The Girl Who Always Wins (Soulless 13)

7

Atlas

Daisy walked into my office. “Guess what?”

“You’re going to tie me to this chair with your thong.” Best sex I’d ever had. She was so good in bed, so passionate, so confident.

“Psh. You wish.” She walked to my desk and placed her hands on her hips.

“I do, actually.”

“Well, maybe after everyone leaves.”

I grinned. “Look forward to it.”

“Anyway, enough about that.”

There was never enough about that.

“I called Darin and asked him about an injury. Said he injured his lower back a couple years ago. I reviewed his scans, and he’s got an unstable SI joint.”

Sex left my mind when I focused on what she said. “And?”

“I think he had an untreated injury, and then it set off his nervous system. It’s probably still inflamed, and he’s just learned to deal with it. So, I referred him to a physiatrist for a couple injections and then physical therapy.”

My fingertips rubbed against my bottom lip, regarding her with a lens that I never used for anyone else. Her brilliance was her biggest turn-on for me, and her drive…damn. She never gave up—no matter what. She got frustrated like everyone else, but that never deterred her. When she set her mind to something, she did it. Never thought I’d meet someone smarter than me—and fall in love with them. “You’re the sexiest bitch in the world…you know that?”

She gave a slight smile, but it was obvious the compliment meant a lot to her, because she knew exactly why I’d said it. It wasn’t because of the tight dress she wore or the way her pumps made her calves pop. It wasn’t her hair, her hourglass frame, nothing superficial. It was her mind.

I fell in love with her mind before her body.

She flipped her hair, showing a bit of attitude. “I think you’re the only man who thinks that.”

“Good. I never have to share.”

She started to turn away. “Just wanted to share the news. I’ll let you get back to…whatever you were doing.”

“Your place or mine?”

She turned back to me, her hand still on her hips. “Tonight?”

“And every night after that.”

Her eyes filled with playful affection, doing her best to hide it. “Not sure yet. What do you prefer?”

“I don’t care where we live—as long we’re together.”

She rolled her eyes. “What a line.” She strutted out of the office. “You already have me…no need to be cheesy.”

It was cheesy. Even more so because I meant it.

We sat across from each other at the bar, the same bar where I’d met Lydia for our date all those months ago.

I shouldn’t have gone home with her. I should have gone for the woman right in front of me.

She drank her beer then dug her hands into the basket of fries. “His labs are all normal, his reflexes are good, the scans are unremarkable…another mystery.”

My life was my work, so it was nice to have a partner who could share that passion with me. Michelle was smart, but we were in totally different fields, and she could never understand the daily trials of my profession. But with Daisy, it was like talking to the love of my life and the expert I trusted the most.

It was nice.

We went back and forth, collaborating even when we were off the clock, even when we got a drink to wind down after the long day at the clinic.

“How are things with your trials?”

“We had significant progress with a couple of our patients.”

“How many?”

“Three out of ten.”

“Ooh…that’s only thirty percent.”

“Dr. Hamilton is still overseeing that and preparing for the next trial, and I’m researching the explanation for that. Why does it affect some patients and not others? Is it the cancer itself? Or is it down to their unique cell structure? Their mRNA? There could be a thousand different factors, but I’m trying to narrow it down.”

She kept fishing her hand into the basket to grab more fries. “You still call my dad that?”

“What?”

“Dr. Hamilton,” she said with a chuckle.

“Oh yeah…it’s just a habit. He wants me to call him Deacon, but it’s weird.”

“Why is it weird?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. Because he’s my boss, I’m moving in with his daughter, he’s the most brilliant person I’ve ever met, he’s got a Nobel…a million reasons. He’s casual and doesn’t act like this world-renowned super genius, but…it’s just out of respect. I can’t help it.”

“That’s sweet.”

“He gets kinda ticked when I call him that, so I’m trying to stop. But whenever it’s third-person, I just can’t control it.”

“My dad doesn’t let just anyone call him by his first name. He only grants it to certain colleagues.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. When he considers someone his equal professionally, he drops his title. So, he’s not as casual as he seems.”

“Then that’s a great compliment.”

She grabbed more fries. “My dad has a hard-on for you.”

I released a restrained chuckle. “I wouldn’t put it like that.”