Chapter 9
Kissing Bones
“I got an address off the earpiece,” Ixy declared the next day.
Jenna and Crimp sat in their hotel room. They had planned to go find Vinia first thing that day, but Ixy’s news changed that.
“Where is it?”
“It’s four blocks away. It’s a men’s gym and club, meaning athletes stay there when they’re training.”
“Okay,” Jenna said, putting the information together into something useful. “So Ryatt is staying there. If Sardius is staying with him, he’d certainly be able to transmit to the earpiece from there. So, let’s hunt up Ryatt and see what he has to say.”
Jenna said all that and she said it confidently, but she didn’t really want to do any of that. Not only did she find Ryatt weirdly attractive, but he’d also kissed her. Sardius said he was just that kind of guy and she shouldn’t get bent out of shape about it… but she’d really liked it. How long had it been since she’d made out with anyone? If she pushed away the cobwebs of her mind, she knew she’d made out with Armen right before she’d been stolen away, but she didn’t remember it being that exciting. Her disgust with his behavior coloring any fun she’d had with him until it resembled mold. Thinking further back, she hadn’t let herself enjoy the guys she dated back on Earth because she was afraid of complications with her crown. Now a strange boxer had set her on fire… she liked it even more when she thought it over. He had won his fight, he’d called her out of everyone and handled her like she was his prize. She shouldn’t have liked it. Well, even if she did, she was completely certain she didn’t like the idea of spending the day going to look for him. Surely if she talked to Ryatt and he showed himself to be the same kind of creep Armen was, another fine memory would be ruined.
Except wasn’t she looking for Sardius? Didn’t she want to meet him more than anything? She buckled up, hoping that one thing might lead to another. Maybe Sardius was at the gym Ryatt was staying at and he just didn’t want to see her because he was insecure about his looks. He’d said as much over the earpiece when they’d talked about it.
She paused in her thinking. Sardius hadn’t seemed bothered by Ryatt making moves on her. Just how insecure was he? Was he there? What if he wasn’t there? What if he only acted like Ryatt kissing her didn’t bother him? What if he was really bothered, but decided to allow it because he could never measure up to a man like Ryatt? Or what if it all meant that Sardius didn’t really care for her romantically?
Jenna needed to calm down, breathe, and adopt an octopus state of mind… the one where you could be in love with eight people at once without jealousy.
Jenna let out her breath. She was a human and she didn’t think it was possible for her to have an eight-sided heart.
She got dressed and looked as cute as a button, but her mind was a mess as she stood by the door.
She put on her hat.
Crimp put on her hat.
They were ready to go.
***
The gym was called The Clube, like someone had decided that putting an unnecessary e on the end of the word made it better.
“Clube?” Jenna sampled the word. It made her mouth feel dirty like someone had tricked her into saying ‘lube’ for their entertainment.
Crimp giggled next to her. “I can’t believe you’re all paying me for this,” she chuckled as she opened the door for Jenna.
Inside, it was almost empty. Probably most of the athletes were sleeping off whatever partying they’d done the night before, but since there was no one at the reception desk, Jenna and Crimp wandered around. The majority of the main floor was dedicated to boxing training and when they went into the gym, they found six boxing rings set up with mats and punching bags leading the way to where a handful of guys were training in the back.
Ryatt was in the ring, but he wasn’t fighting. He was training someone younger with huge pads on his arms for the kid to hit.
“Looks like you’ve got company, crabman,” someone shouted when the cluster recognized Jenna as the woman he kissed in the ring the night before.
Ryatt stopped the boy from hitting and pulled the straps off his arms. “That’s boneman to you,” he called playfully to whoever was heckling him. He dropped himself out of the ring and came toward Jenna like she was his long-lost love. “I knew you couldn’t stay away,” he said before he pulled her into his arms for another kiss.
Jenna had not been prepared for a greeting like that, regardless of what Sardius had told her and he completely swept her away. Okay, love without touching was crap.
Jenna pulled him closer, breathing him in and feeling his warmth after the chill rain outside.
She didn’t regain her senses before Crimp had a finger to Ryatt’s throat. “You were cooler last night,” she said snarkily.
He let go of Jenna, while her senses reeled. She straightened her clothes, fixed her hat, and corrected the expression on her face. It took her a whole thirty seconds for her to reclaim her senses. “I want to talk to you,” she said evenly when she was calm.
Crimp took her bare finger away from Ryatt’s neck and resumed her position beside Jenna, apparently satisfied that he’d received a proper warning.
Ryatt smiled at Jenna and turned to the guys with him, “Well, I’ll just be going to the back with my lady friend to ‘talk’.” He air-quoted the word. “Keep that kid punching while I’m gone.”
Crimp followed Jenna and Ryatt into the far back and kept her distance so they could hiss whatever conversation they needed to have in relative privacy and she could still make sure Jenna stayed safe.
“How do you know Sardius?” Jenna whispered urgently.
“We have a certain amount in common,” he answered evasively.
“Where is he?” she demanded, urgency in her voice.
Ryatt’s mouth hung open. “Uh… He’s around. He escaped the jail during the riot. He fought his way to the offices and took one of the dimensional portals that brought him this system.”
“Is he here?” Jenna demanded.
Ryatt leaned forward, taking a heavy hand in their conversation. “Look, I’m not his dad. All I know is that he asked me to deliver that earpiece to you and I invited you to my match because I wanted to meet you.” His gray/brown eyes were like twilight on the muddiest night of the year. Somehow, they still had stars.
Jenna felt her inner turmoil crash in her chest. How could this guy be so cute? “You signed his name for him when you sent me the invitations?”
“Yeah, well, you know him and you don’t know me. I know for a fact, he didn’t mind. He wanted me to get you the earpiece. He wasn’t overly concerned over how.”
Jenna huffed a breath of impatience. “Can you give me a ballpark direction where I could look for him?”
Ryatt clicked his tongue. “Pirates don’t advertise where they sail. At least one that wants to stay alive doesn’t.”
Jenna’s shoulders fell and her back curved like she was a little shrimp. “Is there nothing you can tell me?”
He put his hands in his pockets. “Nothing is coming to mind, but there’s something you could tell me.”
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“What?”
“Sardius hinted you might have a job for me doing security. I was hoping you could thank me for delivering you the earpiece and perhaps you could offer me a job.”
Sardius had mentioned that the night before, but Jenna was still uncertain. She held back while Ryatt continued.
“I mean, I get a few paid fights and I’m teaching kids, but working as your bodyguard would be a vastly superior gig. What does she get paid?” he asked, pointing to Crimp.
“You wanted to ask me for a job and you began all this by making out with me… twice?” Jenna asked in confusion.
He leaned his hips toward her in a boyish fashion. “I like to put on a good show.”
“That would work well for what went on in the ring last night. Likewise, kissing me like that in front of your friends probably makes you look like a stallion, but for a person on my level, that kind of thing is really unprofessional,” Jenna remarked, straightening her back and steeling herself against his charms.
“If you hire me, I’ll be professional,” he promised with a smile that lacked some of the bravado he’d already exhibited.
“Perhaps now would be a good time for you to tell me what information Sardius gave you about me.”
“Just that you’re Jenna Fairchild,” Ryatt said evenly. “There wasn’t anything else he needed to tell me. You’re all over the news, on everyone’s lips, on everyone’s minds… everywhere. He said he worked for you and he’d put in a good word for me through the earpiece he prepared for you if I managed to get it to you.”
Ixy cut in over Jenna’s pearl earpiece. “I think you should hire him. I’ve been researching him. His background is very clean and if he’s making deliveries for Sardius then he has your precious lover boy’s stamp of approval. Besides, having another set of hands on the ground would be very helpful.”
Jenna looked at Crimp who could hear everything they were saying. She was leaning against a wall with a Cheshire Cat grin across her face.
Because of her conversation with Sardius the night before, Jenna had been aware that this was in the works, but she had planned to let his recommendation slide. If she were choosing staff herself (and she spent the majority of her time reviewing resumes) she would have chosen someone like Vash to be in charge of security.
Vash was enormous with rocky muscles everywhere. Even having him as a butler freaked most people out a little, which Jenna liked. Vash also had no romantic interest in her whatsoever. She knew he spent most of his free time working out or speaking to his relatives over the communicator. Though he didn’t look it, he was quite young and he hadn’t been away from home very long. He still missed his family. He was wholesome through and through.
Ryatt didn’t look anywhere near as honorable and his physique didn’t look as threatening as Vash’s. He had fought in the mid-weight class and that seemed appropriate. He was taller than Jenna but not taller than Vash. He was a fighter, but his appearance was more debonair than menacing.
The problem was that if she gave him the job, Ryatt would be in her palace all the time. She didn’t know how that would work for her. Yes, kissing him was a thrill, but what would he be like all time? Would he be leering at her while he ‘protected’ her? Would he be the kind of skirt-chaser that caused more problems than he solved by hopping into every available bed? Would he have to prove that he was tougher than Vash and end up fighting him because he honestly could not think of any other way to fill the time other than boxing?
“Is there somewhere we could go to talk about this more?” Jenna asked quietly.
***
Ryatt took Jenna and Crimp to a cafe down the street. They began with Crimp explaining her job in more detail. How she spent her time, how she treated sensitive information, what her duties were like when there were no other security officers on the three palaces, and what her time off was like.
As she explained it, Jenna was astonished by how crappy it sounded. Jenna didn’t understand the universal money system well enough to know if Crimp was being paid enough to make her job worth it. It sounded like maybe she wasn’t.
For starters, when they were on the palaces, most of the security work was done by Ivy, Ixy, and the security team in orbit. They also did all the technical security work, securing communication channels for confidential conversations, and making sure the security cameras didn’t get hacked.
Crimp said she ran daily maintenance checks on escape vehicles and checked multiple escape routes, so she always knew which ones would be the most effective. Sometimes, diving straight into the water was the best choice. Other times, sending Excelyn into orbit or speeding across the water to a cave or a hideout was better. She also had to keep tabs on people she considered to be cause for concern considering whatever Excelyn had been dealing with lately. Basically, people she was likely to tick off.
None of those things took up much time and she spent most of her time on standby.
The big con to working on the palaces was that even if Crimp had the day off, she couldn’t leave. She couldn’t spend her nights partying with the doctors and nurses on the mainland because she couldn’t be gone that long. She wanted Ryatt to be hired so she could at least turn things over to him so she could spend her day off shopping instead of being on standby.
“I don’t own a single pair of socks without a hole in them,” she confided.
“We went shopping yesterday,” Jenna asked. “Why didn’t you buy some then?”
“Yeah, I’m going to complete my whole shopping list while I’m supposed to be protecting you?” She rolled her eyes and shook her head. “I’ll just set my bags down while I defend you against some whack-job? No. I have to do my job properly.”
After hearing Crimp explain the situation, Jenna knew she would have to hire Ryatt… if he still wanted the job. She couldn’t make everyone else’s lives tough because she had her concerns. She just needed to make it clear what was expected of him and give him a trial run.
“Okay, Ryatt,” Jenna said, leaning forward. “Does that sound like it’s within your skill set?”
He nodded. “It all sounds very straightforward.”
“Good. Now, I have to tell you about my palace. I have three employees. Misha is my stylist, Smoothie is my cook, and Vash is my butler. It’s nice when they only have to do their job and it would be nice if you only had to do your job, but there aren’t enough people for you to be snobby. I’ve had Misha serving drinks when it was definitely not her job to do so. I’ve had Smoothie doing security in the absence of a security guard, and Vash has been doing construction work. If you’re going to be fussy, this might not be a good job for you.”
“No. I’m happy to help with anything,” he said easily.
Jenna wanted to smack him. Anyone as accommodating as Ryatt was bound to be trouble.
“Do you get into fights easily?” Jenna asked sharply, poking him to find the chink in his armor.
He laughed. “No. I have to be paid to get into a fight. It makes no sense to give it away for free.”
“Do you have problems with propriety?” Jenna continued her poking.
He looked at his ragged knuckles with the bones protruding. “I don’t usually scrape people by accident if that’s what you’re wondering.”
That wasn’t what Jenna was wondering in the least. She rephrased her question. “Do you have workplace romances?” she asked directly.
“With whom? I’d love to have a workplace romance with you,” he accented with a smile.
“I wasn’t asking you to have a romance with me,” she grumbled, rolling her eyes and literally holding her right hand under the table so she didn’t smack him.
He laughed at her tight expression. “Relax. I’m only joking. I get what you’re asking. You don’t want me to make a mess by pairing up with someone who works on the floating palaces. It would bother you and disgrace you if I couldn’t draw the line. It shouldn’t be a problem.”
Jenna started scratching the inside of the ear that had had Sardius’ earpiece in it the night before. What had Sardius been thinking? His recommendation of this guy did not feel like any of his other choices for staff.
“Do you have any other skills? Is there anything else you bring to the table besides being a top fighter?”
“Sure. I’ve had military-grade training in security. I have worked on Adamis starships and can double as a hacker. I’m good with machinery and can do repairs on machinery, transports, and computers. I’ve also had quite a lot of experience working in public relations. I can promise you that I will never embarrass you.” He nodded at Crimp because he was explaining all over again how perfect he was for the job.
Crimp was pursing and unpursing her lips like she was trying to stop herself from showing too much approval.
“If I hire you,” Jenna finally said. “You must forget that you and I have ever locked lips. I’m a dignitary. I cannot have a member of my staff pinching my butt, blowing me kisses, or ruining my concentration with inappropriate advances like that comment you made a moment ago about being in a romance with me. The only reason we’re having this interview is because Sardius recommended you and I think so highly of his advice.”
Ryatt cleared his throat. “I didn’t think it would come to this, but I prepared a present for you to help ease your mind. This,” he said, producing a tiny flat rectangle like a memory card and placing it on the table between them. “Is the only recording of our kiss at the fight last night. And there aren’t any cameras in the gym.”
“Check it, Ixy,” Jenna hissed to her PA.
“I can only check that there are no other existing recordings,” Ixy reminded her in a tone of voice that reminded Jenna of a teenager popping bubblegum.
“That’s what I want you to do.”
“You have a PA?” Ryatt exclaimed. “That’s really cool. I thought the thing in your ear was a fashion statement.”
Jenna looked at him. For a moment, she was utterly transfixed by the expression on his face. He just seemed so curious, so excited, and so anxious to make a good impression that Jenna suddenly felt comfortable hiring him. What had Sardius seen in him? She wasn’t sure, but she knew what she saw in him. Someone thirsty for new experiences. That was why she wanted to be a diplomat. Even if her experiences sucked, she still wanted to have them.
Jenna asked Ryatt an array of questions and he answered them as primly as any interviewee ought to answer. Forty minutes later, Jenna allowed herself to show that she felt good about offering him the position.
“We’re going to visit someone this afternoon,” Jenna said, finishing up. “Could we meet you outside your boxing club at seven tonight?”
“The Clube,” he corrected, not stumbling over the horrid awkwardness of the word and making a sexual comment in a way she couldn’t complain about.
“Yeah. Whatever,” Jenna fumbled. “Bring everything you need. Who knows when you’ll be back.”
Ryatt smiled and thanked them. He was the perfect amount of pleased.