STARFISH chapter 12 excerpt
Wherein Nina gets all dressed up...
Nina stood before the frosted glass of Doctor Ardus's office door, using the reflection to make a last-minute adjustment to her outfit. Her favorite grey dress hugged her hips and thighs, the short white blazer nipping in at her waist and drawing the eye to the dress's low neck. For added punch, she wore a necklace of pink coral pieces strung on fine silver wire. The coral would certainly attract attention, and the few inches of cleavage dusted with a little bronze shimmering powder would grab hold of it like a barracuda – she'd passed Doctor O'Connell on the way in and he'd certainly looked. Arranging her hair behind her ears to better show off the matching pink coral drops, Nina tapped the screen and the door slid open. Her heels clicked as she stepped over the threshold. Doctor Ardus sat at his desk, bent over the reading pane typing while Athe put away books and files. She smiled. “Good morning, Doctor Ardus.”
“Good morning, Doctor Ni-” His deep voice abruptly cut off as he raised his head. The reaction her arrival generated was perfect and priceless: both the biologist and his personal assistant stared at her, Athe with a look of smug, knowing amusement, and Ardus frozen with his hands over the glass, his eyes wide. She breezed into the room, tossing an easy glance up at his desk as she passed. Ardus's head never moved, but his eyes followed her to her desk. She heard him draw a sharp breath through his nose and make a thick, rumbling sound in his throat. Nina sat at her terminal, turning her chair slightly towards the huge antique desk. “Doctor, is everything...all right?” She flipped her hair over her shoulder, glad she'd decided to curl it, and crossed her ankles. Athe turned away from her, biting his lip to hide a smirk, but Ardus stared quite obviously at a spot on his desk. If Dreen could sweat, he'd be a waterfall. He gave a curt nod, but said nothing. Nina pressed, “Are you sure? You look surprised to see me. I told you yesterday I wanted to come back to work.”
He swallowed hard. “Yes, I remember.” His hands twitched over the typing surface. He refused to look up.
“Well,” Athe interjected. He stood behind Ardus at his desk, a handful of books ready to put into their places. He gave her a conspiratorial wink. “I'm happy to see you up and around, Doctor. Did you get enough rest?”
Athe, you clever Dreen. “Yes I did, Athe. Thank you.”
“You look well. Doesn't she look well, Doctor?” Athe bumped the back of Ardus's chair with his elbow and Ardus started. “What?”
“Tell her what?” Ardus turned in his chair, but Athe started putting books away on the shelf so Ardus couldn't see his grin. “Tell her she looks well.”
“Oh....ah...” Ardus looked pained. He turned slowly, his eyes widening as they met with Nina's. “You look...” he paused, “you look well.”
Athe, you brilliant jerk. Nina brushed a meticulously curled lock of her dark hair behind her ear and watched the biologist's jaw clench. “Thank you, Doctor. And thank you for lunch yesterday, that baked eel was...” she touched her lips with the tip of her tongue, “amazing."
What's this? Just another teeny excerpt from my novel, STARFISH, currently running on Wattpad. As of this post, there are 30 chapters available to read for FREE and we're getting close to the end of the tale 😁
