Seducing the Stargazer

by Carmichael, Kim;

  Without waiting for him, she nodded at the one flight attendant standing on the tarmac and stomped up the plane’s stairs to another flight attendant holding a tray of drinks.

  “Dr. Carlsbad, I have your favorite, a piña colada.” The pretty uniformed redhead held out the drink, complete with a little umbrella and a triangle of pineapple perched on the rim of the glass. “Let me know if I can get you anything else.”

  On automatic, Wynn took the offering. “How did you know?”

  “For someone who can track a pebble floating in an ocean of space, you find the fact we can figure out anything about you with a few phone calls and an Internet search mysterious?” A woman dressed in head to toe black, including quite a large hat, unfurled herself from one of the seats and stood. “How charming, and naïve.”

  “I may not be your idea of a scientist, but I still remember key facts.” Garner came up behind her and took a martini from the flight attendant.

  With him standing close, she shuddered.

  “You know, if you’re going to be in front of the camera, you need to learn not to have that confused yet annoyed, half-opened mouth thing going on, as well as a complete wardrobe change, and don’t even get me started on the makeup.” The unidentified bizarre, black-clad woman motioned her over. “Also, someone get her a proper drink. A PhD doesn’t skip around drinking fruit punch with beach accessories jutting out of it.”

  Wardrobe? Makeup? This woman needed to learn some manners before speaking of someone else’s attire. Wynn didn’t move an inch. Before she ever had the chance to sip from the neon pink straw, yet another uniformed crewmember swiped the glass away. “A PhD goes beyond a proper drink choice.”

  No matter what she said, both flight attendants scurried around the space and in unison turned to the woman in black. One held up a bottle of wine, the other a bottle of vodka and a martini glass.

  The rude woman crossed her arms and pursed her lips as she stared Wynn down.

  Caught with Garner behind her and this person in front of her, Wynn put her hands on her hips and waited. All she knew was someone better produce a drink soon.

  “Let’s think. They’ve known each other since their graduate program, so is it too planned if they drink the same beverage or is it expected? Cute even?” The woman tapped her foot. “Of course, when Garner first started with Personal Space he drank wine coolers. I can only assumed they shared them at one point.”

  Still behind her, Garner let out a chuckle. “Remember that?”

  Wynn clenched her teeth. Of course she remembered. More than once they shared those bottles. One time after a particularly grueling test, he sneaked one into the library and found her sitting in her favorite hidden corner among the astronomy books. At any given time there were only a handful of doctorate students, and the place was pretty barren. They giggled as they broke the rules and sipped the forbidden beverage then made a deal not to talk about the exam for fear they would freak each other out.

  “Once she stops grinding her teeth together, I’m quite sure she’s a martini girl.” At last the woman held out her hand. “Dana Freed, public relations, marketing and disaster averter. I know no one else has said this to you, but I must thank you for giving yet more publicity to Personal Space, people are clamoring to know what delayed the launch, but don’t worry, I’ll deal with it.”

  “I don’t think thanking her is quite right,” Garner growled.

  Like magic, someone handed her a matching martini to Garner’s.

  “Now we have a drink fit for a set of astronomers.” Dana nodded.

  Wynn clutched the glass. They weren’t a set, not for many years, maybe not ever.

  “Once we are seated, the captain said we are ready for take-off,” the redheaded flight attendant announced.

  “Let’s sit, shall we?” Garner guided her to the seats. “Then you can continue to tell me I’m not really a scientist, didn’t pay my dues, and how everything I’ve done in my career, down to getting involved in private sector space, is a sellout.” A huge smile took over his face, yet his tone was low and serious. He was always a contrast.

  “Since you already know my script, you can walk again.” Finally, with her proper martini in hand and her words out in the universe, Wynn took her opportunity to actually observe and take in her surroundings. Garner must have upgraded, back in college the plane his family owned wasn’t nearly this glamorous. The man always had it easy, while she always struggled. At first she envied him, then she fell in love with him, but she always wished he stretched himself to his full potential. He was brilliant.

  The small plane wasn’t a space where people were shoved inside to get from point A to point B as quick and cheaply as possible. This vessel was a luxury capsule designed to propel its guests into a total traveling experience. Decorated in rich woods with modern abstract art and carpeted floors, the interior seemed more like an opulent office rather than transportation. Once she sank into the soft tan leather oversized seat, she was convinced she entered some exclusive club.

  As the plane taxied, she became lost in the way they sped down the runway and took off into the clear blue sky. Since she sped off to stop a rocket launch early that morning, she hadn’t taken a break. She inhaled, sat back and took a sip of her martini. The alcohol offered a welcomed cool burn down her throat, and she clutched the stem of the glass, fighting the urge to gulp the drink.

  “Look.” Garner pointed out the window. “There’s infinity.”

  The man using his media catch phrase again jolted Wynn back to her task at hand. Only he could go from sparring with her one second to being dreamy and sweet the next.

  With a smirk he tapped his glass against hers and sipped his beverage. “Now that we got our past out of the way, let’s get down to business.”

  Sure, no problem, they could just brush their history away, and he could use her to help him as always. Her heart sank, everything came down to what she could do for him. “Of course, Garner, let’s talk shop.”

  Dana took off her hat, showing off a short, bleached-blonde Mohawk. “So we have a flair for the dramatic, I see. You just galloped right into our press conference with what appeared to be ideal timing.”

  Wynn pressed her back to the seat. Her entry into Personal Space had been picture perfect. An ideal Hollywood moment if they were dealing with movies and not real life science. She gave in and finished off her drink.

  “It was payback,” Garner stated. “That’s why she didn’t follow protocol.”

  Above all else she needed to stick with her story. “All right, perhaps I should have informed the powers that be at NJL, however, I wanted to personally make sure the message was delivered.”

  “Payback,” Garner mumbled.

  Dana lifted her glass in an air toast and sipped her drink. “If there is payback, there has to be a reason. Don’t let me stop the two of you from hashing it out.”

  Wynn caught his gaze.

  “The damage is done, why don’t we talk about why we’re really here?” Garner finished his drink and in what appeared to be a coordinated movement, the flight attendant appeared with new drinks and set up a table with fruits, cheeses, nuts, and little pastries.

  Unfortunately, they could never undo their night together. The night that took her heart and her best friend. Instead she studied the food, her focus falling on the little pyramid of cream puffs, her favorite. “I agree, the flight is only a little over an hour.”

  “All right.” Without taking his gaze off her, Garner retrieved the treats and held the plate out to her. “In Pasadena, two people roamed the streets in the middle of the night after our time at the telescope until we found one bakery that had cream puffs because someone couldn’t continue her research without some sugar. The woman in question commented a cream puff is the perfect treat, a self-contained world. Crunchy and fluffy on the outside, decadent and creamy on the inside. The entire walk home they shared their dessert hypothesizing different types
of planets each little globe could be.”

  “Fascinating.” Dana let out a low laugh. “This could be a show all on its own.”

  Wynn’s cheeks heated and she glanced between the treat obviously meant for her, the marketing woman who mocked her, and the man who vexed her. Worse yet, there was no way out. “While I appreciate the ride, as well as soaring down memory lane, what do you need or want, Dr. Knox?” It was always something.

  “What I want is not something we’ll discuss right now.” He put the plate aside. “What I need is for you to come work for Personal Space.”

  Of all the things that could have possibly exited his mouth, that last bit she wasn’t expecting. She clutched her glass and shook her head. “Not only do I have a job, Dr. Knox, but I don’t work for the private sector, and I would never work with you.”

  “Actually, it would be for me,” he said. The smile she both loved and hated grew.

  “Why would you want me to work with you?” Why was she even asking? In no universe could she work with Garner Knox again. Even if one was working with Garner, he took over, and she refused to be in that position ever again.

  Before answering, he took another drink and rubbed his chin. “I need your brain, I need your research. I want you to work for me and get us through our first rocket launch.”

  “Who even knows if you can get it up?” Fine, she meant the double entendre.

  “With you working for me I can assure you I won’t have that problem.” His tone lowered.

  Dana actually clapped. “If only we thought to film this, it would have made an amazing reality show.”

  They fell into old roles too easily. Wynn needed to get this conversation back on track. “Let’s take the fact we would be working together out of it, since that is not going to happen.” Wanting to make sure her mind stayed perfectly clear, she put her second drink down without touching it. “I refuse to work in a world where my research would be used for profit. I will never be part of your bottom line.” Anytime money got involved, people excluded others. There was no sharing of knowledge, no building together. Instead, everything became a race for profit and exclusionary.

  “Others would say private sector space exploration is exactly what we need to fund the future,” Garner countered. “At the end of the day, every business has to make money.”

  “Space exploration isn’t just any business.” She straightened up. “Also, let it be known that it was a publicly funded entity that found that asteroid. We have capabilities you don’t.” Personal Space and Garner would use her and her research to gain publicity, more investors, and profits then leave her with nothing after their rocket launched. Astronomers didn’t need to sell time on some probe like a cheap timeshare, they needed to do real work, real discovery.

  “Let’s be honest here.” Garner put his hand over hers.

  At the contact, she gasped and pulled away.

  “You found the asteroid. You went around your publicly funded entity and came straight to us.” He reached in his pocket and held the star out to her. “Consider coming to work for Personal Space a personal favor.”

  “I do have one thing you need.” With her goals in mind, she snatched the star up. Their little game had always taken on a life of its own but working with Garner took everything a step too far. “I won’t work with you, but we can consider it a favor that I give you my research notes.” She wouldn’t leave this plane without her telescope time. Taking the star, she went to slip it right back in his pocket.

  He caught her wrist. “I think your refusal to work with Personal Space comes down to the answer to the first question I asked you.” As usual, he completely ignored her words, their deal, in his own quest.

  “And what was that, Dr. Knox?” she asked.

  “How often do you think about me?”

  Again she found herself in a stare off with the man. All she needed to do was say she never thought about him. Why couldn’t she say the words?

  “Let me make this easier. I’ll answer the question first.” With his free hand, he plucked the star away.

  The plane took on the same anticipatory silence that happened any time Dr. Garner Knox spoke, and no, she didn’t pull her hand away.

  “All the time.” His voice came out a little above a whisper.

  A shiver ran through her. Was he genuine?

  Dana let out a little squeak of delight. “Perfect.”

  Wynn crossed her arms. Everything in this plane was nothing but a ploy to get her to do what they wanted, use her to amp up their profits. “Strange, since you couldn’t find the two seconds it would take to contact me.”

  “I was waiting for the right time.” His voice hardened. The man was a baby when he didn’t get what he wanted.

  “And when would that have been?” Last time she checked her memory banks, he slept with her then never spoke to her again.

  “Right now.” He handed her back the star and reclined in his seat. “Keep it. The ride home is on me. As of right now I declare a standstill. We are no better off than we were before you ruined my launch.”

  “Correction, I saved it.” She closed her hand around the star and stared out the window into infinity, or as she would say in her history with Garner Knox, stared out into limbo.

  Chapter Four

  His coffee cup topped with a heaping dollop of fresh whipped cream in hand, Garner stared out the window of his penthouse in Los Angeles. Except for one set of rooms he personally decorated but never used, he bought the grand place completely furnished down to the knickknacks on the shelves. The only accessories he added were his clothing and his telescope. While he used the clothing, he rarely had a chance to use the telescope.

  From twenty floors high, the view was quite spectacular, especially at night. Wynn would hate his place because the city lights would drown out the stars. True to herself, she always looked up, never down, unless she was looking down at him.

  He was no different, he tried to always look up and out, hence the penthouse. From the time he was a child when his allergies and other various illnesses kept him in the house with a worrying mother, he dreamed of traveling, around the world, through space, it didn’t matter as long as he was free.

  Suddenly the door to his office flew open, banging on the opposite wall. Jim and Dana both charged inside.

  “What are you doing sitting there?” Jim pointed an accusatory finger him.

  At the intrusion, Garner shook his head. “Thinking. Scientists think.” Yes, he purposely used the word scientist.

  “Not you, you act, and you better get ready for some performances.” Jim tossed a newspaper at him.

  The paper landed on his desk already opened to the science section. Garner sipped his rich brew and read the headline. “Personal Space Can’t Get It Up.” Under the headline was a picture of him and Wynn running off the stage.

  “Do you see that? We can’t get it up!” Jim yelled.

  “I’m not sure about you, but I don’t have that problem.” He had to remind Wynn of the same thing yesterday, but she already knew the facts firsthand.

  “You and your classmate are making a laughingstock out of our company.” Jim leaned over the desk. “And you know what that’s going to do to our net worth. Don’t forget for one moment that you are a major stockholder, but more than that, your reputation is on the line. I’ve gotten several calls from investors wanting to pull out because we can’t deliver.”

  Dana rushed around to Garner’s side of the desk. “I have several interviews set up for today, don’t worry. Garner will explain the asteroid and our stock will soar.”

  “It’s not his statement I’m worried about,” Jim growled. “It’s this astronomer who ruined our launch yesterday. Did you get her research? Did you get her to work for us? What have you done to fix this?”

  Garner’s blood sped and he slapped his hand on his desk, vibrating the entire piece of mahogany furniture. “We don’t need her!” Anytime anyone
wanted facts and science, they wanted Wynn, but when they needed the clean-up and charm, he was turned into the human mop.

  “I say we do.” Jim stared him down.

  Garner stood. “She’s a renegade, she hasn’t held down a job for more than a year at a time. She’s obsessed with the moons of Mars! She stopped a rocket launch to show me up. This is not the kind of woman we need working for Personal Space.”

  Before responding, Jim leaned in closer. “I say she is exactly what we need.”

  “Then you go get her.” Garner put the cup aside. No matter if she owed him a favor or not, he couldn’t force the woman to work for him. All he could do was withhold what she wanted.

  Jim simply shook his head. “Yesterday she could have come to anyone, she could have had NJL reach out to us, she could have done a myriad of things, but she went to you. You get her, starting with her research, and finishing with getting her to work for us.”

  “We better get to her before the media does,” Dana interrupted. “Every request we have for Garner is also a request for Dr. Carlsbad.”

  “Exactly,” Jim said under his breath.

  “They know who she is. It’s a matter of time before they show up at her work.” Dana huffed. “If we were dealing with Hollywood rather than the universe, they would have been at her house last night.”

  Jim paced around in a circle. “This is all we need.”

  “She’s not used to the media.” Garner filled in the blanks. Yesterday proved she wasn’t ready to face her public or she would have gotten up at the podium and told them of her research. She had no idea what she set into place. “Well she can stew in the mess of her own making.” Foolish girl took their game too far.

  “Her stew is our full course entrée and there is no better person to deal with this than you,” Jim said.

  “Fine!” Garner’s voice echoed through his office. “Fine! I’ll deal with it.”