even after I was done."

We stopped at another light, and Katie slid her hands into her pockets. "I don't often have people staying in touch with me." She gave me a weak smile. "How are you and Jay getting along?"

I stared at her, wondering why she was changing the subject, but decided to move past it. While Katie and I were friends, it was still new, and it was okay if she wasn't ready to drop her life story at my feet.

"We're doing really well, actually." I couldn't help but smile thinking of the sex we'd been having. I couldn't get over how close I felt to him and how…normal it all seemed. It was like we'd been doing it for years rather than months.

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