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“I mean, you just signed a massive contract for security, right?” she asked. “Shouldn’t you be confident that the place is safe?”
“How did you know that?” he demanded.
Shoot.
“You’re Stark Rawling,” she said. “Everyone knows who you are. And you just signed a big contract in Maltaffia. Once I got here, I didn’t have to be a Bhimani drive engineer to figure out what it was for. Am I wrong?”
He stared at her a long moment as the doorbell sounded for a third time. He sighed and pushed past her, glancing at the camera screen before opening the door.
“Hi there,” a Maltaffian woman with purple skin in a pretty dress and apron said. “We’re here with your dinner. If you’d like to freshen up, everything will be ready for you in fifteen standard minutes.”
“Sounds good,” Olivia said, darting off toward the staircase before Stark could say anything more to her.
The balcony gave her a perfect view over the first floor of the house. Sure enough, there was a big bedroom with a cozy slanted ceiling and a very tempting bed with plenty of pillows and a snowy white comforter.
Later,she told herself.You’ll get to sleep later.
But then she remembered what else was supposedhappen later and she felt cheeks heat again. She moved off to clean up before she could think about it too much.
The refresher was outrageously luxurious. The whole room had shower heads and floor drains. Glass flower boxes overflowed with ferns that she knew must thrive in the steam. A glass bathtub the size of a hover-car took up most of the back wall. Terra-58 didn’t have water rationing like a lot of the lower Terras, but she’d never seen anything quite like this before.
“Fresh clothing is waiting for you in the bedroom, Miss Sinclair,” Oberon’s voice said softly. “Remember to activate privacy mode if you need it.”
“Thank you, Oberon,” she said, smiling at herself for doing the same thing Stark had done. “Privacy mode, please.”
“Privacy mode confirmed,” Oberon said.
It wasn’t easy to undress and shower when she finally had a moment alone with the AI. But she would have other moments, and she knew better than to keep Stark waiting. He would probably want to wash up before dinner too.
The water was instantly steamy, and it felt incredible to wash away the stuffy feeling of her travel. Bottles and pots of sweet-smelling soaps and soothers covered the built-in shelves. Maybe another time she would have a chance to choose her favorites, for now she grabbed one she was certain was soap and got to work.
Too soon, she was clean all over and turning off the blessedly warm water. Fluffy towels and robes hung by the door. She dried off and grabbed a soft velvety robe, tying it around her waist before leaving the room.
Stark wasn’t waiting in the bedroom, thankfully.
Olivia opened the closet and found a beautiful selection of clothing in her size, with colors that suited her skin tone and even her pink hair. She chose a simple but very soft lavender tunic with black tights, and dressed quickly.
“Privacy mode off,” she remembered.
“Confirmed,” Oberon said.
“I’m all set,” she called down from the balcony as she left the bedroom.
By the time she headed down, Stark was on his way up. She hadn’t realized the staircase was narrow, but now they were both on it at once. He held still and she squeezed past him, their bodies pressed together for a moment until she moved down to the next step.
Her senses were filled with his delicious scent, and it was all she could do not to moan. Heart pounding, she hurried down to the living room before she could embarrass herself.
She had never felt this way before, never.
I’m just nervous,she told herself. But she knew that wasn’t it, not really.
In the kitchen, the lady in the apron was stirring spices into a pot of what really looked like tomato sauce.
“Can I help?” Olivia asked.
“Oh, that’s not necessary,” the lady said with a smile. “We’re almost finished.”
“It smells amazing,” Olivia told her.
