I should go, he thought as he breathed in her scent mixing with the fading smoke from the fire. He liked seeing her this casual, so unlike the usual stiff professional face she had to show the rest of the world in order to be taken seriously. He liked it a lot.
“Where are you?” he asked, and she pointed. He was silent as he took in her image from the past, standing at the outskirts in her cap and gown while Kal was in the middle surrounded by a bevy of young women fawning over him. “Huh,” Daniel said, still studying the photo. “He looks like me.”
“I hadn’t noticed,” she said as she almost jerked the book out of his hands and shut it with a snap. She strode quickly back to the bookcase.
Frowning, he stood, the need to leave growing stronger. No one walks away from a Florida lab to work for a farm, even one as large as Saladan Industries, unless they’re trying to rekindle a past relationship, he thought. But Trisk didn’t seem happy as she shoved the book back in its place. A worried frown pinched her brow, changing into a questioning smile when she saw him standing at the couch.
“I should probably go,” he said, patting his pockets for his keys. “Thank you for breakfast. And for making sure I didn’t make an ass of myself last night,” he added, then winced when he realized his car was probably still at Global Genetics.
“You’re welcome.” Her smile turned real at his sudden consternation. “I’ll drive you. Let me grab my purse.”
“Thanks,” he muttered as he finally spotted his dress shoes by the door and made his unsteady way to them. “I feel like such a bother.”
“No bother.” She breezed to the double front doors, the entry all glass, stone, and beam. “Besides, I need to finish cleaning out the office before Monday. Unless by some miracle Farm Boy doesn’t show.”
Daniel leaned against the wall and scuffed on his shoes. His coat was draped over the chair by the front door, and he winced at his image in the ornate mirror next to it. He still didn’t know where his tie was, but he was afraid to ask. “No chance of that,” he said as he ran a dismal hand over his stubbled cheeks. There was no way to make anything look better. “Dr. Kalamack has been in Sacramento since last night. They’ve got a get-to-know-you luncheon planned to introduce him and Colonel Wolfe both on Monday. You should really go to the meetings once in a while.”
She stopped, purse swinging as her hand fell from the door. “What?”
Daniel’s eyebrows rose at her flat utterance. “Go to the meetings?” he said. “Barbara always has doughnuts.”
“No,” she said urgently, and his expression went empty at her sudden flush. “Kal has been in town since last night?” she asked. “Are you sure?”
Daniel slowly found his full height, a sour realization turning into a heavy lump in the pit of his soul. “Rales said he came in early to find a place and get settled so he could start work Monday morning.” Depressed, he opened the door for her. The cool sounds of October spilled in, but he hardly heard the flocking birds. It had become obvious why Trisk wanted to keep everything the way it was. She clearly liked Kal, was excited at the thought of possibly rekindling their school romance—if it had ever truly vanished at all. Long-distance relationships were impossible, and now, with her wildly successful project ending, she had the freedom to work anywhere she wanted.
“Uh, did Rales happen to give out a phone number for where Kal can be reached?” Trisk asked as she locked her door and followed him down the wide stone steps.
Daniel slumped as he reached her little two-seater parked right at the bottom of the steps. His tie was on the floor of the passenger side, but he felt nothing. “I know what hotel he’s in,” he said glumly. “Will that do you?”
“Yes. That would be great, thanks,” she said as she hustled around the front and got in, settling behind the wheel with a nervous haste. Daniel slid in beside her, taking his tie and smoothing it out between his fingers. Trisk started her car up with a brum of sound, jerking them both back with her sudden acceleration. Silent, he brought a casual fist to his mouth and stared out at nothing as they bounced down her drive and onto the smoother road back to Global Genetics.
He had moved too slowly, content for too long with the solid friendship they had, and now a friendship was all there would ever be.
8
Kal pushed the rolling chair from terminal one to terminal two, glancing up at the smoky fat ring on the ceiling as he passed under it. He stifled a shudder, knowing it was atomized demon flesh. Apparently Trisk had found a summoning name and was practicing. That she could turn that demon on him was a real concern. Death by demon was illegal, but if it worked, he wouldn’t be around to lodge a complaint.
Losing himself in the familiar task, he ran his finger down a string of text, recognizing the pattern as a protein coat that would prevent the organism from bonding to an Inderland cell. Perfect. Rick had called him when Trisk had left for the night, bundling her drunk coworker into her car and off-site. Kal had been in her office ten minutes later. It was past daybreak now, and he was tired, hungry, and in a bad mood. He’d expected to find something he could point to that would justify bringing her research to an end. Instead, he found perfection, not just once, but twice.
A clatter of wings pulled him straight, and he cracked his back against the familiar ache of long study.
“There’s a woman in the building,” Orchid said, landing atop the bulky monitor. “She’s coming downstairs.”