“What…” Josephine gasped. “What just happened?”

Her question amused him; a broad smile spread across his face.

“People call it ‘sex’, doc.” Tim teased her.

“I know.” She raised her tone of voice. “This wasn’t supposed to happen. It shouldn’t have.”

“Don’t tell me you didn’t like it.” He spoke in a much more serious tone.

“That’s not what I said.” Josephine maintained, turning her head to the left to face him. “It was just… incredible. But, it was wrong.”

“I stopped listening after you said ‘incredible’.” Tim wouldn’t let up. “Why did you stay here, Joey? And why was it wrong?”

“Joey?” She squinted at him.

“Yeah,” he said. “Well?”

“Ok.” She drew in a deep breath. “When Paul told me about you, I didn’t like it that a burglar was going to work here. I never liked criminals. But, I couldn’t be more wrong about you. So far, you haven’t caused any trouble and you’ve been very nice to me. I really appreciated the fact that you said that you wouldn’t speak to anyone about Paul. That’s why I kissed you. I didn’t mean to seduce you or anything. I’m not like that.”

“No, definitely not,” he agreed. “But I seduced you.”

“As far as your other question is concerned, we work together. And Laura has shown interest in you,” Josephine explained. “My God, she’d be furious if she found out about this. She’ll hate me even more.”

“I can handle her,” Tim said with a confident grin. “She doesn’t need to know. Besides, I don’t want to date her; not anymore.”

“Why?”

“Because of what you said,” his tone became bass-deep with a hint of sadness behind it. “She can be pretty mean. I don’t like that. And I don’t really care what she says.”

“You should.” Josephine advised. “You could lose your job.”

“Screw my job, doc.” He laughed. “I’m a burglar: a misfit; I’ll just get back to doing that.”

“Please, don’t talk like that,” she said in a sweeter sounding voice. “Do you want to go to prison?”

“Well…” he let out a snort of derision. “It makes no difference to me.”

“Don’t make me change my opinion about you.” All of a sudden, Josephine assumed a commanding tone. “You seem like a smart man. What you just said was not smart at all.”

“Thanks for the compliment.” He winked at her. “Are you free tomorrow night?”

“Oh no, no, no,” Josephine shook her head sideways, quickly climbing out of the bed. “You seem to have a problem with your hearing, Mr. Shaw. This was a mistake; a big mistake.”

“The only mistake around here is the way you think,” he protested. “Forget about her.”

“I’m not going to discuss this any further,” she said, putting her skirt back on. “Unlike you, I love my job.”

“We can keep it a secret!” Tim put some force in his voice, in an attempt to convince her.

“How?” She yelled, opening her eyes wide as she leaned over him. “Make no mistake, Mr. Shaw. We may be able to keep this a secret for a few days; a week, maybe. But, she will find out and she will stop funding my research. I don’t know if you have cancelled your date with her, but if you haven’t done so yet, please don’t. She may suspect something. So, please, go out with her and forget this ever happened.”

Tim couldn’t believe his ears. Too stunned to force another word out of his throat, he watched as Josephine put her lab coat back on and stormed out of his room. He didn’t want to admit it, but she was right. Laura was smart; she would demand an explanation and should she discover that he and Josephine had slept together, the young biologist would lose her job. He kept staring at the bed, recalling their encounter, wishing she was still there with him.

You’re only doing what I expected you to do, doc. You don’t want to take any chances. I get it; your job’s important to you. But, trust me, Joey. You and I are not over. You’re not getting rid of me.