Page 18 of Pinch

“They’re all pretty psyched about it.” I give him a smile, and he blinks at me a second like his mind blanked.

He quickly clears his throat, giving his head a little shake. “All you have to say is ‘saves the lives of babies,’ and people start throwing money at you.”

“Nobody’s throwing money at me yet, unless you count the International Princess Woman Scholarship Program.”

He huffs a laugh. “I still can’t get over that. I mean, obviously you’re beautiful, but princess, whoa. Unexpected.”

“Right.” My lips press into a frown. “Let’s just keep it between us, okay?”

The only reason Timothy even knows about my pageant money is because he saw the letter sitting on my desk in the lab and asked. And I’m a terrible liar. If someone asks me a difficult question, I completely freeze up and blurt the truth.

“My lips are sealed.” He does a little zipping movement in front of his mouth. “Want to head out and grab a beer? It’s quitting time.”

“Can I get a rain check?” His brow furrows, and I explain. “A while back my cousins and I set up this standing date night to be sure we spend time together each week. It sounds silly, but we’re all so busy with all our jobsand Mav’s games. Monday seemed like the best night, because you know.Monday. When he’s not playing, of course.”

“Rain check accepted. Maybe we can try again Thursday?”

“Oh…” My lips twist. “Thursday is game night.”

“As in…”

“It’s when Gigi and I go to watch him play when he’s in town, because you know.Thursday.”

“I’m not sure I do know.” He laughs, but it seems less convincing the second time.

“They’re the two days nothing much happens. Monday’s the first day of the week, and Thursday is the day before the weekend starts amping up.”

He nods, “I concede to your scientific approach to the weekdays. How about Friday, then?”

“Yes!” I hold out my hand for a shake.

He takes my hand, and my shoulder lifts at the way he caresses it. Did I just agree to go on a date with Timothy?

“Drinks on Friday,” I reiterate just to clarify.

I’m not sure dating him is such a good idea, especially since we share a lab space.

“TGIF.”

Scooping up my things, I head for the door before things get weird.

“I have the fish bowl!”Maverick marches into the living room, using his announcer voice as he raises a plastic bowl filled with little slips of paper. “Who’s doing the honors tonight?”

“I think you put Pepper X in dinner tonight.” Ginacomplains, eating another spoonful of Ben & Jerry’s Fudgy Flan. “My tongue is still burning.”

“I told you it was just jalapeños,” he argues.

“Who puts jalapeños in hummus?” Gavin emerges from the kitchen where I assume he finished loading the dish washer.

I did not offer to help with clean-up tonight. After our horrifying encounter in the hall this morning, I haven’t even looked at Gavin Knight all day, and I’m still a little pissed at Maverick for putting him on the second floor with me and Gina and not warning us.

It’s always been just us girls up there, and he knows Spanky is a towel thief. Gigi blames it on the way we used to laugh when he was a puppy and stole all our things. He still thinks it’s a game.

“It’s pretty good, isn’t it?” Maverick joins his friend behind the couch.

“It’s different.”

A tingle passes over my shoulders at the sound of Gavin’s chuckle, which I immediately dismiss. I’m a grown woman and a scientist. So what if he saw me naked?