Page 64 of One Reckless Night

Shawn didn’t look convinced. “Work stuff, huh? You sure it’s not something else? Something personal having to do with a certain woman.”

I hesitated. I wanted to tell him the truth, to spill everything about Amelia and the mess we’d gotten ourselves into. But I couldn’t. Not yet. Office romances weren’t exactly frowned upon at Welch Labs, but they weren’t exactly encouraged either. And the last thing I wanted was to drag Amelia into a whirlwind of gossip and speculation.

“It’s nothing,” I said again.

“Yeah, I can tell it’s nothing.” He snorted.

“Just drop it, Shawn.”

He studied me for a moment, then shrugged. “Fine. But for what it’s worth, I don’t think it would be the end of the world if you just told her how you felt.”

I froze, my chest tightening. Told her how I felt? What did that even mean? This thing with Amelia was just a fling. We were using each other to work out the obvious tension between us. That was all. Right?

But deep down, I knew that wasn’t the whole truth. The way I felt when I was with her, the way my chest tightened when she smiled, the way I couldn’t stop thinking about her… it was more than just physical. And that scared me.

I didn’t do relationships. Not real ones, anyway. Everyone I loved, I pushed away. My family, my friends, my colleagues. It was easier that way. Safer. And Amelia… she was different. She was smart, driven, and beautiful in a way that made my chest ache. If I let myself fall for her, I didn’t know if I’d be able to stop. And I didn’t know if I could survive losing her.

And something told me she wasn’t really in this for the long run. I couldn’t explain why, but I got the feeling she had one foot in Florida and the other in England. I didn’t want to deal with the pain of losing her when she chose to go home. And I was certain she would eventually choose to move on.

The waitress brought me another Corona. I quickly took a drink as if I could swallow down the thoughts that were suddenly plaguing me.

“Did you sign up for that conference in Dallas?” I asked him.

Shawn shook his head, clearly amused at my attempt to change the subject. “Not yet. I figured I’d wait and see what everyone else was doing first. You going?”

“Maybe,” I said, taking another swig of my beer. “Depends on if there’s enough about bio implants to justify it.”

“I heard the neural processing talks are supposed to be good this year.”

“Better than last year?” I asked.

“They have to be,” he said. “I mean, come on, we nearly fell asleep during that keynote.”

He was right. Last year’s conference had been a joke, especially for a company like Welch Labs that prided itself on living at the edge of technology. I knew I had been invited to boost their attendance. When they got to claim I was going to be there, it helped attract more people.

“If they have any sense, they won’t waste time on old tech,” I said. “Everyone wants to hear about rapid adaptation algorithms now.”

Shawn laughed. “Are you hoping for an excuse to skip?”

“I could use one.”

“You? Mr. Workaholic? What’s that about? Don’t you want to go and brag about all of our research?”

“I’d rather go to the big one at UCSF,” I said. “At least there they know what’s cutting edge.”

Shawn raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, but it’s not for another six months. What are you gonna do, sit around and stew about the person that shall not be named in the meantime?”

I shot him a look, but he just grinned.

“I’ll keep busy,” I said, leaning back in my chair.

“UCSF should be a hell of a conference,” Shawn continued. “Are you going alone or thinking of taking someone with you?”

I hesitated, swirling the bottle in my hand. “Depends who gets locked into other stuff around here,” I said.

My eyes drifted back to Amelia once again. She was eating and acting like I didn’t exist. I wondered if she was going to show up at my place or not. Was she teasing me?

I finished my drink and stood up, tossing some cash on the table. “I’m calling it a night.”