5. Elodie

All things considered, Calder took my news rather calmly. I told him he had to pretend to be my boyfriend, and after an initial moment of shock, he rolled with it.

Thank stars. I wasn’t lying when I said I couldn’t do this without him. Calder’s only been my podmate for six months, but in that time, he’s become my friend. He listens when I bitch about work. He brings me chocolate and cooks me breakfast and gives me a ride when I’m running late, which is all the time. He’s the best.

I take a breath and realize I’m still hugging him. His arms are around me, and it’s nice. He smells good—clean, crisp, and woodsy. His fingers trace small circles on my lower back, and that’s nice too. Really nice. In fact, it’s more than nice. It’s a little hot. Correction, it’s very hot. If I’m being perfectly honest, I’m getting turned on.

Calder is your podmate, Elodie. You’re only pretending to date him, remember?

I squirm away, my cheeks hot. I’m such an awful person. He’s trying to comfort me, and I’m treating it like a sexual thing. “Thank you,” I say, avoiding his gaze. “I really appreciate it.”

The corners of his lips tilt up in a smile. “You thanked me already.”

That is a sexy smile. “Great,” I say, my voice too high. “I’ll message you all the details. Should I book a shuttle seat for you? I get an employee discount.”

Calder shakes his head. “I’ll make the travel arrangements.” At my inquiring look, he adds, “I don’t like flying commercial. There’s never enough legroom. My friend is a bounty hunter, and I can borrow his ship.”

Calder has a friend who owns a private shuttle? I didn’t know that. Then again, it isn’t as if he volunteers information about himself. I only found out this morning he was from Chiara, and that was only by asking directly.

Fueling a private shuttle will be really expensive, but if I book passage on an Onel transport, Foder Throop will be on the same flight. And the journey to Luxaria is eight hours long. That’s too long to be stuck on a ship with a man I loathe.

“Okay,” I tell him. “But only if you let me pay for the fuel.”

He grunts. His face wears an expression I recognize. It’s the same one I got the first time Calder cooked for me, and I offered to reimburse him for the meat I consumed. “I’m serious, Calder. You’re already doing me a massive favor just by going.” I’m not going to relent on this, no matter how much he frowns. “I won’t let you dip into your savings for this trip.”

“Fine,” he huffs. “If my friend sends me a bill, I’ll pass it on to you. Happy?”

It’s not often that I get to win this particular argument. “Thrilled,” I tell him with a grin. “Would you like some more senza to celebrate?”

The little victoryover the fuel is my only win for the near future. The rest of the week is hell. Every morning, I go to work to be greeted by a multitude of messages from Throop. It soon becomes clear he doesn’t know anything about engineering and only got this job because he’s friends with Jarel Onel.

It would be somewhat bearable if the jerk stayed out of my hair and let me do my job in peace, but, of course, he doesn’t even do that. He doesn’t know how to read engineering reports, but he still insists on being copied on all of them. Maro and I spend many long hours walking him through the most basic terms.

When we emerge from the first of these meetings, Maro looks shell-shocked. “Well,” he says. “That was. . . not great.”

“It’s a disaster, you mean.” I can’t keep the bitterness out of my voice. Throop spent the entire meeting wondering why Feldstar Safety hadn’t been invited to bid on a maintenance contract. In vain, Maro pointed out that they’d failed several safety inspections, but none of our warnings seemed to make an impact.

“If we contract with Feldstar, we can kiss our reputation goodbye. I know this. You know this. The only person who doesn’t seem to know this is Foder Throop, the guy making all the decisions. Make it make sense.”

Maro shuffles his feet. “I want you to know I recommended you for the Chief of Engineering position,” he says. “I’m sorry you didn’t get it.”

“I’m not hung up about that. It’s Throop’s incompetence that’s stressing me out.” I massage my temples. I have a headache that refuses to go away. “I’m going to grab some caffeine. You want a cup?”

“No, I’m good.”

Throop is a steaming pile of garbage, but he’s not the only thing causing my surly mood. I’m out of sorts because Calder has been gone all week. He sent me a comm Tuesday morning telling me he’d be away for a few days but would be back in time for our trip.

And I miss him. Only when he’s gone do I realize how much I’ve gotten used to having him around. It feels weird to walk into an empty galley, not just because I have to cook my own breakfast. Somewhere along the line, Calder’s become indispensable, and I’m not sure how I feel about it.

All in all, I’m in a very bad mood by the end of the week. Finally, I walk into the galley on Friday morning, and Calder is there. A smile breaks out on my face. “When did you get back?”

“Late last night.” He picks up a bowl and spoons some food into it. “Join me for breakfast.”

It’s real food again, not protein cubes. The bowl has eggs, potatoes, beans, and chilies. “Calder,” I protest. “I can’t eat this. This must have cost you a fortune.”

“I made plenty,” he says mildly. “You don’t want it to go to waste, do you?” He fills his own bowl and sits down. “Eat,” he urges. “While it’s still hot. How was your week?”

“Awful.” I sit across from him and dig into breakfast. As always, it’s delicious.

“Throop still bothering you?”

“You have no idea.” I don’t want to think about that jerkwad, not when I’m sitting across from Calder eating this fantastic meal he cooked. “We’re leaving this evening for Luxaria. You know that, right? I’m already packed; I won’t have time to come back home before we head out. Shall we meet at the spaceport?”

“Sure,” he says agreeably. “I’ll be at Dock 24 of the Avanti spaceport.”

“You still haven’t sent me a bill for the fuel.”

He looks up. “I promised I’d send it to you as soon as I got it from my friend,” he says. He flashes me a grin. “Unfortunately, Zayd hasn’t billed me yet.”

Gah. I’m about to tell Calder exactly what I think of his loophole when my comm chirps a warning, telling me it’s time to leave for work. I set aside the fuel bill discussion for later. There’s something more important I need to discuss with my podmate. “Listen, you know I told Foder you’re my boyfriend, right?”

“Yes.” Calder looks at me with his deep brown eyes. “Why?”

“Well. . .” I swallow. This is awkward. “I just want to clarify something. Foder will be watching us closely. I’m sure he’d like nothing better than to catch me out in a lie.” I pause for a breath, my cheeks red. “So, we need to really sell it.”

His eyes sparkle with laughter. “What do you mean, Elodie?” he asks, his voice a little too innocent. “Sell it how?”

I give him an exasperated look. “You know what I’m trying to say. There might need to be a certain amount of physical contact between us. I don’t know if that’s going to be a problem. . .”

My podmate, the guy who gets beat up three times a week, rises to his feet in one fluid motion. He stalks toward me, eyes gleaming, and I instinctively step back. My back hits the wall.

Calder moves closer, caging me in with his body. He looks at me. Really looks at me. I’m the focus of all ofhis attention, and it’s a heady feeling.

My heart starts to thump.

“I’ll need to touch you?” His fingers ghost over my arms. Goosebumps break out over my skin at the soft caress. “Maybe I’ll need to kiss you.” His voice is a low rumble. He glides his thumb over my lower lip, and need throbs through my body. “Is that what you’re saying, Elodie?”

What is happening here? The air between us thickens. I stay very still, my pulse racing. Will he. . .?

Calder dips his head and kisses me.

His lips press against mine, his hand cupping the back of my neck. At first, it’s a gentle, exploratory kiss, a mere whisper of contact. “Or maybe I have to do more to sell it,” he murmurs. “Maybe I’ll have to do this.”

He tugs me closer, and my breasts smash into his chest. He tilts my head and deepens the kiss, his fingers tangling in my hair. His tongue caresses the seam of my lips, demanding entrance. Desire washes over me. I touch his arm, and his skin is blazing hot. I open my mouth, and he slides in, smooth and sure. My senses swim, my knees go weak, and I sway against him.

Then my comm beeps again, and Calder pulls away. “You’re going to be late,” he says, his voice perfectly even. “You want a ride?”

It takes me an embarrassingly long time to gather my scattered thoughts. “Yes, please,” I finally manage. “I’ll just be a minute getting ready.”

In the bathroom, I exhale a long breath and brush a shaky finger over my lips. My insides throb in remembered need. That kiss.

Don’t get carried away, Elodie. That wasn’t a real kiss.

But it felt real.

Another shiver runs through me. Calder might have been pretending, but my body doesn’t know the difference. He should be in the holos. People would pay good money to watch him act. I’m breathless and needy and wet.

My comm announces a message from Throop. “I’ve reviewed your Feldstar report and have some comments. See me when you get in, whenever that is.”

Whenever that is. I fume as I listen to his passive-aggressive jibe. Asshole. As if I’m not at work well into the evening every single day. Just like that, my need evaporates. I get dressed quickly and emerge into the living space. “Foder Throop demands my presence,” I announce wryly. “I hope you’re in the mood for speed.”

Calder smirks. “I’m always in the mood for speed,” he says. It’s as if our kiss never happened. “Let’s go.”