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“Are you inviting Anton and his team, too?”
Grace swallowed hard past the embarrassment caused by her inability to creep on Anton’s ass in peace, but she blew out a resigned sigh. “Of course I am. Yes, yes, they are invited. I wouldn’t leave them out.” She was being genuine on that front. She wouldn’t leave them out, even if she had toyed with the idea of leaving outAnton, but she knew Lou would never let that fly.
“Perfect! Then let’s do it.”
“Yippee,” Grace muttered, her mood dampened by the prospect of facing Anton and his butt. It was going to be a long trying night. She was going to have to do better if she hoped to survive the night in one piece. Damn her roving lustful eyes.
“Oh, now who’s pouting?” Lou bumped her hip against Grace’s and winked. “If you invite them you can stare at his butt under the cover of darkness.”
Grace flailed a hand at her. “Don’t bring that up! And I don’t pout. Lab queens do not pout,” Grace muttered and turned away from Lou with a flourish, her hands already snatching up her bag. If she was going to invite Anton and his band of astrophysicists, then she was going to need more supplies, particularly of the alcohol and chocolate variety. She whipped out her phone and started to order more. If she was lucky she could have them here by lunch time.
“I swear, you get caught staring at one damn butt and you never live it down.”
* * *
It was a universally acknowledged truth that any scientist in possession of a massive brain and ambitious designs on unlocking the universe’s secrets was in need of an excuse to relax, and Grace’s Stargazing and S’mores shindig was just the occasion to provide such relief. At least she was sure of it. Lou could, and would, be cajoled along to seeing the light by the end of the night.
She had procured the booze, an assortment of bubbly champagne, wines, liquors dark to light, and every manner of beer from hops to stout, and had managed to acquire the must-have ingredients of graham crackers, marshmallows, and chocolate bars known the world over for comprising the all mighty s’more. She’d even managed to get extra supplies delivered so that no one had to go without. There was enough for both teams to have one big happy party tonight.
The only thing standing in the way of Grace throwing a fun-filled night was one simple matter:how in the wild blue yonder was she going to transport what looked like a metric ton of supplies to her chosen party site?
She tapped her chin and walked around the pallets, some of which had just been dropped off in front of the shipping and receiving dock. When she ordered everything she apparently hadn’t quite thought through the finer details of moving her party loot from point A to point B. Or rather, when she had made the plans she hadn’t realized that Anton’s arrival in Geneva would coincide so that all available manpower capable of lifting anything more than a pipette would be otherwise assigned.
She pursed her lips and glanced over her shoulder at the flurry of activity going on all around her. Her eyes slid to the side as she took in the army of workers focused on unloading Anton’s equipment. The man had brought enough to start his own lab.
Her nose wrinkled and she bit back the thought that she wished he would start his own lab somewhere far away and very much out of sight. Preferably a place where their paths would never, ever cross except for the inevitable demise of the planet due to a cosmological event in which they’d all be called together to save the world—but given their first meeting, even that might be too soon.
“Of course he has everyone working for him,” she muttered, hands going to her hips.
This was going to require more thought...more sweet talking. What should have been a happy event, one she had spent far too many hours daydreaming about, was now in danger of crashing and burning. She’d gotten Lou to agree to a no science night. That meant she had to come through, but here she was. Without any help, because the man she had spent too many hours daydreaming about had the audacity to hog all the beefy muscle in the region to move in.
“Asshole,” she sighed, looking down at the tablet she clutched. How many times had she opened an email from him with embarrassing eagerness, or stopped to save an article she knew he’d enjoy? It hadn’t even been twenty-four hours with Anton around and all she wanted to see from him was a departure notice.
Except, with the bustle of the warehouse there was no indication that Anton intended for his stay to be brief. If the forklifts and men with impressive biceps unloading crates were anything to go by, this was going to be for the long haul.
She had done harder things than endure the presence of one spoiled, egotistical, smart-mouthed scientist. She could do it—woulddo it, for the sake of Lou’s research and the success of Betsy. And what better way to kick off her study in patience and professionalism than a party? Lou was going to have another appointment after this. She had heard a little talk about investors, so she knew it would be a big one. She’d have to get good at keeping a poker face on if she wanted to stay at Lou’s side. She wouldn’t give Anton another thought, unless it was related to work or otherwise avoiding him at any time and point not required by work.
Speaking of which, she needed to make like a banana and split before she ran into said astrophysicist. There was no way the man would be able to stay away while others handled his tech. Lou wouldn’t be able to. Anton was probably lurking around here like some kind of sexy bridge troll, and Grace had no intention of running into him. She glanced over at the busy loading dock and let out a hum of consideration. She could move the load of sweets and drinks, but it would take some time...unless she managed to lure away one or five of the workers. Or the heavy machinery they operated. Hey, as long as she got them back in a timely fashion and got them to swear a vow of secrecy, right?
There was no real harm in that. They’d be back before Anton knew, and secrets shared made super friends. She could always use more friends, and she was sure the denizens of the loading docks would make for wonderful additions to her friend circle. The more the merrier, especially when those friends came with muscles as big as her head and forklift know-how. She’d toss in a few handles of booze and as many marshmallow bags as they could carry to sweeten the deal.
Grace straightened her shoulders and sucked in a deep breath. She could do this, if she said the right combination of platitudes and promises of s'mores. Who wasn’t willing to work for treats?
She had just set off for the first candidate for new best friend-slash-heavy machinery operator when Anton stepped around a corner of graham crackers with a raised eyebrow. He glanced at the tower of carbohydrates and gave it an assessing look before he nodded at her.
“Hey,” he said, as if they were still friends.
Her heart clenched at the familiar way his voice slid over her, at the warm feelings that made her want to step toward him. All of it came crashing down on her. The flirting, the calls, the date, and then, like a bucket of cold water, the morning before hit her square between the eyes.
“Glorified delivery girl.”
The man she had fell for, had crushed on for months, wasn’t real. He couldn’t be, if yesterday was anything to go by.
“What do you want?” she asked, hugging her tablet close to her chest.
“Is that how they say hi in Geneva?” Anton asked, leaning against the tower of graham crackers and crossing his arms.
She shrugged, looking at her tablet, which had nothing open at the moment besides a doodle app she’d just downloaded.
