“Wait, how did you find the woman? You said Gatley was dead and she wasn’t wearing any good amber.”
“It’s true that Gatley was dead and so was his tech, but the locator on his sled was functional. He had put the coordinates for her location into it.”
“Where was the sled?”
“In the rotunda. Within visual distance. I found her and we used the sled to get back to the surface.”
Alice continued to watch him with her disturbingly insightful eyes. “Are you okay with knowing that you are partially responsible for Gatley’s death?”
“To be clear,” he said, “I never had a problem with Gatley being dead. I just needed to know if I had killed him and how.”
“And now you know that you can manipulate at least one very dangerous Alien artifact and possibly others.”
He smiled faintly. “But as of today, you are the only other individual in the world who knows my secret.”
“Are you worried that I’ll report you to the Bureau?”
“No,” he said. “I trust you to keep my secrets.”
“Even though I’m naive?”
“I never said you were naive. I said you were innocent.”
“Is there a difference?”
“Yes. Absolutely there’s a difference—but damned if I can explain it. I repeat, you are not naive. You’ve dealt with a lot of very harsh and dangerous realities in your life. Not only that, you managed to escape Serenity Gardens and stay out of Kelbrook’s path for several months. You are smart, fast on your feet, and you’ve got grit. You might be overly optimistic on occasion, but you are not naive.”
“Wow.” Once again amusement glittered in her vivid eyes. “Do I get a gold star?”
“I’ll see to it,” he vowed.
“To be clear, there is no way you can call me innocent now.”
“No?”
She gave him a smug smile. “Exhibit A: consider what happened between us last night.”
She waved a triumphant hand toward the bed.
“I see what you mean. But here’s your problem. There’s innocent sex and then there’s dirty sex.”
She flushed. “Are you implying that what we had was innocent sex?”
“Yep. Don’t get me wrong, it was great sex, but yes, innocent.”
“Ha. Is there even such a thing as innocent sex?”
“Oh, yeah. But given your positive attitude and a lot of practice, I don’t see any reason why you can’t develop a talent for dirty sex.”
Her smile turned very shiny. “The good news for me is that I happen to live in the right city for learning about dirty sex. I’m sure there are all sorts of opportunities for picking up the fine points here in Illusion Town.”
“You’re luckier than you realize because you don’t even have to leave this hotel room to acquire the experience and the skill set required for truly dirty sex.”
She grinned. Her face was very pink now, but challenge sparkled in her eyes. “Are you offering your services as an instructor?”
“Pro bono.”
A series of sharp raps on the door stopped both of them cold.
