His eyes sparkled. “I know all about urgent matters.”
“I bet you do.” Lucy crossed her arms. “You’re supposed to be a monster hunter and all.” It sounded so cool saying it out loud. Numerous questions danced on the tip of her tongue and she swallowed them all back.
“Officially we’re ‘Retrievers’ but I’m an extremophile. And for those who don’t know what that means, it’s ‘a microorganism, especially an archaean, that lives in conditions of extreme temperature, acidity, alkalinity, or chemical concentration.’Better watch out Lucy Larkswest. Millions of dollars will bring out us weirdos.” He winked and leaned down to pick up a discarded missile.
She paused, digesting his words. Confusion wasn’t in her nature, but weirdness certainly had a way of finding her. It liked to chase her down, knock her to the ground, and drag her kicking and screaming across every aspect of her life.
“If you’re trying to tell me you’re strange, I’ll have you know,” Lucy pursed her lips, “that I once spent more money on male strippers for my friend’s baby shower. At the time I’d forgotten it was a baby shower and hosted a bachelorette party for her by mistake. That party will go down in history as the best baby shower to ever have occurred in all of history.”
He pointed the tip of a missile at her and smirked. “I’d strip for you for free.”
“I don’t think so, Moss Johann, I don’t want to see what a self-proclaimed microorganism has packing under his clothes.”
“You got me there.” He laughed and she couldn’t help but smile back. “Would you believe me if I said I have over forty claws that are bigger than a normal man’s penis?”
Her gaze shot to his hands. “And my hair’s naturally pink,” Lucy mused.
“Riiight.”
Her smile widened.
“At least my attributes go beyond my looks,” she teased.
Moss pointed the missile at his heart. “You’re breaking my body cavity wide open.”
Lucy took a step closer to him, finding the banter refreshing and calming her down. The Cyborg wasn’t nearly as intimidating as she first thought. Very few people spoke to her like he did and she was going to relish every second of informal conversation that she could.
But the closer she got, the more she needed to strain her neck to meet his eyes. Her heart began to flutter anew. “That missile will do more than open your chest, Mr. Johann.”
“Moss,” he corrected.
“Moss.” Her mouth watered. “That missile couldn’t kill the monster residing at the far end of the pool.”
He turned to fully face her, the mischief gone from his expression. “Was it you or your androids that tried to kill it with this?”
Lucy leaned back.Is he mad?“We both tried.” Suddenly she regretted moving closer to him.
His face darkened further. “Don’t ever do something so stupid again. You could’ve been killed, horribly, and I know you have no idea what you’re up against. I read your plea for help nearly a hundred times.”
“I’m nowhere near stupid, and what kind of person talks that way to the person that’s paying them? You don’t even know me.”I’m so much more than what people write about me.Indignation fueled her. “I’ve had extensive training in self-protection and I know how to use more weapons than the average soldier can name. And even if I didn’t, I have some of the best technology on the market to teach me how.”
“Then why isn’t your pest dead, Ms. Larkswest?”
“Because I didn’t want to destroy the one place in the universe that only has happy memories!” Lucy turned away from him and leaned on the railing, looking out over the grounds. “I swam every day, every night in this pool as a child. I’d like to swim in it again.”
He lightly touched her arm. “It’s not worth you getting hurt over.”
“No,” she agreed. “But I can’t help but try.” She’d endure being chastised by him if it meant restoring her paradise. She didn’t like it butenduringsummed up her whole life.
His fingers circled her wrist, drawing her from her past. Moss lifted her hand and kissed the back of it softly. The thrumming in her chest returned.
“I vow by tomorrow evening you’ll be able to swim safely in your home again,” he whispered across her skin.
Her lips parted as their eyes met over her hand.
Oh no.
6
