Page 21 of The Wrong One

“I do.” I smiled. “And I will.”

I walked to my workstation and pulled up the file I had been working on all week. As I worked on the file, I couldn’t help but steal glances at Cam. I couldn’t help but think about Patrick. I could hear my phone vibrating and knew he was still bugging me. He was always pushing my buttons, and for some reason, I couldn’t resist his charm. I knew he was a dick. I knew he was never going to be the man I wanted. He was never going to treat me right, but dammit, he kept apologizing. He was telling me all the right things. It would be so easy to fall back into the old ways. I could pack up and go back. I could resume the life that got stolen. I tried to push those thoughts aside, but they kept creeping back into my mind. I couldn’t do it. It was a trap.

I finished the research and walked back to him. “Here you go,” I said, handing him the file.

“Thank you,” he said, taking it from me. “You’re a lifesaver.”

“It’s no problem. I’m just glad I could help.”

Cam’s eyes lingered on me for a moment longer than necessary, and I felt my cheeks flush with heat. Could it be possible that he was attracted to me too? I couldn’t shake off the feeling that we had a connection growing between us.

I took a break, heading to the breakroom to get a drink. I felt better but there was still a weird, hollow feeling in my chest. The breakdown that morning had left me shaken.

As I sipped my drink, the door opened, and Cam walked in. He looked at me, his eyes dark and stormy. I could tell that something was bothering him, and my heart went out to him.

“Hey,” I said softly. “Is everything okay?”

“I was just getting a cold drink,” he said. “My brain is fried.”

I laughed. “I know the feeling.”

He reached into the fridge and grabbed a cold drink. “I’ll leave you in peace.”

“I’m fine,” I said. “You don’t have to run away.”

“We all need time alone,” he said. “I do. I’ll see you back in the lab.”

He left the breakroom, leaving me with my thoughts. Working with Cam was exactly what I needed. He was the right distraction. I just needed to keep my focus on work. Spending time with Cam helped me forget all about Patrick.

ChapterTen

Cam

Iglanced over and watched Izzy for a few seconds. She was doing her best to act like she was fine, but I saw it in her eyes. What I had walked into this morning was still lingering. I didn’t miss the fact her phone had been vibrating pretty much nonstop all afternoon. I knew it was him. He was the one behind the panic attack.

I didn’t know the details about what happened in California, but she wasn’t telling us everything. Ramsey would have told me if he knew. I hoped she had someone to lean on. All I could do was be there for her. She would learn to trust me and if she was ready to tell me the truth, she would. For now, it was none of my business. I was curious, but I wasn’t going to pry. If she wasn’t ready to talk about it, making her do so would just hurt her.

I just hated to see her in so much pain. It was hard not to fix her. We were only in our first week of working together. In just a few days, I felt like we had already become pretty good friends. We were friends before, but now we were closer. I returned my attention to my work. A few minutes later, I noticed movement. She was looking at her phone. I watched to see what she was going to do. She put the phone back in her purse. I watched as she sucked in a deep breath. She was doing her best to maintain her composure. I considered telling her just to block his damn number. She did not need to keep listening to him. She didn’t need to be tortured with his constant calls and messages.

I considered telling Ramsey about it. He might want a heads up about what was going on. Although, I didn’t really know what was going on, Ramsey would want to know his sister was struggling. Then again, if I told Izzy’s big brother what Patrick was doing and just how bad Izzy was taking things, I knew what he would do. Ramsey would be on the first plane to California. There would be violence and I would get a phone call from some jail. Ramsey would need bail money. It would jeopardize our company.

We were about to take our tech public. Neither of us could afford to have him lose his shit. And he would. Ramsey took overprotective to a whole new level. He took his big brother duties very seriously. I would keep an eye on Izzy. If things looked like they were going sideways, I would step in. For now, I would take a watch-and-see approach.

I kept an eye on Izzy while focusing on my own work. I sat hunched over my desk, peering intently at the complex lines of code dancing across my computer screen. My fingers flew across the keyboard, executing commands and manipulating data with precision and purpose. I was a man on a mission, determined to unravel the mysteries hidden within our genetic code. Every test we did got me one step closer to perfecting our technology.

The project had been in the works for years. The last few months, I had been working tirelessly on it. We struggled to get over the first hurdle. Once we did, it was like we cracked the code. It was revolutionary technology. If we could identify genetic markers with accuracy, it was going to change lives. It was a daunting task, requiring countless hours of research, experimentation, and fine-tuning. But I was close. We were inches from the finish line.

All the hours I put into this thing were about to pay off. All the dates I missed and the complete downturn in my social life were about to be worth it. I could feel how close we were. I was on the verge of a breakthrough that could change the face of medicine.

I casually glanced over to make sure Izzy was doing okay. She was wearing reading glasses and had several stacks of papers spread out around her. She looked pretty intense. I watched her brow furrow as she read through something. She must have had anahamoment because she started to smile. It made me smile to see her smiling. It reminded me of one of the last times I saw her really happy.

I showed up at Ramsey’s new house with a bottle of champagne in one hand and a bottle of sparkling cider in the other. There were cars parked up and down the long driveway. It was the official housewarming party. It was only my second time seeing the house. The last time I saw it, the place had been empty and a little creepy. It was huge and with the high ceilings, dark wood, and stone features, it looked like a castle.

“Uncle Cam!” Lily answered the door.

“Why are you answering the door by yourself?” I scolded.

Lily rolled her eyes. “Dad said I could.”

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