Page 14 of Surrendering the Skies

She tilted her head to one side. “What do you mean?”

Behind her back, Geneva dug her fingernails into her palms and forced herself to give a noncommittal answer. “Nothing. I was just curious.”

The door banged open behind her. “Let me wrap up the rest of this food,” Marcus said, carrying in a tray. “Do you want to take anything with you?”

Geneva reached toward Ash and slid her arm around his waist when he joined her near the counter. “No, thanks. I’m sure my mother is looking forward to feeding us for the rest of this weekend.”

He nodded. “Can I get you some coffee or anything?”

“You know what, I didn’t get much sleep on the flight, and I’m a little tired from traveling.” Her gaze flicked toward Ash, but he didn’t argue with her. “But thank you for a nice afternoon. Adele, it was great to meet you, and I’m sure we’ll be seeing each other sometime in the future.”

Ash took his cue and pushed away from the counter, extending his hand toward Marcus. “As always, thanks for the hospitality. Maybe if our schedules line up, we’ll swing by before heading back to the ship.”

“Sounds good. Let me know.”

While they exchanged farewell gestures, Adele launched herself at Geneva with another hug. “Come by whenever you want.” She stepped back, sincerity reflecting in her wide brown eyes. “I mean it.”

She chose not to whisper something sarcastic or accusatory to Marcus when he offered her a similar embrace. Looping her arms around his back, she tried to ignore the comforting way he smelled or the familiar warmth of his body. “Thank you,” he murmured near her ear.

After extracting herself from his grasp, she returned to Ash’s side. “We’ll see you soon,” she said, unsure of the level of enthusiasm in her promise.

***

Geneva stood in front of her mirror and yanked a hairbrush through her honey-colored waves. “I still can’t believe it. He told her about me but didn’t say anything about how you were right there with us, and how the two of you had your own special bond.”

“I can’t say I blame him,” Ash said from where he lay in bed behind her. “I’m not sure if there’s a simple explanation for everything that’s happened between the three of us.”

“It’s like he’s lying by omission.” She grimaced as she jerked the brush through her hair one more time then threw it down on the dresser. “It just doesn’t feel right.”

“And it’s none of our business, so there’s nothing we can or will do about it. Right?”

She whirled around. Ash’s dark-red hair and bulky frame seemed incongruous with the pink ruffles and white lace of her bedroom, a shrine to the childhood she’d hated. Dahlia hadn’t argued when Ash had brought his minimal luggage to her room, nor had she questioned why they were sleeping there instead of at Marcus’s house, for which Geneva was grateful. The sight before her diminished some of the anger simmering beneath her skin. “You look ridiculous right now.”

He fluffed a large frilly pillow behind his head. “You laugh, but I’m bringing this back to the ship with us. I think it’ll really spruce up our quarters.”

She rolled her eyes before turning off the lights. Crossing the room, she sat on the bed and propped her chin up in her hands. “I wanted to hate her, you know,” she mumbled.

“I know you did.” He rested his hand on the small of her back. “But you’re a better person than that, and there’s nothing loathsome about her.”

Falling onto the mattress, she wiggled underneath the embroidered quilt to lay beside him. “I wish everything could go back to the way it used to be. The wayweused to be.”

“Me, too.” Ash draped one arm over her waist. “Unfortunately, things don’t always work out the way we’d like.”

“As long as you’re as miserable as I am.”

“It’s impossible for me to be miserable when I’m around you.” He gave the pillows beneath them another poke. “Or when I’m surrounded by such beautiful décor in a hundred different shades of pink.”

Geneva flopped over to face away from him but wiggled backward so he could curl his body around hers. “I’m glad you’re so comfortable in this bed that’s too small for us, but you’d better not steal all the covers tonight,” she said, smiling where he couldn’t see.

Chapter Seven

Geneva lay on her stomach on her bed aboard the military ship as she read from a datapad, reviewing the training modules she’d been sent to start with her team the following day. A loud rumble echoed throughout the room, making her hunger known. She checked the time on her communicator and raised an eyebrow when she saw how late in the day it was. Without moving from her position, she dictated a message to be texted to Ash.

Hey, am I waiting for you for dinner?

She resumed reading, swiping across the screen to highlight key objectives and bookmark pages to examine more in depth later on. The desire for food distracted her from the dense wall of words, and she slid the datapad onto her nightstand. Stretching, she rolled over and sat up on the edge of the bed.

Before she could tap the necessary buttons to compose another message, she heard the door open behind her. “There you are,” she said, standing and turning around. “I was starting to—”

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