Why hadn’t Rico got him off the ship, and why weren’t they in the air by now?
He pressed the buzzer again, and her hand hovered over the panel as she tried to decide whether to let him in. But she’d downed half of Rico’s flask of whisky, and she was feeling way too mellow to be mean.
In the end, she decided to open the door, tell him to get off her ship—again—and then finish the rest of the flask. With a bit of luck, she’d pass out, and when she woke, this whole thing would be in the past. She could forget about Callum and Meridian and…
She slammed her palm down and the door slid open.
“I’m sorry,” Callum said.
The words didn’t make sense. Not coming out of that particular mouth anyway. “Pardon?”
He took a deep breath. “Tannis, I’m sorry for being a dickhead and not following your excellent orders.”
Still no sense. She put her hand back on the panel and the door shut. Leaning against the wall, she closed her eyes and fought the need to lie down—she was obviously hallucinating.
The buzzer sounded again. She straightened, turned to face the door, and placed her palm on the panel.
“Get off my ship.”
“Can I come in first? There’s something I need to say to you.”
When she continued to stand there, unmoving, a small frown flickered across his face as though he didn’t quite know what to do next. “Please?”
Shock made her stand aside. She guessed she might be one of the only people in the civilized universe who had heard Callum Meridian say the word “please.”
He stepped past her into the room and looked around. “Hey, this is nice. It suits you. You going to shut the door?”
“No.”
Unease shifted inside her. No way was she going to change her mind, but this nice-guy approach made her nervous. She stared at him through her lashes, and he shifted then cleared his throat.
“As I said—I’m sorry.”
“As I said—get off my ship.”
“I won’t do it again. From now on, I follow orders.”
Tannis snorted. “Yeah, right.”
She moved across to the table and picked up the half-empty flask, took a swallow.
“Can I?” He nodded at the flask.
“Why not?”
He took a sip, coughed, took a gulp. “Jesus, that’s good. It’s a long time since I tasted whiskey. Where the hell did you get it? I thought this stuff was illegal.”
“Rico and the Trog make it. Rico designed some sort of setup, and the Trog built it.”
He took another swig. “How about I double the fee?”
She was so tempted, but it wasn’t the money tempting her. Or not only the money—he was talking a huge sum. At the thought of him staying, something unraveled inside her, and some of the cold, hard lump of despair in her middle dissolved. And that was dangerous, because however amenable he appeared right now, that wasn’t who he was. He was a politician; he’d no doubt been using the art of manipulation since before the Earth had died.
Still, she was tempted.
The wings were folded neatly against his back, and she could see the tips above his broad shoulders and down beside his long, muscular thighs. He wore what looked like a pair of Rico’s black leather pants and a sleeveless T-shirt that probably belonged to Jon—Rico never wore T-shirts—that he’d somehow managed to get on over the wings. She’d really have to ask him how he managed that. Or she would if it wasn’t for the fact that he was leaving five minutes ago. His shoulders and arms were bare, the skin smooth and golden over the swell of muscle.
The rest of the cold, hard lump melted, then heated up to simmering. She forced her gaze from his chest up to his face and caught a small glimpse of triumph in his purple eyes before the expression was blanked.
“No.” His eyes narrowed on her. He took another sip and handed back the flask. Tannis drank automatically and waited while Callum stood with his head tilted to one side as he considered her. She wished she was a mind reader and could tell what he was thinking.
“Look,” she said, forcing the words out of her reluctant lips. “There’s no amount of money you can offer me. Just go.”
“How about I don’t offer you money?”
“What?”
“How about I offer you Meridian?”
She licked her lips. His gaze followed the movement. “I don’t understand.” And she didn’t, though her mind raced to come up with ideas.
He strolled across the room and sank down onto the sofa, patted the seat beside him. “Come and sit down, and I’ll tell you.”
Unable to stop herself, she sidled around and sat in the far corner, but his thigh was still only a foot from her own. She waited to feel the fear and revulsion, but when nothing happened, she sat back and tried to relax. It was important that he didn’t realize how much he unnerved her. “So tell me.”