Privilege (Special Tactical Units Division 2)

“I—Yes. I should be there.”

“Get back into the swing of things.”

“Right. I mean—”

“Get back to work. Because your patients need you.”

He sounded so calm. So matter-of-fact. Didn’t the prospect of her leaving mean anything to him?

“They do need me.” Even though I won’t be staying. I wouldn’t feel comfortable there anymore. Now was the time to tell him that—or was it? Why did he have to sound so composed?

“And your dissertation. I know you have to get back into that.”

She did, but she’d just lost her advisor. No way would they work together anymore. Did she need a new advisor when she was this close to completing her dissertation? She had no idea, but she’d find out.

As for the dissertation itself… Not a problem.

She was almost at the finish line. Time to defend her dissertation. When she was ready, she’d fly back to New York and do it.

She’d explain that to Chay.

“Well, sure,” she said. “I mean, yes, I have some last things to organize. But what I’m hoping is, since I’m fairly close to finishing my dissertation, to defending it…”

He laughed. The laugh sounded forced.

“How in hell do you defend a dissertation? I know how to defend a town. A hill. But a stack of papers? A bunch of statistics from something called Interpersonal Relationships Among Millennials in the Digital Age?” Another of those tight laughs. “I can’t even imagine it.”

Bianca stiffened.

“It’s Interpersonal Bonding Among Millennials in the Age of the Internet. And it’s a lot more than a bunch of statistics.”

“Whatever.”

“Not whatever. It’s an important piece of work, Chay, and I’ve put a lot of time and effort into it.”

Yeah, he thought. Right. It was an important piece of work, her piece of work, and what she was trying to tell him was that the fun was over and it was time she went home.

Well, it probably was.

He’d been a fool to think she would put him ahead of her work. Why would she? Hell, he wouldn’t put her ahead of his work, either.

Of course he wouldn’t.

The love thing…

The sex had been great.

Spending time with her had been great.

He’d never spent time with a woman before.

Well, he had. In bed. But out of it it? Not really.

Maybe he’d learned something. That man could not live by mission alone. Hadn’t one of the guys in his unit said that one time and made them all roar with laughter?

Still, he—he cared for her. She was—she was an interesting woman. An amazing woman. And she had a big heart. That evening in the coffee shop, when she’d told the idiot who’d been giving her a hard time that he needed help, and the other night, when she’d warned David Epstein she’d kill him two seconds after she’d assured him that she understood that he was sick. Plus that last bit of business, her saying she was glad Epstein was going to get some help…

Yes. She had a big heart.