Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 62262 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 311(@200wpm)___ 249(@250wpm)___ 208(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 62262 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 311(@200wpm)___ 249(@250wpm)___ 208(@300wpm)
“It’s way too much, though. Here, let me wipe some off.”
At that, Moira attacked me with a cocktail napkin while I grumbled, “Quit it,” and tried to duck.
“It’s for your own good!”
We wrestled and slapped each other’s hands away for a few seconds, until Qian wedged himself between us and said, “You two remind me of my niece and nephew.” Since the twins were six, this wasn’t a compliment.
Moira and I scowled and pouted for a minute or two. Then I climbed off my barstool and announced, “I’m getting another bottle of water. Anyone want anything?”
They both declined, so I made my way to the crowded bar, where I was promptly ignored. After ten minutes of trying to get their attention, the bartenders had yet to acknowledge my existence, so I gave up. I didn’t feel like paying their exorbitant prices anyway, so maybe it was for the best.
On my way back to the table, my path was blocked by a group of people who’d gathered around to ooh and ahh at some guy with the power to levitate. Big whoop, like that was useful in any way. I sighed and tried to squeeze past the onlookers, but it was no use. Until this guy stopped showboating, I was stuck.
I was right on the edge of the dance floor, so I turned and watched the crowd. It was a lot more interesting than watching the floating douchebag.
A tall guy dancing alone caught my attention. He was bathed in blue light, and his hair cascaded to his shoulders in loose waves—so sexy. His back was to me, and I ran my gaze down the length of him. A tank top showed off his big arms, and tight jeans hugged his perfect butt.
I kind of resented the part of me that was drawn to big, beefy jocks, like that guy. It made me feel shallow to have my head turned by huge biceps and a nice ass.
That ass was very nice, though. And I loved the way he moved. The fact that he was so uninhibited was also a turn-on, which begged the question—was I attracted to men who were my polar opposite?
While I was mulling that over, the guy slowly turned while swaying to the beat. When I saw his face, I recoiled in horror. All this time I’d been mentally undressing my coworker, Sam Miller!
Fortunately, I was a good fifteen feet away, and he didn’t spot me in the crowd. Since my path was still blocked, I rushed off in the opposite direction and darted out the main exit.
I felt guilty, like I’d violated his privacy, or sexually harassed him, or both. Obviously, that was ridiculous because I’d had no idea who it was when I started ogling him. It still made me feel like I’d done something wrong, though.
I didn’t know what I’d say to him the next time I saw Sam, but one thing was perfectly clear. Work was going to be awkward as hell on Monday.
CHAPTER 5
SAM
When I arrived at SPAM on Monday morning, Anderson was weirder and more awkward than usual. Since I’d assumed he’d already maxed out on both of those things, this was surprising.
I placed a cup and a small paper bag on his desk and attempted small talk. “Did you have a good weekend?”
For some reason, he looked horrified as he stammered, “I… um…”
Since that was apparently all the answer I was getting, I gestured toward the shelves and told him, “I’m going to pick up where I left off on Friday, unless there’s something else you want me to do for you.”
“No! I mean, yes. That’s fine. Do the shelves, not… um…” Good lord. I nodded and started to leave his office, but he called after me, “What, uh, what is this?”
I turned back to him and found he was staring at the coffee and muffin like he’d never seen such a thing before. “I decided to treat myself on the way to work, and I thought you might like something, too.”
Okay, yes, I was trying to get on his good side. I’d barely made a dent in my snoop through the archives. If he didn’t actively dislike me, it would improve my chances of getting to stick around.
After he mumbled a thank you, I left his office and got to work. I was supposed to go shelf-by-shelf, reading through the alpha-numeric codes on all the materials and refiling any that were out of order. Most of the reports were at least an inch thick, but fortunately they all included a one-page synopsis on the first page. I’d read dozens of those summaries the week before, along with parts of some of the studies, and I wasn’t quite sure what to think about them.
SPAM didn’t just work with superheroes and people with powers, they studied them. Mostly, these were demographic studies—collecting data on the most common types of powers, geographic distributions, how often offspring exhibited the same powers as their parents, and so on.