started to get the prickly sensation of someone watching me. I couldn’t look around too much without being obvious, so I took the most winding, convoluted path I could manage without getting myself lost, trying to shake the feeling—and whoever it was, if there really was someone. I didn’t underestimate the strength of paranoia. It was entirely possible my twitchiness was all coming from my own head. As Shade and I had said earlier, the imagination could be a powerful thing.
Just before I reached the docking towers, my anxiety finally faded. Maybe that chafing feeling on my nerves had just been because of the multiple Dark Watch patrols I’d seen around the city, some on foot and some in armor-plated hover cruisers. I’d kept my head down, Shade’s hat on, and stuck almost uncomfortably close to groups of other pedestrians, pretending to be a part of them. Guards were more likely to overlook harmless-seeming civilian groups than anyone walking alone.
When I finally strode onto our platform on the three-hundred-and-fourteenth level of the Squirrel Tree, Shade Ganavan was just packing up for the day. A welding mask and various other pieces of equipment now occupied the hover crate where the two metal tiles had previously been.
“Hello, SRP,” I called out as I looked over the progress Shade had made, presumably with Jax’s help to fit the heavy tiles into place. It was impressive, and I was beginning to think he might deserve his nickname. He’d patched up my bedroom entirely in one day and gotten a good start on another hole.
“Sugar.” Shade acknowledged me back with a slight smirk.
I let that go. He’d done good work.
“Thanks for the bookstore recommendation. Flipping Pages was perfect.”
Shade nodded and then took a long drink of water, draining half a bottle in one go. More stubble had grown on his jaw since this morning, giving his already attractive features a rougher look I liked even more.
The rest of him looked grubbier, too. There was a black streak of oil down one corded forearm, and he was covered in the sticky evidence of a hard day’s work. His short, dark hair looked damp and crushed, probably from being under his welding helmet. Sweat slicked his neck. I watched a bead roll down the thick tendon that began just behind his ear and angled toward the base of his throat. The drip caught on his collarbone and stopped.
My mouth went suddenly dry. I wanted to lick the drop off.
“What’s the matter, starshine? Never seen hot and dirty before?” he asked.
My eyes jumped to his. He hadn’t put even a hint of innuendo into his voice. I couldn’t tell if he was flirting or not, but desire still surged inside me like an electrical pulse. Warmth simmered between my legs, and hot and dirty played on repeat through my every thought.
“Seen all kinds of things,” I eventually said.
His expression seemed to harden somehow. “I’ll bet you have,” he muttered under his breath.
I felt that little crease form between my eyebrows, the one that was quickly etching itself into my first permanent wrinkle. The heat swirling through my abdomen dissipated, leaving only confusion instead. The weirdest things seemed to tick Shade off.
Bonk broke the tension by poking his delicate head out of my bag and letting out a croaky little meow. The still-sleepy, wake-up sound was immeasurably cute.
Shade frowned at my bag. “What the hell is that?”
“A cat,” I said. “They’re all over the place.”
“Yeah, but you don’t just pick up any old one. It could have vermin. Or be totally wild.”
“He’s not any old one,” I said, leaping to Bonk’s defense. “He’s Bonk, and Susan gave him to me.”
“She gave you a fucking cat?” He looked so stunned it was almost comical.
“Jealous?” I asked. “She’s never given you a cat?”
His hands landed on his hips. Machine oil and scarred knuckles flashed at me.
Damn. I liked those hands.
“I don’t want a cat,” he said.
“Sure you don’t.” My tone conveyed just how much I believed that.
Unzipping my bag all the way, I took Bonk out and lifted him up onto the Endeavor. He started sniffing around immediately. I hoped he wasn’t about to pee. I still needed to set up that box.
I turned back to Shade. “You can pat mine if you’d like.”
His eyes took on a sudden glint, and a blush exploded across my face, burning up my pale cheeks.
I waited for Shade to follow up with something, anything, hoping he would, even if it was a lewd joke.