“Come here,” he said, holding out his arms.
Automatically, she took a step toward him, eyes going heavy-lidded—but she hesitated. There was something in her eyes, a terrible uncertainty he wanted to understand, wanted to take from her.
“Ophelia, come here.”
She shook her head slightly, leaning away from him. “I can’t.”
“Why?”
“I can’t do this. I can’t rely on you.” She hugged her arms around her body. “You have to go back, Sam. For all I know, Logan will wipe all memory of me from your database, and…”
The thought enraged him. No one would touch his memories of her. He would back them up a hundred times if he had to, leave himself clues to find his way back to her. No one would take her from him, nor him from her.
“No,” he said firmly. “That will not happen.”
She gave him a miserable look. “You can’t know that.”
“I do. I will not allow it.”
“You don’t get to allow things! You’re a robot. They own you. I’m—I’m treating you like a real person, and I’m going tomiss youlike a real person, and it… it’s going to hurt. I don’t want to hurt like that. I can’t.”
Her voice got smaller and smaller as she spoke. She paced away from him, snatching her purse and keys off the table by the entry. “I have to go see my dad. Just stay here.”
He was right behind her as she stepped out the door, impervious to the withering glare she directed at him.
“I cannot bring a pleasure unit to my dad’s office.” She pointed at the glowing designation over his right pectoral. “Get back in the apartment right now.”
She pressed her palm against his metal sternum and tried to push him. He didn’t even sway under the pressure.
“Get inside,” she hissed, smacking his chest. “You big, metal jerk! You arenotcoming!”
He narrowed his eyes at her, returning her impatient glare. He grabbed her arm, and she gasped as he dragged her back into the apartment with him, all the way to the bedroom.
“Sam! What the hell are you—oh!”
He scooped her up by her waist and tossed her onto the bed. Her cheeks flushed crimson, and her breath became erratic as she scrambled up onto her elbows in the middle of the mattress.
“Stay,” he said firmly, pointing a finger at her.
She made a sound of outrage. “This is so not the time to…”
He turned away from her and walked into the closet.
“Wait, what are you doing?”
He heard the rustle of fabric as she disobeyed him, scrambling off the bed to follow him. He knew she wouldn’t like what she was about to see, but she was the one who had refused to listen.
She watched in silence as he unbuttoned his shirt and let it pool on the floor. Her breath hitched as he bent over to drag his white uniform pants down his legs.
“Oh!” she yipped, clapping a hand over her eyes. “You’re—what the heck are you?—”
“Changing.” He pulled a thick, black thermal shirt off a hanger.
Logan was smaller in form, but the clothes would stretch acceptably. He borrowed a pair of black boxers and dark grey pants with numerous pockets.
“You’re not allowed in public without your uniform.” She objected, just as he’d known she would. “It’s against the law!”
“Well, you will not allow me in public with you in my uniform, so I will not be wearing it.”
