Though she’d pitched her voice above the music, he went on sleeping. She considered going over and giving his shoulder a shove, then came up with a better idea. She slipped two fingers of her left hand into her mouth, inhaled, then blew out a sharp, shrill whistle, just as Sunny had taught her.

He came up in the bed like a rocket. “Red alert!” he shouted before he saw her smirking at him from the doorway. After leaning back against the cushioned headboard, he ran a hand over his eyes.

He’d been dreaming. Out in space, whipping through the galaxy, with the controls at his fingertips and worlds racing by hundreds of thousands of miles beneath him. She’d been there, right beside him, an arm wrapped around his waist, all the fascination, all the thrill of flying glowing on her face.

Until something had gone wrong. And the ship had shaken, the gauges had blinked, the bells had sounded. He’d heard her scream as they’d gone into a dive. He hadn’t known what to do. Quite suddenly his mind had gone blank. He hadn’t been able to save her.

Here she was now, while his heart was still sprinting from the dream, looking cocky and ready to spar.

“What the hell was that for?”

He looked as though he’d had a scare. She certainly hoped so. “It seemed the most efficient way to wake you up. I tell you, Hornblower, you keep working like this, you’ll wear yourself right out.”

“I was taking a break.” He wished he’d taken a good long slug of potent, electric-blue Antellis liquor. “I didn’t sleep much last night.”

“Too bad.” As sympathy went, it left a lot to be desired. Still studying him, she dug for a cookie.

“That couch is lumpy.”

“I’ll make a note of it. Maybe that’s why you woke up on the wrong side of it.” She took her time, nipping off tiny bite after tiny bite. It was an attempt to make him hungry, and she succeeded, though not in the way she’d intended.

He could feel his muscles tightening, each separate one. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“It’s an expression.”

“I’ve heard it.” He knew he snapped the words out, but he couldn’t help it. She flicked out her tongue to catch a crumb at the corner of her mouth. He nearly groaned. “I didn’t wake up on the wrong side of anything.”

“Well, I suppose it could be your nature to be surly and you’ve managed to repress it lately.”

“I’m not surly.” He all but growled it.

“No? Arrogant, then. Is that better?” Her slow half smile was meant to annoy, but it provoked a different emotion.

Trying to ignore her and what was going on inside his own rebellious body, he looked at his watch. “You took a long time in town.”