The conversation dies after that. For once, Lucas seems content to stare out the window at the storm damage while scrolling through footage on his camera.
Which leaves me trapped with my own thoughts. The last place I want to be right now with a raging erection.
Then the truck slams hard into a pothole hidden beneath a sheet floodwater. The whole cab lurches sideways, a violent, instantaneous shift. Lila curses under her breath as the wheel jerks in her hands, and my arm shoots out on pure reflex, like the same stupid instinct that makes you grab falling glass, and my hand lands squarely on her chest. More specifically, her breast.
Lila’s breath catches sharply beside me.
“Jesus—sorry,” I choke out. “That was not intentional.”
I yank my hand back immediately like I’ve been burned, pressing it flat against my own thigh like I can quarantine it there.
Lucas’s focus shifts from his camera, and onto me again.
“Not a word,” I warn him.
He saying nothing. At first.
Lila doesn’t look up at me. Her jaw is set, but there is color rising up from her collar up the side of her neck. It tells me everything that her expression won’t.
The worst part isn’t the embarrassment, which is already catastrophic. The worst part is that I can feel the soft weight of her against my palm. How the curve of her breast fit perfectly in my large hands, as if they were made for me. I resist theurge to shake my fist at the universe for putting me into this position. It would only find a way to make this worse. Instead, I do my best to ignore it, but even I know that it’s a lost cause. My hand, pressed so uselessly against my own leg, has no interest in forgetting it.
After what feels like an eternity, Lila turns off the main highway onto a smaller road. Through the rain-streaked windshield, I make out a flickering neon sign, “Thunderbird Motel.” The motel is a single-story L-shaped building that's seen better days. The paint is peeling, and half the letters in the vacancy sign are burned out. Lila pulls into a parking spot near the office and cuts the engine.
“It's not a five-star motel, but it's a bed with hot water, which is more than we'd have if we kept driving.”
Relief floods through me at the prospect of escaping this cramped truck. My legs feel like they've been folded into unnatural shapes for hours.
“I'll check us in,” Lila says, reaching behind her seat and grabbing a battered duffel bag. “University’s still paying, right?”
I reach into my pocket, pulling my soaking wet wallet out, and take out my university expenses card, handing it to her.
“Thanks.” She takes my card, and heads inside the building. The moment she's out of earshot, I turn to Lucas with what I hope is my most intimidating glare.
“What the hell do you think you're doing?” I hiss, finally able to stretch my cramped limbs now that Lila's gone. “Are you deliberately trying to sabotage me?”
Lucas blinks at me with exaggerated innocence. “What? I'm helping!”
“Helping? You told her I can't handle irregular lunch hours! You made me sound neurotic.”
“Well...” Lucas tilts his head, considering. “If the temperature-controlled lunch container fits...”
I run my hands through my damp hair in frustration. “This is serious, Lucas. This collaboration could make or break my career, and you're in there making jokes about denial and proximity and—” I stop, a horrifying thought occurring to me.
“I'm just saying, the chemistry is obvious,” Lucas says, raising his hands defensively. “You should have seen your face when she said she was going to email you back. Like a kid on Christmas morning. All wide-eyed and breathless.”
“That’s—I wasn’t—” I stumble, heat creeping up my neck again. “This is a working relationship. That’s all.”
“Sure it is,” Lucas grins, leaning back against the passenger door. “And I'm just saying, if you two happen to find yourselves bonding over barometric pressure or whatever, I'll happily accept credit for making it happen.”
“There will be no bonding,” I insist, though my voice lacks conviction even to my own ears.
“Right,” Lucas nods, his smile insufferably knowing. “Care to make a wager on it?”
“We are not making a bet about this research partnership.”
“Aw, come on, Jonah. Afraid you’ll lose?”
Before I can strangle him, the driver's side door opens, and Lila slides back in, rain glistening in her dark curls. She tosses two key cards onto the dashboard.
