Underneath that, it felt like there was a seed of something else.
Chapter 24 - Bridget
Would I ever sleep again? I spent most of the night replaying Nathan’s arrival; the way he’d looked at me before Gabriel had to stitch up his arm. He had to be angry with me for what happened. He’d been shot at, and I’d essentially made him a fugitive. And now he was trapped here with me, and two strangers that I don’t think he particularly liked, with no other options.
Once I was sick of staring at the ceiling, I got up. I’d think better with a cup of tea.
I wasn’t all that surprised to find Nathan awake when I crept into the living room. I knew he was an early riser, too. Plus, the whole ‘almost being killed’ thing.
He looked up, startled, and then stared for a moment before looking down at his hands again. “Good morning,” he said, his voice deeper and raspier than usual. He was wearing a t-shirt and sweatpants that must have belonged to Andrew. The shirt was interestingly tight across his chest.
“Morning,” I said, as normally as possible, and silently berated myself for ogling him at such an inappropriate time. “Can I get you something? Coffee?”
One side of his lips lifted briefly. “I didn’t want to wake anyone.”
“Well, Gabriel sleeps like the dead,” I said without thinking, then fled to the kitchen before I could see Nathan’s reaction to that slip up. To my dismay, he followed me.
He made his own coffee while I brewed a cup of tea. It was strange being so close to him outside the lab. His scent was stronger than ever, citrusy and smoky all at once. I was holding my breath unconsciously and forced myself to exhale slowly and drop my shoulders. There was no danger. Even if he was angry with me, Nathan would never scare or hurt me.
We sat on the couch in silence for a few minutes. I played with the string of the tea bag, bobbing it up and down, and watching the steam curl from the rim of the cup, all while sneaking glances at Nathan.
Even with bloodshot eyes and mussed hair, he was handsome. A powerful jaw and high cheekbones, the ones I’d been so preoccupied with in the lab, with one surprising bit of softness. The straight slope of his nose led to lips that curved downward, but his perpetual frown couldn’t hide how pillowy and full they were.
Did he know he had lips many women would kill for? I doubted it somehow. He’d never spoken about a girlfriend or partner, and seemed to treat his appearance like an afterthought.
He caught me staring at him. My face burned, but I recovered quickly.
“I would ask if you’re alright, but the answer is obvious, so I won’t,” I said. “Nathan, I’m so, so sorry that you got wrapped up in whatever’s going on.” I raised my palm to stop him from interrupting me. “Let me apologize. Because thisismy fault. Without me, you’d still have a normal life where people weren’t trying to shoot you.”
“No. This was my choice. And I would do it again.”
I studied his stern face. “Why? That’s crazy.”
He opened his mouth, then snapped it shut. His dark brown eyes burned with an unreadable intensity for one long moment. “Because it was the right thing to do.”
I shook my head, then got up to remove the tea bag and throw it away in the kitchen. Nathan didn’t follow me this time. I took a moment to collect myself. His scent was making my head spin, and thanks to Gabriel, I now knew my own had a mind of its own. I couldn’t start perfuming in front of Nathan. I would actually die of shame.
“If you won’t let me apologize out loud, just know I’m doing it up here,” I said, tapping my head as I sat down far away from his corner of the sofa. I needed to change the subject. “How are the cells doing?”
“Oh. They were fine yesterday morning. Relatively speaking,” Nathan said.
“And the HLA mutability?” I asked.
“All the new cells are showing immune responses. That has to be the cause of all this, right? They don’t want anyone to know that Omega stem cells are not universally compatible.” He rubbed the bridge of his nose.
I sighed. “I thought so, too, but… Anyethicalstudy will pull the plug when they find these results, anyway. Why does this little orthopedic study matter so much?”
“Money?” Nathan asked.
“But Davis was only taking payment from Andrew,” I reminded him.
Nathan tilted his head, conceding the point. It was good to be back on this ground with him, discussing an intellectual problem.
“If it’s not the results, then it has to be something about the study design or personnel,” he mused.
“Right. This personnel,” I said, pointing to myself. “Remember when my mother showed up that day? Early on?”
Nathan looked sharply at me. “Yes,” he said, almost warily.
