Kate lay awake for a long time after Graham finally fell back asleep. Damn, he was stubborn. She shouldn’t be surprised. He was a workhorse. It probably infuriated him that he hadn’t woken up able to jump out of bed and resume his work curing diseases.

She was certain even before he could stand or walk, he would want to get his hands on a computer and get back to what he did best. How many hours a day had he worked before they were preserved? He’d often be the first one in the lab in the morning and still be clicking away on his computer when everyone else had left.

He either loved his specialty—genetics—that much, or he simply had no need for human interaction. She suspected it was somewhere in the middle. Other members of the team were also introverts, but none compared to Graham.

Wait until he found out how many advances there had been in medicine and technology in the last decade. Enough changes that none of them were able to rush into the lab to resume their old jobs.

The truth was, the process was slow, and all of them would need refresher courses on medicine and technology before they could reenter the workforce. It didn’t matter if they decided to stay on with the government or move to the private sector. They no longer had the skill set to jump right back in.

She stared at the ceiling and smiled. Somehow she imagined Graham, with his superhuman abilities, could defy all of them. It was incredibly attractive that he was so pigheaded and sharp already. He’d probably pick up the latest medical journals, flip through the pages, and declare himself up to speed in a week.

If he didn’t kill himself beforehand.

She closed her eyes and took slow deep breaths, hoping to fall back to sleep. She could hear Graham’s steady breathing, however, and it both soothed her and reminded her he was only a few feet away and just as attractive as he’d been when she’d been preserved. Ten years. It seemed like months to her, probably the three months she’d been awake in a world where Graham had not been with her. Not consciously anyway.

Tomorrow, she would get him started on physical therapy. Obviously the man had no intention of being held back, so she needed to pick up the pace and ensure he didn’t fall on his ass in his haste.

Sleep in another room… Yeah, right. If she’d been in another room tonight, he might have been badly injured. Though it was difficult to admit the reason she stayed so close to him was far more personal than professional. She’d lusted after him for three years without ever saying a word. It felt like divine intervention or something that she’d been randomly chosen to see him through this process. She certainly didn’t want to take any risks with his life.

Not that she would have taken any chances with anyone’s life. Not even a stranger’s. But would she have left the room more often if it had been someone else? Probably. But it hadn’t been someone else. It had been Graham. And she preferred to be close to him. Even while he was in a coma.

She worried that she’d gotten attached to him and wondered what sort of weird routine they might fall into now that he was awake. He was definitely more alert and his mental acuity had returned much quicker than anyone else’s. Assuming he indeed remembered everything that had transpired each time he’d awoken.

Deep breaths.

She hadn’t known what to expect when he awoke, but not this. Not a man who looked her in the eye, touched her with a familiarity they weren’t accustomed to, and had emerged from preservation with conversational skills. She didn’t know how to process this new Graham.

He’d been so timid before, never looking directly at her. She had assumed he considered himself far superior to her in the field of medicine. Hell, she agreed. Not because she wasn’t capable of attaining great things in life but because he had seven more years of experience then her, and he was far more dedicated. He’d seemed to have devoted his life to the job.

While she’d always loved her work with Project DEEP, she’d had other dreams too. Dreams of a family. A husband and kids. A life outside of work. She’d used Graham as her muse for that daydream for years. Now that he was awake, she needed to pinch herself to remind herself he’d never shown any interest in her.

Kate had gone through a strange period of time before the team had been preserved when she mentally kicked herself for never attempting to get him to see her. If it weren’t for the occasional team meetings over the years, she couldn’t even have been certain he knew her name.

When they’d gotten sick with AP12 and she’d realized she was going to die, she’d played the what-if game in her mind for weeks. What if she’d put herself out there and asked him out? What if she’d at least spoken to him? Life had seemed so futile as it slipped through her fingers, making her regret three years of hesitation because she hadn’t had the courage to force him to notice her. She’d carried that pride to her early grave, kicking herself until the end.

When she’d woken up from that presumed grave three months ago and then had Graham handed to her on silver platter to care for and bring back to life, she’d taken a vow that she would not squander the opportunity. No matter what happened, even if he laughed in her face and turned her down, she would let him know her interest this time around. Make him see her.

She was so intensely aware of his presence next to her. Far more so than before he’d awoken. Even though he was asleep again, he was a vital life form in the room.

Not that she intended to dump her heart at his feet while he couldn’t even run from her in his current state, but she would put herself out there, drop hints, touch him, look him in the eye. One day in the near future, she would tell him how she felt. Soon. When he was well enough to stand on his own and could consider her as more than just a random woman who’d helped him back on his feet. She couldn’t pressure him while he was reliant on her. It wouldn’t be fair, and it could result in some very uncomfortable days.

Putting herself out there for men was a foreign concept because she’d never met one she liked enough to do anything about it. Except Graham, and with him she’d kept her feelings to herself because she didn’t figure it was worth putting herself out there for someone who didn’t even know she was alive.

The few times in life she’d made an attempt to flirt with a man, she’d been disappointed. Years ago, she’d stopped the charade, deciding it needed to happen organically or not at all.

She would not settle. She’d watched her friends in college and med school settle, dropping one by one into the category of married as if it were a rite of passage or something, and the men waiting for them at the end of the aisle weren’t nearly as important as the act itself. It felt like people conformed to societal norms all around her while she sat on the sidelines with some strange old-fashioned belief that she would not waste her time on anyone until sparks were flying and electricity sizzled in the room.

She never told anyone why she rarely dated. It sounded ridiculous even to her own ears. Not even her parents would understand.

It wasn’t that anyone had instilled some sort of purity expectation in her mind. She wasn’t a prude in her heart. It wasn’t a religious thing either. It was personal. She’d rather go to the grave alone than spend her life with the wrong man. Settling.

There was no guarantee that the right guy could be Graham either, no matter how much her stomach flipped when she was around him. How would she know until she put herself out there and stuck her toe in the water? What she did know was that he was the only man she’d ever met who’d repeatedly made her heart beat faster and her blood pump.

She’d ignored both for three years. Why? Because he’d never given her any signal he knew she existed, much less that he was interested.

Until today.

It took a while for her to calm her racing heart and fall back asleep, but when she did, she slept hard and deep, bolting awake to find the room bathed in light. She jerked her head to the side to find Graham wide awake and sitting upright.

Somehow he had managed to find the controller for the bed and prop himself up without falling on the floor. He was also staring at her. His mouth was turned up just enough to indicate a slight smile. “You must have been in desperate need of rest. You slept so hard I was starting to wonder if you were alive over there.”

She swung her legs around and pushed to sitting, running her hands through her hair. She wore the same navy scrubs from yesterday, and she needed a shower. “I guess I don’t snore then, huh?”

He shook his head. “You don’t even breathe. Or twitch. Or move. It was kinda eerie.”

“I don’t think I usually sleep that well. I guess my body shut down.”

“Does anyone else even come in this room?” he asked.

“No. Not unless I ask them to. Marcie sometimes helps me out, and she has a nurse who checks on me every day, but we’re inconveniencing them enough as it is by taking up a room in their clinic for a month.”

“So you’re saying we need to get out of here.” He pointed at his IV. “If you disconnect me, I bet we can make that happen. Where exactly are we going?”

“I don’t have a clue yet. I’m waiting for instructions. No one would expect you to leave this clinic for at least two weeks. That’s been the average time everyone has needed to have the strength to stand and walk and get around safely.”

“Two weeks?” His eyebrows lifted. “Yeah, that’s not going to work for me. How about we bump that up to two days and count yesterday as one and get the show on the road?”

She stood, slid her feet into her tennis shoes, and padded over to his side. After checking his pulse, she looked into his eyes. “How about we compromise? I’ll disconnect everything and get you started on solid food if you promise to stay in this bed for another week while we get your legs stronger.”

He reached across his body and grabbed her hand, which was still on his wrist. The number of times he’d touched her in the last twenty-four hours was quickly reaching double digits. She couldn’t remember him ever even grazing against her in the three years she’d known him before they’d been preserved.

Her heart rate kicked up again, and she had to remind herself he was completely out of sorts. He probably didn’t even know he was reaching for her.

“A week?” He shook his head. “Not a chance. I’ve never sat that long in one place. Hell, I’ve never stayed in bed a full day before. I’m breaking records here,” he joked. “There must be work I should be doing. Diseases to cure. How about you disconnect everything, I eat something, and then you help me get to the shower?”

She laughed. “That is so not going to happen. Not today, big guy.” She patted his hand on top of her. By now they had a double-decker sandwich of hands.

“We’ll make it work.”

She shook her head, still laughing. “Your legs would buckle as soon as you set them on the floor. You’re stuck with sponge baths for another week. We can reevaluate then.”

“Hmm.” He sat up straighter.

She flinched at the tone of his voice, and she narrowed her gaze. “What are you plotting now?”

“Not plotting. Just realizing two things.”

“You can keep those thoughts to yourself.” She so totally didn’t want to hear what might come out of his mouth to go with the devious look on his face after the mention of bathing him. There was no way the damn blush she felt on her cheeks wasn’t giving her away.

His smile spread. In addition to touching her more than he would have in his previous life, she also didn’t think she had seen him smile more than a few times either. And when had he gotten so chatty? She’d rarely heard him communicate with anyone before they’d been preserved. Especially with her. Quiet. Shy. Kept to himself. Very reserved.

This man staring at her and talking, possibly even joking with her, was a foreigner. If it weren’t for how incredibly sharp he’d already proven to be, she would think his brain had been completely scrambled or he’d had a lobotomy.

“Too bad,” he proclaimed. “Gonna tell you anyway.”

She tipped her head to one side and bit the inside of her cheek. “Fine. What did you realize?” She held her breath. For one thing, he appeared to be teasing her. Graham Wentz. The man was not a comedian. For another thing, when she’d gone to sleep vowing to lay her feelings for him on the table in the near future, she had not meant today. She was far from ready to face something like that. So, discussing his sponge baths was not on her short list for the day. And the way his eyes danced with mirth made her want to run from the room to catch her breath.

“One, now that I’m awake, it would be rather mortifying for you to bathe me. And two, I’m equally mortified that you have been doing so for a month.”

Another flush raced up her cheeks, and she glanced away. “I’m a doctor, Graham. It was necessary and clinical. Don’t lose any sleep over it.”

He wasn’t wrong. She’d seen every inch of his amazing body. Even after ten years of vitrification, he was attractive. She had done everything in her power to shut her brain down and take care of him as clinically as possible, but she’d seen him. He was right about that.

“You could have hired a nurse or something,” he pointed out.

She lifted her gaze to him, her face heating further. “Jesus, Graham. Are you angry about this? So what if I’ve seen your body? I’ve seen lots of bodies. I’m a medical professional. I’m surprised it bothers you this much. I did it to keep you safe. The less people involved, the less our chances were at being found.” Her protest sounded a little too exuberant.

She tried to tug her hands back to get away from him, but he held tight. “You misunderstood me.” He gripped both her hands in his now. “I never said I was angry. Nor do I think you would ever entertain an unprofessional thought.”

Oh, he was wrong. She’d entertained a lot of unprofessional thoughts. That was why her face was now beet red.

He released one hand and reached for her cheek, tipping her chin up in the most intimate gesture. He searched her eyes.

She shuddered under the intensity of his gaze. “Maybe you’ve kept me a secret from other patients coming and going from the clinic, but you didn’t keep me from the staff. Not for a month. Not a chance. Anyone could have been assigned to care for me.

“Instead, you’ve taken on the entire burden on your own. You’ve slept in this room on that uncomfortable cot for a month, making sure I was completely safe and healthy. You didn’t have to do any of that. So, stop bullshitting me, and tell me what’s really going on.”

For a moment she thought he was insinuating that she was keeping some deep dark government secret from him, and then she realized he was pushing her to admit something entirely different.

He held her chin and leaned closer.

Her face grew incrementally hotter. She was not ready to discuss her reasons for caring for him so intently. Not today. Not tomorrow. Why did he have to be so damn insightful? And how had he been so completely aloof for the three years before they were preserved if he was able to so easily nail her down on his second day of reanimation?

“Under normal circumstances, I would point out that I wasn’t born yesterday. But in this case, I was actually born yesterday. It would also seem I’ve woken up in an alternate universe where the pretty girl from my first-grade class actually likes me.”

She flinched. “Of course, I like you. Why wouldn’t I like you?” She really needed to weasel out of this situation before she made a fool of herself. How the hell had she woken up in an alternate universe where the hot guy from her first-grade class actually noticed her? “I’ve always liked you. Now, let go of me, and I’ll go find you some breakfast.”

Instead, he pulled her hand closer and set it on his chest, his other fingers still on her chin. He shook his head. “You’re deliberately changing the subject.”

“You’ve lost your mind,” she pointed out.

He chuckled. “There’s no doubt about that, but if I’m dead or still in that cryostat, I’ll take it if it means…” he swallowed visibly, “…if it means you might be a little attracted to me.”

She froze. He was hitting way too close to home now. No longer skirting the edge of the subject. She said nothing. If she wasn’t mistaken, he’d just implied he would be pleased that she liked him.

“I…” She swallowed. Tried again. “Um…”

“Now I feel like an ass. How long have you been interested in me?”

She tried to turn away again. She wasn’t ready for this sort of confrontation. How the hell had she managed to reveal her feelings for him so blatantly in two days? “Graham, your brain is scrambled. Let me go.” How did he have the strength to grip her like this?

“There isn’t a damn thing wrong with my brain. Except it obviously wasn’t firing with all cylinders before I was preserved. There’s no way in hell you decided you liked me while I was lying here in a coma, so it had to have been before that. I’m not always so great with people, especially women, particularly when it comes to reading signs. It takes a lot for me to just look at people sometimes. But I’m paying attention now.”

She glanced away, tucking her lips between her teeth. Her total lack of protest was giving her away. But, anything she might say would come out all wrong. If only he would let her get out of the room, then she could regroup, take a few deep breaths, and make a plan for what to say to him. This was embarrassing.

“Judging by your reaction, I think I’m right. Now, tell me. How long?”

“Jesus, Graham. Let it go. So what if I was attracted to you? Who wouldn’t be? You’re off-the-charts intelligent, cute, talented, and dedicated. The list is long.”

He flinched, his entire body jerking back. “Wow. How did I not know this?”

She shrugged, still not meeting his gaze. Please, God, let me get out of here. This is so humiliating. No woman wants to have her crush brought to her attention and voiced out loud like this. Her mouth started running anyway to answer his question with the same words she’d just tossed out a moment ago. “Probably because you’re off-the-charts intelligent, cute, talented, and dedicated to your job. I was just some girl who happened to work in the same lab.”

He gasped. “Some girl who worked in the lab?” His voice rose. “Kate, you are not some girl at all. Not even close. First of all, you’re a woman, not a girl. Second of all, you act like you were the janitor. You’re a doctor. You graduated from Stanford, for God’s sake. And thirdly, before you let your mind wander one more second in these ridiculous fake murky waters you’ve stirred up, let me point out that the reason I never permitted myself to glance your way is because you are way the hell out of my league.”

That got her attention. She jerked her face back to meet his gaze. “Out of your league? That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.”

He shrugged. “Kate, have you looked in a mirror?”

She blushed on top of the heated flush. He must have hit his head on the corner of the little rolling table before she got to him last night.

He smirked. “Apparently not. You should do so. Three years ago, this amazing, sexy, smart, funny, well-rounded woman with big blue eyes and gorgeous long thick hair joined the DEEP team and knocked me on my ass. I could barely speak to you for fear I’d choke. So, yes, way the hell out of my league,” he added.

She flinched. “That’s pure shit.” She’d known him to be shy, but had she misinterpreted his total lack of interest in her when really it had all been a result of timidness on his part?

He shrugged again. “Maybe, but it’s true.”

“How the hell could I be out of your league? I’m just a person like anyone else. Your intelligence leaves me in the dust. As do your looks and your body.” She jerked back a few inches, finally breaking free of his grip and waved a hand through the air in the general direction of his torso.

She continued, rambling on, unable to stop herself. “You’re buff like you live in a gym even after ten years of preservation. Your hair is the most amazing color of strawberry-blond that most women would give their right arm for. And those clear green eyes are currently drilling a hole in me as if you can see inside my soul. If you’d ever looked directly at me before we were preserved, I might have fainted. You never gave me a single second of indication you thought I was anything more than a colleague. Hell, I’m pretty sure you went out of your way to ignore me.”

“Jesus,” he whispered, snagging her hand again and drawing it up his chest before pressing the back of her fingers to his lips. He kissed her knuckles gently, and her knees nearly buckled.

“Graham…”

His voice was softer when he spoke again. “I noticed you. Of course I noticed you. Every man with a pulse notices you. I kept my awareness to myself because you’re…well, you. And I have absolutely no game when it comes to talking to someone like you. But I’ve been astutely aware of your presence from the moment you first joined the team. Now, tell me how long you’ve been interested in me.”

“Ten seconds longer than that. I saw you first.” She had no idea how she managed to admit such a thing, but there it was.

He continued to hold her hand against his chin. “Apparently we had a misunderstanding. Let’s fix that, starting now.”

“Okay, but let’s get you fed and cleaned up and then work on physical therapy first,” she suggested. Anything to get out of this room before she fainted. This was not happening. It was like a dream. A good dream, but unnerving at the same time. And so totally unexpected. She needed to pinch herself.

It was one thing to lust after the man from afar. It was another thing entirely to admit it out loud, have it reciprocated, and then process that mutual attraction. She hadn’t planned for this. She wasn’t at all sure what to do next.

Except run. So she could think clearly.

He squeezed her hand, pressing it against his lips as if he were afraid to let her go. His eyes drifted closed. Finally, he leaned back against his pillow and released her. His mouth had that little tip at the corners when he spoke again, softly. “I swear to God if I wake up from my nap and don’t remember every single detail of this conversation, I’m going to be extremely pissed.”

She found herself speaking without thinking again. “I’ll be far less embarrassed.”

She started to back up, but he opened his eyes and grabbed for her hand yet again. “You have absolutely no reason to be embarrassed. It’s clear we both let our assumptions control us in our last life in equal measures. We won’t do it again.” His body relaxed after that final burst, and he slid back into sleep.

Thank God.

Could it really be that easy?