Lost and Found (Masters & Mercenaries: The Forgotten #2)(39)

Did everyone see her as some kind of boring, plain Jane, never-gets-out of the lab martyr? “I have fun.”

She’d damn straight had fun a few days before.

She kind of wished Owen had been the stripper she’d teased him about being. Then she could call and request his services. She wanted to celebrate and couldn’t think of a better way than watching Owen get naked.

Annie’s lips firmed as though she was holding in a chuckle and she nodded. “Of course you do. You simply have a different version of fun than a normal person. You’re a genius. You’re different from the rest of us.”

She groaned because she’d heard that her whole life. She was special. She was different because she’d been touched by God or something. Her big brain was a blessing and she had to ensure that she did everything she could to make herself worthy of it.

She was sick of being seen as some kind of goody-two-shoes brainiac. “Do you know what I did Wednesday, Annie?”

“Yes, Dr. Walsh. You came to work. You were in the lab most of the day and then you had to listen to Jimmy’s complete and utter failure of a trial. I saw the chick who wants to kill him. Her nose hair grew. I mean all the rest of it did too, but I was impressed at how fast that nose hair grew. You had a turkey sandwich for lunch at your desk and Cathy called in a chicken salad sandwich for your dinner from the Spadina Street café.” She shrugged again. “We all have your schedule in case Cathy has an emergency.”

God, she was boring. Well, she would have to fix that. “Was banging a hot Scot in an elevator on Cathy’s schedule? Because that was how my night went.”

Annie’s eyes went wide. “Seriously?”

She felt her face flush, but there was no going back. Besides, she wasn’t exactly ashamed. “His name was Owen and he was incredibly good stress relief.”

“I thought your shoulders seemed looser lately. Good for you, Dr. Walsh.”

Her shoulders weren’t the only thing that were loose. So was her tongue.

Annie leaned in, conspiratorially. “Who was he? I didn’t know we had a doctor from Scotland here. I thought the closest we had was the guy who’s really from Vancouver but does that bad British accent.”

Finally something she could jostle the girl with. “He’s not from the foundation. He lives in my building. He’s a bodyguard.”

Yep, those youthful eyes bore the stamp of pure shock. “You did a blue-collar guy?”

She had and it had been glorious. “I did. I’m getting back in the dating world, though I don’t guess getting trapped in an elevator counts as a date.”

“It sure seems to have ended like one,” Annie said. “Are you seeing him again? You know you don’t have to, right? It’s perfectly acceptable for you to have your fun and move on to greener pastures.”

“I’ve got a date tomorrow but not with him,” she admitted. Lawyer Larry texted her this morning and asked if he could call. They’d had a nice chat and lawyer number one of a hundred professionals Cathy was likely to parade in front of her seemed pretty nice. “I’m having lunch with a lawyer. I think that’s what I’ll do. I’ll take the alliterative approach to getting back out there. Lunch with lawyers. Dinner with doctors.”

Boning with bodyguards. Boffing with bodyguards. Bedtime with bodyguards.

Bodyguard. Bad boy. Except that bad boy had been awfully good.

Damn that man was in her head, but she wasn’t giving in.

“That sounds good,” Annie said with a smile. “Definitely stick to doctors and lawyers. They’re the only ones who truly understand the kind of hours we put in. Unless you’re looking for a good time. Then I can introduce you to some guys from the university who know what they’re doing.”

“I scarcely think Dr. Walsh needs to meet your friends, Annie,” Carter said from the doorway. She hadn’t heard him come in. “If you’re done with Dr. Walsh’s reports, why don’t you go and help in the lab. Dr. Holder had some patients coming in for baseline MRIs.”

Annie’s eyes rolled but she was all smiles when she turned around. “Sure thing.” She started for the door and then turned when she was behind Carter’s back and gave Becca the call me sign along with a far more juvenile gesture that let her know Annie was willing to hook her up.

With college boys.

Did Annie know any men with ridiculously broad shoulders and eyes as blue as any ocean? Did she know any guy rough enough to send a thrill along her spine and tender enough to make her stupid heart soften up?

She needed to work on her reputation if all anyone was going to send her way was either professionals looking for companionship or college boys who wanted to get laid.

“I apologize for her familiarity,” Carter said with a long-suffering sigh. “I go through this with them in their training classes.”

“She was being friendly,” Becca replied. “You should go easier on the interns. There might be a couple we want to keep, after all.”

“Certainly not Annie. She’s not serious about her work. She’ll find a husband, some meathead with a good paycheck, and settle down. I’ve seen it happen time and time again.”

“I hardly think medical school is the place to find a husband and never work again,” she shot back. Normally she would let it go, but there was something under her skin today. “She’s worked hard and we should value that.”