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She didn’t answer.
“ELVIS, I need you to authorize the door lock override,” Ash said.
“Is this an emergency?”
“Yes. My partner’s pissed with me, and I need to make it up to her.”
“I agree.”
He tilted his head. “Why do you say that?”
“Georgia has used twenty-five different curse words associated with your name in the last ten minutes,” ELVIS said. “The situation sounds terminal.”
“You know it. So, are you going to open this door so I can salvage this before it becomes critical?”
“Door lock override is confirmed.”
The door slid open, and Ash charged in.
Georgia turned, her eyes widening as she stared at him. “I don’t want to see you right now.”
“Wait! Hear me out. I made a mistake.” Ash strode over to her.
She backed away, her hands up. “I’m the one who made the mistake by ever letting you in.”
He winced at the anger in her words. “What are you talking about?”
Her eyes blazed at him. “I had a moment of weakness, and I let myself down. I should never have demanded anything from you other than a professional relationship.”
“Hell, no! We’re not pretending there isn’t something between us anymore. And yes, the sex is fucking amazing, but I want you. All of you. In my bed, by my side when we’re working, eating dinner with me, waking up beside me every morning. You! Every messed up, angry, headstrong inch.” He stomped over until they were toe-to-toe. “And I could have turned you down when you came to me, but I didn’t want to.”
Georgia dropped her gaze. “Whatever this thing is between us, it’ll never work. We’re too different. I need my freedom and my independence.”
“And you’ve got it.” Ash touched her face. “I’m an idiot. I spoke out of turn in front of the others.”
“Yes, you damn well did. You don’t get to dictate the work I do. I never wanted an Apexian partner, but I put up with you because Cleo insisted.”
Her words wounded him, but he deserved it. He’d humiliated Georgia, and that was wrong.
“I was a jerk. And I know you want to keep things on the down low between us, but I couldn’t help myself back there.” He cupped her face. “Georgia, I love you.”
Her gaze shot to his, and she swallowed. “No, you don’t.”
“You’re telling me how I feel?” He grinned. It felt amazing to say that out loud. “I love you. I can do nothing about that. And I don’t want to.”
She huffed out a breath. “You should have kept your mouth shut. No one else needs to know.”
Ash tried not to focus on the pang of rejection simmering in his gut. “I get that. But you want to go on this mission to get revenge.”
“Which isn’t a bad thing. People do that all the time. The Siblet need to be taught a lesson. After everything they did to me, I can’t let this go. I won’t. And you’re not stopping me.”
Ash sighed softly. If this was going to work, he’d have to make concessions. “You’re right. I won’t stop you. And I’m sorry. I panicked when I heard the Siblet were involved. You don’t talk about what happened when they captured you, and I’m not asking you to now, but you’re living with a nightmare. They messed with you, they hurt you, and just the thought of that makes my blood boil. I know you don’t want anything serious between us, but that doesn’t mean I feel the same. I want to protect you. I want to tell the world you’re my partner, not just on this ship, but in life. And I know, you’ll never want that. You’ll never want me the way I want you, and that’s something I’ll have to live with.”
Georgia opened her mouth but then closed it. She stared at him then looked away. “I can look after myself. I’ve always been able to do that.”
“Of course you can. I never said you couldn’t.”
She was quiet for a long time. “It’s just that... when the Siblet captured me, it made me realize I wasn’t as strong as I thought.”
