by Lia Davis
Oh, really?
No, really. He'd had the perfect girlfriend back then — or, so he had thought.
Dani leaned back in her chair with a yawn and a stretch. Unintended law of motion: the harder Dani stretched the higher her breasts rose, the buttons on her blouse doing little to cover her cleavage. Shit, he was in trouble. Without warning, she stopped in mid-stretch, her brows crumpling before she jumped out of her chair, hands on slim hips.
"Why, Nikolaos Blackwood, as I live and breathe. What are you doing hiding in the walls of my laboratory?"
In his phased state, the solid matter he merged with vibrated ever so slightly as he "breathed". Most people wouldn't notice it if he kept to one small corner of the room, but if he spread himself out across an entire wall, then someone who knew what to look for — like Dani — could tell he was there.
No point in staying phased any longer. He stepped out of the wall to Dani's left, walking through her work station until he stood right next to her. "You caught me."
"I couldn't miss all your heavy breathing. Enjoy the view?" She tugged at the top button of her blouse.
Nik rolled his eyes. "How could I not, short stuff?" At five foot nothing, even in stilettos, pretty much every guy after eighth grade who talked to Dani got a nice view.
Dani punched his arm. "C'mere then, and give me a hug."
He did, pulling her off the ground just because he could.
She laughed, a sweet song. "Okay. Okay. Consider your machismo duly noted, showoff. Now, put me down. Slowly. I don't want to break a heel."
He did, slowly, her body rubbing against his. For heaven's sake, how was he supposed to deliver his message when all he wanted to do was sweep Dani off her feet again? Hold her close again.
"Let's take a look at you." Dani stepped back with elevator eyes, all snap and humor and the most delicate shade of lavender he'd seen nowhere else. How could he have forgotten the color of her eyes? "You're not in uniform, so you're not here to seduce me away from the private sector into city government. You're not in one of those three-piece suits you favor for visiting clients, but you're still wearing midnight blue, so you must be here to talk about something serious."
How did she know he favored three-piece suits for his other job? Did his father favor three-piece suits? Did the other male investigators for his father's private investigation firm wear them? Nik tried to remember what everyone had worn yesterday at their monthly meeting. Faces he knew as well as his own blended together with what they wore. He'd have to pay closer attention next time he was in the office.
To cover his confusion, Nik reached down to take Dani's tiny hands in his. "You're right. There is something I need to discuss with you."
Dani squeezed his hands, her brows lowered with genuine concern. "Perhaps we shouldn't talk here. It's too distracting, too confining. Let's head out for lunch."
Nik's heart relaxed. "I could go for some lunch. What do you have in mind?"
Dani flipped her long brown hair over one shoulder and plucked a sweater off the back of her chair. "Around this neighborhood, there isn't much. Why don't we stop at the grocer's on the corner? Since the company hasn't opened its cafeteria yet and I'm the only one here today, I can be a little flexible with my lunch hour. How about a picnic at West Ridge Park?"
The park was closer to the harbor, but at least a half hour hike from Generation Med headquarters. Too long a drive by car or public transportation. Luckily, he had an alternative.
"C'mere." He held out his arms.
Dani's gorgeous eyes opened wide. "Wait, are you sure?"
Nik had never been more sure in his life. "It won't hurt. I promise."
Dani stepped into his personal space, maybe a little closer than necessary.
"What about security?" she asked. Nik understood. In a cutting-edge start-up like Generation Med, you didn't enter or leave the building without a search.
"We'll stop by security first. Grocer's second, then the park." Nik wrapped his arms around her waist, also not necessary. "Don't hold your breath. Breathe normally. If you want to, you can close your eyes."
Dani looked up at him, all spitfire. "Oh, honey. I never close my eyes."
Nik held her gaze before he slipped them both into the floor.
The last person Dani expected to waltz into her lab was Nik Blackwood. Damn. Even after ten years, he could still make her heart pound like a punching bag before a prize fight. Of course, she had never told Nik about her feelings for him. Not in elementary school. Not in middle school. Certainly not at Kensington. Trouble had followed her throughout those years no matter how fast she ran to escape it. Despite the rumors — always behind her back, but she had ways of finding out — she'd never dated any of those silly boys in high school. Not even Nik, not that he had asked. He wouldn't have. Dani's life had too much drama for steady-as-a-rock, goody-two-shoes, Nik Blackwood. His romance with Serena Jakes, also known as Highlight, was the type of romance all young girls lived for.
Yet he had never married her, though they had been engaged several times over the past decade, if the online gossip columns were to be believed. Even as recently as this week, rumor had it that Ghost and Highlight were back together. Dani assumed they'd hooked-up after the quarry raid. Nothing like the surge of adrenaline to reignite your love, or lust, or whatever they had.
"Here we are," Nik announced as he popped both of them out above ground.
Dani looked down at herself. "Well, look at that. Not a spec of dirt on me despite traveling through mud, concrete, metals and God knows what else underground. Even our bag of food is clean. How on earth do you do that?"
Nik guided her over to a picnic table. "Simple. If we're not solid until we're out of the ground, there's nothing for the dirt to cling to."
Dani sat opposite Nik, her hand already reaching for the napkins. "Did you ever bother with a driver's license or do you just phase to wherever you want to go?"
Nik laughed, but with a twinge of sadness. Whatever he was going to tell her — and Dani had a few thoughts as to what it might be — it would no doubt hurt. Dani steeled herself while she opened a container of macaroni salad.
"I have a license," he said, but didn't elaborate. Oooooh, this wasn't good.
Dani munched on her salad and waited for Nik to say something, while he took his time eating his sandwich.
"I saw your brother two days ago," he said finally, putting down half his sandwich.
"Do you mean he made an appointment to hire you to find me, or did he just accost you on the street?" The bitterness hadn't dulled in ten years. Dani had tried to kick the vain, wicked girl she had been to the curb before she moved to Star Haven, but every once in a while the evil side of her crawled off the curb to bring the oncoming traffic of Dani's life to a screeching halt.
Nik winced. "A little of both, I guess. He approached me outside the courthouse and asked to take me to lunch."
Robby? Politely asking an Alt to do lunch? Nik wouldn't look at her. No, Robby had accosted him, probably demanded Nik talk to him, and threatened to embarrass Nik until he agreed. Robby understood the social niceties, but didn't believe such rules applied to him. He always got what he wanted and if he didn't, his parents — their parents — would make it happen.
"Let me guess. Robby needs another transplant. Which body part this time?" He already had part of her liver, pancreas, and intestines. By rights she shouldn't have donated anything to him. The medical community determined years ago that transplants from alternative humans could have unintended consequences. Since no one knew how Alts generated their abilities, no doctor wanted to risk giving a normal human Alt powers or risk interrupting Alt powers in the alternative human. She hadn't known that when she was a child, and since she had never told anyone, not even her parents, of her Alt ability, the transplants continued without obvious consequences.
"He needs a kidney." Nik fussed with his sandwich instead of looking at her. "He would have asked you himself except he didn't know where
to find you, and time is running short."
"Nonsense." Dani put down her container. "He doesn't dare ask me himself because I threatened to refuse any more transplants until he learned to treat me with respect. Robby respects no one but himself and he knows that everyone hates him. He's afraid I'll say no and he'll be stuck with a random kidney plucked from the donor list. Robby would never settle for a substandard body part."
The story was true, for the most part. She had threatened to put a stop to any more transplants until Robby smartened up. Oh, how he'd turned bright red with repressed outrage, but he knew she could and she would refuse. Her parents on the other hand, she'd threatened a different way: from the Thunder City jail when they had refused to bail her out. Their haughty tones over the tinny phone line brought out the vain, wicked girl like no one else had before. She'd reminded them that while Robby was healthy at the moment, she would turn eighteen in less than a month. After that, she could and would cheerfully refuse any more transplants.
Her parent's lawyer, one of the best in the city, arrived within the hour and had the case against her thrown out.
Vain and wicked won the day back then, but earning back her soul took a long time. She wouldn't refuse Robby now, no matter the temptation.
Nik knew none of this of course. He felt sorry for Robby, as most people did. Nik would never turn away a person in need, no matter how rude they were.
Nik was a saint and she was the sinner. They ought to mix like oil and water, but Dani didn't care. Giving up the possibility of tenure at Star Haven University and returning to Thunder City rubbed her raw in all of the wrong places. Damned Alt ban. She'd been careful about where and when she'd shifted into her male half — Daniel — for years, but she couldn't hide that part of herself forever. Not if she wanted a relationship. Not if she wanted someone special.
Not if she wanted Nik.
"So will you do it?"
"What? Give him my kidney?" Dani realized her concentration had drifted into dangerous territory. Love, relationships. Not something she wanted to think about right now. She picked up her container and scooped out more macaroni. "Why yes, of course, I will."
Nik gave her a doubtful look.
"Oh, don't look at me like that, Nik. I've changed. I know it's hard to believe, but I've reformed my wild ways — mostly." She gave him a saucy wink for good measure.
Nik laughed a little. "Are you sure? I remember your wild ways. I also remember that you and Robby never got along. I'm not here to pressure you or bribe you. Regardless of your decision, I still want to take you out for dinner."
Score one for the good girl. Old vain and wicked could suck it. "Nik Blackwood, I do think you overestimate your charm. Regardless of whether or not you take me out for dinner and dancing, I will still give my good-for-nothing brother a kidney. I'll do it because it's the right thing to do. Believe it or not, I'm really a nice person once you get to know me."
Nik pushed aside the garbage from their lunch to grab her hands again. Startled Dani leaned into the challenge radiating from Nik's eyes. "Nice, huh. All right, Daniella Rose. Dinner and dancing tonight, and we'll see just how nice you are."
Dani's toes curled in her shoes. It would seem mild mannered Nik Blackwood had a wilder side than she had expected. "You're on. My place. Seven p.m. Don't be late."
Nik popped out of the ground in front of Dani's doorstep right on time, a bouquet of mixed pastel-colored blooms in his hand. He had debated with himself over whether the flowers were overkill, then decided not to overthink the date. His last date four nights ago, with Serena, had ended the way their relationship always ended: badly. She'd insisted he hadn't thought enough about where they were going, what they'd do when they got there, and how their date would impact their T-CASS duties.
After ten years together and three broken engagements, Nik realized he'd had enough of the over-structured life Serena demanded of him. He'd had enough of dating someone who reminded him of his mother.
The front door to Dani's tiny cape house flew open just as he raised his hand to knock. And just like that, Nik knew he'd made the right decision.
"Flowers!" she squealed with all the thrill of a ten-year-old ripping open a wrapped birthday gift. She stepped outside and yanked the bouquet out of his hands, inhaling the scent, long and deep. Nik tried to keep his eyes on her face, but her shimmery blouse didn't hide as much as he wished it would.
"How did you know I loved flowers?" she asked. "Come inside. I want to get these into water right away."
Nik caught the screen door before it slammed closed so that he would walk through the doorway like a Norm instead of through the closed door. Dani didn't notice; the click-click of her way-too-high heels led him down a short hallway to the kitchen. His investigator's eye took in the soft colors of the home's interior, interrupted by a few paintings on the walls. The furniture complimented the colors, but looked older, as if she'd bought it used. The style fit Dani, but it didn't mesh with the girl who had grown up in one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in Thunder City, not far from where Nik and his brothers had lived.
"Here, let me." Nik stretched to grab a small vase from the top shelf of a cabinet.
"Show off," Dani said, with a nudge of her elbow to his stomach. Her smile, though, told him she appreciated his assistance. "There we go. A little water and I'll set them right here in the center of the dining table. They'll be the first thing I see when I come down for breakfast in the morning."
Nik leaned on the nearest wall, appreciating Dani rather than flowers. A subtle click caught his attention. Fearing he'd broken something, he leaned away, but at first he didn't see what had shifted under his arm. It took a second in the low light, but then he saw the outline of a panel embedded in the wall. He touched the panel with this fingertips in the right spot. The panel slid open to reveal a screen.
Dani noticed his examination. "Security," she said as she fussed with the flowers. "The Fargrounds is an okay neighborhood, but for a single gal like me, a little extra protection isn't a bad thing."
"Of course." Nik slid the panel closed again. He agreed on principle, but he recognized the system. His stepfather, Thomas Carraro, designed security systems for government buildings, multi-national corporations, and the occasional residential home in wealthy neighborhoods like the one where he and Dani had lived as children. This system went far and above what a "single gal" like Dani would need in a home like this. In fact, the system would have cost more than the house.
Why would Dani need such an overabundance of security? Why did she live here in the Fargrounds in the first place? Even if her parents had cut her off, she must make a better than average salary at Generation Med.
A fierce need to protect Dani swept over him. He pulled her into a hug.
"What's this all about?" She looked up at him, her lavender eyes large and questioning.
"I just wanted a hug from the prettiest girl in Thunder City," Nik said, to cover all the questions he knew he shouldn't ask. Not tonight, at least.
"Well then." Dani stood up on tip-toe, as far as her heels allowed, and puckered her lips.
Nik laughed, all those questions pushed to the far back of his brain. If Dani wanted a kiss he'd have to lean down to give one to her. A quick smack on the lips. It wasn't enough, not nearly enough. His lips ached for a more thorough kiss, but it was too soon.
"I usually don't allow boys to kiss me on the first date." She pulled out of his arms, her hands guiding him back down the hallway toward the door. "And, certainly not before they buy me dinner, but for you, Nik Blackwood, I'll make an exception."
He'd make an exception, too. Instead of shutting off his brain so he could enjoy the evening, leaving the care of Thunder City to his fellow T-CASS colleagues, he'd keep his investigator eyes open. Even while Dani locked the front door, Nik scanned her postage-stamp front yard for lurking shadows.
You don't invest in the type of security system Dani had without serious consideration. Is that why Dani lived i
n the Fargrounds? Because she needed the security more than she needed a larger home?
"Looking for your fans?" Dani turned to him, hands on hips.
Nik finished his sweep of their location. Nothing out of the ordinary, but he knew better than most that true villains never left traces you could see in plain sight. "No. Just making sure the paparazzi didn't follow me here."
"I don't see how they could." Dani stepped into his personal space again, her arms slipping around his waist, her head tilted back, her lips begging for another kiss. "Following you would be like playing whack-a-mole. You raise your head above ground and whack!" She smacked his backside. "You disappear again."
"Ouch! That hurt." No joke. Dani looked all sweet and delicate, but she had hidden power in her swing.
"Awww, poor Nik. No more stalling. I'm hungry."
Dani had always been aggressive, defending herself against the subtle or not so subtle threats leveled at her during school hours. As a classmate, Nik had assumed that she was fearless, strong, determined. Through the filter of adulthood, he now wondered if she'd been afraid instead. Students always knew how to get at each other, even under the watchful eyes of Kensington's instructors. Dani had always come out on top.
Could Dani be scared now? Had she purchased Thomas's system because of a specific threat? In the Fargrounds, it was unlikely she would run into anyone from her past.
Nik took one last, discreet look over her shoulder at her neighbor's yard. Nothing to see there, and he didn't want to upset her by looking over his shoulder at the other yard behind him. He pulled her into an embrace, the sense of protectiveness becoming more powerful the longer he held her close.
Scared or brave, determined or playful, no one was going to hurt Dani. Nik sank her into the ground where he ruled as king of his own domain. No one could follow her where he would take her. He would do what he had to, fight any battle, to keep her safe.
