“For what purpose?”
Dawn debated how to answer. In theory, the patterns of light were meant to confuse autonomous security systems, leaving them vulnerable to override. She had devised it as a means to counter illegitimate security forces bent on militaristic coups or other nefarious personal armies. The best defense was a good offense, as they said, and she believed in keeping three steps ahead.
“It’s a child’s toy,” she muttered, putting her hands on her hips. “Enough distraction. What investment terms do you have to offer? You must have a figure in mind.”
“Peter” grinned, giving a nonchalant shrug. “That depends on what we’re investing in. I don’t have much information on your newest project, other than it’s headed into uncharted waters and may spin out a multitude of new gadgets and doodads as a result.”
“Or it may spin out nothing. Your firm would have to be comfortable taking the project as a loss if nothing comes of it.”
He nodded. “We understand the risks. But we need more information about the project before we’re willing to talk hard numbers.”
The giant started walking around the room, poking at her inventions. She was about to follow him and demand he stop touching her things when Ladee pulled her lab coat to attract her attention.
“I don’t trust this Jeffrey Peter Sloane,” he whispered.
“No shit,” she muttered in response.
“He wasn’t one of the handful of people I reached out to,” he said, his expression saying that he wanted to reassure her of his loyalty.
“No, he’s something else entirely. And it’s time to find out just what he’s up to.”
Planting herself in front of him, Dawn slapped a hand against his chest. His hard, warm chest with skin she remembered feeling like an amalgamation of satin and velvet, surely too soft for a man to have, and yet—
Get a hold of yourself!
She let out a deep breath. “Let’s stop the charade, shall we?”
“But I thought you liked roleplaying,” he said, his voice a low thrum.
Dawn narrowed her eyes, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose. “Clearly not as much as you thought I liked it.”
His grin turned feral, but his words distracted her. “Why do you wear these?” he asked, reaching for her glasses. “You don’t need an affectation when you’re the real thing.”
Before she could stop him, he’d pulled them off her face. Dawn frowned, the world around her becoming a blur. She heard his sharp intake of breath and realized that he’d noticed her eyes.
“They’re not an affectation,” she growled, reaching out to demand their return. Because almost all injuries could be fixed with a mixture of advanced medical technologies, nanotech, and genetic manipulation, aids like eyeglasses were generally not needed, which made them little more than a fashion statement.
But not in her case. “When I was younger, I had an accident. Mixed the wrong compounds together. Before I could get to the eyewash station, the damage was done.” Dawn didn’t like to remember that day, so she told the story as quickly as she could. “Nerve damage makes surgery, even on the nano level, impossible due to the high risk of blindness. Nothing short of a total removal and implantation can correct the damage.”
She felt the glasses return to her hand and she slipped them on, letting out a breath. Now that she could see details again, she noted the look on his face. It seemed pained. Usually, reactions to her eyes provoked a response along the scale from fascination to disgust. It was her irises. They’d been bleached by the chemicals and were nearly white. Not a sickly white but a white that seemed to glow with an inner light. They tended to disturb people, so she kept them hidden behind the special tinted lenses that also helped her to see.
“I’m sorry that happened to you.” His voice was gruff, the playfulness he’d exhibited earlier all but disappeared.
Dawn shrugged. “Not your fault.” She adjusted the glasses on the bridge of her nose and took a deep breath. “Now, perhaps you’d like to tell me what you’re really doing here.”
His face took on a neutral expression. “I have told you. We’d like to invest.”
She could feel her calm evaporating. She was embarrassed by the situation, afraid of what his presence meant, scared that her career was in jeopardy. Not to mention the physical reaction she was experiencing, being back in his orbit. It was too much. Dawn was ready to snap.
“I don’t have time for games, so if you’re not going to spill, then you can go back to your bosses and tell them I’ll never sell out, no matter what they got on me. Go ahead. Try and blackmail me, and we’ll see how far you get.”
He raised his hands, palms out, playing at innocence. “I don’t know who you think I am, but—”
“I know who the fuck you are,” she said, her voice low, urgent. “I’m not an idiot. It was a great setup, I must admit. I don’t know how you figured out I’d be at the Double V, so kudos to your surveillance team. But if you think you’re going to use my occasional nighttime activities against me, you can try, but I’ll come back at you with everything I’ve got, and I swear—”
“Calm down, sweetheart,” he said, putting a hand on her shoulder. “You have the wrong idea. Last night was a coincidence. You see, I—”
“I’m a scientist,” she snarled, shoving his hand off. “I don’t believe in those kinds of coincidences. So what do you want? Patents? Details of my latest work? You’re not going to get me to come work for you, so you can just forget that.”
“Slow down,” he said, shaking his head. “Can I explain?”
“No need,” she said, turning her back on him and wrapping her arms around herself. “I should have realized something was off last night when you pursued me in the first place. But I thought, hey, maybe he likes new girls.”
“Why in the hell would I not pursue you?” he asked, coming up behind her and bending to speak softly at her ear. “You’re beautiful.”
“Ha.” Dawn shifted, pushing him back. “Don’t patronize me. Tell me what you want, or get the fuck out of here.”
“You want to know what I want?”
