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СКАЧАТЬ starts next month and as soon as—” not if, she refused to consider failure “—I get the grant, I’ll be so busy I won’t have time to masturbate, let alone date.”

      “A woman always has time to masturbate,” Nikki intoned.

      Dru shrugged, waving her carrot stick in surrender before snapping off a bite.

      “Sooo…” Nikki drew the word out as she carefully wiped her fingers on a napkin.

      “So… What?” Dru asked, not liking the glint in her friend’s chocolate-brown eyes.

      “So, I have an idea.”

      Just as she would if a student was about to pitch a half-baked astrological theory, Dru folded her hands on the table, arched her brow and gave Nikki a patient, you-are-probably-insane look.

      “Take a vacation.”

      The knots in Dru’s shoulders unwound. Well, that wasn’t too crazy.

      “Someplace totally away from here, completely relaxing and extremely decadent.”

      A vision of sand, surf and sun filled her imagination. Wouldn’t that be glorious?

      “Mmm, maybe I’ll book a cruise or something this summer,” Dru murmured. An entire week filled with strappy sandals, rich food and sarong-covered bikinis while she read by the water. Heaven. “I’ve always wanted to visit Cancún. Or maybe the Bahamas.”

      “No. Now. Next week, before your schedule turns crazy with the grant interviews and the guest lecturer and this upcoming project that will bury you in seventy-hour weeks.”

      Unspoken was Nikki’s belief that Dru would make excuses and not take a vacation. But the message was clear in the stubborn set of her jaw.

      Before Dru could talk her off the lunatic-ledge, Glenn Shelby, Trifecta’s director, bounced into the lunchroom. The older man was the epitome of enthusiasm, always. His nothing-is-impossible attitude was supposed to be an inspiration to his teams. Most of them wanted to spike his morning fruit smoothie with sleeping pills.

      Dru’s gaze jumped from his face to the stubborn glee on Nikki’s, then back to their boss, who was offering his usual chipper lunch greeting.

      “No,” she mouthed at Nikki, tension wrapping tight over her shoulders. The road to success was not lined with spur-of-the-moment vacation requests or inconveniences to the boss.

      Nikki, of course, ignored her.

      “Glenn, Dru needs a vacation.”

      “Vacation? Now?”

      Well, that had certainly punctured his enthusiastic recitation of the joys of fresh-squeezed orange juice. His words all came out in a gulp.

      It was all she could do not to drop her face into her hands. With an almost silent hiss of protest, Dru glared at Nikki.

      “Don’t worry about it, Dr. Shelby. I know we’re too busy right now. Nikki knows it, too.”

      Nikki didn’t even have the grace to give Dru an apologetic look before shoving her off the cliff.

      “Glenn, you know Dru is leading the cosmic string project that kicks off next month. It’s vital that we make a good showing for Trifecta, isn’t it?” Nikki didn’t wait for his answer, or act as if she saw the glare Dru was trying to melt her with, she just plowed ahead. “But here’s the thing. I don’t think she’s had a vacation in, oh, forever. Weren’t you just saying last week that a rested mind is an alert mind?”

      The director shot Dru a measuring look through the bifocals he’d perched on his egg-shaped head. From the frown that washed over his face, his X-ray vision found her health deteriorating at a rapid pace.

      “Yes, yes, good point. We want everyone in top form next month. All the departments have major projects launching, but yours is the most vital, Robichoux. After all, it’s not every year we get such a distinguished guest as A. A. Maddow as a project leader.”

      Assistant leader, Dru wanted to protest. For the first time, she was project leader. But the road to success wasn’t lined with divas, either, so she sucked it up and shot Nikki an icy glare instead. Nikki grinned.

      “I highly recommend Los Cabos if you’re looking for a beach setting,” Dr. Shelby said, taking his Healthy Choice lunch from the microwave and heading for the door. “A.A. himself suggested it to me when we agreed to his contract. He was right, as usual. Los Cabos was both relaxing and rejuvenating. You’ll enjoy it.”

      Then he was gone, the door swinging closed with a loud swoosh.

      And that was that. Dru briefly considered chasing him down and voicing her objections over his low-cal chicken à l’orange, but she knew it was pointless. After all, A. A. Maddow was the rock star of the science world. A Wolf Award nominee and brilliant physicist, he was going to be working alongside Drucilla for the next three months. His input was apparently vital, in Glenn’s mind, to both clarify her theory and convince the grant committee that a small lab like Trifecta was worthy of huge sums of money.

      The director wouldn’t want to risk anyone on his staff being less than sparkling for the grand appearance.

      “I can’t believe you did that,” Dru said, gathering her lunch wrappers in tight, efficient moves.

      “You can thank me with a nice souvenir,” Nikki told her as she sauntered back to the table, her teeth flashing white as she grinned.

      “Thank you? I want to beat you with your own corn-chip bag,” Dru snapped before she could control herself. She sucked in a deep breath, then said in her most reasonable tone, “I have responsibilities and commitments, Nikki. I don’t have time to sip margaritas and hit the beach.”

      “That’s not all I want you to hit,” Nikki said with a stern frown. Dru figured that must be the look the woman used to keep her hunky new husband in line.

      But Drucilla Antoinette was made of stronger stuff than that. So she just leaned back in her chair and raised a brow.

      “You need a man.”

      “Isn’t that where this conversation started?”

      “My point exactly. You need a hot man. A hunky, yummy, no-discussion-needed, orgasm-at-first-sight man.”

      Dru’s breath caught somewhere between her chest and her throat at that image.

      “No, I’m only looking to relax,” she protested. Not willing to consider something as clichéd as a vacation fling, she got up to cross the room and toss her garbage away. As if she wanted to get rid of the tempting image Nikki had put in her head.

      “What’s more relaxing than an uninhibited sexual escapade?” her friend asked behind her.

      And where better to have a sexual escapade than far away from her day-to-day world, on vacation from work and distanced from the rules she surrounded her life with?

      Dru stepped over to the sink to wash her hands. The water rushed over her, cooling flesh that suddenly felt as if it was on fire. She watched the clear liquid flow, her mind filled with СКАЧАТЬ