Atlas moved his hand away from her heart, cupping her cheek. “Will you help me? Or even let me?”
Swallowing, her voice caught. “I don’t know. That . . .”
Atlas wiped the remaining tears on her face. His body remembered exactly where Anna had hugged him the other day. The small touches, the small smiles. Like he was permanently branded. And he didn’t mind. “I’m here. But nothing needs to change. This can be figured out slowly.”
“It can be? Slowly?”
“Yes. Do you want to?”
She swallowed. “I think. Yes.”
Everything in him swelled.She wanted to.She wanted to.A sense of rightness fell over every part of him.
“Good. Good. We can try.” He grinned, waving behind him. “And see? Look. You are going to stay here now. In your little warehouse home. That’s what matters.”
“You’re right.” She leaned in on her own, her touch featherlight on his arm. “There are cows here, Atlas. Maybe you knew all along, showing me them on the ship.”
Atlas placed his hand over hers. If he had instincts, would this be what they were like? “Can I record you saying I’m right?”
Finally, a watery laugh. “Sure.”
Suddenly she looked up. Her eyes were bright. “I can do this, Atlas. I can make this a home. I can make this good for baby girl.”
He leaned in closer, squeezing her hand. “Yes. Yes you can.”
Chapter thirty-five
Anna
Anna sat, resting her head on Atlas’s shoulder, her hands entwined in his.
He said he wasn’t pushing for anything more, and for the moment she . . . trusted him? She chuckled to herself. “This is almost like when we watched that feed on the ship.”
“It is.” He settled arms around her more. “Only this is better.”
Anna tried her best to not squirm. Where he touched her felt overly heated, sensitive. Her insides twisted at sitting so close to him like this, but nothing in her wanted to move. The day could pass, and the night could. Enough time that maybe they could figure this out on top of everything else.
“Atlas?” Zero called out. He walked into the clearing a second later, eyes on their crossed fingers. “I’m heading back to the facility for more supplies.”
Atlas squeezed her hand briefly before letting go. “Thank you. I’ll leave with you to bring more equipment back for this afternoon. How are things looking?”
Zero pointed over his shoulder. Behind him, a row of model-Ms were still walking the yards with blueprints in hand. “Everything is simple enough. It’s not even midday yet, so I can get a lot more done.” To Anna, he said, “We will get you water by tomorrow, alright, Anna ma’am?”
Anna covered her mouth with her hand, grinning. “Ma’am?”
“Ah, sorry.” Zero gave an apologetic grin. “Old programming.”
From experiment to ma’am.Tension flowed out of her. “No one’s ever called me that before. Thank you though. You and all the rest have been so nice. I don’t know how to repay you.”
“Woah, repay us?” Zero held out his hands. “You don’t have to.”
“I need to though.” Anna frowned. There had to be something she could do.“If you bring me an oven, I’ll bake you something?”
“Deal.” Zero grinned widely. “Can you make those cumin cookies again? They’ve grown on me.”
Anna scrunched her nose. “. . . Those? Really?”
“Yes. I’m tired of everything being the same.”
