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“Hmm… Okay. I mean, people are people. There are shits everywhere, so it doesn’t surprise me that people will do that.”
“Oh, yeah. And academia is the worst. So much politicking and backbiting. It’s one of the reasons I didn’t try to become a professor. Plus, at a place like this, I get to see more immediate real-world implications of my research. And that’s pretty cool.”
The suits at the front of the room stood, and the energy of the room changed from interested chatter to buzzed quiet. The firm had had a good year, and many of their projects had been in the news. That usually translated into a good state of the company report, but this was also the meeting when they announced changes to company health care and retirement plans. Having researchers who studied health-care costs didn’t make them immune to regularly rising costs.
He leaned close enough to her that he could whisper in her ear, and smell her shampoo. “How’s this—after the meeting and after you’re mentioned as a mover and shaker, I’ll run interference for you. Get you out of here before anyone else can tell you that you’re awesome.”
This time when her head whipped around, she was grinning. Honest to God grinning. And it practically made her glow from within. Then she giggled and elbowed him with a “Shush.”
Jason had made Marsie grin. He could count this day as a win.
CHAPTER NINE
MARSIE STOOD IN the lobby of the restaurant, trying not to look impatient and awkward by shifting her weight from foot to foot, wondering if she should have changed. Just because this wasn’t a date didn’t mean that she didn’t feel overdressed in her navy suit. And boring in her flats.
It was just dinner with Jason. Hell, he’d even seen her today and knew what she was wearing. He’d know if she changed.
And this wasn’t a date. They were meeting to talk about their dates with other people, for Pete’s sake. And come up with strategies for dating other people. Other people being the key phrase. They weren’t trying to date each other. He didn’t feel a spark for her, and she knew they weren’t compatible. And she was looking for more than compatible.
Though she had arranged a second date with Trevor, so maybe she wasn’t. Maybe she was going to have to settle for compatible, because it was the only way to find anyone.
The door opened and Jason stepped into the restaurant, his face breaking into a smile as soon as he saw her. When he smiled, the corners of his blue eyes turned up to match his mouth. And his lips looked full and kissable.
“Hey,” he said.
She started, wondering if he’d noticed that she’d been staring at his lips. Other dates. Jason wasn’t her type. He was nice and fun and interesting and she liked talking to him, but he wouldn’t get a high enough score in her algorithm. All that fun and interesting wouldn’t make them compatible in the long run.
“Hey,” she said. “You changed.”
“Yeah. That’s why I was late. I don’t like going out to dinner in my work clothes. Lunch is okay.”
“Oh. Well…” This wasn’t a date. He changed out of his work clothes. Not into date clothes. There was a difference.
And why was she nervous? This wasn’t a date!
“You look good,” he said. “You always look good.”
“I look like a woman trying to dress like a man.” ’Cause that’s what she was. Especially on days like today, when she’d given a big presentation to leaders in the company. She wanted other scientists and her boss to forget her sex when they saw her. They were supposed to hear research when she talked, not a woman talking about research.
There was a difference, even if the research community pretended there wasn’t.
Even if there was a difference, admitting that’s how she tried to dress wasn’t something she did often and to just anyone. Sometime over the course of their growing friendship, Marsie had realized it was okay to tell Jason things. Not just the good things—like getting a several-million-dollar grant—but the date things, like about how she dressed.
“Yeah,” he said. His voice warm and deep, with a rumble that ran right through her. “And you look hot doing it. I get why you change for your dates. I mean, they don’t know that you spend your days being the smartest person in the room, so I don’t think they would appreciate your daily superhero costume. You have to keep that part of your identity a secret from them until they know you well enough to be able to handle it.”
