“Easy for you to say. I haven’t seen you naked yet.”
He watched her dress with the same surgical precision with which she had stripped an hour ago. He took her hand and tugged her toward the stairs.
“You promised to show me the lab,” she protested.
“After dinner. I’m starving. Text your brother while I check out what’s in the fridge.”
She doubled back to grab her purse. “What did you see on the heart monitors?” she asked as she sent the text.
“Normally, the levels stay pretty low for a first session with a new sub. Progressive sessions build electricity in the muscles, almost like stored energy. It’s the basis for my bioelectrical enhancer research, but it’s damn hard on my sex life. I can’t work with a sub more than a half dozen times before it gets dangerous. I always have to find someone new.” Best to get that out there. He didn’t want her to form an attachment to him. “Your levels stayed within normal limits.”
“Normal or normal limits with a new sub?”
“Normal,” he said. “But I don’t know what that means. You haven’t manifested any kind of power?”
She shook her head.
“Have you tried?”
She snorted. “I’ve tried everything I could think of. I jumped off the shed to see if I could fly. I burned my arm playing with fire. I nearly drowned myself in the bathtub trying to breathe underwater, which was bad enough, but then Jake beat the hell out of me for being so stupid. The only thing remotely unusual about me is that Jake can’t make me do things.”
“And Sam can’t mess with your head.”
“Nope.”
“And my electrons don’t hurt you.”
“Definitely not.”
The sly grin on her face made him hard again, but he refused to be distracted. “Do you think you’re a neutral? Maybe other talents don’t affect you?”
“What kind of a lame power is that? That’s like an anti-talent, worse than having no talent at all.” She frowned, picking up her abandoned water glass on the kitchen counter and taking a long sip.
“Oh, I don’t know. It works out well for me.” Cal opened the fridge to hide his own scowl. Of course she was disappointed. She wasn’t in this for the kink. It had been an experiment, a failed experiment from her perspective, a potentially life-changing event from his perspective. He stared into the crisper without focusing on a single vegetable.
“Do you know any other talents? Can I experiment with them?” She was moving on already. Ironically, that was usually his role.
“We can talk to my friend Truman. He knows when people are lying.”
She snorted. “Truman can sense a liar? How did his parents know about his talent in time to give him such an apropos name?”
“He never knew them. In fact, he doesn’t remember much about his childhood. He literally grew up on the streets of Hudson. I’ve never asked him about his name, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he picked it himself.” Since Truman had scoped her out in the bar, that meant he could read her. Cal said nothing—she already seemed disappointed enough. He didn’t want to twist the knife. “Let me know the next time you get a boo-boo. I’ll call the Doc,” he offered. “We’ll see if she can fix you up.”
“Thanks.”
“Eggs okay?” he asked.
She nodded, and he began assembling the ingredients for a breakfast burrito. He had an excellent zucchini and tomato gratin and a couple of baked potatoes left over from last night. He shook off his disappointment. It was hypocritical to warn her that he didn’t form relationships and then get all heartbroken when she left him in the dust.
“Can I do anything to help?” she asked.
“No, I’ve got it. I’m just going to scramble some eggs and wrap them up with the zucchini. Fry some potatoes. Sound good?”
She nodded, still looking glum.
“It didn’t hurt at all?” he asked, brushing a hand down her back.
“Nope.”
“I’ll have to try harder next time. Like I said, the effects are cumulative. I think we should continue our study of your response.” Electrons leapt inside him, as if they were as eager to play with her again as he was.
“Tonight?” Audrey tried to look cool. He had made her think there wouldn’t be a next time. No matter what he said about being a science geek, the man was hot and a sex god to boot. She had too much pride to chase after him if he was giving her the brush-off, but if he still wanted to experiment, she certainly wouldn’t turn him down. Maybe further experiments would produce more data, because this one had been a total bust. Why did that make her want to cry? She’d lived without talent her whole life. She should be used to it.