Free Breaking Braydon by MK Harkins Page A

rich and famous. From now on, my focus will be to secure funding and move on with our lives.” He paused for a moment. “But, you know what?  I think this has been good for us. You and I need a social life.”
    I started to interrupt.
    “Wait! I don’t mean with the high and mighty crowd. But we do need to start branching out socially. We’ll be thirty before we know it.” Good grief, he was pulling the thirty card.
    “Speak for yourself. I still have four years to go. Maybe you can go first. I’ll observe like the good scientist I am, and we’ll see how it turns out.”
    “Okay.”
    “What?” He’d caved already?
    “I’ll do it. I’m going to start dating.” He straightened and swept his eyes around the mall.
    “Here? Now? Wait, um, let’s back up a little. You can’t just go up to a stranger and ask him out. That’s not safe!” What could he be thinking?
    “No, I’m not going to do that. But I am going to start observing potential dates. Here’s the problem with us; we don’t even look. We’ve been so wrapped up in work, in our routine, that if someone came along, we’d never notice him. So, I’m starting today.” And sure enough, he began his search.
    We sat ourselves down onto comfy chairs next to the elevator to begin our observations. At first, I wasn’t on board with the idea, but it soon turned into an entertaining afternoon.
    Colin nodded toward one passerby. “He lives with his mother and plays Monopoly every Thursday with her knitting group,” he remarked.
    Wow. He was spot on with that one.
    “He won Most Popular and Most Handsome. Good God, he is gorgeous!” Colin observed as an extraordinary man walked by wearing a pair of form-fitting jeans and a snug t-shirt.
    “Maybe we should present ourselves to him and ask him to choose.” I giggled.
    “He’d pick you. That one is as straight as an arrow.” He let out a deep sigh and shook his head.
    “How in the world would you know that?” I’d never been able to decipher the whole “gaydar” thing.
    “Trust me.” Just as he finished his sentence, an equally gorgeous female jumped on Mr. Extraordinary and peppered him with kisses.
    We both slumped our shoulders and said “Damn” in unison. I was only joking, but I thought Colin might have been serious.
    “Well, at least we know your type. Other than the straight thing. You know, he’d have to play on your team and all that,” I said with a straight face.
    “Seriously, Jain? No one says that anymore. You’ve been spending way too much time in the lab.”
    I wasn’t able to hold in the laughter that bubbled over.
    “Ha ha. Good one. Okay, let’s get you home. You’re getting loopy.”
    I put my head on his shoulder and said, “Yeah. Let’s go home.”
     

SEVENTEEN
    Braydon
    “I think we need to check out the facility at Bastion Research,” I casually mentioned to Todd.
    “Is that right?” A raised eyebrow and a suppressed chuckle escaped before he could rein it in.
    “I heard that. It’s not what you think.” Well, it might be. But I wasn’t going to admit it. “If we’re going to invest our time and energy promoting their company, we’ll need to put them through a thorough check. I want to make sure their security systems are up to date, along with their regulation standards and guidelines. You know, the usual.” I attempted to appear nonchalant.
    “I think it’s a good idea.” Todd surprised me by his answer.
    “You do?”
    “Yes. Bastion Research is a much smaller company than we’re accustomed to working with. Sometimes, those small companies can fly under the radar. You remember Miracle Research? The feds came in and shut them down last year. They’d missed some important filing dates. We’ll need to be very careful with this one. I wouldn’t send Roger from accounting either, like you usually do. I’d make sure you go yourself and do a top-to-bottom check.”
    Now I knew Todd was playing with me. He did a good job keeping his face