Sammi could tell she wasn’t going to be able to change her friend’s mind.
“All right, fine. Whatever you say.” She shook her head and wrapped the cardigan she was wearing tighter around herself.
Meg frowned.
“Are you cold again? Why are you always wearing sweaters lately, Sammi?”
“Just chilly, that’s all,” Sammi lied uncomfortably. Actually, she’d thrown the cardigan on before going over to her friend’s suite to hide the nipple caps which stuck out prominently under her blouse. Thankfully, the Goddess pearl shield was much easier to conceal and couldn’t be seen at all.
“Well, you know you can adjust the temperature in your suite, right? Or just turn up the fireplace. I love that all the suites have fireplaces—don’t you?”
“They’re really nice,” Sammi agreed, glad to be on more neutral ground. “But I think my favorite feature is the bathing pool.”
“Oh yes—I love our pool! Why Berik and I spend hours in there. One time…” And Meg launched into a rather intimate story that probably would have made Sammi blush if she hadn’t been currently living her very own sexual fantasy at work.
“Well, I’ll have to try that if I ever start dating anybody here,” she told Meg, when her friend finished.
“Or just bring Commander Roark back to your suite tonight after dinner and try it then,” Meg said and giggled.
“Meg! It’s not—”
“Like that. Right. I get it,” Meg finished for her and winked again. “Okay, Sammi. It’s getting late—hadn’t you better go get ready for your not date tonight?”
Sammi glanced at her watch and nodded.
“Yes, I need to go. I’ll talk to you later, okay?”
“You’d better!” Meg exclaimed. “I want to know all the dirty details of tonight’s dinner!”
Sammi wondered if there would be any dirty details to tell—not that she would. But hadn’t Roark said something about testing the “efficacy” of the devices he’d put on her?
She had no idea what he’d meant by that, but she had an idea she might find out at dinner that night…
Twenty-Three
“This is a lovely place.” Sammi looked around the tiny bistro with appreciation. The Twin Kindred restaurant was simply called “Two.” It was a small, intimate, candlelit space and Roark had gotten them a booth in the corner, which was shielded from the rest of the patrons. Once they were seated with the wine menu in front of them, it was almost as though they had the whole place to themselves.
The waiter—a blond Twin Kindred with a wide smile—brought them a fizzing blue wine and a delicious selection of dishes from Twin Moons. As they ate, they talked.
“This is really delicious,” Sammi remarked, as she cut into the tender, flaky crust of a bright blue pastry with a savory filling. It reminded her a little of a chicken pot pie but the meat in it was stronger tasting—almost like lamb—and it was also bright pink. Regardless of the strange colors, it was absolutely mouthwatering.
“As I said, Two specializes in Twin Kindred cuisine—specifically from the Dolo’sarian islands—which weren’t far from my own home when I was growing up,” Roark remarked.
This was the most personal information he’d ever revealed in the admittedly short time they had been working together. Sammi leaned forward, intensely interested.
“So you grew up on Twin Moons then—not here aboard the Mother Ship?” she asked.
He nodded.
“Yes, my family is still there. My mother and my two fathers and my twin brothers—Laughs Loudly and Speaks Kindly.”
“That must be so difficult, to be so far from everyone,” Sammi said. “Why did you decide to move away?”
“I could say my research,” Roark mused. “But that wouldn’t be entirely true. I didn’t really get interested in the difficulties of unmated human females becoming impregnated with Kindred fetuses until after I had settled here. No…” He shook his head. “If I’m being honest—which I strive to do—I left because it was easier to be without my family than to be with them all the time.”
“Meaning?” Sammi raised an eyebrow at him.
Roark sighed.
“Meaning that it’s hard to be what you humans call ‘a third wheel.’ As a Shadow Twin, I grew up seeing that every other male in my entire society had a twin—a best friend to turn to and confide in. All of them but me.”
“That must have been so hard,” Sammi murmured.
“It was most difficult when I was a child,” Roark admitted. “Though when I grew older, I realized I was enough for myself. I didn’t need a twin to keep me company. I had my work for that.”
“That still sounds like a lonely life—just living for your work,” Sammi objected.
“Not so much.” He shrugged, his broad shoulders rolling under the neat black shirt he wore. It was the first time she’d seen him out of a lab coat and Sammi had to admit to herself the big Kindred was devastatingly handsome in “civilian clothes.” Then she tried to take the thought back—it certainly wasn’t something she ought to notice about her boss.