With me.
"Hi," he said gently, walking toward me as if he were trying not to run.
Even though the huge windows of the dental office faced the street, his arms wrapped around me, pulling me in for a deep, seductive kiss. Just as we began to relax together, our breathing becoming ragged, Warrick stepped back. "Dammit. Forgot about Frank. Sorry."
He helped me into the gorgeous car, then we drove away. "This car is incredible," I said, sinking into the deep leather seats that smelled brand new.
"Thanks. It was a gift," he said, stopping well in advance for an elderly lady at a crosswalk.
"Who the heck gives you a car?"
He shot me a sheepish glance. "There were two companies competing to be the exclusive distributor of one of our products. One sent this. I'd already made up my mind, so it was a complete waste on their part. But Beny insisted that I keep it, and he's been hounding me to drive it now and then." He reached over to give my hand a squeeze. "He says I have no fun."
"You obviously work too much," I said. "But last night you were a dancing machine at a drumming circle. If that's not fun, I don't know what is."
Warrick's deep chuckle was unbelievably sexy. We chatted about our favorite scientific news websites for several minutes before he pulled into the parking lot of a massive industrial structure.
One end appeared to be offices. The other had truck bay doors, and looked like a warehouse.
Warrick parked near the main doors, then held my hand as he walked me straight through the offices.
He was completely oblivious that every single one of his employees was looking at us, their mouths hanging open in shock.
"Everyone is staring," I whispered.
He looked around. "Oh. Well. I got a haircut."
It was adorable how totally oblivious he was. "Am I the first woman you've ever brought here?"
We reached a desk littered with notes and several empty coffee mugs. Warrick opened a drawer and pulled out the scribbled heart note, slipping it into my purse. "Yes. Brooke, I haven't dated in…" He stared into space for a few seconds. "I can't even remember."
He slipped an arm around me, kissing the top of my hair as he held me close. "I feel comfortable with you, beautiful. And I hardly ever feel comfortable with people, so this is a remarkable discovery. "
We laughed, then I stepped back, whispering, "I just don't want to make your staff freak out or anything."
His eyes darted around as he released me. "Right. Sorry."
I looked toward the endless rows of tables and workstations filled with the most unbelievable equipment I'd ever seen. "Okay, what do you actually make here?"
Warrick's sharp laugh surprised me. "Connections."
"Huh?"
He laughed again at my puzzled expression. "It's one of the least exciting parts of manufacturing, but often the trickiest. Connecters between different parts of machinery. Sometimes one part will vibrate, while the other has to remain still. Or one will be heated and one will be room temperature. Or different materials – one might expand and contract, the other doesn't."
"Right…"
He led me over to a long table that held an array of plastic and metal tubes that were connected to flexible rubber hoses. "Sometimes it's water, or air, or some type of fuel that has to flow between two parts," he explained. "There's another building behind this one that works on electrical connectors. They're separate, for safety reasons."
"Of course."
"Connectors are often one of the first parts of a machine to fail. This causes production to stop, which loses money. After it's happened a few times, they realize it's worth it to pay a little more for our products. We've become the go-to name for most manufacturing plants."
It was wild to think that his work was so important, yet completely unknown. "How many of these connectors have you made?"
A strong hand slipped around my waist as he gave me a squeeze. "Zillions. We have manufacturing plants all over the place." He shrugged. "I'm not into the numbers."
It was endearing that he was less interested in the business side, and only wanted to research and create.