began to shake a little as he chuckled.
“It’s not funny.”
He laughed harder. “It is a little.”
She pushed against his chest, and he released her. “It scared the shit out of me!”
Gemma tried to stomp away, but he lunged and grabbed her, lifting her off her feet, and easily twisted her in his arms to get a view of her ass. “No actual shitting was done,” he announced, carrying her into the bathroom. “I’m sorry.” He still sounded amused, though. “It wouldn’t have hurt you. As soon as it registered a life, it retreated, didn’t it?” He put her down on her feet and flashed a grin as he let her go. “Shower. Use the bathroom. Magna will have breakfast waiting for us in the kitchen. Do you want me to stay in case the bathroom bot makes an appearance?”
Her mouth fell open. “There’s one for the bathroom, too?”
She could tell he was trying hard not to laugh again. “You look so horrified. Damn, you’re adorable. Do I look like I scrub the tub? Welcome to the future, Gemma. Bots do all household chores. I’ll program them to monitor your life functions and to avoid you.”
“This is not funny.” She crossed her arms over her breasts and wanted to stomp her foot like a child.
He masked his features. “I won’t laugh again.”
She still saw the mirth in his eyes. “What other kinds of bots are in our home?”
“Cleaning bots are common. I think there are ten in all. I’ll just program them to avoid you, okay? They won’t venture out to perform their tasks while you’re in a room. Magna will be the exception, since you need to tell her what to prepare for our meals.”
“It scared me, Big.”
“I know.”
She moved to the wall and waved her hand, stepping back as a panel slid up and the shower came forward. “Go do that programing thing. I don’t want some bot coming in here and scaring me again while I’m washing my hair.”
“Gemma?”
She sighed, turning toward him again. “What?”
“I really am sorry.”
She walked into his arms and slid her own around his waist, resting her cheek against his chest. “The future is weird, but I’ll adjust. Just make sure I’m warned before something comes at me again.”
He hugged her and placed another kiss on the top of her head. “I’m going to adjust the suite settings to include two life signs. It won’t happen again. The maintenance and cleaning bots will remain inactive around you. None of them would hurt you. I swear. Please trust me on that.”
“I’ll try. Thank you.” She let him go and backed away to put a little space between them.
“I’ll bring you a shirt and add you to the system. Meet me in the kitchen.”
She nodded and stepped into the shower, prepared to turn on the water.
Big chuckled again as he left the bathroom.
“I heard that!”
“You’re fucking adorable,” he yelled back.
She eventually relaxed under the spray of water, but still hurried. Breakfast sounded good.
Big couldn’t stop grinning as he added Gemma’s life sign for the bots to monitor, programming them to only activate when she wasn’t in the same room. Then he took a seat at the bar, watching Magna move around the kitchen.
It amused him how frightened Gemma was of the bots. She’d quickly learn they were extremely safe and made life far easier. He loved the fact that his quarters had so many. On Clone World, it was a feature only offered to paying guests. He’d had to clean the dorm with other clones. They also hadn’t been given access to cooked meals. The dispensary offered them nutrient bars instead.
Magna served both plates. “May I assist you with anything else?”
“Two glasses of milk, please.”
She rolled away and came back within a minute, setting them down.
“That will be all.”
The bedroom door opened and he twisted on his seat, smiling at Gemma. “Feel better?”
She approached him and took a seat to his left. “Yes.”
“Good. Dig in and we’ll get you measured to order outfits for you next.”
“How do we do that? Do you have like space delivery?”
He hesitated. “There’s a tailor shop on the station. It’s automatically run by robots.”
“Wow. Really?”
He nodded. “The miners and their families needed uniforms and clothing. It was easier than having them shipped with supplies via space shuttles. The storage on transports is limited. Food, water, and replacement parts are the priority. We got extremely lucky when they abandoned this place. They left almost everything behind. It’s cheaper to buy new from