Page 23 of The Scientist

I nodded. “Me, too. What do you know about Dr. Gremillion, Lex?”

“He earned his reputation,” he answered. “He knows what he’s doing. Your mom’s in good hands.”

“Thank you. That’s good to hear.” Coming from him, it really meant a lot. If a man as accomplished as Lex thought he was good, then he must be.

I got caught up looking at him from across the table. It felt completely disarming to see that he was actually making eye contact since he usually avoided it. His face didn’t hold the same frustrated expression it normally did as he looked back at me. If anything, his eyes seemed almost warm as they swept across my face. The tiniest bit of hope started to bloom in my chest that he might not despise me after all. A loud knock at the door made me jump.

That annoyed expression returned to his face almost immediately as he got up to answer the door.

As he opened it, I saw a woman about my age standing there. She smiled at Lex in a way that could only be described as intimate.

“Hey, I think I left my glasses here the other night,” she said, still looking only at Lex.

Her hair was a dark shade of pink, and she was sporting a sleeve of tattoos down her right arm and a septum piercing. Despite her somewhat unconventional appearance, it was clear she was a very beautiful woman.

Stuart groaned loudly, drawing her attention to the two of us. She narrowed her eyes at me, looking like she had suddenly smelled something sour.

“Where do you think you left them?” Lex asked impatiently.

Her expression changed back to friendly almost instantly. “Maybe in the guest bathroom.”

“I’ll go look,” he said.

“Who’s this?” she asked as soon as Lex was out of earshot.

“This is Hadley. She’s our new neighbor,” Stuart answered. “Hadley, this is the pizza burn on the roof of everyone’s mouth, a.k.a. Nicky.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Either roll a condom over your head, Stuart, or stop acting like a dick.”

“Hey, it’s nice to meet you,” I said, trying to diffuse the spat. “Do you work on Lex’s team as well?”

“Something like that,” she said dismissively.

Lex re-entered the room, holding the glasses. “Here, I found them.”

“Thanks,” she responded sweetly. The personality changes were truly impressive. “Can I talk to you outside for a minute?”

He remained silent as he followed her outside.

I turned to Stuart. “Who was that?”

“Nicky Balderas.” He said her name as if it left a bad taste in his mouth. “She’s Lex’s ex and the bane of my existence.”

“You don’t like her, I take it?”

“Nope. Never have. Never will,” he said. “And she does work with us, unfortunately.”

“Why’d she say ‘something like that’ then?”

“Who knows? Probably wanted to seem more important than she actually is. They broke up a year ago, but she still always seems to be hanging around. Always ‘forgetting things’ at our apartment.”

“Why’d they break up?” I couldn’t resist asking, even though it was none of my business. I just couldn’t imagine someone like Lex in a relationship, but maybe this Nicky was fond of silence.

“I don’t really know. When he told me they broke up, I didn’t ask questions. Just took him out to celebrate.”

“Why don’t you like her?” I asked, though I could definitely pick out a few reasons on my own.

“I don’t trust her,” he said. “I’ve seen her do and say some pretty nasty things when she thinks Lex isn’t looking.”