and she knew it. She liked children, liked to knit, took care of her mother and stayed at home. She wasn't the type to attract the burly, muscular, handsome as sin flyboys of T.C. Her eyes were brown, her hair brown, her face nondescript, her figure was all right, not exactly vid star slim. She had generous breasts, so it wasn't uncommon for most men she encountered to talk to them and not her, but, all in all, she wasn't Arden's type. She'd known that from the day he’d started chasing girls on the playground.
When he'd started paying her a ridiculous amount of attention before he left for academy, she'd quickly realized he erroneously thought she handled piloting assignments. In fact, she only handled payroll for the pilots, and the occasional inventory settlement claim.
He leaned closer. "I don't recall asking you for anything."
"Well, don't. It won't help. I'm payroll, not personnel acquisition. It's a waste of your charms to make eyes at me."
"You think I have charms?" He grinned and leaned cockily into her space. She pushed him back and tried to maneuver around him. He pulled her closer to his warmth. She could still feel the heat of the day on his body. Brinn licked her lips at the thought.
When she looked up at him with a raised eyebrow, she saw he was staring down at her in the most discomfiting way. "Can't a man proposition a beautiful woman anymore?"
"Maybe, you let me know when one shows up."
"Ouch."
She'd meant the beautiful woman part, but it was clear from his mock pain he'd taken it as an insult to his manhood.
"That hurt. You have to have dinner with me now."
She rolled her eyes. "Your logic is faulty. And, nothing hurts you, Arden. I have to go to work."
Standing this close to him, she felt her body responding, mainly to the memory of that kiss right before he left. She'd dreamed of that kiss since. The idea that it might have been fake had cut into her every day, because it had been one of the most beautiful moments of her life.
He put his lips, those full, sexy lips, close to her ear and whispered, "Please." The way he said it, by the stars. He might as well have whispered kiss me in her ear. Her whole body responded.
"No," she said hoarsely. "Stop this." She pushed him off and stood back. "I know what I am Arden Badu. I'm not one of your pilot groupies. I'm plain old me. Maybe, you want something, or maybe you're having fun at my expense, I don't know. And, I don't care. Whatever it is you want, I'm not your woman."
Brinn had been at the bottom of everyone’s list since the day she was born. Her mother was a hard, critical woman, and her father had drunk himself into an early grave. Brinn had her place in their small community, as she was constantly reminded by everyone around her. Everyone but this strange man who did the opposite of what he was supposed to do all the time.
With those final, harshly hissed words, she ran to the bottom of the stairs, gathered up her datapad and scurried away quickly. As she ran toward the space dock offices where she worked for Carnes Enterprises, she did her best to wipe the memory of that moment on the stairs from her mind. It would be fine now. He'd lose interest, and she could go back to her uneventful life of knitting. Why didn't that make her happier?
CHAPTER TWO
*
"Da, she doesn't need to be seeing this boy." Arden glared hard at his father who was being blind to it all. "He's a Carnes, as if that weren't reason enough. Beyond that, he's going to completely destroy her future. You should have seen them, Da. In plain view on the street!"
His Da sat at the table carving a shape into a large piece of Banyan wood. "She's got to learn to make her own choices, Arden. And, I don't get that impression of the boy. He is a good kid."
"He's a spoiled brat," he said pushing up suddenly from the table. "I need some air."
Leaving the apartment, he used the nearby exit stairs to the roof, his favorite place to think or cool off when the world made him
When he'd started paying her a ridiculous amount of attention before he left for academy, she'd quickly realized he erroneously thought she handled piloting assignments. In fact, she only handled payroll for the pilots, and the occasional inventory settlement claim.
He leaned closer. "I don't recall asking you for anything."
"Well, don't. It won't help. I'm payroll, not personnel acquisition. It's a waste of your charms to make eyes at me."
"You think I have charms?" He grinned and leaned cockily into her space. She pushed him back and tried to maneuver around him. He pulled her closer to his warmth. She could still feel the heat of the day on his body. Brinn licked her lips at the thought.
When she looked up at him with a raised eyebrow, she saw he was staring down at her in the most discomfiting way. "Can't a man proposition a beautiful woman anymore?"
"Maybe, you let me know when one shows up."
"Ouch."
She'd meant the beautiful woman part, but it was clear from his mock pain he'd taken it as an insult to his manhood.
"That hurt. You have to have dinner with me now."
She rolled her eyes. "Your logic is faulty. And, nothing hurts you, Arden. I have to go to work."
Standing this close to him, she felt her body responding, mainly to the memory of that kiss right before he left. She'd dreamed of that kiss since. The idea that it might have been fake had cut into her every day, because it had been one of the most beautiful moments of her life.
He put his lips, those full, sexy lips, close to her ear and whispered, "Please." The way he said it, by the stars. He might as well have whispered kiss me in her ear. Her whole body responded.
"No," she said hoarsely. "Stop this." She pushed him off and stood back. "I know what I am Arden Badu. I'm not one of your pilot groupies. I'm plain old me. Maybe, you want something, or maybe you're having fun at my expense, I don't know. And, I don't care. Whatever it is you want, I'm not your woman."
Brinn had been at the bottom of everyone’s list since the day she was born. Her mother was a hard, critical woman, and her father had drunk himself into an early grave. Brinn had her place in their small community, as she was constantly reminded by everyone around her. Everyone but this strange man who did the opposite of what he was supposed to do all the time.
With those final, harshly hissed words, she ran to the bottom of the stairs, gathered up her datapad and scurried away quickly. As she ran toward the space dock offices where she worked for Carnes Enterprises, she did her best to wipe the memory of that moment on the stairs from her mind. It would be fine now. He'd lose interest, and she could go back to her uneventful life of knitting. Why didn't that make her happier?
CHAPTER TWO
*
"Da, she doesn't need to be seeing this boy." Arden glared hard at his father who was being blind to it all. "He's a Carnes, as if that weren't reason enough. Beyond that, he's going to completely destroy her future. You should have seen them, Da. In plain view on the street!"
His Da sat at the table carving a shape into a large piece of Banyan wood. "She's got to learn to make her own choices, Arden. And, I don't get that impression of the boy. He is a good kid."
"He's a spoiled brat," he said pushing up suddenly from the table. "I need some air."
Leaving the apartment, he used the nearby exit stairs to the roof, his favorite place to think or cool off when the world made him
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