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“Hello,” she said politely. “I’m Naomi, the prospective surrogate.”
As she got closer, she saw that he wasn’t alone. A gigantic canine sat by his side, its ears pricked up with interest.
Naomi’s heart melted immediately as she took in the shaggy, cloud-gray pelt and large, brown eyes.
“Oh,” she said softly, crouching down and extending her open palms. “Hello, there.”
A growl so low it sounded like a freight-hover emitted from the furry muzzle.
That was odd. Naomi was great with animals. She loved them, and they loved her. Or at least they did until now. The only reason she didn’t have a pet of her own was her relentless work schedule.
“He’s beautiful,” she said, straightening up and addressing the man instead, so as to give the canine a moment to accustom itself to her.
“Her name is Athena,” the man said.
She expected him to say more, but he just kept staring at her with that strange, dreamy expression, like she was about to hand him the winning numbers to the sector lotto.
Glancing back down at the dog, she had to fight the instinct to apologize for guessing its gender wrong.
“Hello, Athena,” she said softly instead.
If she was waiting for a thump of its tail, the wait was clearly going to be in vain. The dog didn’t even blink at her.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” the man said at last, almost startling her. “Gage.”
His voice was even deeper than Athena’s growl, something about it made her a little weak in the knees. And he still wore that expression - so soft for such a huge, muscular man. Even the harsh planes of his face defied the haze in his eyes as he drank her in like he was dying of thirst.
Suddenly, Naomi was aware of the way her dress wrapped around her ribs, the air in the room swirling on her skin, her own heartbeat throbbing in her chest.
“Hello, there, I’m Dr. Oppyx,” a bright, cheerful voice came from the front door. “I see you two have met.”
“We three,” Naomi said, tearing her eyes from Gage to greet the new arrival.
“Ah, yes,” a small Maltaffian woman in a lab coat said warmly. “Athena is with us too. Oberon has taken great pains to ensure she enjoys her stay, Gage. But if you notice anything we can do to improve, please let us know. She is our first canine guest.”
“Thank you very much,” he replied respectfully.
Naomi tried to hide her surprise. In her experience, a man of Gage’s position would be trying to assert himself and demand more at any opportunity.
Instead, he was friendly and down to earth, and it was his dog who acted like she was too good for this place.
Naomi stole another glance at her, just in case she had relaxed, but the beautiful gray canine was staring straight ahead, shoulders back, snout perfectly parallel with the floor, like she was posing for a marble statue.
“Why don’t the two of you have a seat, so we can begin the holo-film welcoming you to the Center?” Dr. Oppyx offered, gesturing to a small couch in the waiting area of the café.
The sofa hardly looked large enough for just Gage, but Naomi marched over anyway. If she knew one thing about men of means, it was that you did what they wanted and let them complain if something wasn’t right.
She squeezed herself as far to the side as possible.
Gage joined her, lowering himself gingerly onto the cushions.
His big thigh pressed against hers, sending more ripples of awareness through her.
“Excellent,” Dr. Oppyx announced.
But then Athena was snuffling and snaking her snout between them, almost as if she was trying to nudge Naomi off the sofa.
“Athena, my other side,” Gage said, jerking his chin the other way.
