Patently in Love Read Free Page A

actually doing any lab work. I figured, what better
way than to become a patent attorney and help people file patents to protect their brilliant
inventions."
    "Too right," said Jim. "Leave the research to people who are good at it, I say."
    Marshall shot Jim an amused look and turned his attention back to Jane. "You started
off working in the pharmaceutical industry, right?"
    Jane wondered if he'd been reading her CV, or whether that information had been
part of the email that Ruth mentioned.
    "So why did you decide to leave Manchester and come down here to move into
private practice?"
    Jane decided to ignore the first part of the question; it would be impossible to explain
her reasons for leaving Manchester without mentioning Ashby. "I wanted to work on a wider
variety of projects." She made eye contact with Marshall for the first time and immediately
forgot what she was about to say.
    There was a brief pause and she realised that everyone watching her. Reluctantly, she
looked away from Marshall's eyes, only to find herself looking at his lips. Hurriedly, she
focused on the safer territory of his eyes again. "How about you? Did you always work in
private practice?"
    Before Marsh could answer, Keith said, "Marsh has always been with R and T." He
clapped Marshall on the shoulder. "Started off as a mere trainee."
    Marshall raised his eyebrows at Jane and nodded. "What he said."
    Jim laughed. "Marsh is one of our bright young things," he said. "Who knows, he
might make it to partner one of these days."
    Keith gave a derisive snort.
    "I worked as a research chemist for a bit before I came here," said Marshall. "As you
say, the variety appeals."
    The arrival of Jim and Marshall changed the tone of the evening. Jim's good humour
was infectious and the conversation moved swiftly away from work to teasing Eric about his
upcoming wedding. Jane noticed that Marshall didn't say a lot. She wondered if that meant he
was shy. Keith had stopped looking at her legs quite so often and was using the time to make
supercilious remarks, mostly aimed at Marshall. Marshall, whilst not openly ignoring Keith,
appeared not to hear any of them.
    Jane found the interaction between the two men amusing. After her second glass of
wine, she found she was fighting the urge to giggle. For the first time in a long time, she
relaxed and was surprised to realise she was enjoying herself.
    * * * *
    It was late by the time Jane returned to the flat. Polly was lying on the sofa
reading.
    She looked up from her magazine. "Hiya. How was the pub?" Moving to London had
taken the edge off Polly's accent, but it was still noticeably from Lancashire.
    Jane found it comforting to come home to. She shrugged off her coat and sank
gratefully into a chair. "Not bad." She eased her feet out of her shoes. "I seem to be in a
mostly male team."
    "Oh aye? Anyone nice?"
    "Well, there's Keith, who was definitely eyeing me up. A guy called Eric who was a
bit creepy." Jane counted them off her fingers. "Jim, who's lovely, but married and Marshall,
who's a bit quiet."
    "Huh. No one promising then?"
    Jane stared thoughtfully at her toes. "Marshall seemed all right."
    Polly peered at her. "You're blushing." She leaned forward. "So, this Marshall. Tell
me about him."
    "I ran into him earlier in the morning. Or rather, he ran into me. I stepped out without
looking and he was jogging past and ran smack into me."
    "And then you met him again in the pub."
    "It looks like we might be working together sometimes."
    Poly nodded. "Is he fit?"
    Jane felt her cheeks warm again. "Well, yes. In a Matthew McConoaughey kind of
way."
    "What?" Polly sat up. "Dimples?"
    "Only one."
    "Oooh. And?"
    "And nothing." Jane decided not to mention that she'd got a good look at him in his
running shorts. There were some details best kept away from Polly. "He seems very nice. But
like I said, very quiet."
    "Maybe he's shy."
    Jane laughed. "Don't get excited Pol. He's a work colleague. He's bound to have a
girlfriend