“Yeah, that was my favorite jacket, too.” They smiled at each other, his affection for her reflected back at him. “I think we proved again tonight that chemistry can be exciting.”

She looked up at the ceiling. “Pretty sure if I had sprinklers in here, they’d have gone off from the heat.”

“You know what’s fun about science?” he asked. “It’s important to be able to reproduce the results, which means you have to do it again. And again.” He pulled her in, and she crawled on top of him, propping herself on her arms. Her dark hair fell forward, brushing his chest.

“Is that what you’re suggesting, Professor McKinnon?”

“I think it’s worth studying. For the sake of science. But I’ll need an assistant.”

Zoey put her finger on her chin, playfully pretending to be in deep thought.

“Well, I guess we could.” She winked. “You know—for science.”

Mike rolled her onto her back in one smooth motion, staring down into her sparkling eyes.

“We’re going to take it nice and slow this time around. Real slow. I want to catalog every single sensitive spot on your body, for future reference.” He felt her tremble. “And after that, Professor Hartford, we’ll switch places and you can do the same to me.” He kissed her lips. “For science.”

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

ZOEY WATCHED THE sky outside her window gradually brighten in shades of pink and gold. She’d stop it if she could. She’d gladly leave the world in darkness forever if it meant this night with Mike would never end.

He was sprawled crossways on her bed, sound asleep. She smiled and stroked the top of his head, which was heavy on her chest. She had a feeling an actual science lab explosion wouldn’t wake him right now. She was exhausted, too, but she couldn’t sleep. Her body was humming with energy, as if she’d had half a dozen energy drinks at once.

Mike McKinnon was naked in her bed. They’d used up all four condoms—the green one was the funniest—and then they’d explored a few ways to find pleasure without needing a condom. There was a delicious ache between her legs, telling her that it had been way too long since she’d had sex. And also reminding her that she had never had sex like that before.

Zoey had always considered herself a practical, nonexperimental lover. Sex was fun, but her married sex life usually consisted of Chris rubbing her shoulders and saying “wanna do it?” He hadn’t been a selfish lover, but he hadn’t been very creative, either.