She nods. “I won’t.”
I don’t believe her.
Not really.
“You won’t,” I repeat, stepping closer. “Because next time I find out you’ve touched that interface without clearance, I won’t walk you home. I’ll write the suspension notice myself.”
She finally looks up. “Dr. Rhyss?—”
“I’m not doing this because I want to control you. I’m doing this because you clearly can’t control yourself.”
The words come out…different than I intended. She flinches.
And then, slowly, something strange flickers across her face. Her lips part. Her breath catches.
“Okay,” she says, almost breathlessly. “Got it.”
I narrow my eyes. “You’re smiling.”
“No, I’m not,” she says way too quickly, already turning away as she tucks her legs up on the couch. “I just…you’re being very assertive. It’s weird. I think you’re scaring me into good behavior.”
My eyes dart over her face like I can stare through her skull and figure out what the hell is wrong with her. But…I’ve already scanned her for injury.
She’s just had a long night.
I can do another scan in the morning, before…
“Gods,” I breathe. “I nearly forgot—I have to be somewhere in the morning. You should get some sleep.”
She looks around. “Okay. I’ll take the couch?—”
“You can sleep in my daughter’s room,” I interrupt. “The bed is made. There’s no reason for you to sleep out here when there’s an empty bed.”
Lyn looks genuinely shocked. “You…you’re a dad?”
“Yes,” I say.
She blinks at me. “Like…recently? Is she a baby?”
“No. She’s eleven. She’s lives in the Arborium with her mother and she spends her summers with me.” I pause, then add, “Shahar and I were never bonded, but we parent together. It’s amicable.”
“That’s…” She tilts her head. “That’s really nice, actually.”
I grunt and start walking toward the hallway. “Room is the second on the left. Clean linens, spare sleepwear in the drawer. Call out if you need anything.”
“Okay,” she says, rising slowly. “Thanks.”
I stop in the doorway, one hand on the frame. “Don’t thank me yet. I expect you to follow every instruction I give tomorrow. You’re under observation, and until I’m sure you’re not a danger to yourself—or anyone else—that lab is off-limits.”
“I understand,” she says softly. “I’ll be good.”
“And leave the door open,” I add. “I need to check on you to make sure you don’t lose consciousness.”
“Yes, sir.”
I glance over my shoulder at her.
She’s already halfway down the hall, trailing one hand along the wall, her hair in those wild corkscrew curls, her body language…soft. Pliable. Sleepy, maybe, but not just that.
