Thinking of clothes reminded her to ask a pertinent question. “I don’t want you to spoil the surprise, but can you give me a hint so I know what to wear? Will I need high heels or an EVA suit?”
He laughed. “Nothing too fancy and definitely nothing that requires an airlock. There will be some walking involved, so nohigh heels either. I showed Xay a photo of you from last night. I think it’s safe to say that if you wore that outfit again, we’d both be very happy.”
That made things easier, but it also piqued her curiosity. “You took a picture of me? When?”
“I’m a cyborg. Remember? I can record and save visual and auditory input to permanent memory. No camera required.”
Veth. Of course he could do that. “Does dating a cyborg come with a manual? I feel like it should.”
“No manual. We didn’t get one for ourselves, and that would have beenfraxxinguseful in the beginning. Though there is a story going around that the cyborgs at the Nova Club made a dating manual for cyborg males so they didn’t screw up with their females. Do you think it could be true?”
“If it is, I want to read it!”
“Me too. It might save my ass at some point.”
She laughed at that. “You’re doing fine without it.”
“Yeah?”
“Two dates in two days and you have doubts?”
“When you put it that way? No.”
“Good. And you can tell Xaber I said so.”
His laughter boomed over the comm speaker. “I will. You good for us to swing by the same time as last night?”
“The time works for me, but this time, I’ll come to you.” That way, there was no chance they’d overhear something about the break-in. She didn’t want her bad luck to overshadow the evening. She was determined to find some happiness in life, even if it meant shoving her problems into a corner for a few hours. She deserved this.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Xaber wasn’tan optimist by nature, but even he had high hopes that tonight would go well. In fact, he’d asked Livy to activate the ship’s maintenance bots and give the entire ship a scrub-down before they reached Defiance Station.
He also took some time to assess his appearance. He declared himself scruffy and set about correcting the issues. He shaved off his stubble and, with Livy’s help, even trimmed his hair. After his shower, he picked out clothes that were less practical than his usual daily wear. Black leather pants, ankle boots, and a dark green shirt made from something that looked like silk. Unlike most of the equipment on theTrue, the fabricator was relatively new and managed to make decent quality clothing from whatever old clothing and fabric scraps they fed into it.
He’d docked theTrueand gone to greet Mace, but his batch-brother had barely managed more than a few words of greeting before hurrying off to shower. Understandable, given he’d been more or less homeless for the last two days. Still, it amused him to see Mace in a tizzy over their date tonight.
Mace was still getting ready by the time Tix was on her way, so Xaber went outside to greet her.
He leaned up against the bulkhead, his legs crossed and arms folded, and waited.
She wore the same top as he’d seen in the picture Mace had sent him, but tonight her pants were tucked into knee-boots that showed off her shapely legs.
“Hello, beautiful. It’s good to see you again,” he said as he pushed away from the wall and walked toward her.
“Hi. I hear you had a good trip? TheTruebehaved for you?”
“Everything went smoothly. Whatever you did, it worked. She was a dream to handle, and her speed was better than I’ve ever experienced.”
Tix brightened at the compliment. “That’s good. Did…” She hesitated for a moment and then carried on in a breathy rush. “Did Mace tell you about last night?”
He winked down at her. “He did. I’m glad you had fun. I also hear I have some catching up to do.”
“You might. Or maybe not. I guess it depends on how this works. Is this…” She pointed to herself, then him, and then to the hatch that led to theTrue. “Is it a competition or a team event? I have some questions.”
He saw his mistake and clarified quickly. “You are not a prize in some kind of contest, Tix. I’m happy you two spent time together. The rest was just me being a smartass.” He shrugged and gave her a lopsided grin. “Questions are good. Once Mace joins us, you can ask us anything you want. This is the longest he’s ever taken to get ready before going out. He definitely wants to make a good impression.”
“He already did. You did too. I have to say, you clean up nicely.” She winked and gave him a head-to-toe look of approval that sent a surge of blood straight to his cock.
