When Sparks Fly (21 page)

Cables hissed as the pilot retracted the
grappling hooks. Normally a ship took off again after delivery, but
to her surprise, the captain took the time to disembark. Curious,
Gem followed Zsak and the others closer as a crewman and another
man followed. Only as she got close did she recognize Blue.

She hadn’t been warned he was coming today.
Her pulse started to race. With fear or excitement? She couldn’t
tell, but the unfamiliar sensations made her stiff and awkward.

He seemed self-conscious, also. Like a teen
with a crush, his eyes flicked to her, but he focused his attention
on Zsak, who gave him a one-armed hug and carefully slapped him on
his good shoulder.

“Hey, man, didn’t expect you so early! What
did the doctor have to say?”

Blue gave his friend a half smile. He spoke
as if playing to the audience of the pilot who’d flown him here:
“You know how it is; guy gets a little scraped up and the docs want
to bleed him dry with a long hospital stay. They gave me some
healing accelerators and told me to take it easy. Truth be known,
I’m itching to get to work.”

The pilot and his fellow crewman seemed
pleasantly distracted as they looked Gem and her sister up and
down. “Hey, you guys got quite the entertainment here. They
exclusive, or do you share?”

Zsak took Blue’s bags. “You gotta be one of
the club. Sorry.”

The pilot shook his head. “We don’t have
time to stay, anyway. Speaking of which…we’d better get going.” He
gave Blue and Zsak a sketchy salute, and both he and the crewman
headed back up the ramp.

As soon as everyone was clear, the barge
took off. Blue waited until the ship was gone to look at his pal.
“Hookers?”

Zsak shrugged. A small smile lurked around
his mouth. “Seemed to work.”

Blue looked at Gem. She eyed him carefully,
saw that he was moving under his own power, if a bit stiffly, and
said, “Hi. We were just having lunch. Are you hungry?” Struck by a
sudden bout of self-consciousness, she didn’t know what else to
say. The man hadn’t been in touch, and suddenly they were face to
face, with lots of ground to cover. Maybe it was best to keep
everything simple.

“Lunch would be nice,” he agreed, studying
her as if he expected more.

“Great! I’ll see you inside,” Gem replied,
then quickly retreated to the caves. Her nerves were getting the
best of her.

Blue sighed as he watched Gem flee.

Zsak hefted his luggage. “Cheer up, buddy.
Even that iceberg over there will thaw, given enough time.” He
pointed at the ice that had been delivered, and laughed. “Now,
let’s go see what’s cooking.”

Xera hadn’t fled, and she fell in readily
next to the guys. “You’d have an easier time of it if you’d been in
touch with her,” she pointed out to Blue.

“I know. It’s just that some things are
easier said in person.”

Xera looked skeptical, but she changed the
subject. “What did you do with Brandy?” she asked.

“Her doctors weren’t thrilled with her
leaving the hospital, but she didn’t want to stay home with all
that mess outside. I told her what to expect out here and she
wasn’t excited at the idea, so we compromised. She elected to stay
on a military ship for a short while with her nurse.”

Xera shook her head, flabbergasted. “She did
nothing but complain last time!”

Blue shrugged, then grimaced at the
discomfort. “She claims it’s quiet. Me, I think she likes the
company.”

Xera tilted her head in suspicion.
“Who?”

Blue looked innocent. “Azor is there.”

Xera stared, nonplussed. After a moment she
chuckled. “I don’t think so.”

“He really is,” Blue swore.

“Sure, but there’s nothing to what you’re
implying. Brandy hates that guy’s guts.”

Blue started walking. “If you say so.”

Xera opened her mouth and then shut it.
After all, it was obvious he was teasing.

Blue didn’t try to have a serious talk with
Gem right away; instead, he smiled at her and made small talk over
lunch. She found herself coloring for no reason whenever he looked
her way, and he did that often.

She was glad to see him, but uneasy, too. It
was almost as if they were starting over again, testing their
boundaries. He’d violated her trust, however good his motives might
have been. They couldn’t just take up where they’d left off. He was
going to have to prove himself.

Not that he was in a position to chase her
around, she thought guiltily. He looked weary, and it was obvious
that movement brought him pain. She had to wonder why the doctors
had released him so early, or if he was still acting against
orders.

As soon as she could get Zsak alone, she
asked him about it.

“We’ve got a trained medic here,” he assured
her. “It’s amazing what a healing accelerator and a good surgeon
can do for a body,” he promised.

“But he doesn’t look good,” she fretted,
glancing covertly Blue’s way. “You can tell he’s tired.”

“Look, darlin’, if you want to fuss over
him, I’m sure he’d welcome it. As for me, I’ve got to make like a
farmer and go raise some grass. See you at dinner.” Zsak took
off.

Gem frowned after him, then looked back at
Blue. He really did look weary.

Ignoring the sudden nervousness in the pit
of her stomach, she squared her shoulders and marched up to him.
“Come on, you need to lie down.”

He glanced at her sideways but didn’t make
the obvious wisecrack. “I’ve been doing too much of that lately and
my back is sore. I’d agree to sit down if we could find a
comfortable chair, though.”

Now here was something she could handle!
Encouraged, she said briskly, “I’ll find you something. We’ll get
you a place to recoup. You need any medicine?”

He groaned softly as she helped him walk.
“Had it.” But the meds seemed of minimal help, for his steps were
slow as she steered him to a room he would share with Zsak for
their stay here. She kept hold of his arm, afraid he’d falter.

He lowered himself to the edge of the bed
with an expression of pain.

“I’ll be right back with some pillows,” she
assured him, then hurried to rob the ones off her and Xera’s
beds.

They made a nice stack against the wall,
keeping him propped upright. She adjusted them until he was
comfortable, and then he looked at her for a moment.

“I wish I’d had you with me when I was
trapped in that hospital,” he said. “You would have made a good
nurse.”

She flushed. “I…” Was what? Angrier then?
Hurt? Her excuses sounded petty to her own ears. “Do you need
anything?”

He dropped the subject of his hospital stay,
clearly willing to focus on the here and now. “No, not really.
Although…you could get the viewer out of my bag. I think there’s a
book or two I haven’t read yet.”

“Right.” She fetched the device, glad to
think of him relaxing. “I’ll be fixing dinner. Call me if you need
anything else.”

She was feeling guilty and unsure. If she
stayed, he might bring up her not visiting him in the hospital, and
what could she say? She’d felt justified at one time, but now she
just felt bad. He really hadn’t deserved her reaction.

She left, and he didn’t call for her. A
couple of hours went by before she gave in to her instincts and
looked back in on him.

“What?” he asked, glancing up from his
book.

“Just making sure you’re okay,” she
murmured, and ducked quickly out.

A little while later he made his way into
the common room and quietly sat at a table. The location had
changed, but she almost felt as if they’d stepped back in time to
the days when he hung out in her taproom. It made her feel a little
more relaxed, and she brought him a fruity drink; the same kind
with which she used to tease him.

“You hungry?” she asked.

“A little. We got anything good around
here?” He looked at his drink in surprise. “Hey, you brought this
to me cold.”

Her smile was lopsided. “You always
complained when it was warm.”

He grinned. “That was just a ruse. I enjoyed
showing off and you know it.”

Her smile brightened for a moment then
faded. The silence in the room weighed on her. She’d put this off
too long. “You…you should have told me you were a cop, Blue.”

He considered her seriously. “At what point
would it have been appropriate?”

She frowned at his lack of repentance. “If
you didn’t think you could share that information, you should have
at least controlled yourself.”

“Yes, I should have,” he admitted. He looked
her straight in the eye but didn’t apologize. “I wanted you bad
then, and I still do. I’m not going to say I’m sorry for that.”

She didn’t know what to say. She hadn’t
expected him to come out and admit something like this, but maybe
she should have. He’d never been shy about expressing desire.
“Being lovers would never be good enough for me. You know
that.”

“But you want me,” he pressed. He considered
her expression, waited to see if she’d deny it.

She sat back in her chair, challenged.
Slowly she said, “I’m not going to compromise my honor, Blue. If
that’s all you’re after, you’ll be disappointed. All I can offer
you is friendship.”

“I’m not after friendship,” he replied. But
that was all.

After a moment, not sure what he was
implying, Gem stood up. “Right. I’ll bring you a snack.” There were
times when strategic retreat was the only option.

“You look pale,” she told him after dinner.
“Maybe you should go lie down.” She was trying not to hover,
without success.

Blue grunted. It seemed as if fatigue had
robbed him of any interest in further seductions. Now he looked
just plain grumpy. “I told you, my back is sore from lying around.
I’m sick of it.”

She looked at him and sighed, wondering
about the wisdom of her next offer: “I suppose I could massage it
for you.”

He considered her words without apparent
enthusiasm. “You’d have a hard time, avoiding my shoulder and still
doing good.” He looked about as excited as a young child given an
early bedtime.

His mulishness made Gem annoyed, and all the
more fixated on performing the massage. “I’ll be careful,” she
promised. “I don’t think I need to worry about you getting ideas
when you can barely sit up,” she added for the benefit of all
listeners. She was getting some very speculative looks from the
security detail; the downside of looking like a hooker, she
supposed.

Blue smiled slightly. “No ideas because I’m
tired? You don’t know men too well, do you? Lead on, however. You
can just shoot me if I misbehave.” He stood up stiffly and slung an
arm around her shoulders.

“Very funny,” she retorted as she let him
use her for support. Then, avoiding Xera’s watchful gaze, she took
him to his room and helped ease him onto the bed.

He settled facedown on the quilt with a
grateful sigh. Only when he was lying prone did she realize how
much easier it would be without his shirt.

He made a muffled sound when she suggested
he sit up so she could remove it. Then he said, “Not worth it.”

She fought back annoyance. Nonetheless, she
set to work on his back, careful to avoid his injury. She asked,
“How long did they say it would take for a full recovery?”

“A month or more. Considering, that’s not
too bad,” he said.

“Seems fast for all you went through.”

“The nanotech the military put in me helps.
Amazing, what a nanobot can do for a hole in the body.”

“I thought that stuff was expensive.”

“Depends. Sometimes it’s cheaper than
training a new soldier.”

She worked on him in silence for a bit
longer, until she caught herself wistfully wishing he could remove
his shirt. But maybe it was wise to keep all that skin covered.

Another minute passed. She bit her lip,
wondering if rubbing through his shirt might be chafing his back.
She didn’t want to hurt him, of course.

A few more minutes went by, and finally she
worked up the nerve to slide her hands under the hem. Her pulse
rose. His skin was so smooth!

He groaned and levered himself up. “I’d
better get up before I fall asleep,” he remarked. He caught her
confused expression and smiled faintly. “Thanks for the massage.”
Then he left.

Gem simply stared after him, an unwanted
yearning burning in her heart.

Zsak glanced sideways at Blue as he followed
his friend into the pantry. “How’s it going, lover boy?”

Blue gave Zsak a sardonic glance but
otherwise ignored him. He searched for a snack as his pal leaned
against the doorway.

“I can’t help but notice that you seem
spryer than you did earlier. Could it be you’re playing on that
poor girl’s tender mercies?” Of course, for all his joking, Zsak
didn’t seem too distressed by the possibility.

“Whatever it takes,” Blue replied. Seduction
came in many forms, and he was playing for keeps.

“Just so you watch out for her sister.
Xera’s on your side, but she won’t ignore it if you go too
far.”

“Don’t worry, that’s not part of my plan. I
don’t need
her
chasing after me.” Blue allowed himself a
slight smile. It felt good to have Gem doting on him, finally. Yes,
he was annoyed she hadn’t come around sooner, at least to talk to
him, but he had loftier goals than just sponging up sympathy.

“I’ve finally got that girl figured out,” he
remarked. “The cooler the reception, the closer she slides. At this
rate, we’ll be married before she knows what hit her.”

They’d had a lot of time to talk while Blue
was laid up, so Zsak wasn’t surprised to hear his friend’s ultimate
plan. He did question the method, though. “Are you sure playing
hard to get is the way to go? Isn’t that a girlish strategy?”

Blue’s annoyed glance was quelling. “I know
what I’m doing.”