Page 7 of Finding English

“Your face lights up when you talk about her. It’s beautiful to see.”

Cassie had no clue what to say to that compliment, so she said nothing and nodded, ducking her head as she went to the door and grabbed her lab coat. Henry followed and took the one she handed him.

“Has Cal told you anything about the drug we’re looking at?”

“A little, but I’d like to hear it from you.”

Cassie nodded and then moved into a detailed explanation of the drug, the properties she’d found, and some of the base components. She was confident talking chemistry. She knew she was good at this—her field was where she shined. It was the rest of her life where she was an awkward idiot most of the time.

They worked right through the morning and only when Henry mentioned food at two-thirty did she realize they’d skipped lunch. They had done a lot of tests, and she found working with him was easy, fluid, as if they did it all the time. Henry, she was finding, was not what she expected. He was funny and self-deprecating, thoroughly charming, and intelligent beyond her experience and the men she now surrounded herself with were far and away above the average.

“You should go get some food.”

“What about you?” he asked as he waited at the door.

“I’m skipping lunch so I can go to the Teddy Bears Picnic at Micky’s pre-school.

“Well, now I feel left out. That sounds so much better than a taco from the stand outside.” His grin was disarming her.

“Tough break, kid,” she said in her best mobster voice and laughed.

“You’re a surprise, Cassie Alvarado.”

Cassie cheeks warmed at the words said as he gazed at her intently.

“I’ll bring you something back. You shouldn’t go all day without eating, it isn’t good for you.” She went to protest, but he put his finger up to stop her. “Don’t reject me again, my ego can’t take it.”

The humor with which he said that made her smile, so she nodded. “Thank you.”

It was on the tip of her tongue to call him handsome, but she bit back the endearment, more than a little shocked her comfort level with this man nearly had her making a fool of herself. She would need to watch out around Henry English. He was more dangerous to her than she had suspected.

When he came back, she’d had a stern pep-talk with herself and put her shields back in place. She’d caught Henry looking at her out the corner of her eye a few times as they worked side by side but ignored the urge to look at him. It would only lead to questions she didn’t want to answer.

Around four, she put the samples back in the fridge and began to remove her white jacket. “We got a lot done today. Thank you, Henry.”

He offered her a sexy lopsided grin as he removed the lab coat she’d loaned him. “I had a lot of fun. I’d forgotten how much I enjoyed this.”

He waited while she locked the office behind them, and she found herself wondering aloud, “Why did you give it up to become a cop?”

Henry had his hands in his pockets as he walked with her to her car. “I guess I realized that my ability to help the victims find the truth is limited in a lab. Not less important, just slower and I rarely got to see a case through from start to finish.”

Cassie unlocked her car, the door on the old Ford creaking with rust. She fought the urge to look away or try and explain why she drove the piece of crap car, not wanting to be the struggling single mom in front of this man.

He ran his hand over the hood, the sun catching the golden highlights in his brown hair. “This reminds me of the first car I ever owned. I loved it, passed my test in it, and kept it until it practically fell apart on the drive.”

“Well, it’s not a Ferrari, but it’s reliable, and Michaela would rather a new doll than a fancy car and that’s where I prefer my money go.”

“I think that’s absolutely how it should be. Kids don’t give a shit about cars anyway, at least not until they get to eighteen and want their own and then it’s more of a boy thing.”

Cassie nodded, enjoying his company, and the fact he was so down to earth. “I need to get going if I’m going to make this picnic with Micky.”

Henry stepped back, opening the door for her.

Cassie got in, secured her seatbelt as he closed the door, and she rolled the old window down. “I’ll see you tomorrow?” she asked half of her hoping she would, the other half wondering if that was idiocy.

“Bright and early.”

Henry stepped back, knocked on the roof and waited until she reversed before she saw him walking to an old Ford pick-up that had seen better days. The sight had her smiling all the way to the pre-school.