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“You don’t know how long I’ve wanted to hear that.”
“It made me happy to see you doing good work. Yet it never seemed right to try to contact you, you know? Not as if I couldn’t, but I think I was nervous about what it might mean. And I believed I didn’t have time for relationships, not with my work schedule.”
“But there was time for Frederik.”
“Yes, and thinking back on it, that’s undoubtedly why I ended up with him. He was close, convenient. He worked at the same university, and we were in the same field. This was undoubtedly what opened me up to him. And we know why he pursued me, now. As a research meal ticket.”
Quint’s fingers tapped against the side of his glass. “I followed your career after we parted, too. Word of your work made its way around in the circles I’d inserted myself into. A lot of big name humanitarians were excited about your research. And those who didn’t know, I made sure they did. I was so proud when I saw that you got funding for a second round of trials.”
“I had no idea you were working for me behind the scenes.”
“I believed in your work, and I still do. It was the least I could do, believe me. And so you know, I didn’t stop being your advocate after I found out about Frederik. Don’t get me wrong, I hoped it wouldn’t last. But while I hoped your relationship would go down in flames, I still wanted you to succeed in other areas of your life.”
Amara smiled at him. “Good to know.”
“I thought you’d like that. Anyway, when I heard the rumors of your results being falsified, I contacted the dean of your university and heard the whole story of what your ex had done. I was angry for you, and I knew the accusations were false from the moment I heard them, of course.”
She wanted to hug him, but held back. “Thank you, Quint. Thank you for believing in me.”
“Of course I believed in you. I’d seen the results myself, and they were phenomenal. I’m no scientist, but the people I ran the results by had nothing but praise for your efforts and methods. As for your split from Frederik, I can’t say I was sorry to hear about that.”
“You don't say.”
“Damn, are you flirting with me?”
“I might be. Or it might be this whiskey getting to me. I’m a lightweight. I think I mentioned that.”
“Here, have some more.” He splashed another finger’s worth into her glass. “Get to drinking.”
“Okay, but tell me about what happened next, after you heard about everything.”
“You have the most beautiful
eyes. So big and brown, and they sparkle. Did you know that?”
“I didn’t. Back to the story, please.”
He took a sip and continued. “So when I heard that you’d broken things off, and he retaliated by using his influence to get your funding pulled, I knew I had to do something to save your work. Admittedly, I had other, more selfish motivations. I’d been thinking about how short life was, how much I wanted to have a family. I’m not usually an impulsive person, but I knew the moment I heard of your hardships that I had to do something, and if that something secured you to me, then all the better.”
“Secure me? I’m not a short-listed stock.”
“You make it sound bad, but if you think about it in a different way, it’s actually a great thing.”
“I think you’re full of it.”
He grinned and took the mostly empty glass away from her. “And I think you’ve had enough.”
“You’re always taking care of me, aren’t you?”
His expression changed from amused to tender and gentle. “I try, Amara. And I always will.”
“And you wanted me to be the mother of your child.”
“I didn’t actually plan it out that way. When I saw you in person again, those feelings I’d been struggling with blew up around me. I had let our chance slip away once before, and I couldn’t lose you again. Even though you were standoffish in the dean’s office and hardly wanted anything to do with me, I knew that I’d caused that — and you were doubtlessly still hurting from a very bad breakup.”
“Yeah, and I was freaked out that you were the man the dean wanted me to schmooze for funding. I mean, you of all people. Schmoozing.”
“He asked you to do that, did he? I didn’t ask for it.” He splashed some more of the amber liquid into his own glass. “When I heard your voice that day, it was like going back in time to the first time I saw you and heard you speak at that conference. Magic.”
