Page 22 of Radiant Exception
“We’ve got deadlines to meet that are out of my control, and Sully found a way to make them work. If you’re half as good of an engineer as you claim to be, it shouldn’t be a problem for you to jerry-rig the systems, as needed, to keep propulsion at the required levels.” He folded his arms over his chest as if to challenge me for a rebuttal.
It wasn’t that he was wrong. I wasthatgood, but I didn’t like his tone. And I didn’t like sacrificing the life of his ship parts to avoid temporary shutdowns of somewhat essential life support systems.
“Is that why you ignore my calls on the comm?” I mirrored his posture, also folding my arms over my chest, jeering at him for good measure.
He raised a brow at my mimicry. “I ignore your calls because I don’t have time for whatever annoying complaints I know you’ll unleash upon me.”
I felt my jaw clench. I was ready to spew a slew of curses at him, but then I realized that was exactly what he wanted. He was trying to portray me as some inexperienced, irrational, and emotional woman, and I wouldn’t give him the opportunity.
“You should know if your chief engineer is calling you, it’s for good reason.”
“Then what were you calling about?”
I could feel my face go red. Because Ihad beencalling to complain. Because Ihad beencalling to annoy him. Because I had no argument to properly combat him.
“I hate you,” I spat instead.
He merely smirked in response.
“You’re running this ship into the ground. You’ll need a new engine in less than two years, which will increase your debt by a shit ton of credits,” I growled in a warning. “I can circumvent any system I want. I can get us to Vesta in half the time, but at what fucking cost, Vaughn?”
His bravado faltered slightly.
“I’m trying to help you, dickhead. But fine. You don’t want my help. I got it. I’ll take care of everything on my own, just like you wanted. Just like I’m used to.” I dramatically flopped over in the bed, pulling the covers over my head and facing the wall.
How was it that every time I came in hoping to discover a way to work with this doofus, he found a new way to annoy me?
Sure, it was my fault Natalie had switched the schedule around, but if he’d given me the time of day before, or allowed her to put uson the same schedule in the first place, like she’d wanted, because of our supposed relationship, none of this would have happened.
It was simple to blame Vaughn for everything that was going wrong. I could easily make an argument for why I’d had a hard time getting to know the crew outside of Natalie, who had adopted me more than I had interrogated her.
There had to be a path forward where we could work together, but I couldn’t see it just yet. He needed to meet me in the middle a little, even if that middle was mostly on his side. Surely he could see we couldn’t do this alone. I needed his access and insight, and he needed my ability to see people for who they were without being clouded by his relationships with them, as their captain.
I felt the mattress compress next to me, and I pulled the covers over me more snugly. I didn’t have any concerns that Vaughn would try something, but it pissed me off that this would have been an opportune time for us to share what we’d learned since taking off almost a week ago, and he was squandering it.
Peeking over the covers, I found Vaughn was still shirtless and had his back leaning against the wall that doubled as a headboard, his long, thick, muscular legs stretched out before him, one ankle casually crossed over the other as he scrolled on his comm, ignoring me completely.
“Go to bed,” he growled while his eyes remained on the screen in front of him.
“Fuck you,” I hissed, diving under the covers again, trying not to smile as I heard him chuckle softly next to me.
Despite my best efforts and intentions, I somehow managed to wake up with Lark’s body cradled against mine. Her cheek rested in the hollow of my shoulder joint, her pouty, full lips slightly parted as she breathed steadily against me. Her legs were entwined with mine, and my hand had found its way across her tapered waist.
Her tank top had ridden up her stomach through the night, exposing the expanse of her stomach where my palm rested over the dip. She was soft and warm beneath my calloused fingers, and it occurred to me that I couldn’t remember the last time I’d woken up with a woman…held a woman…or been intimate with a woman.
What was worse, I’d slept well—too well. The way we fit together like puzzle pieces intrigued and repelled me simultaneously.
This was bad. On so many levels.
If she woke up and found us entangled as such, she’d be furious, and I had a feeling it would mean an early-onset headache if she began shrieking at me right after waking up.
How could the woman appear so calm and fragile while sleeping, but be an absolute force to be reckoned with while awake? I’d beenavoiding her calls, but I hadn’t expected she would be clever enough to force my hand in such dramatic fashion.
Still, I should have known that avoiding her so vehemently would tip off the crew and that Natalie, in particular, ever the romantic, would catch wind of it, give me the benefit of the doubt, and seek to rectify the situation without so much as a word to me.
It pained me that holding Lark so close was awakening something long-dormant, deep inside of me. I didn’t want to admit to my loneliness, but here she was, forcing me to face these awful feelings head-on.
But it was so much more and so much deeper than that. For years in the military, I’d had to take things one day at a time. My life had never been a guarantee, so it had been easy to ignore the future, to put off thinking about what was next. It had been easy to push aside any feelings of wanting or even needing anything.
