“Yup,” a deep voice said.
“Great,” she said with far more cheer than necessary.“It’s right over there.”
“You ladies alone?”The second voice was even sleazier than the first.
I was hating this plan more by the second.
“Captain’s busy.You need any help with that cargo?”Burn asked in a flat voice.
“Just being friendly.Don’t get your knickers in a twist.”A hearty laugh.
I clenched my hand around the butt of my blaster.
“Oh, don’t you worry, boys.It’s not my panties in a twist.It’s my trigger finger with an itch.”
My jaw dropped at Burn’s response.
“You don’t have to be such a bitch about it,” the second guy said.“We were just bein’ friendly.”
“I don’t get paid to be friendly,” Burn said.“Load your hover cart and give her the tablet to confirm payment.”She gestured toward Lacy with her chin.
If Burn wasn’t careful, she’d blow the whole “bad mercenary” charade.
Lacy counted off the bags of feed as they loaded them.“Fifty-nine on the cart, fifty-nine on the invoice.Just need your signature to complete the transaction, gentlemen.”
“How about you let me buy you a drink instead?”
“Time is money, gentlemen,” Burn said and took another step closer.“And I don’t want to waste any more time waiting for my money.”
I blinked in surprise.Burn had always been a badass, but this was next level.The mercenary queen.
I’d buy her a drink myself to thank her for protecting Lacy like this.
Lacy made a small sound of pain as the tablet was wrenched out of her hands.I assume the asshole signed it, because then he said, “See?Happy now?”
“Perfect,” Burn said.“Now get off my ship.”
“Thought you said the captain was busy.”
She raised a brow.“Mmhmm.Busy watching you two.”
Weapon held casually in her hand, she stared at them.Finally, after some grumbling, the hover cart and the two men tromped down the ship.
Lacy was quick to close the ramp.“Burn, you were amazing.”
“I really was, wasn’t I?”A wide smile broke across her dark face.“That was so fun.”
Applause echoed around the cargo hold.Orion stepped out from his alcove, clapping.“You’re a bad bitch, Burn.”
Burn holstered her weapon and practically skipped across the now-empty cargo hold.“Damn, Orion, I’ve missed you.”She launched into his arms.
He caught her easily and swung her around.“Missed you too, squirt.”
Orion gently set Burn back on her feet and she leaned into him.“Now do we get to go fuck some shit up?”
“I think we’ve created a monster,” I said with a smile.Burn had always been an adrenaline junkie.Stirring those guys up had probably been a rush.“But to answer your question, yes.Now we go fuck some shit up.”
48
