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Her short tone made his mouth twitch. He debated what to ask for.Let’s turn off the gravity. Let’s start this over as if we both haven’t already messed things up so badly that there’s no hope for us. He collected himself and decide on something more reasonable.
“I want us to talk,” he answered.
“Talk?”
“About everything. I want you to tell me the truth.”
Her mouth popped open. A myriad of thoughts flitted behind her wary, confused eyes. “But now you… you know—”
“Not everything. Not the important things,” he said. “There were times when I had the impression that we were together.” A flash of regret appeared in her eyes. “You told me you were attracted to me. Are you sure that wasn’t a lie?”
“It wasn’t,” she said. Her eyes were distant with mortification.
He took a step closer. “Then how did you imagine this going?”
His advance was enough to spook her. She turned to run.
Patiently, he sent a jolt of energy through the walls and the door slammed down, cutting off her escape. She yelped as she scurried to a stop, searching the walls and ceiling for a way out.
“No.” He moved closer as she turned to watch him defensively. “Talk to me. Tell me why you lied to me. Tell me why weshouldn’tthrow out everything that’s happened between us. Unless you think we should… You were trying to gather the courage to tell me, weren’t you?”
“Of course I was.”
“Then explain it to me.”
She took a breath and squeezed her tool-belt, briefly searching for another exit that would never appear. Perhaps it was heavy-handed, but he could do this forever.
At last, she relented.
“I didn’t mean for things to get so out of hand. When you found me, I was trying to go home. I was marooned. You gave me fuel and I thought I could find my way back home and forget about this fucking mistake.”
“Thisis a mistake?” he asked with an edge.
“Not… all of it. It got complicated. You were so goddamn nice to me that I hated lying to you. I hated that I started having feelings for you and I was afraid to tell you because—you might kill me or dump me off at some prison or—even worse, I couldn’t stand the idea of you hating me. For fuck’s sake, I still don’t even know what you plan to do with me—”
She twisted at her hair, watching him with uncertainty.
“Everything I promised, Lucca. That hasn’t changed.”
Her eyes grew a bit wider. “What?”
“I’m not dumping you off—or killing you—or watching you disappear through some portal back to Earth,” he informed her.
He was cognizant of the fact that his ‘kill all humans on sight’ declaration had contributed to this mess—but he was slightly baffled that she’d stuck around long enough to put it to the test.
“So then what the shit do you expect to do with me, Caligher?”
Things that wouldn’t be a smart idea to say at the moment.
Maybe she inferred what he was thinking. She turned once again to test the button at the door. Her lips flattened when it remained firmly sealed. One by one, he’d taken parts of her ship away from her. It frustrated her—but he was tired of hearing her creep through the hallways as silently as possible. It made thingstense—and he was painfully sensitive to that sort of thing.
Accepting that she couldn’t leave until she appeased him, she turned back to him and slumped against the barrier.
“Look, Iamsorry, okay?”
“That doesn’t sound very sorry,” he said.
“No, I mean, Iam. I just don’t know how to say it right. I’ve spent days in my bedroom trying to figure out how to apologize but nothing seemed adequate.” She held her muscles rigidly tight, braced against him. Her voice quieted. “The feelings were real. They just… happened. I really did plan to tell you everything. I even had a dinner planned out. And if you didn’t completely flip out on me I…”
