Shade eventually responded with a soft grunt. In the end, I thought it was just to acknowledge that he’d heard me. He didn’t look at me or take me up on anything, even though I’d thought that was a pretty clear invitation to resume our earlier activities.
Confused and stung, I let his hand drop. I didn’t understand, and I definitely wasn’t used to putting myself out there like that, despite apparently going full throttle whenever I was with Shade. Our kiss had initially been a ruse to trick the Dark Watch, but he’d seemed just as into it as I’d been, especially the second part, after we’d ducked around the corner. But now, it was as though he’d taken a cold shower, while I was still hot, hot, hot.
“Did you take a shower?” he asked.
Shit. Had I said something about showers out loud? I didn’t think so.
“Yeah. At Susan’s. She’s really nice.”
“You smell like peaches.” Shade glanced over at me. “I fucking love peaches. Best fruit in the galaxy.”
He took my hand back, and just like that, I felt better again. I had to duck my head to hide my smile, and the silence that stretched between us after that didn’t seem so awkward anymore.
Worry still niggled at me as we made our way toward the Endeavor, and I finally recognized some landmarks. I was starting to think that numbskull wasn’t even the half of it. It was a little scary how this man I barely knew was starting to hold sway over my emotions and occupy my thoughts. Maybe it wasn’t such a bad thing, having to get off Albion 5 in a rush.
And then maybe I could stop wondering why Shade looked like he wanted to consume me one moment, and then scowled so grimly the next.
Chapter 15
The next day, Shade showed up with the sunrise again, bringing his equipment up the Squirrel Tree on a loaded-down, front-opening hover crate. He supervised while some people from a delivery service dropped off the rest of the reinforced metal tiles we needed as well as the new—and significantly upgraded—armored door. They took care of the initial setup and heavy lifting on the door, and Shade, in definite need of Jax’s special brew, watched and directed from behind his dark sunglasses, slowly sipping coffee from the mug I’d brought outside for him.
Shade had already paid for everything, and when I tried to pay him back, at least for the door, with the money Susan had given me the night before, he just shook his head.
“Hold on to it for now,” he said. “I’ll tally it all up when the work is done.”
I put the universal currency back into my pocket with a shrug. “That seems awfully generous for a self-proclaimed space rogue.”
“Like I said, I’m a successful space rogue.”
“Ah, that’s right. SRP. Wouldn’t a successful space rogue take the money as soon as it was offered? I’d figured there was a bit of being mercenary involved.”
“Maybe.” He sipped his coffee. “But there’s no rush. A few days won’t make a difference.”
They did to some people. Maybe my hunch about Shade having family money was correct. Or maybe he made a bunch of money doing whatever else it was he did. One thing was for sure: he didn’t open up about his work.
“So, Mr. Phenom, do you often take on odd jobs like this?”
He looked over at me, his eyes hidden and his expression inscrutable. “No.”
I heated up from the inside out, even though I shouldn’t have read anything into what he’d just said. Little starbursts still exploded in my stomach. “Are you a sucker for a damsel in distress, then?” I asked.
He slipped off his dark glasses. “Is that what you are?” His brown eyes were intense, too serious, when I’d just been trying to tease.
Obviously, I was bad at it.
I shook my head. “I always land on my feet.” Just like Bonk.
I glanced toward the Endeavor, all beat up but still the best ship ever. “Or fly away to fight another day.”
“Fight for what, Tess?”
Crap. I needed to shut up. “Nothing. Just joking around.”
Shade’s eyes lasered in on the small scar on my chin. “You throw an okay punch.”
“I missed.”
“I ducked.”
I scoffed. “It’s the same thing, Shade.”
“I wouldn’t say that.” He went back to watching the workmen fit the armored door into place. Shade would see to the finishing touches and electrical connections, but he needed both the extra manpower and their machinery to haul the massive parts up and