Seducing the Stargazer

by Carmichael, Kim;

  Along the way Dr. Knox decided she was disposable, and she was the fool who continued to crawl out of the trash bin he tossed her in, searching for the connection they had long ago. At one time she considered him her only family. Well, this time she was here, in his home, so he couldn’t ghost her for five years. She could get some answers.

  With a new conviction in her goal, she tied her scarf around her neck, put on her lipstick, and stomped out of her room. As she passed the front door, the buzzer rang out. She jumped back and put her hand to her chest. Did they have a guest or did Garner manage to lock himself out of his own penthouse?

  Before she had a chance to reach for the doorknob, Mrs. Benton appeared and bowed. “I am told you have a visitor.”

  “Me?” She shook her head. Her stomach bottomed out. In truth, she didn’t have too many friends, so who could appear here? All she needed was a creditor or someone even more horrific to give Garner more ammunition to keep his distance from her.

  “Yes.” Nodding, Mrs. Benton opened the door to someone she didn’t know she missed until this second.

  “It’s you.” Mona Knox ran past Mrs. Benton, stopped and pointed at Wynn. “Garner said you were here and promised to bring you by, but I couldn’t wait another second.”

  The sight of Garner’s mother blurred through the tears in Wynn’s eyes. The woman was a warm blanket, chicken soup, and meatloaf rolled into one magnificent human. “Mona.”

  “My girl.” The woman dashed forward and plopped her hand right on her forehead.

  In the world of Garner’s mother, the temperature check was better than a hug.

  “Oh my.” Mona made a tsking sound.

  A diagnosis, even if the said verdict was vague, it meant one was in the inner sanctum. Wynn held her breath and waited to find out if she was still family.

  Mona tilted her head then pressed the back of her hand to Wynn’s cheek. “You are most definitely a little warm and slightly flush.”

  Bingo. For someone without any specified illness or complaints, Wynn received the entire inspection.

  With her assessment complete, Mona opened her arms.

  The invitation was too much for Wynn to turn down and she closed the distance between them, only to be instantly encompassed by the second best set of arms in the universe.

  Actually, as the woman hugged her, really hugged her complete with squeezing and patting her back, Wynn decided it was the first best set, considering the first set belonged to Garner, and she was done with that ride.

  “I always knew you would come back. I always knew you and Garner weren’t over, I just knew.” His mother continued to hold her then burst into tears.

  How could Wynn tell this woman that she wasn’t back, not like she thought? Did she know Garner walked away from her? If he never had left, she wouldn’t have either. Did she dare tell her that when she used to dream about being part of Garner’s magnificent family, it wasn’t because of the money, it was because of her?

  Who was she kidding? She still had the same dreams. Giving in for a moment, Wynn lowered her face into the woman’s shoulder and inhaled the scent of soap, antiseptic and clean sheets. “I missed you.”

  They stood together hugging for quite some time. Memories swirled in Wynn’s mind, from the holidays she spent with this woman, the meals she would bring when she and Garner were studying for tests or deep in research, to that last day at graduation when she knew it was over and wanted say goodbye, but couldn’t conjure up the courage.

  “What’s wrong? Tell me,” Mona crooned over her. “Isn’t my son taking good care of you?”

  “Mother.” Garner’s harsh tone interrupted them. “I can assure you that Wynn is getting the best of everything.”

  Wynn looked up to find him standing there with his hands in his pockets. Yes, the man was an amazing provider of everything but his heart.

  Mona kept hold of her and spun toward her son. “Watch the voice, Buster.”

  Oh, Wynn loved Mona Knox.

  “Mother, I only meant to say that of course, I’m taking care of Wynn.” He joined them, winked at her and leaned down toward his mother.

  “Is that a sexual reference?” As if to protect her, Mona pulled Wynn in closer.

  Wynn winced. She didn’t even want to reference their sex life, let alone have Garner, or heaven forbid, Mona reference it.

  “Mother.” Garner’s voice was laced with an annoyed warning.

  “That’s fine.” His mother shrugged. “You should have sex, but I would like to spend some time with her as well. I thought I would take Wynn to lunch.”

  He kept his head down. “Wynn and I have a video conference we have to attend.”

  “Why are you all slumped over like that? What’s wrong with you?” Mona tapped her foot. “Stand up straight or you’re going to have back issues.”

  “You didn’t check my head,” Garner growled.

  Wynn swallowed back a laugh.

  “Are you sick?” His mother lifted her hand then stopped herself.

  He tapped his foot. “Aren’t you supposed to be telling me?”

  “Well, if you’re having sex, I’m going to assume you’re fine,” she countered. “It’s very invigorating for men.”

  Perhaps Mona was on to something as Wynn felt drained and her plans for talking to Garner before the video call vanished into the atmosphere.

  Finally, Garner straightened up. “Maybe we should get to the conference.”

  “I would love to see the two of you work together.” Mona took hold of each of their arms and as one unit they all went to the office.

  Garner pointed to a chair out of the view of the computer screen. “Mother, sit here and stay silent, please. Wynn, you will take your place next to me.”

  She noticed Garner set up his desk with two chairs side by side. “Is that my place?”

  “Right here.” Garner guided her over to the chair. “This is for the investors. Only answer any direct questions.”

  “Maybe you need to create me a script, so I’ll know what to do.” She took her seat.

  “You have the easiest job on the planet.” Garner sat next to her and adjusted the camera. “What’s wrong?”

  She glanced at the two of them in the shot and her chest tightened. Always thrown together, never really together. What did she tell him? That she didn’t realize she could take a walk of shame with him in the same house?

  “What happens next?” She couldn’t help repeating the question that continued to run through her head.

  “We do the video conference.” As if he timed the moment, his computer rang out a little chime. “Here we go.” He tapped a button on the screen and several little squares appeared, all with different people in various settings. Aside from Jim, Dana, and a couple of the engineers she met at Personal Space, she didn’t recognize anyone else.

  “Hello, everyone,” Jim began. “I know there have been some questions on the launch date. I will allow Dr. Knox to elaborate on what is planned, but first I had some requests to ask Dr. Carlsbad some questions.”

  Garner let out a low groan.

  Wynn sat up. “All right.” The way all the squares were across Garner’s computer screen reminded her of a sci-fi movie where the aliens took over their planet, announcing everything was fine and not to worry. However, in this case was she the alien? More importantly, should she worry?

  “Does anyone have any questions for Dr. Carlsbad?” Jim asked.

  “I do.” An older man with grey hair and a southern drawl spoke. “Dr. Carlsbad, what made you decide to work for Personal Space? What was the spark?”

  She glanced over at Garner. Maybe she really did need a script, since telling these people she had no job, no money, held a torch for their spokesperson, and wanted time on their telescope probably wasn’t the answer they were looking for.

  Garner gave her a light elbow, urging her to speak.

  “I’m excited about taking a small
part in getting something in the air for you.” At having come up with an answer that didn’t include anything about Garner, she exhaled.

  “Rumor has it you were fired from your job at NJL,” the same man asked. “Would that be more accurate as to why you’re here?”

  Her cheeks heated, she went to reach for Garner’s hand then stopped. “I was asked to come work for Personal Space prior to leaving NJL.”

  One of the only other women on the call let out a little laugh. “I heard she came to our company because of her romantic history with Garner.”

  Well, the thought of not bringing up her prior job status or her relationship with Garner flew out the window. Instead of dignifying the question with a response, she shook her head.

  “Dr. Carlsbad,” another man said, this one who appeared as if this inopportune video conference took place in the middle of his golf game piped in, “We’re more than happy to have you, but I think we want to know why you decided to join Personal Space. What was it that drew you to private sector space exploration?”

  The room took on the most incredible heat. Out of the corner of her eye she spied Garner simply sitting there, silent, his jaw jutted out. “I don’t believe in private sector space. Space for profit. I believe in research and exploration. It’s private sector space that keeps scientists like me away from their calling because we don’t have the big budgets behind what we want to study. Science needs to go beyond what is trendy.”

  “Wynn,” Garner growled under his breath

  Instead of heeding his warning, she continued. “In fact, one of the only reasons I even considered this job is because Personal Space is going to do something right and offer some free time to scientists doing true work.”

  Rumbles went through all the squares on the screen, and it became more than apparent Garner never even mentioned one of her conditions.

  “I don’t remember anything about free research time.” Jim leaned forward. “That’s how we make our money.”

  “Ladies and gentlemen.” Garner held his hand up, stopping the errant chatter. “Some pro bono time on Maverick has been discussed, but at the moment with all the delays, it is not viable. I think the real issue is discussing the flight plan.”

  The man in the golf attire cleared his throat. “I think I speak for everyone when I say that we want Dr. Carlsbad’s full sign off on the flight plan before we make it official, especially after she stopped the first launch.”

  “I agree. We’ll put out a press release once she approves the flight plan,” Dana said. “The whole fiasco with the asteroid actually worked in our favor with the media.”

  “I’m here to tell everyone, especially our investors, that if you bow out now, you will be missing out on the profit you richly deserve,” Garner produced his professional, photo-perfect smile. The one that told the world he had everything covered and not to worry. “We’ve done everything to ensure a successful launch, and not even another asteroid can stop us now.”

  “Now that I think about it, maybe the asteroid gave us even more credibility,” the Southern drawl man said.

  With the disaster averted, the conference continued, but Wynn barely heard another word. Garner lied. She didn’t know why she was surprised. The only reason he couldn’t disappear was because she lived here and right this second, he needed her. Damn everything, she needed him as well. She forced a smile when everyone said goodbye and waited for Garner to turn the monitor off.

  They faced each other. She needed answers.

  He clutched the arms of the chair and narrowed his eyes at her. “I told you specifically not to go off like a gunshot.”

  “Excuse me?” Wynn balled her hand in a fist. “I answered a question.”

  “What was in your mind that you say you’re against private sector space to investors in a private company? Then you had to let out about free time on a probe, especially one that up until now has been nothing but a sinkhole for money?” Garner stood.

  “That answer is exactly why space should not be privatized.” She got up as well. “What else haven’t you mentioned, Dr. Knox? Have you secured my time on Selene?”

  Garner towered over her. “Keep up your end of the bargain.”

  “Maybe you need to learn the same lesson.” She backed toward the door and Mona caught her hand.

  “You’re shaking,” Mona whispered.

  “Sometimes we have to make concessions.” Garner’s voice softened.

  She tightened her hold on Mona’s hand. “Am I a concession?”

  “I did what I had to do to keep peace.”

  There was the answer to all her questions. “Make no mistake, Garner. I don’t have the easiest job on the planet, you do.” She let go of Mona and went to her room.

  Chapter Twelve

  “Janice, I come bearing coffee.” Two cups of Italian roast with freshly whipped cream in his hands, Garner sauntered into the laboratory for the Selene telescope and saluted his friend, one of the scientists at the facility. “Thanks for squeezing me in again.” He played this same game every night for the last two weeks.

  “You are a god.” The woman took the offering. “Your blog keeps us in the media. I just never thought I would find you doing research here.”

  “That’s not the first time that’s been said.” Over the years Garner had taped several news segments here, and he used the same connections Wynn wanted him to use for her to get some time on the telescope. If nothing else, he now fully understood why Wynn was frantic about making sure she got her minutes on Selene. He had been out of the loop for a while, but after this experience he understood how hard it was to get any hours on any scope. His briefcase firmly under his arm, he patted his friend, took his seat at the console, and sipped his drink.

  “I took the liberty of setting you up.” Janice gave him a thumbs-up and returned to her seat. “You’ve been looking at the same patch of sky every night.”

  “Thank you.” He took the controls, stared at the monitor, and located his asteroid. Who would have thought that that little blurry blob could change everything?

  The telescope focused on the speeding rock, a metaphor for him and Wynn—they were tumbling through space on a collision course with something, but what, he did not know.

  He couldn’t move forward, but couldn’t walk away, and it seemed as if she was in the same predicament. Since returning from New Mexico two weeks ago, the two of them orbited around each other, both unsure of what to do next. While he knew she wanted an answer to what happened next and was upset about the pro bono work, he needed to keep the vow he made to himself when he walked away five years ago. He would only be with her if she could respect him, and he needed to step up, do the science. Therefore, he started his research by actually looking at what brought them together in the first place.

  The first night he simply watched the asteroid. He needed to get back into the mindset of a researcher, so he sat for hours as the radio telescope imaged the rock Wynn discovered.

  The following nights he completed his crash course in orbit calculation. He reread Wynn’s notes and then did the math. Sure enough, her research was spot on. If Personal Space would have launched, Maverick would have been space rubble ten months down the line. Without enough rocket fuel or knowledge to alter the course, the only choice was to call it off.

  At the end of the first week, he was back to staring at the asteroid, and that’s when he found something notable.

  Something was off with their rock, an irregularity smack dab down the middle of the stone. Once he discovered that little anomaly, the research bug hit him and he was obsessed. What was there? He spent the next week trying to figure it out. He only needed the damn thing to turn a bit, but its rotation seemed to take forever. Of course, he needed to be in the right place at the right time, or know what he was looking for. Talk about science imitating life.

  “You must have one understanding wife,” Janice called out.

  At her interruption,
he spun his chair around. This was the first time she mentioned anything about his private life.

  “Your wife. Is she upset about the late nights?” Janice’s tone raised at least three octaves.

  “I’m not married.” As if to prove his point, he raised his left hand and showed her the empty ring finger.

  “Oh!” The woman straightened up and though she wore a baggy shirt, Garner was pretty sure she jutted her chest out. “Then your girlfriend?”

  “Girlfriend?” Ah, he understood. His dating sense was off kilter or broken, or rusty. Either way at last it hit him what the woman wanted to know. Maybe he should have left the whipped cream out of her coffee. At his own thought, he winced.

  “Do you have a girlfriend?” she asked.

  His mouth opened, but honestly he didn’t know what to say. Technically no, he did not have a girlfriend. All he had was a woman he made love to after waiting to do so for five years. Since then he couldn’t think of anything else, but he couldn’t move forward, and he didn’t want to go back. At all his thoughts and this strange situation, he ran his hand through his hair, scratching his nails through his scalp. Better yet, maybe he just needed to pull his hair out.

  “I was just curious.” Her voice shook and she turned toward her computer. “I was just thinking that your wife or girlfriend must be really understanding to not have you home all these nights. Either that or—” she cut herself off and typed on her keyboard.

  “Or what?” He needed to know what came after the or, not that it mattered.

  A slight smile curled up the corner of her mouth. “Or she thinks you’re cheating on her.”

  He returned his attention to the monitor, but his mind wandered to Wynn. By no means did he need to answer to her. Besides, he wanted to give her a big reveal once his research was underway and prove to her he was a scientist on every level. On the other hand, the last few nights he sort of sneaked out when she wasn’t looking. “Do women always think men cheat on them?”

  “Unless you are in front of our faces.” Janice’s tone took on a little disgust.