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put the pad back on the
table. “Okay, that’s everything, unless you have anything else to add.”
    “Nope. That was pretty painless.”
    He smiled. It probably had been painless for her. He was the
one who’d be up late haunted by thoughts of her in and out of Tal’s bed.
    “Painless is what we’re going for,” he said and stopped the
recorder with a snap.
    They walked out into the parking lot together, quiet now
after their conversation. Her car was next to his, beneath one of the street
lamps, and he followed her over to her door. Grace took her keys out of her
pocket and unlocked the car before leaning against its flank. The parking lot
was empty but for the buzz of the streetlight and the rustle of the breeze
against the dry husks of leaves.
    Grace tugged her coat around herself and looked up at him,
and for a minute, he felt as if he were on a date with her, entering that
awkward pause when she would tell him she had a good time and he would decide
whether she would resist his kiss or receive it.
    Or return it. Oh yes.
    “Hey, before I forget,” she said, “Tal had one more
question.”
    The sound of Tal’s name made John’s hands tighten in his
coat pockets. He took a deep breath and forced a smile. He needed Tal. There’d
be plenty of time to hate him once this experiment was over.
    And let’s remember who brought Tal into this.
    John forced himself to keep it casual. “Oh yeah? What does
Tal want to know?”
    She dropped her gaze to the asphalt between them. “You’re
going to laugh.”
    “I won’t, I promise.”
    “He wants to know why you’re not doing the testing.” Grace
looked up, beyond him into the dark. “You know. Why you’re not doing what he’s
doing.”
    John leaned back against his car. The thought of the two of
them in bed together had been bad enough. Now he had this to contend with.
    “Your friend Tal’s a character,” he said.
    “Yeah, he’s something else.” She faced John again. “You
know, I keep telling him that you and I are friends, but he’s one of those who
doesn’t think men and women can be friends without having sex with each other.”
    He took another deep, centering breath and decided that “Tal
is necessary” was going to be his new mantra.
    “Well, you tell your friend Tal that I’m already a little
too involved in this set of experiments. Sleeping with you myself is just about
the only thing that would get me fired faster than what we’re doing now.”
    She nodded. “See, I knew you’d have a reason that made
sense.”
    “Yeah.” Against his better judgment, he opened his arms to
give Grace a hug. When she stepped into his embrace, the scent that was hers
alone drifted toward him and he gave in to the need to kiss her, touching his
lips to the top of her head.
    A friendly kiss. Just one friendly kiss.
    “Grace, I need you to understand something.”
    She looked up at him, her chin resting on his chest just
above his heart.
    “I would never do anything to put our friendship at risk.
Anything. Even if I was pretty sure nothing would happen. I mean, I’m pretty
sure this stuff works. But I’m not positive. That’s why we’re doing this.
Right?”
    She nodded. “Right.” She pressed her face against his chest
again and gave him a quick squeeze before releasing him. “You’re right.” She
stepped away and smoothed her hair back into place behind her ear. “God, can
you imagine how awkward and weird we would be afterward?”
    John chuckled. His imagination preferred to avoid the parts
that were awkward and weird, but the rational part of his mind was pretty
attached to the possibility. “Want to go to Bank on Wednesday?” he asked.
    “Sounds good.”
    He waved at her as she drove off, and long after her
taillights had disappeared from view, he stood there in the dark. That
afternoon he had thought of all the horrible things that could happen if anyone
figured out what he was doing. He had taken comfort from that. Better
preparation