AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Not...whatever it was that her mind and body did when the topic of Anton came up. Even if he had ghosted her it was fine. They’d just not bring it up. Grace owed him for helping them get their foot in the door, and for taking on the project of bringing their telescope into this century. None of it would have been possible without him. She would have to make his stay a happy one to show her thanks, even if she felt like a big dumdum for her crush.
Lou rolled her eyes. “I think you mean Beta.”
“Look, she deserves a real name.”
“It’s a telescope, Gracie.”
Grace shrugged and held up her hands. “She’s gonna do big things, and Beta isn’t exactly a name to write home about.”
“And Betsy is?”
Grace grinned. “Totally. It’s the name of a cranky old woman, which she is.”
Lou laughed and shook her head. “You can call her Betsy all you want, but I’m not. And,” she said, holding up a finger, “neither is Anton or any of his team, so keep your scheming to yourself. I’m excited about him being here in Geneva with us. We’ve been collaborating for so long, and now he’s here, so we can leave those god-awful video calls behind.”
“That’s great.” Grace rubbed her hands together. “Where is he? I can’t wait to add another scientist to my roster.”
“He’s just getting acquainted with the tech and, Gracie, you’re gonna love him.”
Grace blushed. It wasn’t that she hadn’t told Lou about their emails and how friendly they’d gotten, but she might have left out the fact that they’d begun calling each other, the flirting or well, all of it, which was fine, because it wasn’t a big deal. Not really.
Friends did that all the time. Friends had misunderstandings all the time too, which must have been what him asking her out had been. A misunderstanding. And besides, he’d been drinking. Who hadn’t sent a drunk text? In this case, it’d been a phone call.
No biggie.
“I mean, I know you guys get on well in email, but Anton is just wonderful! Really and truly a wonderful guy. I can’t tell you how nice it’s been talking over things with an actual human and-Holy shit, what are they doing?” Lou’s eyes widened as she caught sight of what appeared to be a poor recreation ofWest Side Storystarring her team of physicists.
“That wasmycoffee,” a wild-eyed physicist yelled, breaking ranks from the others. “Don’t act like you didn’t know, Karen.”
“Oh god, the unrest,” Grace muttered as Lou huffed and bustled past her.
“I’ll put this one down. Just give me a sec.” Lou charged off, but not before snatching a sharpie off the table next to them.
The move intrigued Grace. What did Lou intend to do, armed with a single sharpie? She had taken her first step toward the fray when someone tapped her on the shoulder.
“Coffee. Black.”
That voice was—suffice it to say that it was a lovely voice, all smoothness, with a rich timbre that sent Grace’s stomach into a somersault.
It was also...familiar. Achingly so.
She swore she’d heard it before, but then it had made her feel at home—relaxed—hadn’t it? It had made her slightly horny too. Or at least, it had before. She knew this voice, but it didn’t normally…it didn’t normally soundlike this.
She knew it to be rich and warm.
Flirty.
This voice was sharp and dictating a coffee order to her like a drive-thru menu at Starbucks. She was a woman in her prime, for god sake, not a speaker box.
Grace whirled around and raised an eyebrow. “Excuse me?”
Despite knowing the voice, the man looking back at her was a man she had never seen before, a fact Grace lamented, because Mr. Mystery Man looked like he had just walked off the set of some photoshoot. That, or a romance novel cover, the sort to feature a scoundrel for the modern age.
He was a masterpiece composed of sensuous lips and eyes capable of hypnotizing a woman into parting with the PIN for her bank card. Dark unruly hair fell over his forehead in a manner she suspected took far more styling and preparation than he would ever let on.
Always a sucker for brunettes, she itched to run her fingers through his hair, a move she was sure would probably tick him off.Good.
He wore a knee-length camel wool coat with a turned-up collar, a thick black turtleneck, and joggers. She didn't miss the luxurious black leather of the man’s combat boots, into which his joggers had been tucked. He looked at ease, styled to be cozy, walking the line between trendy and classic. His warm whiskey-colored eyes, high cheekbones, scruff-covered jaw so sharp she was convinced it could be considered a weapon by the TSA, and sun-kissed skin demanded her attention. He was everything she looked for in a lover.
