The Boy Who Has No Hope (Soulless #6) - Victoria Quinn Page 0,72

my gaze, his arm pulling me even closer until our lips touched. “I’m not nervous.”

“But I know you don’t want to do this.”

He kissed the corner of my mouth and then pressed another kiss to my jawline. “It’s not so bad when you’re here.” He rested his forehead against mine and held me there, like we were alone together and had been for hours. For a man who could barely extend a handshake to strangers, his warm affection was still surprising, like it was an urge he couldn’t control. He wasn’t good at expressing himself verbally, but he was good at expressing himself physically, wearing his heart on his sleeve, showing his feelings rather than stating them. It’d only been a few days since we’d agreed to make this work, and in that time frame, he’d made me feel more cherished than I ever had in my life.

The assistant stage manager interrupted us. “You’re going on in two minutes, Dr. Hamilton.”

It was strange to hear people call him that because to me, he was Derek, my Derek. “I should go take a seat. I’ll be in the front row if you ever need to see a friendly face.” My arms wrapped around his neck, and I gave him a soft kiss before I let him go.

When I pulled away, there was a slight smile on his lips.

I could see how happy I made him, and I wondered if he knew how happy he made me.

If Derek was uncomfortable, he didn’t show it. He sat with his knees apart, his arms on the armrests with his fingers falling over the edge and gripping the leather material. They didn’t need to put makeup on his face because his complexion was already flawless, and with the meticulous lighting, he looked like he belonged in a magazine, not a lab. He was laid-back, calm, and after a couple questions, he seemed to forget about the audience altogether. It was just two scientists having a conversation.

Dr. Salazar sat with his notepad in his lap, regarding Derek with an intriguing gaze. “What do you want for the future of this world?”

Derek stared at him for a long time, using one of his signature pauses, and then turned his eyes away to look at his knee. “In what regard? Environmentally speaking? Technologically speaking? Or do you want a straight-up fortune reading?”

Dr. Salazar chuckled at the joke. “Technologically.”

Derek went quiet again as he considered what to say. “In my world, things go fast until they go slow. It’s easy to come up with an idea but very difficult to execute it. It’s trial and error, failure after failure, and then what little success you have is usually minuscule compared to what you’re trying to achieve. So I think our future in technology will be much different in ten, twenty years unless…more people are involved. The pool of scientists, engineers, mathematicians is so small. People care more about being rich, being famous, being an athlete, whatever the case may be. But if you care about the progress of this world, you should consider one of these disciplines. Our society is obsessed with fame and fortune, but it’s important to have an altruistic world view, think about the next generation, to think about the world outside of ourselves.” He didn’t raise his voice, but he also didn’t possess a level tone, which he sometimes did when he was bored or annoyed. It was his tone that showed his interest in his discipline, and he talked about it with moving his hands, really getting into the conversation and the topic. “If nothing changes, I see us making progress as we go forward, but not enough progress.”

Dr. Salazar was quiet for a few seconds, as if he needed to process Derek’s words even after he was finished. “Enough progress for what? It sounds like you’re racing the clock.”

“Because I am.” Derek stared at his interviewer, those dark eyes a little lighter under the stage lights. When he was focused, he was so deadly handsome. He was serious most of the time, but so passionate about the things he enjoyed. He was passionate about his work, passionate when he was in bed. “I can’t do it alone. The rest of the scientists in our community can’t do it alone.”

“And you teach a course at NYU?”

He nodded. “I do. I have some very bright students.” There was pride in his voice, like their success was as important to him as what he was doing