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TRANCE:
TODAY WAS GOING TO be a great day, indeed. His cooking lesson was finally here, and she was back. The gorgeous human he’d met the dreadful night he started working at the gates. Worst day of his life, being ordered to keep guard at the front gates. But a silver lining had occurred when Pax—the Xeno Sapien scientist—sent him a telepathic communication asking him to allow him to bring Trance to work at the gates. He had a human worker—a cook—who needed a ride and he didn’t think she’d accept one for herself only. So hell, yeah, Trance pretended to need Pax’s ride. And once he saw her? He signed up for her cooking lessons.
He didn’t let the fact that the female hardly noticed him deter him. Obviously, she wasn’t feeling well that night since she’d called in sick for the next two weeks. But now, she was back.
Now he would woo her. She wouldn’t be able to resist. Trance knew he was handsome and some of the uglier Xeno Sapiens had gotten human mates. Not that looks mattered because he had a bigger problem.
The only reason why he didn’t have a mate—or friends—was because of his power. But Leah, being human, should be unaffected. She had no telepathic abilities like his Xeno Sapien brethren and it would be impossible to form a mind link with her while she slept. She’d be a safe mate for him.
He couldn’t invade her dreams—her privacy—her life. It was a match made in heaven. Let the other Xeno Sapiens avoid him. He’d be happy with his human mate.
The computer notified him that she requested entry at his door. He flung it open, trying to tamper his excitement at such a gorgeous creature coming to see him.
“Hi.”
Her lips turned up. “Hi yourself. Help, please?”
He reached for the box in her arms. “You know you can get a hover cart to load and let it tag effortlessly behind you, right?”
“I know. But the exercise will do me good.” She followed him into the kitchen. “I’m a chef. I’d weigh in at the same weight as your fridge if I didn’t get exercise.”
“Curves aren’t a bad thing,” he muttered and forced his eyes from her rack.
Fortunately, her eyes were on the array of sculptures he had banked on shelves and coffee tables.
“Nice place.”
“Thank you.” He liked to collect small pieces that didn’t come standard with the apartments. A framed piece of art on the wall. A metal sculpture he’d seen in a magazine. Wooden pieces he’d carved and sanded himself.
“What are we making today?”
“Comfort food. Tonight’s a rain night, so we can pretend it’s the start of winter.” Xeno Sapiens had figured out how to force rain in the city over the fields of growing produce. It was a technology the floating cities had and the rest of the world scratched their heads that Xenia was able to command clouds without the covering of a dome. The clever Xeno Sapiens remained silent with their secrets.
“Winter is around the corner.”
“Which is why I thought we’d experiment with some comfort foods. See which ones you prefer.”
“I’m sure I’ll like anything you make.”
She smiled tentatively. A one-sided smile, which curved the left side of her lips. A smile just for him. He’d seen her in her cooking element, of course. He’d been present while she had a lesson at Envy and Impatient’s house. She was so professional she bordered on stand-offish. She wasn’t that way with him. It was a good sign. It showed of their connection with each other.
“Of course you will. I have a couple of different options for today. We can make chicken and noodles or chicken pot pie. We have the ingredients for both, it’s just a matter of rearranging them. Also, the chicken pot pie has two different versions. We can make it the traditional way with a pie crust or with a variation of a buttermilk bread topping. Either way, you also get a serving of vegetables. Carrots, celery, peas, corn. Those are the standards I brought, but we can always change those up for variety’s sake.”
“I wish I’d have signed up for tomorrow, too,” he said wistfully.
“Well,” she said. “I work tomorrow. But this stuff will keep in the fridge an extra day. We can whip up the next stuff the day after, if you like?”
“I thought you were off? Wasn’t I your last appointment?”
“I am, but I volunteered for the mess hall. Just a few hours in the preparation in the morning. So the day after, if you like, I’ll come visit and show you how to put the next dish together. I won’t be on the clock so you don’t have to worry about payment. It’ll be my free time.”
He’d just scored. That was like a date, surely. She just offered to visit him. On her day off. But what response would endear her to him more? Should he offer to pay?
“Are you sure you want to waste a day off on me?”
She smiled at him. “It’s not a waste of a day, Trance. I won’t be doing much anyway.”
“Okay,” he said. “I’ll leave a visitor pass for you at the front gate since you won’t be on the work logs.”
“Works for me. Let’s wash up.”
They washed their hands together at the sink and he couldn’t help but feel like they were already a couple. Completely comfortable with each other.
“Next we’ll wash the produce,” she said, handing him the ear of corn. “I brought a veggie wash, but when we use it up, I’ll show you how to make one to refill the bottle.”
“I volunteered at the front gate for the close of the day,” he said. “That way you have someone to walk you back and not waste any time making you wait for shift change. I know you were in a hurry last time.”
She looked surprised at his observation. “Oh. No bother. I probably wasn’t feeling well and wasn’t even aware of my actions.”
She showed him how to chop the corn and shuck the peas. When they had all of the vegetable preparation complete, the fun began. Though to be fair, every minute she was in his house was fun for him.
“You know,” she said. “If you want, I can find another one of my clients willing to come over and share a meal with you so you can experiment with your cooking skills.”
“I thought you were going to eat with me?” Did he misread the situation?
“Oh, I will,” she assured him. “You just seemed...I don’t know. A loner?”
“I am.” His voice was matter-of-fact. “I don’t get along well with others. I make friends easy enough, but lose them even easier.”
“Why? You’re a personable guy.”
“I invade their space.” He shrugged. “It’s the way I’m wired. I make people uncomfortable.”
Something in her eyes softened. “You don’t make me uncomfortable, Trance.”
“If I did, would you promise to tell me? Instead of just freezing me out?”
“Definitely,” she promised. “That’s what friends should do. I’m not sure why the others are not remaining friends with you. It’s their issue, not yours.” She was adorable in her ferociousness at defending him.
“It’s not really their fault. I can be intense.”
“If they hurt your feelings, it is their fault.”
He laughed. “You’re worth ten friends, Leah.”
She laughed ruefully. “Too much? I’ve always been good at defending others.”
He caught the way her voice changed on the word others. He’d just have to make sure he was there to defend her.
“I’m sure that’s going to go over real well when word gets around that no one can mess with me or my new friend will refuse to cook for them.” His voice was dry.
She laughed. “Trust me, they’ll rue the day they messed with us.”
Like with what usually happened when one was having fun, his lesson flew by. Before he knew it, the pie was in the oven, the dishes cleaned and Leah was rubbing hand cream into her soft hands. For a moment he watched the graceful movements of her long fingers. What would it be like to have those fingers spread on his chest? His abs? Lower?
“Trance?”
“Sorry?”
She laughed at him. “Pie’s done.”
“Great. I’ll pop it into this bag to take with me to eat on my break later. Rain’s about to start, so maybe I’ll walk out through the main hub and ride the shuttle with you up to the gates. I don’t mind walking but we might end up soaked.”
“The shuttle is good,” she said. “Wouldn’t want to catch a chill after I just got healthy.”
He carefully placed the steaming pot pie into the lunch bag, dropped in a fork and napkin, and swung the strap carefully over one shoulder. “I can’t wait for people to ask me what I’m eating. I’m gonna be so casual about it. Chicken pot pie. Like I make it all the time and they’re inferior for not knowing what it is.”
She laughed. “Oh, you’re trouble, aren’t you? And I just friended you.”
He smiled wide enough to show her his teeth.
He held the door for her and together they trekked down the hallways of the residential unit, up the back way of the main hall.
“Do you mind swinging into the employee locker room so I can sign out?”
“Not at all,” he assured her. “It’s what friends do.”
She shared his laughter. Once they were in the locker room, she affixed her credentials to the touch screen. On the wall were slots with individual’s names. Some had envelopes with their pay stubs tucked inside. She ignored the message wall, though he saw her eyes fall upon it.
“You forgot your paystub,” he said, noticing the envelope with her name on it at the message center.
“Oh. Of course.” Her smile was a bit brittle as she grabbed it.
Curious.
“Come on. I’ll walk with you.”
They walked along the front edge of the gate. He entered the back entry of the office, letting her in after him. Renegade nodded to them, putting away his things since he knew Trance was to relieve him from duty.
“Have a seat,” Trance said to her.
Leah was looking out the front window. “No one can see inside?”
“No, the windows are tinted. There’s no visibility into the office from the outside.”
She relaxed a bit, joining him as she sat.
“Do you have any special plans for your weekend?” he asked.
“No, not really,” she said, her eyes darting back to the window. “Offer’s still on for the day after tomorrow.”
“I’ll take you up on that.”
He smiled easily, but she didn’t seem to be as excited as she was during their lesson. Something about leaving Xenia’s gates turned her into a different person. A nervous person.
He went over the logs with Renegade and she slipped out, not even saying goodbye. Leaving Renegade’s side, he went to the window to notice her hurrying to a hovercar.
“Everything all right?” Renegade asked.
“Yeah. I guess so.” She disappeared into the car, so he turned to him. “By the way, she’ll be back day after tomorrow as my guest. I’ll leave a visitor pass on the bulletin board for her.”
Renegade nodded. “Troy will be on duty. I’ll make sure he sees it.”
And since Renegade was heading back to the main hub, Trance gathered up trash from the receptacles he could take back with him.
As he gathered the main trash by the front door, he noticed Leah’s crumpled envelope with her paystub.
Unopened.
LEAH:
Brock was out of town for a week. She planned to use her first day off to find a cheap motel to stash clothes in. The selection of seedy motels in Earth-Ground was surprisingly...large. She’d have to do a bit more research to narrow the field down. Which place would be easier to lose track of someone in? What was the cost for a ride from the motel to Xenia’s gates?
And then another, more brilliant idea hit. Trance had invited her to the city tomorrow. She’d squeeze together three bags and stash them into her locker at Xenia. Even if she had to escape at a moment’s notice—she’d have clothes safe somewhere. Once Brock returned home, he’d make sure to escort her to and from Xenia again, so there was no way she could ever sneak a duffel bag of clothing out in his presence.
For a moment, Leah had been tempted to confide in Trance. Her personality clicked with his and friendship came easily. In his presence, she felt like the old Leah from a few years ago. For the first time ever, she’d forgotten what her life was like. She’d forgotten the aches of her bruises, the twinge of her recently healed bones. She’d never before had a few minutes of daily life where she’d forgotten the hell she’d slipped into. Not until she was alone with Trance.
Something about him was just magical. She felt like she could trust him—but she’d have to be careful not to give him the wrong idea. Even if she was successful with leaving Brock, she’d never go into another relationship.
