Bit by the Bug (Matthews Sisters 1) (11 page)

‘You didn’t eat today,’ Kat said, toying with her mug. ‘You should have something.’

Vincent glanced at her, blinking several times. ‘Oh, all right. I’ll have what’s she’s having.’

When Kat glanced at her sisters, they were both smirking at her in amusement. What? If the man died of starvation, she’d never get her art show.

The waitress left, still not having said a single word to the table. Megan pulled a folder from her briefcase and handed it across the table to Vincent.

‘To tell you the truth, Dr Vincent, the guys in the lab are overworked at the moment. Any fresh insight you may have would be appreciated.’ Megan looked at Kat. ‘You don’t want to look at that, sis, trust me.’

Kat had been staring at the folder, waiting for Vincent to open it. He glanced at her, leaned away, and cracked it open so the contents were hidden from her view.

‘You say you found this on . . .’ Vincent said.

‘Yes, we did,’ Megan answered.

‘That doesn’t make sense. This species of beetle isn’t known for being particularly necrophagous. Ah, you see, when . . .’ Vincent stopped talking and looked at Kat. ‘Why don’t we move to a different table so we can go over this privately?’

He stood. Megan grabbed her briefcase and nudged Ella so she’d let her out of the booth. Ella obliged, sliding back in as the two walked away.

‘Well that was rude,’ Kat said, staring after Vincent and her sister.

‘Oh, I don’t know. If they’re discussing Megan’s work, I’d say I’d rather have them at the other table when I’m eating.’ Ella glanced over her shoulder to where their sister and Vincent sat a few booths away, heads leaned over as they flipped through Megan’s files.

‘It’s just that I finally get him out of the office with me and he’s over there, flirting with my sister.’ Kat frowned, unconsciously dumping more sugar into her coffee in her irritation. Her hands shook as she set the sugar shaker down.

‘Um, I hardly call what they’re up to flirting.’ Ella laughed.

‘Yeah, you’d think that, wouldn’t you?’ Kat demanded, her eyes narrowed as she gave Ella a look of exasperation. ‘But, that man only talks about work. What they’re doing is probably his form of foreplay. You saw him –’

‘And you didn’t get him out of the office,’ Ella interrupted. ‘Megan did.’

Kat studied Ella, giving her a wry look. ‘I’m curious, what were you two doing in the lab for so long?’

‘Why, you gonna be jealous of me next?’

‘Ella,’ Kat warned.

‘Nothing really. He doesn’t say a whole lot, unless you ask him about his work.’ Ella smiled as the waitress set their plates in front of them, thanking the woman before continuing, ‘It really is fascinating stuff that he’s up to.
That is one smart man. I mean like uber-genius, super smart.’

‘What is he doing in there?’ Kat asked, leaning forwards.

‘You don’t know?’

She shook her head. ‘He never says. The closest he got was telling me not to wear perfume because his mosquitoes might bite me. Oh, and I swear he once muttered something about phallus worship. At least that was the makings of an interesting conversation. And,’ Kat leaned halfway across the table, lifting up in her chair, ‘for a moment I was relieved he actually had even an academic interest in sex.’

‘Phallus worship?’ Ella laughed in obvious disbelief.

Kat sat back down, grabbed a fry and dipped it in the small container of ranch dressing on her plate. Nodding meaningfully, she made a show of biting into the fry.

Ella again glanced back. ‘That man actually said the word phallus?’

‘Yeah, he said something about a vile in phallus, a vial of phallus.’ Kat grabbed another fry. They were nice and crispy, just as she liked them.

Ella threw back her head and laughed. ‘I think you mean viral encephalis.’

‘Mmm, yeah, that’s it.’ She nodded. ‘It’s a type of phallus worship, right? Some kind of ancient form of it?’

Ella arched an eyebrow.

Lowering her voice, Kat again leaned forwards, ‘I tell you. All that man does is play with bugs. How in the world am I supposed to fulfil my dream of an art show if he won’t even spend more than a few minutes at a time with me? I’ve tried everything, even that Elie Tahari tan silk blend sleeveless shirt of mine. Not even a lingering glance. I’ve never had a man react like that to me. Just complete indifference. And you’d think a man that awkward would be desperate for female attention.’

‘Kat, viral encephalis is a disease.’ Ella gave her a strange look. It was almost as if she were disappointed. ‘Mosquitoes have killed more people than any other insect in the world – viral encephalis, malaria, dengue fever, yellow fever. Vincent is working to stop that. He’s literally trying to save hundreds of millions of lives by stopping the onslaught of malaria. If he can break the cycle of transmission on the mosquitoes’ genetic level, he and others who are working on this project internationally can introduce a genetically modified insect into the populations and cure a disease or at least stop it from spreading.’

Kat stopped eating, a fry halfway to her mouth.

‘Kat, I can’t believe you don’t know what’s going on around you. Vincent is a real, true life hero. Not some flashy guy in a cool uniform, but a hero nonetheless.’

Kat automatically thought of Vincent’s ‘uniform’, the lab coat. She really needed to get over that fetish.

‘To him, every second he wastes is another life lost to malaria.’ Ella shook her head, her dark-brown eyes wide in amazement. ‘Have you even tried talking to him about any of this?’

Kat looked guiltily at her plate. Under her breath, she said, ‘No, not really.’

‘How is it you didn’t even ask?’

‘I’ve only been there for a few weeks,’ Kat said, a little defensively. ‘The man hardly talks to me. What was I supposed to say?’

Ella looked at her as if it were still no excuse. Kat knew Ella was going to be the sister who changed the world on a grand scale. They’d all known it since she was little. When she was five, the youngest Matthews had told her entire Kindergarten class she was excited about the Global Change Research Information Office being established. Ella used to sit on their father’s knee, listening to him read the newspaper. Kat was twenty-seven and she still didn’t know exactly what the GCRIO
bit by the bug was or what it did and, as far as she was concerned, newspapers were building materials for art collages.

‘Maybe if you stopped trying to impress him with Elie Tahari designer clothes and focused on showing him how smart and caring you really can be, you’d get closer to realising your dreams. Vincent’s not like Jack. It’s going to take more than midriff to get his attention.’

Kat had quickly lost her appetite in the course of the social lecture. Sitting back in the booth, she felt rotten as she picked up her coffee and swirled it in her cup. How was it her high school sister seemed to get it? How could Ella have all the answers? She was still a kid. ‘What’s that supposed to mean?’

‘Ah, don’t get mad. This is me you’re talking to. It’s just, Jack is self-absorbed.’

‘No.’ Kat shook her head. They might not be together, but he was still her friend. ‘He’s just extremely focused on his career.’

‘Being focused solely on one’s self is the definition of self-absorbed.’

‘I’m not self-absorbed,’ Kat said.

Ella raised a brow. ‘I said Jack.’

‘Oh,’ Kat bit her lip, realising she was getting defensive. But, if Jack was selfish, that meant she was too. That’s what had made them so good together, they understood each other and were alike in their desires to be more than they were. ‘Well, I just think it’s called being a hard worker. Just because Jack and I aren’t a thing, it doesn’t mean you can badmouth him.’

‘Kat,’ Ella began, only to be interrupted by laughter.

Kat gasped as she lifted up in her seat to spy on her sister and Vincent. That was Megan’s voice. Did Vincent make a joke?

‘Ha!’ Ella said in an excited whisper. ‘You are jealous. You like Dr Vin, don’t you? Admit it, Kat. You want him.’

‘I am not jealous.’ Kat sat back down and glared at Ella.

‘Oh my gawd, yes you are. You’re jealous he’s sitting over there by Megan.’

‘I am not!’ Kat hissed.

‘Am not, what?’ Megan asked, suddenly appearing by the booth.

‘Nothing,’ Kat said quickly, setting her cup down on the table. Her eyes sought Vincent, needing to know if he’d heard anything they’d said. By the look on his face, he hadn’t. She breathed a sigh of relief.

‘Oh, well, I just got a page and I’ve got to head into the station so you’ll have to catch a cab. I’ll see you two later,’ Megan said before turning to Vincent. ‘Doctor, thank you for your help. If you think of anything, please call.’

‘It’s no problem,’ he assured her. ‘Anytime. And I will, if I think of anything more.’

Megan pointed at Kat’s plate, said ‘Eat something, you’re too thin’, winked at Ella and left.

Vincent took his seat next to Kat. His thigh brushed up against her leg and a small shiver worked over her, making goose bumps rise on her flesh. The reaction took her by surprise and her breath caught. For a moment, she felt like when she was in high school and someone she liked sat too close to her. Her nerve endings actually jumped with life and she was all too aware of where he touched her. Kat’s mind raced, but she couldn’t remember him ever touching her. She was sure he must have in passing, but it never felt like this.

Nervously, she grabbed her coffee and tried to hide her reaction by taking a drink of the warm liquid. She didn’t taste it, as her mind focused on Vincent’s nearness.

Was Ella right? Was her sudden desire to reach over, grab his face and kiss him due to jealousy? She took another drink. That had to be what was happening. Vincent wasn’t her normal type, even if he was a hero. His hair was messy and his beard too long. Though, he did have nice eyes – nice deep-brown eyes.

Kat realised she was gazing at him, her mouth slightly
agape as she took deep breaths. She squirmed in her seat, her panties moist as she became more and more aroused. His face was close, a little too close. Pulling back, she became conscious of the fact she’d been leaning into him, about to offer her mouth to his for a kiss. Looking at his lips, she wondered what it would be like to kiss him. From what she could tell, his mouth looked firm, even though it was hidden by the beard.

Studying him at such a close distance, she could see the definition of his cheekbones beneath his darker skin. There were definitely some of his father’s features in him, but he didn’t look completely like Mr Richmond. She found herself wanting to touch him, to run her fingers into his hair to feel and discover him.

‘I was telling Kat about your work,’ Ella said, interrupting the trance between them.

Instantly, Kat’s attention was drawn to her sister. Ella was nodding slowly in encouragement.

‘Oh, yeah, yeah, about the malaria,’ Kat said, nodding as she looked back at Vincent. His eyes were no longer on her.

‘Oh,’ Vincent said. ‘Can we get yours to go? I need to get back to the office. I’m expecting a call from South Africa later and need to compile some data.’

Vincent stood and walked away from the table towards the bathrooms.

Kat frowned, staring after him. ‘See, El. I don’t think the man likes me one bit. He doesn’t even want to tell me about his job.’

Vincent took several deep breaths as he walked away from Kat and her sister. This was bad. He could not be attracted to his assistant. Though, his cock debated the fact quite effectively. It was so hard it became difficult for him to walk straight. Thankfully, he still wore his white lab coat, for it did a sufficient job of hiding his erection from view.

Well, it wasn’t like she was really a scientist in training sent over from the college. Actually, she was just a girl he’d hired off the street. Vincent took a deep breath, walking into the bathroom to get away from her.

No, there was no justifying it. He could not be attracted to Kat. She wasn’t his type. The woman had pink hair and a tattoo! She hated insects and she didn’t know the first thing about his work. And not once did she care to ask him what he was doing – not that he really gave her the opportunity to inquire.

But, if Kat wasn’t his type, then who was? Vincent wasn’t sure he knew what his type was any more. It had been so long since he’d dated, let alone had sex. His parents had tried to set dates up for him on several occasions, but thankfully it appeared as if they’d finally given up on him. He wasn’t interested in the socialites they always picked.

Maybe it was the fact he hadn’t dated in a long time that made Kat so appealing. She was there during the day and she had a great smile. He liked her smile. Vincent wasn’t one for noticing a woman’s clothes, but the outfits she wore did demand attention. Yes, that’s all it was. He’d been without feminine company for a long time and she was there.

Taking a deep breath, he looked down his body to where the tension between his thighs had yet to lessen. A men’s bathroom in the middle of a New York diner was hardly the fitting place to take care of his needs, but did he really have a choice?

‘Damn it!’ he swore, pulling up his lab coat to adjust himself beneath his pants until he could get back to the laboratory.

‘Whoa, buddy, sorry wrong room.’ The thick Brooklyn accent was punctuated by the half laugh, half shock of the man’s tone. Vincent looked up, horrified to see a big, burly middle-aged man in a red flannel shirt. ‘They got motels for that kinda thing, ya know.’

‘What? No,’ Vincent began. It was too late, the man backed out of the door. Cursing, he lowered his lab coat and took a deep breath. He didn’t mind helping the police detective, in fact he felt it was his duty as a scientist to help anyway he could, but the distraction could have come at a better time.

Not ready to face what was really on his mind – Kat – he went to the sink and washed his hands, splashing cold water on his face. When he looked up into the tarnished mirror, his attention was caught by the droplets shining in the yellowish florescent light. They adhered to his beard hair, whiskers that were wildly out of control. For the first time in a long time, he looked at himself, seeing what was actually there. His hair was overgrown and bushed into no particular style. He did brush it, but obviously it was past the point that dragging a comb through could do any good. And, if his beard grew any longer, he’d look like a member of an old rock band.