Melanie Schuster - Chemistry of Desire

Todd was impressed but curious. “What do you do when you’re working in disaster areas? How does your background in biochemistry lend itself to, um…?”

Emily smiled at the way Todd was struggling to word his question. “Don’t worry. I’m not experimenting on people or anything. Not too many people know that I’m a medical doctor as well as being a Ph.D. I volunteer for Doctors Without Borders. I usually spend my vacation traveling for the organization.”

“Dang girl, you put me to shame,” Todd said with obvious sincerity. “Okay, I don’t understand how a woman like you is still single. Are you sure there isn’t some big jealous guy who’s gonna come looking for you and try to split my skull? You are probably the most accomplished person I’ve ever met,” he said with eyes full of admiration.

Emily gave him a slight side eye. “That’s the kind of question a woman would ask, Todd. You sound like you don’t know much about your own species. When has career accomplishment ever been a criterion for male attraction?”

Todd looked surprised at her blunt tone. “Well, now that all depends on the man. Some men like prime rib and some like burgers,” he began.

Emily held up her hand as she rolled her eyes. “Really, Todd? You’re comparing me to meat? I think we need to go home so you can have some quiet time. You’re venturing into some real scary territory,” she said with a smile.

Todd returned her grin with one of his own. “You’re right. Let’s get out of here before I put my other foot in my mouth.” He left a generous tip and they departed. Even though he’d been warned, he had to make an additional comment as they walked to the car. “I stand by what I said. You’re the whole package, Ms. Emily, which is why I can’t understand why you’re single.”

She groaned and shook her head. “Why is marriage supposed to be this big prize? Why is it like the most important thing in the world for a woman? I could ask you the same thing, you know. You’re not married, so what’s up with that?”

Todd had to smile as he put his arm around her shoulder. “That’s a good question, and I’m going to give you a good answer as soon as I think of one.”

“You’d better think hard, because I have a well-honed B.S. detector built into my head,” she cautioned him.

“Duly noted. I’ll never try to get over on you in any way,” he vowed.

“Don’t even worry about it, Todd. I wouldn’t let you get over on me anyway.”

The rest of the evening was a lot of fun, as well as being a revelation for Todd. When they reached the house, they were still bantering back and forth about a number of things, and Todd discovered that Emily had a wicked sense of humor. She also had great taste in TV, as far as he was concerned.

“We don’t bother with cable since we’re not here daily, but we have lots of DVDs. Do you like True Blood? I’ve got the box set,” Emily told him. “The first two seasons.”

“That show is the only reason I got a DVR,” Todd said reverently. “Well, not the only one, but one of them.”

Emily handed him the DVD with a smile. “You’ve got good taste in TV. That bit of good taste just about makes up for the meat thing. I’m going to make popcorn.”

Todd watched her cute behind and long shapely legs as she went to the kitchen, and he smiled. He was putting the disc into the player when his cell phone rang. The sight of the name on his caller ID made him frown, and he quickly pushed the Ignore button.

“Screening calls? She’s not going to like that,” Emily teased him.

Todd got up from the couch and took the large tray she was carrying from her hands. “Maybe you need to have a bell on. Okay, I get the sneaking up thing. I promise I’ll stomp from now on. Thanks for the popcorn. Now can we please just watch True Blood?”

“Just ignore my question, that’s fine,” she said with a laugh. “I love this show,” she added, adroitly changing the subject.

“So you’re really into supernatural stuff?”

“Absolutely. I like paranormal, sci-fi, horror, espionage and action, anything like that.”

“No chick flicks? I thought most women liked them. My sisters love them,” Todd said.

Emily made a face. “I think my mom might have some here, but it’s not a genre I’m particularly interested in.” She picked up the remote and pushed play.

“You’re an interesting woman, Emily Porter.”

“Yeah, that’s what they tell me.”

Emily couldn’t remember when she’d felt so good. Nor could she recall the sofa being so comfortable. It was a big, cushy wraparound sectional, but tonight its cushions felt sensational and they smelled good, too. Her eyelids felt curiously heavy as she leaned in closer to get a good sniff of the heavenly fragrance. It was fresh and masculine and it certainly wasn’t Febreze, but it smelled familiar. It smelled just like, like Todd. Her eyes opened wide and she realized that she’d been curled up next to him with her head on his shoulder, sniffing him like an eager puppy. Heat flooded her face as he looked down at her.

“You’re back with me, huh? I thought you were out for the night,” he teased.

Emily sat up and tried to disentangle herself from Todd’s long arms, but he didn’t seem too eager to let her go. She gave a final tug so that she was able to put some space between their bodies.

“How long have I been asleep?” she asked grumpily. She felt her hair and sighed when she realized she had bed head. Running her fingers through it, she gave his T-shirt a look. “I didn’t drool on you, did I?”

Todd laughed; a low, sexy sound. “No, you didn’t drool. You started getting quiet, and the next thing I know you had nodded out. You missed the second disc in its entirety,” he informed her.

“You should have shaken me or punched me or something,” she said.

“First of all, that’s not how I would treat a lady, ever. Second, I was enjoying it. Your hair smells good and you’re nice and warm.”

Emily felt heat surge up again at his words. It wasn’t just because she was embarrassed; it was because she was aroused. She’d dreamed about him on more than one occasion, and the experience of having him so close to her in real life was wreaking havoc with her senses. The fact that he was looking at her with such a sexy expression on his face wasn’t helping, either. If anything, it was making her temperature rise faster than she could handle, and she reacted the way she normally did when confronted with the unfamiliar: she snapped at Todd.

“Yeah. I’m going to lock up and I’m going to bed. Good night,” she said irritably. She stood up on feet that were uncharacteristically unsteady and winced as Todd stood up to support her. His strong hands encircled her waist, and she had to bite her lip to keep from saying something she’d regret for life.

“Wait, I’ll go with you. I think I locked the doors, but you can show me how to do it right. This is a beautiful place, but it’s so far off the main road. You should get a dog for protection,” he said as he walked with her to the front door.

Emily checked the heavy locks to make sure they were both secure. “This is a very low crime area and I can take care of myself,” she said grumpily.

Todd didn’t seem put off by her tone in the least. “Everybody thinks that until something happens. They think they can handle anything and they get caught off guard, just like you did today,” he reminded her.

She stopped walking so abruptly that he bumped into her. She unlocked a tall walnut cabinet in the hallway just outside the kitchen. It was her father’s gun safe, and the contents were intimidating, to say the least. There were two rifles and two shotguns, and cloth-lined drawers held his handguns. Emily deftly removed a handgun and closed the door to the safe.