Page 23 of Tamed By Her Touch

“You are welcome,” Kaelus said and turned back to the analyzer as though the conversation was finished.

Clair watched his broad back for a moment and then looked at the carefully rearranged shelves again. He had even moved her most frequently used specimen jars to the lowest shelf, she noticed.

He did that for me, she thought.

Then she pushed the thought away. No, he hadn't. He'd done it because he didn't want her climbing around and causing another accident–that was all.

Of course, the fact that he didn't want her to get hurt might mean something too. She couldn’t help remembering the relief in his voice and the way he’d said, “Thank all the Gods that ever were,” when he’d realized the molecular solvent hadn’t gotten on her skin.

Clair decided not to think about that. In fact, it was much safer not to think about Kaelus at all.

Unfortunately, that was getting increasingly difficult…

The second thing she noticed happened about a week later.

Clair had a tendency to forget about ordinary things like meals when she was working on something interesting. She'd been that way since graduate school, when she used to get so absorbed in her research that she would look up from the microscope at nine o'clock at night and realize she hadn't eaten anything since breakfast. James had always complained about it when they were married, though not because he was worried about whether she was eating enough.

“You weren't here to make dinner,” he would say irritably whenever she came home late. “What was I supposed to eat?” Apparently making himself a sandwich had never occurred to him.

So Clair had learned long ago not to expect anyone else to worry about whether she'd eaten. Which was why she was surprised one afternoon when something landed with a solid thunk beside her elbow.

She looked down and saw it was a covered plate. She frowned at it, then looked across the room.

Kaelus was standing at his own workstation with his back to her, as though nothing had happened. As though he hadn’t just put a plate full of food beside her.

“What is this?” she asked.

“Nutrition,” he replied without turning around.

“I can see that it's food,” Clair said. “I mean, why is it sitting beside me?”

“You are meant to consume it.”

Clair stared at the back of his head.

“Did you actually get me lunch?” she asked.

Kaelus's shoulders stiffened.

“No.”

She looked down at the plate again.

“Well, unless the lunch fairy has started making deliveries on the Mother Ship, I'm thinking somebody brought it.”

“There is no such creature as a lunch fairy,” Kaelus said impatiently.

“I'm aware of that, sugar-booger.”

“Do not call me sugar-booger.”

“Then answer the question,” Clair said. “Did you bring me lunch?”

Kaelus sighed heavily and finally turned around.

“I obtained additional food when I went to the dining area,” he said.

“For me.”