Free 3013: MENDED by Kali Argent Page B

to lose my temper, and I’m definitely not supposed to curse.”
    Sheer joy radiated from every inch of her tiny frame. Tariq could see it written in her shining gray eyes and in the laugh lines that creased the bridge of her nose. For Cami, that single word uttered in frustration had unlocked another door of her prison. For Cami, it represented freedom.
    “Are you still angry?”
    “No. I should be, but I’m not.” The smile evaporated, and she took Tariq’s right hand in both of her own. “You’re the one who told me I’m not useless. This is important to me, Tariq, but I can’t do it alone.”
    “No one said you have to, but I’m still not taking you to that bar.” Still, maybe he could offer her something almost as good. Holding a hand up, he stalled her protests. “You don’t need to be inside the bar, right?”
    “Well, no, but I need to ask the right questions to get them thinking about the ship and the murder.”
    “Right.” Tariq nodded once, rubbing the stubble on his chin as he thought it over. “I’ll make you a deal. If you don’t hear anything in the docks tomorrow, we’ll come back here. I’ll go to the Rusty Spigot and ask your questions, if you promise to stay with Scarlett while you’re eavesdropping.”
    “Really? You’d do that?”
    He didn’t like it, but he was beginning to realize he’d do just about anything to see that smile on her face, especially when directed at him. “Do we have a deal?”
    “Deal.”
    Cami continued to hold his hand as they crossed the court to Starscape, and the weight of her palm against his felt…right. Though smaller and softer, her hand fit perfectly inside his, as if the raven-haired beauty had been made just for him.
    He couldn’t think that way, though. Even if she wanted to stay, she didn’t belong on Station 4, and Tariq didn’t really belong anywhere. Working the docks and repairing engines wasn’t a life he’d have chosen for himself, but he’d adapted. Cami, however, deserved more, deserved something far better than he could give her among the outcasts and riffraff that called the station home. 
    “What the hell is on your head?”
    Cami pulled the knit cap around her ears and grinned. “It’s a hat, Scarlett, as made obvious by the fact that it is indeed on my head.”
    “It’s ugly.”
    Tariq heard the teasing note in the gypsy’s voice, saw her smile, but that didn’t stop him from curling his lip and snarling at her. His efforts to defend Cami only earned him an elbow to the ribs.
    “Stop growling at everyone,” she chastised. “I like my hat, and Scarlett is just jealous.”
    “No,” Scarlett corrected, “it’s really ugly, little bird.”
    Cami laughed but tilted her head to the side. “Why do you call me that?”
    Scarlett’s teasing smirk melted in to a genuine smile. “You remind me of a sparrow. Small, not quite sure of yourself, but stronger than you know.”
    “The enhancements worked mentally, but I was immune to them physically.” Cami looked down at her boots as she scuffed a toe across the floor. “I’m not strong or fast or agile. Most of the time, I’m actually kind of clumsy and awkward.” She waved a hand up and down Scarlett’s statuesque frame “You got all that.” Holding her arms out to her sides, she spun in half circle to the right and then back to the left. “I got this.”
    She said it as though she found something lacking in her appearance, but Tariq couldn’t take his eyes off her. No, she didn’t have Scarlett’s long legs, lean muscle, or ample breasts. What she did have, however, squeezed a big punch into a petite package. The swell of her hips, the softness of her belly, her narrow shoulders, and even her delicate, slender fingers made his heart race and his dick swell.
    Every inch of her, even the cute freckles that dotted her nose and cheeks, was perfect. She did have a tendency to knock things over, bump into stationary objects, and she tripped over her own feet