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as he carried a covered tray into the room. His
bulk seemed to fill the area, making it appear smaller. “I hope everything is
okay with your quarters.”
    “Honestly, we just walked through the door when you dropped
by.” She took a second to glance around the space more for his benefit than to
actually judge it. It was a standard room. It had a small kitchenette, a
sleeping area and a work area. What more could she want? “It’s perfect. Thank
you.”
    “Good. I’m glad. I respect your work immensely and want you
to be comfortable while you’re here.”
    She stared at him for a second before saying, “You’re pretty
good at diplomacy. I almost believed you just now.”
    He laughed good-heartedly as he crossed the room to put the
tray he carried down on the table. “You should. Believe me, that is. I really
appreciate what your research could mean for us. And I understand how
uncomfortable being here is for you.”
    She followed him to the table and sat down with Nate on her
lap. “I’d imagine it’ll be a lot easier than where I was.” Nate wrapped his
arms around her neck and pulled her closer to him. “And I’m not all that
altruistic either. Everything I do to help you will help Nate when he gets old
enough to undergo surgery.”
    Dixie nodded. “He’s a cute one. How old is he?”
    “Just over eleven months.”
    Dixie rummaged through a couple cabinets and came back with
plates and silverware. “Does his father know about him?”
    “I’d rather not talk about his father. We didn’t exactly end
things on the best of terms.”
    “That’s a given. If you were on the best of terms, chances
are you wouldn’t have ended things.” He took the lid off the platter and
started dishing food for both of them. “Hope you don’t mind if I stay and grab
a bite to eat with you. I’m always starving after a mission.”
    She smiled with real affection for the first time in a long
time as he placed a plate in front of her. “Not at all. It’s nice to have the
company.” She hadn’t had a dinner guest since even before being taken into
custody.
    “Is the food okay for Nate?”
    As if on cue, her son picked up a piece of the meat and
shoved it into his mouth. “I don’t hear any complaints.”
    “It’s ham, in case you were wondering.”
    “I wasn’t. After being in custody I doubt I’ll ever question
a warm meal again. I could eat sand beetles right now if they were cooked
properly.”
    “There’s a proper way to cook sand beetles?” He looked at
her quizzically as he loaded his fork up with the ham. “Huh. Learn something
new every day.”
    She chuckled at his response but then they ate in silence.
Once their plates had been cleared, though, they picked up their conversation
with relative ease. And when Nate finally fell asleep in her arms, she placed
him on the bed. She turned toward the kitchen expecting to find Dixie leaving
but instead he was busy making coffee.
    “Ben’s wrong,” Dixie said, his back still toward her.
    She couldn’t resist laughing at the statement. “He’s wrong
about a lot of things. I’m afraid you’ll have to be more specific.”
    “You’re a good person.”
    She took the cup of hot salvation he held out to her and
inhaled its heavenly fragrance. “I haven’t had coffee in…” She let the sentence
die when it brought back too many painful memories of her captivity.
    “You don’t want to talk about Ben?”
    She took a sip and let the hot beverage soothe her suddenly
edgy nerves before answering. “Ben has his reasons for his feelings. He didn’t
know who I worked for and I didn’t know he was genetically enhanced when we
met. When it all came out, he felt the government had found a new and inventive
way to torture him.”
    “It doesn’t sound as if he was exactly forthcoming with you,
either.”
    “I realized it was an honest omission on his part. He’s a
techie, not a mercenary like you, so the differences weren’t quite as
noticeable. But had