"As you wish, Dr. MacNamara. Sorry if I'm overstepping with all my questions."
"I'm sure General Montgomery would appreciate your concern for my welfare. I know I do. It's nice to have someone like you covering my back."
Because there wasn't really anyone-at least not anymore. It was yet another truth she couldn't share with her pilot.
General Scott Montgomery, her latest intimate relationship, had been too busy to be involved in her life for several months now. She well knew the woman keeping him occupied had every right to do so. Though he had a legally open marriage, Scott was still ethically bound. He and his wife had produced their allowed two children together. There was nothing Sheena could say about Scott putting the welfare of his official family before her. It was both his moral duty and his obligation.
From the beginning, she had known her relationship to him, even though intimate, was just a matter of convenience for Scott. It was even more of a convenience for her, when Sheena felt like being super honest with herself. Most of her relationships with men were just that kind-on the side and only a convenience. In fact, she'd been very careful in the last seventy years of her life not to ever date anyone who didn't have a legal commitment to someone else.
One of the most inconvenient things for her about this particular trip was being forced to visit a one hundred year old ex-husband she'd never quite gotten over. Her brat of a sister was the only idiot she loved enough to endure such torture for, and especially just to rescue Bri's rebellious ass. She'd refused to visit her insane matchmaking parents while they had worked on that damn airship Nate had chosen to honor instead of their exclusive vows to each other.
So Scott spending time with his legal wife and children? That was absolutely not a problem for her.
She admired men who put their families first. More men should be that committed to the women in their lives. She had learned long ago that there were many, many ways a New Earth born man could manage to be unfaithful. Neglect was a very painful example that she'd felt the sting of more often than she could forget.
"We'll be docking in three minutes, Doctor."
Her gaze lifted so she could nod because Captain Jordy would not dock without knowing she was ready to debark.
"Set our transport down whenever you're ready, Captain. I'm anxious to get this over with. I'll contact you when I need a ride home."
"Yes, ma'am, Dr. McNamara. Docking now."
A hundred years had passed since Nate had seen Sheena in person, but the math still surprised him every time he thought about how much time had gone by. He'd maintained near daily contact with her matchmaking parents during that entire time period, yet both the MacNamara's legal born daughters had somehow managed to keep their distance from him.
Well, they had until now.
It was unfortunate he and Sheena hadn't been able to remain friends after their divorce. Sheena McNamara had been his first in nearly everything concerning his love life and he'd not forgotten a single moment. His four other marriages hadn't left any serious dents when they ended, but mostly that was because his time with all of them had never matched his time with Sheena.
His body tightened when four men as big as most aliens on the ship walked down the ramp. Though not openly carrying weapons, he knew the infamous Dr. McNamara never traveled without serious protection. He doubted the men were human even though the airship's sensors reported they were. He for damn sure knew they weren't aliens. Sheena despised aliens on principle … an aversion she'd never worked through.
Nate knew Sheena's career had progressed beyond what he used to know about her skills. His mother had taken on the task of keeping him apprised of the now infamous geneticist's many accomplishments. As he'd always suspected she would, Sheena had made quite the scientific name for herself. Words like genius and innovator were most typically attached to her profile.
His body tightened more when the pilot captain of her shuttle stopped her at the door with a possessive hand on her arm. He saw Sheena pat the attractive male on his ample chest, obviously reassuring him about something. The captain tipped his hat to her as she exited and lost no time in pulling the ramp back in once she'd reached the bottom.
Time fell away as Sheena, looking as good as she had at twenty, walked across the transport bay and back into his life. Her body displayed its absolute fitness in the red leggings and tunic, both pieces molding to her brightly colored curves.
As he walked out to greet her, Nate found himself wishing it wasn't only because she was here to see Brianna. He knew it was foolish to indulge such thoughts-knew it as sure as the ship would continue to float on its spinning electromagnetic crystals. But he was only human, a fact he'd grudgingly come to terms with about thirty years ago when his last and final marriage fell apart.