Hope. Stupid, inconvenient hope.
“You don’t have to hide again,” he says, voice low.
I swallow. “Yeah?”
“I meant what I said, Lyn. You’re not a secret.”
It would be easier if I didn’t believe him. If I could laugh it off, file it under temporary chemical insanity. But he’s looking at me like I matter. Likewemight matter.
And…goddammit.
I want that.
“I’m still not ready for her to know,” I admit.
He nods. “That’s okay. She gave me a week.”
I stare at him. “What if she uses that week to gather evidence?”
He just smiles. “Then we’d better be careful. And thorough. And extremely, extremely boring when she’s awake.”
I grin. “So…more lab time. Less straddling your cock during cortical mapping.”
“Exactly.”
“…I’m going to fail that test miserably.”
He actually laughs. “Me too.”
And then he leans in and kisses me again—gently, like we’re not just breaking rules and rearranging neural pathways and screwing our way through theoretical models—but like we might have just started something real.
Which, unfortunately…
Might be true.
I pull back and look up at him. “You're actually a really great dad.”
“And this surprises you…?”
“Well, you being a dad in the first place was a surprise in and of itself, so…” I pause, my lips curving. “Plus, you’re kind of an asshole.”
His brows lift. “Anasshole?”
“You’re constantly yelling at me about safety protocols.”
“Because you’re constantly being unsafe.”
“Andyou won’t let me use the laser cutter?—”
“Because you set your lab station on fire.”
I roll my eyes. “I don’t know…that’s some pretty enemies-to-lovers shit.”
He hums, then pulls me in by the waist, leaning in close. The extended touch last night certainly helped, but his touch…it still drives me crazy, makes my pussy clench.
And he knows it.
“I have never been your enemy,” he murmurs. “Annoyed by you? Frequently. Distracted by you? Inconveniently often. In awe of your intellect?Always.But not once have I opposed your work.”
