Page 25 of Hired for Research
Jett seemed to know a majority of the men that came, and she had a sneaking suspicion that he’d called in the other Controllers when it seemed like no alphas were going to come on their own. Her chest warmed at the thought that he’d gone out of his way to help her when he didn’t have to. She hoped what she found would help them, but part of her kept churning with guilt.
Would the version of help they offered be any better than what the alphas already faced, or would it be a worse form of enslavement?
Mood dipping as the last alpha for the day left, she let out a sigh as she placed his blood in the stand with the last few. She needed to get them to the cooler in the lab, then she could clean up and find somewhere to grab dinner.
“I can take those for you.”
Jett grabbed the stand but waited for her nod to head for the door. There had been a few times during the afternoon when he’d had to run the samples to the lab for her because she’d been too busy and didn’t want to risk leaving it out too long. After a crap morning, she was satisfied with the afternoon’s turnout.
By the time Jett returned she’d finished cleaning up the room and preparing for morning. She hoped the alphas that had come in would spread the word about the study so she’d continue to have a steady stream, though her back complained about being on her feet all day.
“Did you have any plans for dinner?”
Evelyn paused, different feelings rushing through her at his question. She wasn’t invited out by men enough for no to be a knee-jerk response, but she’d been too busy and disenchanted with betas for the last few years to be willing to waste time when she had more important things to do. She’d told Jett no the night before because of the way he’d been acting, but caved because he made a good argument, and it had turned out to be the right choice. She’d enjoyed herself and got to observe alphas exactly the way she’d wanted.
But would accepting another offer to go to dinner send the wrong message?
With the way her body responded to him,wasit the wrong message?
She mentally groaned at herself. Jett had been helpful throughout the day and there had been no sign of the territorial, domineering crap from the day before aside from the incident about collecting semen, and she had a feeling she was complicating things more than they were.
“Not really.”
While she’d love to go back to her hotel room with a bottle of wine and enjoy it in solitude, she still had the responsibility to do the other part of the research she was there for. She could always go back to Community, but she had to admit she was curious about what other places he might show her.
“Well, if you want a new place where you can watch the dynamics interacting, there’s a bar that has pretty good food. They’ll be busy since it’s a Saturday night, but even though it’s a bar, alphas aren’t allowed alcohol, so it’s usually not too rowdy. I can’t say people haven’t been caught slipping alphas a drink or two, but it’s rarely enough to get them riled up.”
Evelyn hesitated for a moment before shrugging. She wouldn’t have gone to a bar on her own, and while she hated admitting it was due to a bit of lingering fear over being alone with a bunch of alphas in that type of setting, knowing Jett would be keeping an eye on everything helped the rush of excitement take the forefront.
“Sounds good to me.”
He returned her smile as she shrugged out of her white coat and traded it for the heavier one to keep her warm.
“I just need to drop this off first,” she said as she slipped the strap of her laptop bag over her shoulder.
He held the door for her as she walked out, stopping to make sure it locked behind her before they headed out of the hospital. It was late enough that it seemed like the place was empty despite having a section that was always open in case of emergencies. Evelyn still found it unusual for a hospital to be so quiet, but she was coming to enjoy it. It was less stressful and allowed her to focus better.
She made small talk with Jett as they walked back to her hotel. He waited in the lobby as she went to her room to drop off her things. When she was making her way back to him she realized he was still wearing his uniform, and she felt a bit selfish for not thinking he may want to change.
“Do you want to go by your place before we go so you can change?”
His brow quirked, lips twitching as he looked down at her.
“Are you saying I stink?”
Eyes widening, her lips popped open in shock.
“What? No! You don’t smell bad at all, I just thought…”
She trailed off as his laughter drowned her out. Gaze narrowed, she rested her hands on her hips as she waited for him to finish.
“Sure, laugh it up. Ishouldtell you you stink.”
Laughter reduced to a chuckle, his eyes danced as he stepped closer, crowding into her space as he flashed those killer dimples. His spice and leather scent wrapped around her, attempting to drown her since she was already focused on it.
“It would be a lie. You know you like the way I smell.”
He waited for her to deny his statement, and while her mouth opened, the lie died on her tongue. After having multiple alphas come in and out of the room through the course of the day, she knew it wasn’t just his alpha pheromones that drew her to Jett. There had been plenty whose scent had been off-putting, or simply bland and forgettable, but his still made her belly quiver and her breathing come faster.
