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“You didn’t hire us to massage egos. And we’re vulnerable to this Siblet poison. We hate feeling vulnerable. The sooner every drop is destroyed, the better.”

“I get that.” Cleo raked a hand through her hair. “I’m sure High Command will think of something we’ve forgotten. When we get back to the ship, we’ll run over things one more time.”

“We’ve gone over it a dozen times, and High Command has pulled it apart and is confident in us. And the crew support this mission to bring down the Siblet. Everyone has your back.”

Her eyes flickered with a hint of uncertainty. “Does the crew hate me for taking them away from what they care about?”

Hunter went to reach for her hand, but held back. She was his boss, and touching of any kind was off the table. “Not for a second. They know how important this is. Sure, it’s distracting us from the conservation work, but we’re finding more animals when we raid Siblet sites and making sure they don’t experiment on them. And finding two more white tails was a big win.”

Cleo let out another sigh. “I know I’m the boss, so I don’t expect them to like me all the time—”

“Cleo! Don’t beat yourself up over this. The crew has no problem with you. They’ll do the work expected of them.”

She chewed on her bottom lip. “We’ll do one more check of the plan. I don’t want anyone overstretched. And I need to go over the rotas for next week. Some of the conservation work can’t be put off any longer.”

“No, you don’t. They’re already done.”

Cleo turned in her seat and stared at him. “When did that happen?”

“While we were taking a break. You went off with Commissioner Viewick to look at the new art installation, so I distracted myself with work. It was that or fall asleep.”

She hid her face in her hands. “I have no clue about art. It was a huge bronze lump with bits sticking out of it. I said it was nice.”

Hunter chuckled. “While you were being underwhelmed by the over-priced art, I was kicking my heels, so figured I’d make myself useful.”

“You coordinated everyone’s mission in that short amount of time?”

“Sure. It’s why you have me around. I’m a great organizer. I’m always hot for the paperwork.” He flashed a smile and got a ping straight to his gut when she returned it with her own.

“I guess we have been doing this for a while now.” Cleo was quiet for a few seconds. “Don’t you want to do something else? Something more... challenging?”

“And step away from this dream job? All the paperwork a guy could desire, meetings on tap, and admin coming out of my ears. And don’t get me started on the snacks they have at those meetings. An Apexian could get fat and happy overindulging on all those goodies.”

“Exactly! It’s not what you trained for.” Cleo plucked at the arm of her seat. “And I know you miss being out in the field.”

Hunter lifted one shoulder. He missed it almost as much as he’d miss air if someone turned off the circulation flow on the ship. But Cleo served her time on-board the Apocalypse. She had to be there to oversee crew operations. And where she went, he went. He was her horny, frustrated, devoted shadow.

“If you ever need a break from what we do, I’d understand,” she said. “I mean, you don’t take any vacation days. Or you could put in for a sabbatical if you wanted more time off.”

There was no way she was getting rid of him that easily. “You don’t take any time off. Why should I?”

“That’s different.” She waved a hand in the air.

Hunter shook his head. “You don’t want me around?”

“I do! I just... well, I want the best for every crew member. That includes you.”

Same old Cleo, always putting everyone else’s needs before her own. “It’s all good. I knew what I was taking on when you hired me.” And there was the rub. Cleo was his boss, and when it came to business, she kept things professional. And that meant no getting naked and sweaty with her right-hand alien.

But Hunter had gotten a taste of Cleo before they’d become colleagues, and that taste burned on his tongue and had him waking in the night, hard and yearning for her.

“Maybe one of the other guys could swap out and take a turn on the paperwork,” Cleo said.

“That’ll never happen. Can you imagine Rexx dealing with the admin High Command send our way? He’d tell them to go screw themselves and throw the tablet at the wall.”

Cleo chuckled. “I wasn’t thinking Rexx as a candidate. But we could work something out. When we get the new recruits, things will change.”

“Which seems like it’s never going to happen. High Command is fine with us pulling double shifts, so long as it saves them money.”