He reached out and tucked the wayward strands behind her ear. “I’m glad it wasn’t worse.”
A shiver tingled all the way to her toes. “I consider it a small price to pay for saving the files. I don’t want anyone perfecting the libido suppressant before us.”
His eyes opened wide and he threw his hands in the air. “Laura, in all the commotion I forgot to tell you. The suppressant worked on Clyde.”
She jolted upright. “You’re kidding.” When he shook his head, she rushed on. “That’s fantastic. Surely the board will approve our grant based on those results.”
He shrugged. “Not sure. The side effects may be different on humans. I think we should test it on ourselves once more just to be certain.”
She nibbled on her lower lip and dropped her head back onto his pillow. “I guess you’re right. We’ll want to have all bases covered and all questions answered before we present our findings.” She grew quiet, thoughtful for a moment. They hadn’t come this far for her to back down now. The success of the project was too important to too many people for her to let her emotions get in the way.
“I’ll inject you at the end of the day tomorrow.”
He tucked the blankets around her, and dropped the sweetest, softest kiss on her forehead. A kiss filled with so much tenderness and emotion it amazed her. Whoa. What the hell was that? A man who wasn’t interested in playing for keeps didn’t kiss like that.
He slipped from the bed and in three long strides crossed the room. He turned back to face her. “There’s no need for you to go into the lab in the morning. We’re going to work from home tomorrow. I’m only going to go in long enough to get the suppressant, then I’ll come back and we’ll get started right away at testing the stability and the side effects.”
He stood in the doorway, his large body practically blocking all the light spilling in from the hall.
“Can you administer it to yourself?”
He shook his head. “Since Erin already knows what we’re up to, I’ll have her do it for me.”
Oh God, her heart stopped. She sucked in a quick breath, shocking it back to life. She’d better get hold of Erin before she did something stupid.
Like switch the vials.
Unable to get comfortable on the sofa, Jay fitfully tossed and turned until the wee hours of the morning. The beautiful vision of Laura lying in his tub rushed through his mind like a hurricane. His cock stirred to life just thinking about it. And knowing she was only seconds from his touch continued to add fuel to the fire. He resisted the urge to reach into his boxers to take care of that huge problem.
By four-thirty he’d given up on trying to sleep. Tossing the thin sheet aside, he climbed from the sofa, stretched out his tired limbs, and walked quietly down the hall.
He peeked into his bedroom and watched Laura sleep. She looked so peaceful, angelic. Sometime throughout the night she’d kicked off her blankets. They lay in a rumpled pool at the foot of the bed. His long T-shirt tangled around her thighs while her silky legs stretched across the mattress. He walked over to the bed, grabbed the blankets, and covered her.
He noticed the bedside alarm was set for five. An hour before she normally woke up. Why would she do that? She had no reason to get up that early. They’d already agreed that they would work from home today. Bending down, he turned the alarm off, allowing her to rest as long as her exhausted mind and body needed to.
She mumbled something in her sleep and rolled onto her side. He fought down the urge to crawl in next to her. Just to hold her in his arms. But he didn’t want to wake her up. She needed to sleep. Especially for what he had planned for them tonight.
Last night, he’d shown her another side of him. Shown her there was more to him than just a sex-crazed playboy. That he could be around her without ravishing her gorgeous body. And at the restaurant he’d shown her how good they could be together outside the lab.
Tonight, however…tonight was a different story. He wanted to show her how good they could be between the sheets. His sheets. It was time to finish what they’d started. He wanted to take his time and make slow, passionate love to her, until she gave herself over to him.
Suddenly it dawned on him that they were to test the stability of the libido suppressant.
He frowned. Damn.
That was really going to put a crimp in his plans.
Chapter 10
Laura’s exhausted body fought against the sound of chirping birds intruding on her well-deserved slumber. Her eyes fluttered open, and then slid shut against the bright sunshine seeping through the paneled curtains. She shifted and snuggled into the warm sheets.
Her tender muscles ached, bringing back memories of every erotic activity she’d engaged in with Jay.
The birds continued chirping, pulling her awake. She stretched, feeling more refreshed than she had in ages. She opened her eyes and glanced at the bedside clock. Her lids sprang open. Ten-thirty! She’d set it for five. What the heck had happened? She jolted upright and scanned the room, searching for Jay. Had he already gone into the lab? A sinking feeling settled low in her stomach. She needed to get hold of Erin.
She climbed from the bed. The hardwood floors felt cool beneath her bare toes. She spotted a pair of slippers near Jay’s nightstand, slipped into them, and pulled on his robe.
Finger-combing her hair, she padded down the hallway. “Jay? Are you here?” She made her way into the kitchen and found a note sitting on the dinette table.
She read his familiar handwriting. He’d left the coffeepot on and fresh fruit and muffins in the fridge. Her
