“Smooth move,” Wyatt teased her.
“Very.” Mia stuck out her chin audaciously. “You owe me one for letting you use me as a way to ditch your obligations.”
“I’ve had enough of obligations for tonight.” Wyatt didn’t mean for it to sound suggestive, but Mia’s raised eyebrows and amused glare told him that’s exactly how she took it.
“Oh?” she said in a soft voice, letting him spin her, then pull her close to his chest. “What did you have in mind for the rest of the night, then?”
Wyatt knew he should nip whatever this was in the bud. He couldn’t tell if Mia’s flirtation was a tactic or real, but he did recognize his own unfurling attraction. She was sharp and sexy, and she was dangerous in more ways than one.
“Why?” he heard himself ask Mia as he pulled her closer. Her body felt good against his. “What are you offering?”
Mia looked up at him with a twinkle of mischief in her eyes that didn’t bode well for Wyatt. She was reeling him in with this back and forth, hooking him on her sultry voice and wicked eyes that were suddenly full of something other than utter boredom when looking at him. “You can’t handle what I’m offering.”
“I’m sure I can handle anything you try to throw at me.” He returned her taunting smile with one of his own, steering them to the other end of the dance floor and to a high table with two barstools, where he let her go and took a seat. “Things are complicated enough, don’t you think?”
“SoAmericanof you,” Mia huffed with an eye roll. “Thinking sex is what will further complicate this situation.”
“It won’t?” Wyatt asked, fascinated at how much sharper her French accent became when she emphasized the wordAmerican.
“Not that it was, or ever will be, on the table, but no.” Mia shook her head to accentuate how strongly she felt on the subject. “Sometimes sex is just a physical outlet, like running or boxing.”
Wyatt almost doubled over laughing at her analogy. “What kind have sex have you been having?”
Mia smiled a wicked smile that shone in her eyes, hopping off her stool and coming to stand in front of him, leaning close to his ear before whispering in a sultry voice that left no doubt as to the challenge her words presented. “Better than you can offer,Doctor.”
She plucked her purse off the table and walked away. Her regal posture exuded an air of undeniable confidence, which Wyatt very much liked, and even more so how harmonious it was with the seductive sway of her hips. Wyatt was sure Mia was putting in extra effort for his benefit. He was fully aware that she was trying to bait him, which he wasn’t pleased by, but couldn’t deny that it had the desired effect.
Though Mia didn’t like him, they had chemistry, the kind that could either explode or create something magnificent. Wyatt was hoping for the latter, professionally speaking. He was smarter than letting his guard down, knew better than to be lured by Mia’s shameless flirtation.
Mia wanted him gone, and although Wyatt suspected she’d never stoop to using sex as a weapon to get rid of him, he wasn’t sold on theno complicationsclause.
He also held no delusions about Mia being more accommodating tomorrow. In her head, she’d declared war on him and everything he represented. Wyatt had to fortify his walls, make them impenetrable to her purple-eyed magic.
He wasnotgoing to lose.
Let the War Begin
Mia
“Mia?”Wyatt’s surprised voice from her back had Mia smiling, and she didn’t bother to hide her gloating when she spun the lab chair to face him.
For a moment, she lost the ability to speak. Wyatt was standing at the lab door in khaki slacks, a bright blue button-down stretching over his chest, and his lab coat hanging open with his broad frame filling out the white fabric perfectly. A delectable sight indeed, one she shouldn’t allow herself to enjoy after their exchange at the party.
“Good morning, Doctor Jenkins.”
Wyatt raised an eyebrow as he strode towards her, his gape fading to cocky confidence that both got under her skin and heated her blood. He wasn’t wrong with his assessment that sex could complicate an already complicated situation, but God was Mia tempted to test that theory. Especially when he leaned a solid hip on the table next to her, examining her with his intelligent bright brown eyes while taking a drink from his reusable coffee mug.
Wyatt lowered his mug, still assessing her with an unreadable expression. “And I thoughtIclocked in early.”
He wasn’t wrong. No one would arrive at the hub for another hour at least, but Mia liked to get a considerable head start, that way she had all the assignments of the day sorted out before people poured into the lab and could free herself to deal with the big picture with a quiet mind.
“There are a lot of moving pieces in running a specialized lab, let alone a hub,” Mia said with a matter-of-fact tone, though neither she nor Wyatt held any illusion of what she was really saying. “I find it best to arrive much earlier than everyone else to ensure a smooth day.”
“Thank you for the tip.” Wyatt tipped his coffee in her direction. “See? We’re already off to a great first day, sharing pointers.”
Mia snorted, then hurried to cover her mouth, and the corner of Wyatt’s mouth tilted up in a slow half-grin that did things to Mia’s body heat. It was increasingly frustrating, this reaction she had to him.
“May I ask you something?” She looked at Wyatt expectantly, and he nodded. “Why sociogenomics?”