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“Good. Then you’ll always know what I think of you,” Lou shot back, but she stopped wiggling her eyebrows. She raised a hand to her forehead and massaged it. “Ow. That is an actual workout.”
Grace shook her head with a laugh. “Look, I don’t know what you-”
“Don’t play coy with me. Mindy already told me the two of you are dating. I can’t believe you didn’t tell me first. I knew there was something going on with all those emails-”
“Keep your tiny voice down.” Grace’s hand shot out, grabbing Lou by the shoulder and jerking her close, so close that Lou slid partway across the table.
“Holy shit. I didn’t know you were this strong.” Lou blinked and looked over the table as her feet dangled off the floor. “I also didn’t know I liked being manhandled. That’s new.”
Grace let go of her shoulder. “Stop that. I’m being serious.”
“So am I,” Lou pointed out, pushing herself up.
“That’s it. Decaf tomorrow.”
Lou’s mouth dropped open. “What? No! You’re the one kink-shaming me. Why am I being punished?”
Grace jabbed a finger at her, voice indignant. “You brought it on yourself.”
“Pfft. So this is how you get when you have a boyfriend. I see how it is.”
Grace groaned, a blush spreading over her cheeks. “Zip it, you. What the hell did Mindy tell you? I haven’t even gotten things situated with Anton. Not all the way anyways.”
“What do you mean?” Lou slid into the seat next to Grace with a frown. “Mindy said it was a legitimate relationship. What’s to sort out? You guys even shook on it, from what I heard.”
“Well, I mean, yeah, I guess we did seal the deal…” her voice trailed off and she shook her head. How was she going to explain to Lou that Anton hadn’t exactly seduced her, but that they were now in a relationship because she’d basically challenged him into it?
Lou motioned for her to go on. “But what?”
“We got interrupted by the science pyros over there.” Grace jerked her chin at Elisha’s table. “She thinks I’m not onto her but joke’s on her. I overcaffeinated her coffee.”
“You what?” Lou laughed, nearly choking on the sip she had just taken.
“She’s drinking coffee concentrate. That’s why it tastes awful, not because it’s decaf. If I know Elisha, she’s plotting, but at the rate she’s drinking down the coffee she’ll crash by lunchtime, and then I can have peace and quiet.”
“Is that ethical?” Lou asked.
“I don’t care what the ethics are. I need order to work, and let it be a lesson to them about Lab Wars. I’m not doing that again.”
“That was a very trying and dark time for the labs,” Lou agreed with a sigh, but then she sat up with a jerk. “Hey. Don’t change the subject here. I’m focused on what happened between you and Anton. Why is it that you’re not sure you’re dating when even his own assistant is ready to monogram your initials together on an agenda cover?”
“She is not,” Grace gasped.
Lou wiggled her eyebrows. “Isn’t she?”
“I hate you.”
Lou tapped the desk. “Whatever. Spill.”
“Fine.” Grace hunched over her coffee cup and blew out a sigh. “I may or may not have dared Anton to date me.”
“What do you mean dare? How do you dare someone to date you?”
“Okay, that’s not the right word. It just felt like a dare because he propositioned me with a tryst-”
“He what?I specifically told him no forbidden sex romps.” Lou slammed her hand on the desk with enough force to shake it.
Grace pressed her fingers to her temple and grit her teeth. “Again, keep it down. Elisha hasn’t passed out yet, and the last thing I need is her leading a revolt while you’re talking about forbidden sex romps.”
