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She shook her head, putting the unpleasant thoughts from her mind and clutching the basket of produce from the market on the deck below tightly. She didn’t like to dwell on nasty thoughts. At all. Halle always thought that she stuck her head in the sand and tried to ignore all the bad stuff that had happened to them over the years. And, in a way, she guessed she had.
Deep diving into the romance and fantasy offered by the network soaps was the only way she’d known to deal with the crushing despair and realization that no matter what she and Halle did, they would never get out of the Evergreens. That their lives were one unavoidable spiral downward to an Anselm factory. Once that happened, there was no escape.
But now they were here, on the station. She walked out into one of the corridors, and there was Earth below them. The view through the windows was so stunning that sometimes she just found herself standing here, looking at it. From this angle, the planet looked like a jewel, suspended in the midnight silk of space. It looked clean and fresh and bursting with possibility. For the average person, it was anything but. You needed serious money to get anywhere.
Casting only a few glances at the beautiful view, she carried on, hurrying through the corridors as she headed for her quarters. She didn't have time for star or planet-gazing now.
Today had been as frustrating as the whole of last week. She'd spent most of it looking for a job before heading to the market to pick things up for dinner. But like every other day, each inquiry she’d made had been met with rejection.
She didn’t understand it. It should be easy. She was a good worker and on a station this size, something must need doing somewhere. She didn’t care what it was… filing in an office for one of the many businesses that were crammed into the civilian sector or even washing pots in a restaurant. She just wanted to find something so she could pay her way and not feel so terrible for taking advantage of her sister's mate, who was providing for both her and her son. She would always be grateful to Kaas for saving Ollie's life, but she needed to stand on her own two feet, and despite what her sister thought of her, she was determined not to stick her head in the sand anymore.
Which meant no more network soap operas or rom-coms. She'd restricted herself to a few books that she read when Ollie was in bed. That was her favorite time of night, with her now healthy son tucked against her side and stroking his hair as he slept peacefully beside her. She could shut all her worries away and just concentrate on the two of them as she relaxed with a couple of chapters of her book or prepared a plan of attack for the next day in the journal Kaas had given to her.
He was unexpectedly sweet for such a grumpy guy, especially with Ollie. And the way he looked at her sister made Sadie’s romantic heart swoon. If only she could find a handsome Latharian warrior to look at her like that… One particular handsome Latharian…
Turning the corner, she spotted her door and sighed with relief. Somehow, the basket had gotten heavier since the market, with all the ingredients inside. She would forever be amazed at how much Latharians could eat, but they were all so huge that she wasn’t surprised. It must take a lot of food to run bodies that big. She didn't mind the extra workout though, which helped as she planned on baking tonight. She loved baking, always had. And it was even better now she had a proper kitchen.
She bit her lip. She’d also added some extra ingredients to her basket. She'd noticed that Vaarn, the silver-haired, handsome warrior who had helped Kaas rescue Halle, liked her small sponge cakes, so she was going to make more for him. Maybe he wouldn’t run away from her so quickly this time.
Perhaps because she was so preoccupied with what order she needed to prepare ingredients for tonight’s dinner she missed the leather-clad legs stuck out from a maintenance hatch. Too busy counting up the measurements in her head, she slammed her foot into the side of a heavily-muscled thigh and fell full length across the corridor.
Her elbow and hip slammed into the floor, hard, and she squeaked as pain flared through her. But she was less bothered about that than she was about the contents of her basket scattering across the floor like escaped ferrets on a rampage. Dropping to her hands and knees, she scrambled for them before they could get too far or, worse, get trodden on.
“Hey, hey,” a deep voice said. Strong hands closed around her arms and hauled her up against an equally strong body. “Leave them. I’ll get them in a minute. Are you okay?”
She looked up into dark gray eyes ringed with silver, her breath catching at the intense look on her rescuer’s face. Vaarn. His gaze flicked over her, then back to her face, latching onto her lips. She shivered, unable to help the little flick of her tongue out to wet them. His eyes darkened.
“Sadie,” he said, his voice lower and deeper than she’d ever heard it, the rasp making something deep in her stomach twist. God, it had to be illegal for a guy to turn her on with just his voice. If not, it should be. “Are you okay? Do I need to take you to the medical bay?”
She blinked in surprise at his statement, managing a startled laugh. “For a little tumble like that? God no, what do you think I am… made of glass?”
Pulling herself from his arms, she managed to stand on her own two feet, brushing herself off. “I know you guys all think human women are all delicate and that, but we’re not. I promise you, the floor came off worse.”
She made the mistake of looking up, and caught the edge of a puzzled smile on his lips. He blanked his expression when he saw her looking, but she caught it and almost whimpered. Fucking hell, how could a guy be this good-looking?
He eyed the floor, eyebrow raised a fraction. “I’m sure it is. However, I am not responsible for any injury the floor may have sustained, just yours. I think you need to go to medical.”
“Who died and made you God?” She snorted. “I’m fine. Honest.” Or she would be if she could stop thinking of how nice it had felt to be held in his arms, pressed up against all those hard muscles. “If you want to help, help me pick this up. I hope the flour hasn’t spilled, or there won’t be any cakes tonight.”
“Cakes?” he asked, moving around her and scooping the escaped produce up in huge hands. She snuck a glance at his feet. Yeah, those combat boots were huge as well. “Like the ones you gave to me the other day?”
His expression was level and neutral, but she didn’t miss the little note of interest in his voice. She hid her smile. Gotcha.
“Yes, those were plain fairy cakes. I’m planning on making lemon cakes today,” she said, holding up two yellow fruits by way of explanation. She couldn’t believe she’d found them at the market. “I haven’t seen a real lemon for years. I’ve always had to use a flavoring substitute, so I can’t wait to see what they taste like.”
“I’ve never tasted lemon,” he replied, his gaze locked onto her as he held out the basket for the lemons. She put them in carefully. She couldn’t remember if citrus fruit bruised, but she didn’t want to risk it. “They look… odd. Most human food does.”
“Yeah, but you have the most amazing chocolate cake,” she paused, realizing the basket was filled, and they were just standing there in the middle of the corridor. “Err… thank you for your help. I should let you get back to it,” she said, indicating his tools and the access panel he’d been working on. Handsome and worked with his hands, he was the whole package…
“I’m finished.” His answer was abrupt, and he turned and knelt down to pack his tools away. “Wait there, I’ll walk you to your quarters to make sure you’re okay.”
Turning her head, she looked at her door. Thirty feet down the hallway. Even she couldn’t get into trouble in that short distance. “Seriously, it’s fine. I’m just down here,” she said, reaching for the basket he’d put down next to him.
His hand shot out, covering hers on the handle. He looked up through the silver fall of his hair, and the expression on his face stole her breath away. “Do you ever just do as you’re told?”
She bit her lip. “No… not really.”
Shaking his head, he pulled her fingers off the basket handle. His thumb stroked along the inside of her wrist. “You are not carrying it. I will. Understand?”
