“Um…” She turned self-consciously so that she was facing him instead. “It’s just that they’re big enough already.”
“They’re perfect,” he growled softly. “At least as far as I can see with that baggy clothing you have on.”
Nina could feel her face getting hot. “These are my scrubs. I always work in them.”
“Mmm-hmm.” Those sharp silver eyes were still roving restlessly up and down her body. Finally, they stopped on her face. “Now you’re blushing,” Reddix said. “Are you embarrassed?”
“Of course I am, with you looking at me like that! Can’t you tell?”
He shook his head. “I’ve…gotten out of the habit of reading people’s faces so I wasn’t sure.”
Nina frowned as she removed the hamburger and fries and put the tiny Barbie doll sized bottle into the rehydrator. “How do you get out of the habit of reading people’s faces? What do you do—go around with your hood up all the time not looking at anyone?”
“I do wear my hood all the time,” he admitted in a low voice. “But not because I want to keep from seeing anyone.”
“Why then?”
He looked away. “To keep them from looking at me. I think the drink is done.”
“Oh.” Nina sensed he didn’t want to say anymore, so she didn’t ask, though she had a thousand questions. He kept saying such strange things—that he wanted to be ugly or invisible. That he hated the way he looked. And now he admitted to hiding his face—that perfectly gorgeous face, although he could really use a shave and a haircut—from everyone all the time. Why? He didn’t seem crazy—well, no more than any other guy who kidnapped a girl and took her through a wormhole. So what was going on with him?
She sensed she was going to have to wait to find out—if she found out at all. Reddix clearly was irritated with himself for telling as much as he had. He had a closed look on his face, so she was silent as she pulled the bottle out of the rehydrator and eyed it in wonder.
“Wow…it really grew!” she exclaimed. The bottle was now bigger than a good sized wine bottle, though with a considerably wider mouth. It was plugged with some kind of black waxy substance. When Nina pulled it out, a light, fruity perfume filled the air, making her think of berries and melons and strangely enough, of cinnamon toast.
“Vanerian sweet juice,” Reddix said, sniffing the air. “A perfect complement to our meal.”
“I don’t see any cups,” Nina said, making a quick search of the cabinets once more. “I think we’ll have to drink out of the bottle. Hope you don’t mind sharing.”
“I don’t,” he said simply. “Although I think I’m going to have a little trouble eating like this.” He rattled the cuffs against the metal bar and raised an eyebrow at her.
“I’m not letting you go so don’t even think about it,” Nina said crisply. There was a padded bench-like seat and small table across from the kitchen area, but she ignored it. Instead, she put the plates and the large green bottle on the floor and sat down across from him. “I’ll feed you.”
He frowned. “You don’t have to do that.”
“Of course, I do. How else are you going to eat?”
Reddix shook his head. “I still don’t understand why you’re being so kind to me after what I did.”
“I probably shouldn’t be,” Nina said, scooping up a bite of the weird blue lasagna with the spork and shoveling it into his mouth. “I should probably starve you into submission or at least make you wait to eat until you tell me the location of the emergency beacon you were talking about earlier.”
He chewed and swallowed. “Mmm. It’s in the front of the ship on the pilot’s side near the steering yoke.”
Nina looked at him, surprised. “You’re telling me—just like that?”
He grinned humorlessly. “Sure. It won’t do you any good, though—it needs a Kindred handprint to activate it. And in case you didn’t notice, my hands are sort of tied up right now.” He rattled the cuffs again.
“Right.” Nina felt immediately deflated. With a sigh, she took a bite of her hamburger. She knew it shouldn’t, but the salty, meaty flavor, the juicy tomato and crisp buttered bun made her feel immediately better.
Marooned on an alien planet light years from home with no idea how I’m going to get back to Earth, and a hamburger makes me feel better. Wow, how shallow am I?
But despite her inner conflict, she couldn’t help closing her eyes and giving a little moan of pure happiness. It was the best burger she’d ever had—even better than the Kobe beef burger she’d had that one time she and her coworkers from Massage Envy had decided to treat themselves to Square 1, the gourmet burger place in South Tampa.