She looked stunning. She wore a silky blue outfit he’d never seen. In the photo, she was smiling up at the camera likesomeone had just offered her a year’s supply of Flek’s pizza. No, he realized a second later. She wasn’t smiling into a camera. She was looking up at Mace. He’d captured the image himself.
“I was gone for one day! How did this happen? When?”
Now, the view changed to show Mace. He looked happier than he’d ever seen him. “This is from last night.”
“Who are you? And what did you do with my batch-brother?Youasked Tix out?”
“Fraxxyou, pretty boy. I’m more than capable of going after what I want without you orchestrating things. She came to the club with me. We had dinner before my shift, and then she watched the band while I worked.”
“You took her to work?” That sounded more like Mace. Less romance, more practicality.
“I did. She likes blues music, and she said the new band was excellent.” Mace’s eyes gleamed as his grin got impossibly wider. “And, brother of mine, let me tell you something. She tasted even sweeter than she looked in that photo. So yeah, I think I can convince her to go out with us tonight. You’ve got some catching up to do.”
He found himself smiling back at Mace. The big man’s happiness was contagious. “I’ll be there in a few hours. Since you’ve got this all under control, do you happen to have any idea where we can take her?”
Smug was not an expression he was used to seeing on his brother’s face, but there it was again.
“As a matter of fact, I do. Tix will love it. Did you know she’s lived her entire life on a space station?”
As Mace told him the plan, Xaber could only nod in agreement as he tried to wrap his brain around what had happened in the short time he’d been gone. If Tix could inspire Mace to action, she was someone rare and special. She mighteven be the one they’d been hoping to find someday—a female who had room in her heart for both of them, scars and all.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Tish was convincedthat she was paying some kind of karmic debt for the wonderful time she had last night. Oh, her day had started off normally enough. She’d slept better than she had in weeks, and Grotta had enough work to keep her busy for most of the day.
Mace had messaged her a few times to tell her where he was and what he was doing. Last she’d heard, he was at Flek’s. She’d recommended he try the juice she’d had the night they’d met, and he’d agreed to give her his opinion the next time they met up.
It had all been going well until she’d gotten a message while working at Grotta’s. All the sleeping pods in her part of the hotel had been burgled, and they’d done so much damage that the pods were all out of commission for a day or so. Several of them had also had their secure storage cubbies pried open. The only good news as that her cubby was still intact.
She’d finished up what she was doing and hurried back to assess the damage. The only thing the thieves stole from her was the electrified deterrent lock she used to protect the pod while she was asleep inside. The device worked well, but it had to be activated from inside the pod after the door was sealed for thenight. She’d been in a hurry and left it on the bed. She hoped the thing malfunctioned and electrocuted whoever had taken it.
The manager was less than sympathetic. Her focus was the loss of income and the cost of the repairs. She’d made it clear she didn’t give a damn about the affected customers, which meant Tish and the others were left trying to figure out where they were sleeping tonight.
The only way to ensure availability was to pay for a pod in advance. The manager refused to refund her money until she got clearance from someone higher on the food chain. It sounded like a scam to Tish, but for the moment, she was stuck. The one thing she had done was to talk the difficult woman into letting her use the showers to clean up. They were only for hotel residents. Since they were still holding on to her funds, she argued that made her a customer. The manager had agreed and then fled to her office to hide.
Now, Tish was perched on a bench outside the hotel, watching the crowd and trying to work out what to do next. Without the scrip she was owed, she couldn’t afford to rent a different pod for more than a few hours. All her belongings were stashed in one of the lockers in the lobby of the hotel. After the thefts, security was suddenly important, so she believed her stuff was safe until she found somewhere to go.
When her comm chimed, she half hoped it was the manager offering her a refund. The rest of her hoped it was Mace. A friendly voice would be welcome right now.
Mace’s name flashed up on the screen as his voice came through the speaker. “Hello again. Are you busy right now?” His voice was its usual low rumble, which sounded like music to her ears.
“Not really, and even if I was, I’d make time to talk to you.” She was tempted to tell him what had happened, but she didn’t want to worry him. A night out and a few hot kisses did notmake him responsible for her or her problems. She’d handle this herself.
“I like talking to you, too. In fact, that’s why I’m calling. Xaber is on his way back already. We talked, and we’d both like to see you tonight. How about it?”
That sounded a lot better than sitting on a hard bench, feeling sorry for herself. “He’ll be back so soon? That’s great news. And yes, I’d like to do something together. All three of us.” She clarified so that he knew she understood what she was agreeing to—a date with both of them.
“Good! During my explorations late last night, I found a spot I think you’ll like. Afterward, we could hit the promenade and have some of thatshekayou talked about last night.”
She smiled, touched that he’d remembered. “I’d like that. Very much. Did Xaber mention anything about the ship? Any problems?”
“None. He raved about her speed and how smoothly the trip went. I think you have a fan.”
She laughed, and it felt like some of the worry she carried fell away. “Wait until he sees what I can do with the jump drive.”
“We cannot wait. With him back so soon, you could start working on theTruetomorrow if you want?”
The offer made her perk up. If she started work that quickly, she’d be able to afford a pod for a full night sooner than she’d expected. Of course, if she hadn’t spent so much on new outfits yesterday, she wouldn’t be in this situation. Not that she regretted her choice to buy something new. Practicality was all fine and good, but she deserved to have a little fun sometimes.
