Caught in the Undertow (Hawaiian Crush #6) by E. L. Todd Read Free Book Online

friends was unacceptable. She wouldn’t put up with that. They were equally passionate and headstrong, which made them both enormously stubborn. But Sydney wouldn’t give in.
    When she went to the aquarium after school, she immediately got to work. Their experiment had been successful the night before. She streaked the bacteria onto isolated plates then returned them to the incubator. When she diluted the salt concentrations, she checked the levels then recorded her data. The dilution met hod by the sharks was fascinating. The only problem was, Sydney didn’t understand how this phenomenon could be applied to humans. If there was some way the salt concentration in humans could be limited by some sort of drug, diluting it, it would help the diet of millions of Americans. But Sydney also thought good dietary practices would solve all of that. Unfortunately, most people didn’t feel the same.
    As the evening continued on, Sydney inserted the data into the computer. When everything was recorded, she looked at the time. Her shift was almost over. She dreaded going home to her husband, but she was eager to finish a paper that was due soon.
    Gilbert opened the binder and looked at the readings. “Something isn’t right.”
    “What do you mean, sir?”
    He glared at her.
    “I mean, Gilbert,” she corrected.
    “Were the glasses cleaned properly?”
    “Yes,” she said.
    He thought for a moment. “Was the salt concentration a hundred to one?”
    “Each specimen was ten to one.” She opened the procedure and showed it to him.
    He sighed. “I apologize. I forgot to mention it needed to be changed.” He took out his pen and marked her lab notebook. “We need to do it again.”
    Sydney sighed. She had already been there all night.
    “You run along, Syd. I’ll take care of it.”
    “What? No. We’re a team.”
    “And I know you are still a student that has class early in the morning.”
    Sydney shook her head. “I’m not leaving. We can get this done much faster if we work together.”
    He eyed her. “If you get tired, you are free to go.”
    She turned to the glassware and repeated the experiment. With Gilbert’s help, they were able to complete it in less than three hours. Normally, it took her five. By the time they were done, it was midnight. Now she knew she was in worse trouble with Coen. Her phone was in her purse and she forgot to call him to let him know she would be late. Now she didn’t want to go home even more.
    After they locked up the lab, they left the building and walked to their cars.
    Coen was standing in front of her car, his arms crossed over his chest.
    Sydney sighed when she saw him. This was going to be bad.
    “You got nothing else to do than wait for your wife all night?” Gilbert asked.
    Coen didn’t look at him. His eyes were on Sydney. “Goodnight, Uncle.”
    Gilbert got into his car then drove away.
    Sydney stood in front of Coen, her gaze averted. He didn’t speak or move, but he was frightening to look at. His shoulders were tense and his eyes were bright with menace. She knew how mad he was by the look alone.
    He grabbed her purse and pulled it from her shoulder.
    “What the hell are you doing?”
    He took out her phone and went through it. “Well, it’s working.”
    She sighed. “We had to work late. I couldn’t just leave.”
    “And that’s fine,” he snapped. “But a fucking courtesy call would have been nice.”
    She looked at the ground.
    “Look at me,” he snapped.
    Sydney met his gaze.
    “It’s past midnight,” he said. “Do you have any idea how worried I was?”
    “I said I was sorry.”
    “All you had to do was send a text message. I would have been fine with that.”
    She glared at him. “Coen, we got caught up in something. I can’t just leave and make a phone call.”
    “It’s my uncle. Yes, you can leave and call your husband, telling him you’ll be late. That’s completely appropriate.”
    She shrugged. “I said I was sorry. What more do