The strong smell of ammonia assaulted her senses as Laura pushed her way past him. The sight before her left her shocked. Splaying her hand flat against her chest, she glanced at the smashed filing cabinet and gasped. The locks had been picked and files were strewn everywhere. The compilation of months of research could be lost, or even worse, stolen.
Their latest experiment was top secret for a reason. They knew if corporate-funded Ad-Tech got hold of the idea, they’d rush to produce the drug first and claim the glory, leaving Laura and Jay high and dry.
Broken vials and test tubes crunched beneath her feet as she stepped farther into the room. She carefully tried to sidestep the puddles of spilled serums.
She bent down and sorted through the tangled mess of wet papers. If the thieves had been looking for the files that recorded the chemical components in the suppressant, they’d come to the wrong place. Fortunately, those files were at her apartment. Safe and secure, under lock and key.
Jay crouched down beside her. He raked his fingers through his tousled hair and shook his head in disgust. “What a disaster.” He kept his voice soft, but his anger was evident.
She shot him a sidelong glance. Tiny lines creased the corners of his blue eyes while tension lines bracketed his mouth.
“Do you think it was random?” She was anxious to hear his take on the situation.
Doubt etched his features. A muscle in his jaw flexed as he ground his back teeth together.
He must have suspected it was Ad-Tech as well. She opened her mouth to ask, but he cut off her unspoken question with an answer. Sometimes it really surprised her that he could read her so well.
“I have no doubt it was someone from Ad-Tech. This is just like something those sneaky sons of bitches would do.” Gone was the tenderness she’d seen earlier in his gaze. Frustration and anger had moved in to take its place.
He glanced at her and raised his brow. “Laura—”
She already knew his question and quickly addressed his worries. “The files are safe.”
He exhaled his breath of relief. “What would I do without you?”
“You might want to have a look over here,” the detective’s voice boomed from the other side of the small room. They both twisted around to see him standing next to the opened refrigerator. He rubbed his protruding stomach and peered inside as though searching for more jelly donuts.
Jay climbed to his feet and pulled Laura up along with him.
“This lock has also been broken. Does anything in here appear to be tampered with?” the detective asked.
Laura crossed the room, leaned forward, and examined the vials. She began a slow massage of her temples. Until she did a thorough analysis of the compounds in each and every test tube, she couldn’t be certain.
“I’m not sure. It’s going to take me some time to figure it out. I’ll have to run some tests.”
The detective handed her his card. “When you’re done, you can reach me at this number.”
Laura glanced at the card. Detective Jelly Donut, a.k.a. Detective Doyle. She slipped it into the back pocket of her jeans. A sound at the door drew her attention. She turned to see Erin, her assistant, standing there, her dark brown eyes wide in surprise.
“Laura, what happened? Gerard called and told me to get down here right away.” Erin rushed across the room to give Laura a comforting hug.
After a quick embrace, Erin pulled back and perused the length of her. Her gaze darted from Laura to Jay and back to Laura again. “Are you two okay? You look a little flushed.”
Oh boy. She might be flushed, but it had nothing to do with the break-in. “Jay and I are fine. We weren’t here when it happened,” Laura assured her. She waved her hand through the air. “I just can’t say the same for the lab.”
Erin’s nutmeg-colored ponytail bounced as she glanced around. “What can I do to help?”
“I have to test the chemical components in these vials to determine whether they’ve been tampered with. You could help me with that.”
“I’m on it.” Erin saluted her, her ponytail wagging like a puppy-dog tail.
Jay came up behind Laura and brushed his hand over her arm. Goose bumps pebbled her skin. With a tip of his head he gestured toward the metal cage near the window that housed their two lab rats.
“At least Bonnie and Clyde weren’t hurt.” His voice caressed her flesh while his touch evoked delicious, sinful thoughts. An involuntary shudder trickled down her spine.
Laura nodded and glanced at her two favorite rats. “Now, if only our experiment had been to teach them to speak. Then they could confirm our suspicions on who did this.”
Jay chuckled and brushed a curl from her forehead. His gentle touch seeped into her skin and warmed her all over. She twisted sideways so Erin wouldn’t see her reaction to his nearness. The last thing she wanted was for her lab assistant to figure out what was going on. She didn’t want her love life to be the topic of conversation around the water cooler tomorrow morning.
Jay pointed at the stack of papers still sitting on the floor. “I’ll go through those files and try to see what’s missing while you two work here.”
She stared at his scrumptious retreating backside for a long, thoughtful moment. Memories of their earlier intimate encounter blazed through her mind like a firestorm. She recalled the way she’d lost herself in his arms, the way he’d brought her to heights of passion using his fingers, his mouth, and his tongue. And the way she did things to his body. Wonderful, delicious things. Things she wanted to do again and again…
Her toes curled beneath her as warmth gravitated to the apex of her thighs. The sound of Erin shuffling beside her pulled her back. She shook some clarity into her head, stomped down her desires, and forced herself to
