Kayla watched Carl walk away, trying to ignore the familiar flutter in her stomach she seemed to get every time he was around. Leaning against the wall for support, she mentally kicked herself.

Damn, damn, damn. Get it together, Kayla. He’s a trader.

Forcing herself to turn away from his retreating figure, she looked at the box with disinterest. The thought of unpacking wasn’t appealing. Instead, she headed over to Veridian’s private area.

Shoving a box aside, she sprawled out on his bed.

Veridian cocked his head at her and then gave it a slow shake. “I haven’t been here for an hour and you’re already taking over my area.”

“Oh, shush. If you really minded, you’d kick me out.”

He chuckled but didn’t argue with her. Taking that as a victory, she fluffed up his pillow behind her. “What did Leo say? Was he pissed?”

He shrugged, but Kayla noticed his shoulders tense. “It’s probably for the best you didn’t come back last night. I got stuck listening to a Leo rant that should have been directed at you. He’s worried about Ramiro though. To be honest, I think he’s going to miss you.”

Kayla frowned. She’d known Leo was going to be upset, and she felt guilty for letting Veridian take the brunt of it. More than anything, though, she was worried about how the camp would fare without her. She guessed that was Leo’s main concern too. She hoped Carl would keep his word and allow her to transfer some credits back to them. Until they found a replacement scavenger, it would be difficult on them. “I doubt that. He’ll just miss having someone to argue with.”

“That’s probably partly true. You know, he wants us to come back when we’re done after the year. He wanted me to tell you that.”

Kayla propped herself up on her elbows to see him better. She was normally pretty good at reading Veridian, but she couldn’t tell how he felt about the turn of events. When they were younger, he had joked about joining a trader camp, but he hadn’t said anything about it in recent years. In fact, he’d always supported her anti-OmniLab campaign, especially after the situation with Ramiro.

“We’ll see. You know, we could always take off and start our own camp or something. We could even leave OmniLab territory. There are other places where we could start over.”

Veridian gave her a sharp look, and she barely managed not to flinch. “You’d better be considering options for a year from now and not thinking what I think you’re thinking. We’re not breaking the contract. We’d be blacklisted by every single OmniLab trader. There’s no going back from that, Kayla.”

Kayla groaned and fell back on the bed in frustration. So much for her fantasy. Staring up at the ceiling, she declared, “Fine. Have it your way. I won’t do anything crazy.”

Veridian turned back to the box. “Carl and his crew seem like decent people. You said yourself he wasn’t a bad guy.”

Kayla couldn’t stop the silly grin from spreading across her face. “He’s too damn pretty to be a trader.”

“Kayla!” Veridian stared at her in shock.

“What?” she asked, feigning ignorance. “He’s got these amazing eyes. And his body… Oh man, I want to bite his ass.” She let out a dreamy sigh.

Veridian threw a shirt at her in disgust, and she laughed. Unable to resist teasing him, she added, “Don’t get me started about the way he kisses.”

“I left you for one night!”

“Yeah, but nothing happened last night. I fell asleep.” Unfortunately.

“Then when did you… Oh.” Veridian frowned. “That’s why you didn’t kick his ass when he paid Leo to keep you above ground.”

“Yeah, he distracted me.” Kayla bit her lip, thinking of that day. The man wreaked havoc on her senses. “I really like him, V. There’s something about him. It feels like he actually sees me. I haven’t felt that way in a long time.”

Veridian’s brow furrowed, and he sat down next to her. His voice turned serious. “Kayla, tread carefully. There’s no future with him. At some point, he’s going to go back and live in those towers. This is temporary for him. Not only that, but he’s technically our boss now. If things go bad with him or you piss him off, we’re stuck.”

Kayla looked away, knowing he was right. Yet, she wasn’t willing to dismiss her feelings based on some future possibility. It might not be the practical thing to do, but she knew better than anyone how short life could be. She might as well live her life to the fullest. There might not be a tomorrow.

Kayla offered a weak smile. “When have you ever known me to do anything sensible?”

He shook his head and sighed. They both knew there was no good answer to that question.