It seemed that my intention to resolve my recent fascination with my intern by having sex with a stranger at a BDSM club had backfired on me. Now, I couldn’t stop thinking about May unless I was talking to Addison. The whole weekend, that encounter kept replaying in my head. The way she’d taken to being submissive. How she’d responded to my touch. What it had felt like sinking into her tight, wet heat.

Usually, when I wanted sex, I found a partner, had sex, and then didn’t think about the woman again. Not because I was an ass, but because it was never a specific woman I wanted. It was the physical pleasure, the mental break. Once that was done, she never crossed my mind again.

For some reason, that didn’t seem to apply to the glitter-haired woman I’d been with Friday night. She kept popping into my head, and that wreaked havoc on anything I tried to do.

By the time I arrived at work on Monday, I was looking forward to anything that distracted me from her. When Addison came in, already talking about something completely off-subject, I was truly grateful.

“It’s just surprising, you know, how much warmer it is here than it is back home. I mean, it’s one thing to know it on a cerebral level, but I go into a store and see Valentine’s Day sales, and then walk outside in short sleeves and expect to be cold.” Addison’s cheeks were flushed as she put her purse into her desk drawer. “How long did it take you to get used to it?”

I allowed myself a smile before answering, “I honestly don’t think I’ve ever noticed it.”

“How can you not notice?” she asked, shaking her head. “I don’t even want to think about being here for Christmas. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’m grateful to be here, and getting a permanent job at the CDC would be amazing, but I’d have a hard time getting into the Christmas spirit without snow.”

“I don’t miss driving in it,” I said. “Though you’ll want to be careful if you’re ever on the road and it does snow. The whole city shuts down for something that Boston or Minneapolis wouldn’t even blink at.”

“Sounds like fun.” She grinned. “There are five of us. Lottie, then Simon, me, and Gene grew up together. Erin and Angel didn’t come along until later. The three of us older ones used to love the snow days when the snow was too high for even the plows to get through. I’m right between my two brothers age-wise, and when it was too high for the plows to get through, Simon and Gene would dig out a tunnel, and we’d use it to get out of the house, so we could play. We’d have the whole neighborhood to ourselves.”

“I’m sure Dr. Hunter has more important things to do than listen to stories about your childhood.” Pansy breezed in with her usual smile.

Except the smile was only sent my way. As soon as she looked over at Addison, it fell away.

“Cai, Dr. Edison is asking if you had the time to review the paper he sent you?”

Shit. I hadn’t been able to concentrate yesterday morning, so I’d put the paper aside and I’d completely forgotten about it until just now.

“Not yet.”

“Is it anything I can help with?” Addison asked.

Pansy made a derisive sound I’d never heard from her before. “You’re an intern. Do you honestly think you’d be qualified to review a paper for one of our tenured doctors?”

What the hell was wrong with her today?

Addison’s cheeks were red, and I could see sparks of anger in her eyes, but she didn’t say a word.

Pansy turned her attention back to me. “You know, Cai, I’d be more than happy to help you with the paper if you’d like.”

I shook my head. “It’s actually dealing with genetics, not organic chemistry, so Addison is more qualified to review it. Dr. Edison just wanted a second set of eyes on it, someone who understands the science behind it.”

I turned toward my computer, but not before I caught Pansy’s expression turning to stone. I really hoped this was just Pansy having a bad day, and not another one of her episodes. In the years since I’d known her, every so often, she’d get in these moods where she’d just snap at everyone. It’d happen for a week or two, and then she’d be back to her normal cheery self.

* * *

I needed to have a talk with Pansy. It was bad enough when she acted grumpy with people who came in, but I couldn’t have her snapping at the staff. It’d never happened before, but I was now wondering if that was just because she’d been controlling herself around people with more seniority or a higher position. Technically, Addison wasn’t under Pansy, but Pansy had been here longer.

I just didn’t understand how Pansy could take things out on someone as hard-working and sweet as Addison. Even when she was telling stories or asking questions, she was always working. She’d gotten Dr. Edison’s paper back to him in a matter of hours, and he’d called me the next day to tell me that if Addison was at the center, he wanted her looking over his work instead of me.

Apparently, my grammar skills were sorely lacking. While this wasn’t exactly news to me, I hadn’t realized that my colleagues didn’t know it. I supposed that was a good thing. The methods I’d perfected in high school and the first few years of college worked as well now as they had then. Spelling and grammar check first, then hiring someone to read through things. Freelance sites made it easier at least.

I sighed and closed my eyes, rubbing my temples. I had a headache, and as little as I wanted to admit it, Pansy was a big part of it. I’d give her the rest of the week – today and tomorrow was all that was left at least – and if she was still being problematic, I’d talk to her.

Except I didn’t know how to talk to her about this. Or anything really. I didn’t know how to talk to people in general. I did better with my viruses and gene sequences.

Less complicated.

The moment I opened my eyes, I caught a flash of that fiery color that had my pulse picking up, but Addison didn’t come into the lab. Before I could go find out where she’d gone off to, the door to my lab opened. I felt a moment of annoyance, but that vanished when I saw it wasn’t Pansy.

It was Dr. Fenster. My boss.

If he was in my lab, something was up. I pushed all other thoughts from my mind, and as soon as he started to speak, I was glad because I needed to focus.

“There’s an outbreak in Texas.”