Despite being a year older than Ryland, Horton saw him as the rock-steady big brother she never had. She knew that other women found him handsome. Though a few pounds overweight, his extra bulk suited his round face with its dark green eyes and fair-skinned complexion. His self-effacing humility and easygoing manner only accentuated his charm. But despite their shared interests and closeness, she regarded Ryland in an asexual light. At times, she wondered if he had a life outside of the lab. Then she realized with a pang of embarrassment that he could just as easily think the same of her. And who could blame him?

Ryland plunked himself down in the chair across from hers. He rested his elbows on her desk and interlocked his fingers. His brow furrowed and he pointed at her with his index fingers. “El, you haven’t seemed yourself this week.”

“Just tired,” she said. “I’m not sleeping well, Neil.”

His frown persisted. “Why?”

She looked down at the desk. “Those chimps …”she said quietly.

Ryland shook his head. “El, we’ve been over this. Two chimps out of hundreds don’t add up to any kind of statistical significance.”

“I know but—”

“No buts.” He swept the air with a dismissive palm. “In all those clinical trials we’ve been running, we haven’t seen anything close in humans.”

She fidgeted with the pages on the desk in front of her. “It’s only been a year, Neil.”

“That’s eons for a drug that patients take for only one or two weeks. Even Vik concedes that,” he said, referring to Dr. Viktor Leschuk, the third member of the triumvirate on the Oraloxin project. “And you know what a skeptic Vik is.”

“I guess.”

He fixed his eyes on hers. “Ellen, you’ve got to trust me on this one. It’s going to be fine. I promise.”

“Okay.” She smiled and looked up to see that, as if on cue, the skies had cleared outside her window.

“El, have you talked to anyone outside the lab about the chimps?”

Feeling suddenly sheepish, she shuffled through her papers. “Only Luc Martineau.”

“Oh. Pretty boy,” he grunted disapprovingly. Horton again noticed the air of protectiveness Ryland displayed whenever Martineau’s name arose. Even though she never discussed her feelings for the suave VP, Ryland seemed aware of her vulnerability to his magnetism. “And how did Dr. Martineau take it?” he said without hiding the contempt in his tone.

She shrugged. “Luc didn’t seem too concerned.”

Ryland’s expression softened. He studied her with a mischievous smile. “See? If even the cover-your-ass guy isn’t worried, you know it’s no big deal.”

Relieved at the break in the tension, she laughed heartily. “I guess.”

But Ryland’s eyes darkened again. “El, you have to be very careful who you talk to about this. There are extremely jealous people out there. And you know how gossip spreads in our circles.”