Desire Disguised by Lynn Rae Page A
Authors: Lynn Rae
might have a roommate or even a partner. She didn’t know. Her imagination whirled when she considered what he might find attractive. Probably someone with sophisticated taste and talented at hand-to-hand combat. He might take one look at her poor attempt at a new dish and toss it all into the disposal. He was probably a trained gourmand and was even now laughing uproariously at her offering. At least Mat’s cookies had turned out well.
“Another hour?” Mat wheedled as he stared at the living room display from a prone position. His protests were automatic by this time of night. Cara had been doing some research and knew that once teenaged hormones hit, he’d start staying up later and be less cooperative, but for now, he still collapsed with exhaustion in the evening.
“No, school in the morning. Didn’t you have that big project starting tomorrow?”
At the reminder, Mat sat up and grinned like the cheerful little boy he used to be. “That’s right! Goodnight, Sis. Can I have one more cookie?”
With a resigned wave she agreed, and he rushed to the kitchen to grab more than one cookie from the plate they’d left out before running down the hall to his room. Soloman’s cookies were sealed up in a box, and she wondered how she was going to get them to the young officer in the morning. He deserved thanks as well. Cara doubted giving him the treat would be even half as awkward as dealing with Ben had just been. What was it about the man that made her fumble and fail with every interaction?
She paced to the window and peered at the dark sky. No movement, but she double checked the locks anyway. Worrying about security basics made her think of their incapacitated companion. Soren’s unresponsive condition remained the same. She’d visited him that afternoon, and the medtech told her all of his body processes were improving to the point he might wake in a few days. The thought of being able to ask their companion for advice had filled her with something close to hope. He’d recover, they’d arrange passage away from this planet, and they’d return to living in the shadows. It was what they did best. It was all they did.
Chapter 5
Ben had spent a restless night and felt particularly grumpy and groggy that morning. He blamed his shoulder strain for waking him up several times, but he knew it was also because he was unsettled about the Belascos. Cara specifically.
He’d even relented on his self-imposed coffee ban and had allowed himself one mug when he entered the security break room. It smelled too good to resist. He wandered through the common area on his way to his own office and stopped and spoke to several officers coming on shift or heading home. Everything seemed peaceful enough as he took a seat behind his desk and surveyed the live-feed displays lining his walls. No tricarts crashed into each other on the main street as they had the day before, so that was an improvement. The cells contained three impaired adults sleeping off the previous evening’s celebrations. Ben knew he’d have to step up patrols in the evening, because the extractors were trickling into town to sell off their raw cortiglow to the brokers.
The little epiphytes that produced the compound had a spike in productivity every six weeks or so, and this meant the population of Pearl swelled at about week seven as everyone rushed to town to sell the high concentrate fluid. Some would wait and come in when there was less demand and hope for a higher exchange rate, but Ben had his doubts the brokers allowed any extractor much profit no matter when they sold. In any event, the town was due for an influx of people with product to sell and consequently money to spend, which increased drug use, theft, and altercations. Time to review everyone’s schedule and double check the hygienic tissue supply.
A glance at the lobby counter showed no one waiting in the chairs. Then, a familiar figure bustled up to the counter holding a small container
“Another hour?” Mat wheedled as he stared at the living room display from a prone position. His protests were automatic by this time of night. Cara had been doing some research and knew that once teenaged hormones hit, he’d start staying up later and be less cooperative, but for now, he still collapsed with exhaustion in the evening.
“No, school in the morning. Didn’t you have that big project starting tomorrow?”
At the reminder, Mat sat up and grinned like the cheerful little boy he used to be. “That’s right! Goodnight, Sis. Can I have one more cookie?”
With a resigned wave she agreed, and he rushed to the kitchen to grab more than one cookie from the plate they’d left out before running down the hall to his room. Soloman’s cookies were sealed up in a box, and she wondered how she was going to get them to the young officer in the morning. He deserved thanks as well. Cara doubted giving him the treat would be even half as awkward as dealing with Ben had just been. What was it about the man that made her fumble and fail with every interaction?
She paced to the window and peered at the dark sky. No movement, but she double checked the locks anyway. Worrying about security basics made her think of their incapacitated companion. Soren’s unresponsive condition remained the same. She’d visited him that afternoon, and the medtech told her all of his body processes were improving to the point he might wake in a few days. The thought of being able to ask their companion for advice had filled her with something close to hope. He’d recover, they’d arrange passage away from this planet, and they’d return to living in the shadows. It was what they did best. It was all they did.
Chapter 5
Ben had spent a restless night and felt particularly grumpy and groggy that morning. He blamed his shoulder strain for waking him up several times, but he knew it was also because he was unsettled about the Belascos. Cara specifically.
He’d even relented on his self-imposed coffee ban and had allowed himself one mug when he entered the security break room. It smelled too good to resist. He wandered through the common area on his way to his own office and stopped and spoke to several officers coming on shift or heading home. Everything seemed peaceful enough as he took a seat behind his desk and surveyed the live-feed displays lining his walls. No tricarts crashed into each other on the main street as they had the day before, so that was an improvement. The cells contained three impaired adults sleeping off the previous evening’s celebrations. Ben knew he’d have to step up patrols in the evening, because the extractors were trickling into town to sell off their raw cortiglow to the brokers.
The little epiphytes that produced the compound had a spike in productivity every six weeks or so, and this meant the population of Pearl swelled at about week seven as everyone rushed to town to sell the high concentrate fluid. Some would wait and come in when there was less demand and hope for a higher exchange rate, but Ben had his doubts the brokers allowed any extractor much profit no matter when they sold. In any event, the town was due for an influx of people with product to sell and consequently money to spend, which increased drug use, theft, and altercations. Time to review everyone’s schedule and double check the hygienic tissue supply.
A glance at the lobby counter showed no one waiting in the chairs. Then, a familiar figure bustled up to the counter holding a small container