Page 6 of Space Crush
I offer a small, apologetic smile. “I’m gonna need to highjack the LTV.”
Bodie laughs again, sobering quickly when he sees my expression. “You serious?”
Kaley shifts on her feet, freezing when her ass rubs across my hard-on again. “Sorry,” she whispers.
Rose is one of the most intuitive people I’ve known—which considering where I work and who I work with, says a lot.
It takes her all of a second to assess the situation before she stands, arms crossed over her bedazzled, low-zipped chest, her bright pink glossed lips sliding up in a sly smile. “Babysitting.”
Leave it to Rose to negotiate while others are in a crisis.
Add ‘the most diabolical’ to her list of attributes.
But considering the situation, I don’t have much choice.
“One night,” I offer. Which, despite my epic failure of entertaining a crowd of elementary school-age kids, isn’t much of a hardship. Bodie and Rose’s one-year-old little girl, Citali, loves me.
Bodie frowns at Rose, then me. He won’t admit it, but he’s jealous about how much his little girl likes me. “Now wait a minute, what is?—”
Rose’s eyes narrow. “Three nights.”
“Two,” I counter, then remember who I’m dealing with. “Andnotconsecutively.” Last time I agreed to babysit, she tried to make it a sleepover event.
Kaley, sounding as confused as Bodie looks, lifts her chin toward me. “What are you?—”
“Deal.” Rose slaps Bodie’s shoulder. “Up you go, babe.”
Bodie, usually known for his stoic, laid-back personality that helps him work and live with other astronauts’ more dynamic personalities thousands of miles in space in relatively close quarters, rubs both hands down his face. “Listen, you two. I can’t just turn over the LTV. That’s not how things work.”
“Here.” Rose, ignoring her husband, addresses Kaley. “This way.” Turning her back on the distant festival, Rose acts as a shield, blocking Kaley from view. “Up you go.”
Kaley, a look of everlasting gratitude on her face, smiles at Rose. “Thank you.”
Once Kaley gets seated—with minimal flashing—I circle over to the driver’s side, where Bodie, at odds with his words, stands. “Can you at least explain to me what is going on?”
“Aw, sweetie.” Rose comes up next to him, caressing his cheek. “It’s a good thing you’re so pretty.”
He snorts, looking inordinately pleased for a grown man being treated like an idiot by his wife.
“Don’t worry.” I sit quickly, hoping no one caught sight of my slowly calming cock-stand. “I’ll explain it all later.”
Seeming more like herself now that her ass is properly covered and not being poked at, Kaley points to the control deck. “You do know how to drive this thing, right?”
Feeling ten times more confident now that I’m on solid ground and not fighting an erection, I cock an eyebrow in her direction. “Baby, I helped build this thing.”
The moment becomes anti-climactic as I start up the rover, and instead of the normal vibration from engine components resonating through an exhaust system, the rover’s battery emits a high-pitched whine.
Bodie covers his face, his shoulders shaking.
“By the way”—Rose steps up to the rover, addressing Kaley—“you’ll have to take me with you next time you go underwear shopping.” She reaches her arm across me, holding her fist out for Kaley to bump. “Because that thong is fabulous.”
FOUR
QUANTIFIED RISK ASSESSMENT
Kaley
“Well, that was awkward.”Staring straight ahead, I focus on the cream-colored pre-cast concrete façade of our destination and not the lingering feeling of Evan’s hard-on pressed against my ass.
