Page 32 of Night Shift

“I delayed Dawn.”

Her eyes narrow. “Somehow that distinction is worse.”

I say nothing.

“Why?”

There is no reason to avoid the truth now.

“Because you asked me to.”

“I asked you to delay sunrise?”

“You said you wished the night did not have to end.”

Calliope closes her eyes.

“Oh my God.”

“I understand that expression now.”

Her eyes open again. “Erebus, I was being romantic.”

“I know.”

“That is the kind of thing people say after a nice date. It does not mean you can alter planetary scheduling.”

“I do not alter the planet.”

She points at me. “Do not get technical.”

I incline my head.

Her expression softens almost immediately, which seems unfair when I have apparently committed an offense serious enough to impair Petra’s mobility.

“Did you really do it because of me?”

“Yes.”

For a moment, she looks touched.

Then she sighs and comes around the counter.

“You can’t do that again.”

“I understand.”

“I mean it. Not because I say something stupid, not because we’re having a good night, and definitely not because we kiss.”

“I will not.”

She studies me for a moment, searching my face for something.

I mean the promise when I make it.

Finally, she reaches for my hand and runs her thumb lightly across my knuckles.

“Good.”