Carla shook her head. “It seems like her efforts at a relationship would take away from the work. I’m surprised he keeps her around.”
“Well, that’s the thing. What I said about Jackson not caring about superficial stuff? To him this is a small inconvenience. What matters is Kelly excels at what she does. She’s a born researcher. She can analyze something until the end of time and never get bored. She’s tireless and she’s smart, and she loves the cobras. That’s what matters to him. As for her feelings toward him, he puts nothing by it.” Lisa let out a small chuckle, though it was without humor. “Honestly, I think he views Kelly’s attitude toward him as something akin to high school puppy love.”
“But it sounds like her feelings are real.” Oddly, Carla found herself coming to Kelly’s defense. Feelings were feelings, after all.
“Like I said, it seems more like hero worship than anything else.”
Carla nodded and went back to her cake. It was difficult to know how to feel about what Lisa had said, especially since she’d also once spoken about Jackson’s heart not getting broken. Is that why he dismissed what Kelly felt? Because he was afraid if he got involved with her he’d end up feeling the same? But what, exactly, was so wrong with that? Why was he afraid of falling in love?
They finished up and returned to the lab. The centrifuge had completed its cycle, so Lisa removed the venom sample and showed Carla the rest of the procedure: extracting the pure venom, freeze drying it for storage, labeling the sample, and placing it in the cold storage unit along with the rest of the samples. There were vials and vials of snake venom samples in storage, all neatly labeled and dated, waiting for just the right scientist to come along and perform just the right test to unlock the venom’s secrets.
Carla’s throat tightened, awestruck by what it all meant. “Wow,” she said softly as she stared as the vials.
Lisa glanced over at her. “Wow, what?”
“It’s just that looking at all these samples makes me really understand I could be looking at the future cure for multiple sclerosis. It’s a pretty amazing thought.”
“And that’s just the tip of it,” Lisa said, shutting the storage door. “We’re specifically focusing our effort on MS, but there’s an entire world of medical mysteries out there. The possibilities of what we could find are endless. Unfortunately, the money’s not.”
“For research, you mean?”
“Exactly. But we do what we can, for as long as we can.” She changed the topic then, instructing Carla on how to sterilize the lab equipment and prep the room for the afternoon extractions. One of the other researchers would be performing them, but Carla was welcome to watch if she wanted.
At that moment, Jackson and Kelly walked back into the lab, clearly in the middle of a heated conversation. The discussion halted when they entered the main room and realized they weren’t alone.
“Hey,” Lisa said to the two of them, “we were just finishing prep for this afternoon.”
“Great,” Kelly replied, her tone clipped. “When you’re finished you can go.” She looked at Carla directly. “Both of you.”
Carla said nothing in response, but a slow burn of irritation began simmering her blood. She got it that Kelly’d had some knocks in her life, but the girl needed to ditch the attitude. She had half a mind to tell her when the sounds of the William Tell Overture drifted through the lab. She snatched at her phone.
“Yes?”
“Carla?” Slurp, slurp. Shit.
“Hold on.” She held the phone away from her ear and told Jackson and Lisa she would step outside. Kelly she ignored.
She walked down the steps and into a clear area where she stood off the main path so she wouldn’t block the still-buzzing activity around her. “Okay, I’m back.”
“What’s going on? You haven’t called.”
She sighed; rolled her eyes. Prayed for strength. “I’ve been busy, Bryce. I’m not just sitting around twiddling my thumbs.”
“Well, yeah, I know that.” Slurp. “But this also isn’t your real job, either. I mean, you’re not exactly conducting experiments to end world hunger.”
Oh joy. A dose of condescension to accompany the diet cola slurping.
“What do you want, Bryce?”
“I just figured I’d check up on you. Something wrong with that?”
“No, of course not.” She let out a breath of air and did her best to strain the irritation from her voice. “What’s going on with you?”
“Not much. I had dinner with your parents last night.”
Of course you did.
“And your mom told me you’re working at a lab. So I did a little bit of my own research on it. It’s weird, though. I couldn’t find anything on the web.”
“I know. I checked myself.”
“Didn’t stop me.” Slurp. “I just searched university intranets.”
Her eyes narrowed. “You don’t have authorization to access university intranets.”
“I don’t,” he agreed, “but Professor Dees does.”
“My father’s university colleague?”
“Sure.”
Her hands gripped the phone as she fought back the urge to scream at him. “Bryce, what are you talking about? Did you lie to the professor?”
“Oh, Carla please. It wasn’t lying. I told him I did research for your father and he’d entrusted me with the information. That was good enough for the old codger to give me his access.”
“I can’t believe this. You’re such a weasel.”
Slurp. “Cool it with the insults. I found some interesting stuff on this guy Jackson Rivard. Do you know him?”
Better than you ever will. “Yes, I know him. He’s the director and owner of the research facility.”
“He’s also got a pretty impressive stack of honors heaped on him. For a lab guy.”
“Oh?” She tried not to sound too eager, but in a rare moment since she’d known Bryce, she was actually interested in something he had to say.
“Yeah, lemme see…” In addition to the slurping, she could hear Bryce’s mouse clicking. “Ahh, okay, here it is. He won the John Dystel Prize for MS Research, the Humboldt Research Award in Biology, the National Medal of Science. And last year he won something called the Max Plank Research award.”
Wow.
Slurp. “Huh.”
“What?”
“Well, it also says here, if this information is accurate, the National Medal of Science is given out by the President.”
Carla’s jaw dropped. “You mean the president, president. As in of the United States?”
“Yeah, guess so. At least that’s what it says here.” She heard a rustle that sounded as if he was settling in to his favorite chair. “So anyway, I was thinking…”
Carla’s well-exercised sound filter strained out Bryce’s annoying buzz. The President of the United States had given Jackson an award?! It was crazy. Of course, there was likely some kind of panel of scientists who chose the winners, but still.
Then a thought hit her like a ton of bricks. This must be why Bartlett Silver was so eager to get Jackson signed on as a client. It wasn’t the money he would bring them — a research lab notoriously struggles for funds — but the prestige of his name. She knew one of Bartlett’s strategic initiatives included expanding its portfolio in the scientific realm. Having Rivard Research as a client could potentially be worth millions since Jackson’s notable name would open doors into the lucrative pharmaceutical market. Greedy bastards. Bartlett couldn’t care less about Jackson. They only wanted to use his name.
“Carla? Still there?”
“What? I missed the last part.” And everything before it.
“I said I was just trying to figure out my schedule for when I could come down and see you.”
Ugh. She’d rather kiss a snake. “That’s not a good idea, Bryce. I really need to focus on my assignment. I’m not even sure they’d allow it.”
Slurp. “What do you mean, not allow it? I have a right to go where I want, Carla. Some snake jockey isn’t going to keep me from seeing you.”
Snake jockey? Where did he come up with this stuff? And since when was he so desperate to see her? What Bryce really wanted was being in her family so he could enjoy their money, and he seemed to be having no problem worming his way over for dinner and other visits while Carla was away. He had no need for her as far as she could tell.
“Listen, Bryce, we can talk about this later, but don’t be making plans to come. I need to get back to work.”
He let out an impatient huff of air. “Is there something going on there that you’re not telling me about?”
“What? No.” She swallowed. Since when did that self-aggrandizing jerk get so insightful?
“You can’t put me off like this, Carla. We will talk about this later, so don’t forget to call me. I don’t need to be the one always chasing after you. Relationships are a two-way street, you know.”
Or a highway to hell, depending on one’s perspective. “Sure, Bryce. Whatever you say. Bye!”
She clicked off without waiting for his response. Her eyes drifted closed and she let out long, slow breaths of air, practicing her yoga class’s relaxation techniques. She knew she ought to be getting back inside, but she needed to calm her thoughts before doing so. One phone call from Bryce had managed to stir an emotional pot of anger and amazement in the space of five minutes. Damn, he could be so exasperating, sticking to her like static cling and about as useful. She really needed to confront him when she got back to New York and make it perfectly clear they were not, in fact, the “couple” he seemed to think they were.
“Ow!” Something jabbed the bottom of her foot. Looking down, Carla spotted a sharp-edged stone she’d apparently just stepped on. Evil little rock. She picked it up and flung it, watching it bounce along the dirt path and out of her sight. If only she could get Bryce out of her life as easily.
She sighed. There was no ignoring this issue with him anymore, hoping it would go away on its own. First step, she had to talk to her mother. It wasn’t going to be easy. Carla’s mom thought Bryce would be good for her, had thought so for years. Bryce himself made sure of it. The fact that he was the son of Carla’s mom’s best friend didn’t hurt his cause, either.
Still. This had to be done. As soon as she got back to New York she’d speak with her mom and let her know how she felt. It would be a tough conversation so she had to do it in person, face to face, without distractions like there always were on the phone. She couldn’t risk any misunderstandings with her mother, especially since both she and Bryce’s mother thought he was the perfect guy for her. Once that conversation was over, she’d talk to Bryce.
She let out another breath of air and opened her eyes, knowing she had to get back. But as she glanced toward the steps to the building, she felt a slow, delicious thrill skate its way across her heart. Jackson had come out of the lab, and was heading directly to her.
As he neared she had time to take in his shopworn jeans, untucked linen shirt, mussed brown hair with a stubborn lock draped sexily over his forehead. His ocean-blue eyes focused on her as if trying to burn her image in his memory. He approached with his seductive, loping gait, and she shivered with pleasure.
“Hey,” she said as he approached. “I was—”
She could say nothing more before his lips crashed down on hers.