Free Deadly Chemistry (Entangled Ignite) by Teri Anne Stanley Page B

muscles. Latissimus dorsi , originating right under her fingers. She bet if she let her hands travel, his rectus abdomini were even more adapted to supporting her fingers.
    Before she could start drooling and reviewing anatomy by Braille, she released him. He let her go and stepped back.
    That big hand was in his hair again, pushing it off of his forehead. “Okay. Umm…I guess…” He didn’t meet her eyes right away, and then he did.
    She tried not to drown in the dark pools. Clearing her throat, she said, “Okay, well, thanks. You know, for…coming to the lab today. And for taking care of the possums. And for hugging me.”
    He smiled. “You betcha. Have a good night.” He turned and walked away, the early fall evening shadows stretching away from him, as tall as Superman could leap.
    Damn . She had even less understanding of what was going on, but found that the likelihood of getting away from Mike Gibson without her feelings involved was slipping.
    …
    Mike sat in his parked truck to watch his house for a few minutes before going inside. Dylan’s silhouette moved behind the kitchen curtains, confirming the text he’d gotten a few minutes ago telling Mike he’d meet him at home. The kid was probably microwaving something from the frozen pizza department. He needed to confront Dylan about what had happened in Lauren’s lab, but he needed to sit there and avoid the confrontation for a few minutes first. He went back over the events of the day, from hearing about the damage, to finding the Devil’s Rangers gang tag on the lab wall, his inability to get any information about the Rangers from his old co-workers, to seeing Lauren outside of the biology building.
    He’d meant to ask more questions when he’d seen Lauren outside of the lab, to see if he could figure out who—hopefully, not Dylan—might have been hanging around her lab. Someone who would know what to steal. He knew she wasn’t responsible for the drug thefts. She’d explained about the bag of pellets she’d taken from the building last night, and it was a dumb enough story that he believed it. He even understood why she hadn’t told Crawford about the missing algae pellets. She had no reason to trash her own lab—unless she was completely bent, and he didn’t get that kind of vibe—but truthfully, he had little objectivity where she was concerned. And Dylan had access to all of it.
    Still. Why did he have to go and fucking hug her? What was wrong with him? She’d just looked so…vulnerable, after her cool competence when he’d gone into the lab with her earlier. Fuck .
    He couldn’t get attached to her. He didn’t do relationships. Relationships came with responsibilities, and he already had enough to distract him from his work. He got out of the truck and slammed the door. It thunked shut on the first try for a change. He hoped that was a good sign.
    Through the kitchen door window, he could see Dylan bent over his phone, leaning against the counter. The door screeched when he pulled it open, and Dylan’s head whipped up. He punched the blackout button on the screen and shoved it into his pocket, then hooked his fingers in his belt.
    “S’up,” Dylan said, nodding.
    “Hey. Did you eat?” Mike asked. That was neutral. Good start.
    “Yeah.” Dylan jerked his head toward the stove, where the leftover half of a formerly frozen pizza sat. “That’s from yesterday, I just re-nuked it. I’m done, help yourself.”
    Mike took a slice, holding it with one hand while he opened the refrigerator and took out a Diet Coke with the other. He deftly popped the tab and sucked down half of the soda, trying to figure out how to ask his brother if he was doing drugs. Or dealing them. Or both. “Where’s the cat?”
    “Hiding behind the dryer, last time I checked.”
    “Seriously? How does it fit?”
    Dylan shrugged. “You’ve got something you want to say to me?”
    Was he that obvious? Mike shoved half the slice into his mouth, chewed