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her.
    Picking her up and throwing her over his
shoulder was an option he considered, but she’d hate him for it.
They weren’t at a stage in their budding friendship where he could
ride roughshod over her decisions. Not that he would ever do such a
thing easily—but he would keep her safe. And if she was in clear
danger, he wouldn’t think twice about using caveman tactics.
    But this wasn’t the time. Not yet.
    “You don’t have to like it, but you should
respect my wishes. I’ll see you tomorrow.” She turned away, but he
stopped her with a gentle hand on her elbow.
    “I’ll see you home, Lila.” Chip knew his
duty. And damn his wayward thoughts, he was actually looking
forward to sharing a transport pod with her. He would’ve liked to
talk her into staying at the bar, but he’d take any time alone he
could get.
    He flicked an inquiry out to the datastream
and called a two person pod. It would be sent to the nearby entry
station and she’d never know he’d interfered to have the small pod
waiting. There was usually an extra that hovered in the station
waiting for riders. He’d just make sure it was the small version,
so he could sit close to her, sneaky bastard that he was.
    “You don’t have to come with me,” Lila
protested softly as they began to walk toward the pod station.
    “I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I
didn’t see you home safely, Lila.” He was only half joking. Her
safety had come to mean a great deal to him over the past few days.
He’d taken to her more quickly than any person he’d ever met. And
it wasn’t just because he was so acutely attracted to her.
    He’d wanted women before that he didn’t
really care about after getting into their panties. With Lila,
everything was different. He wanted to fuck her upside down and
inside out, no doubt about that, but he also wanted to take care of
her, even though he realized she was fully capable of caring for
herself in most situations. Something about her brought out his
protective instincts to a major degree. He wanted to put himself in
the way of any danger that might befall her.
    In fact, he’d been on the verge of telling
her to leave Madhatter Station a time or two as he’d gone
over the conversations of the plotters in his bar. When they hinted
at something catastrophic happening here, his first instinct was to
get Lila clear of the danger.
    But he knew her well enough by now to know
she wouldn’t go. Lila wasn’t one to run from danger or quake in
fear. No, she’d been minding her own business in the bar before
he’d gotten there, and when she’d heard something that alerted her
to possible danger, she’d waded in to learn more instead of running
away or passing the buck to someone else. Even now, while she’d
turned over control of the bar to him, she was still actively
investigating, even though he’d told her to lay low.
    He didn’t have to like her sticking her
lovely neck out, but damn, he admired it. She had heart. And nerves
of steel.
    Only yesterday, one of the plotters had been
looking at her with suspicion when she got a little too close to
their table. Chip hadn’t liked that at all, but so far nothing
seemed to have come of it. Although…
    Maybe the securecart’s failure to show up was
more than a fluke? Chip gritted his teeth and nearly growled. If
anyone tried anything, he’d be there to kill them.
    No pussyfooting around. They’d be dead.
Anyone who dared target Lila was already dead and didn’t know
it.
    “Looks like we’re in luck.” Lila’s gentle
voice drew him from his grim thoughts. “There’s a pod in the
station.”
    Of course there was. But Chip wasn’t saying a
word. He merely popped the hatch of the two-person pod using his
credit chip and checked the pod before he let her step in. He
wasn’t taking any chances with Lila. The small vehicle looked sound
and his cybernetic implant confirmed it was clean of listening
devices or explosives. They were safe enough once they