Free Close Encounter by Deanna Lee

there is no need for her to look haggard on international vids on top of everything else. Have Arti reply with her measurements ASAP, and we’ll send a care package up to Armstrong Station for her. I’ve heard that they are officially recalling you to Earth, so I look forward to seeing you both soon.” She smiled sadly. “I… I know you’re a good man, Sean. I’ve never doubted your resolve or your honor. I trust you’ll treat Eliza Hawthorne with the respect she deserves. Just please be careful, darling, and protect yourself as much as you’re obviously willing to protect her.”
    The video ended, and the treadmill picked up speed again until he was running at a brisk pace. “I’m never going to live down that thirty-second marriage ceremony thing.”
    “Indeed, sir.”
    Sean rolled his eyes. “The rest?”
    “There are twenty-eight requests for interviews from various news organizations on Earth and Moonbase. Captain Hawthorne has fifteen emails, but only one official communication from Space Command.”
    “Drop anything addressed to her on data-pad and give her a copy of my grandmother’s vid-comm. Delete the one from my mother.” The treadmill started to slow down as he passed the ten-mile mark, and he let it go for a few minutes before he stepped off and went to the resistance-training area. “Who gave her an email address?”
    “It’s a Teko Solutions server address, sir.”
    Sean snorted. Samuel Tek had wasted no time putting his brand on Eliza. It was slightly amusing, but he found himself a little pissed, too. “What is it?”
    “[email protected],” Arti answered. “If she is receiving communications through Space Command, they’ve yet to forward any to her.”
    “Expected,” Sean acknowledged as he reclined on his back and the resistance trainer lowered over him. “Did Tek send me anything personally?”
    “No, but he did send Captain Hawthorne a job offer.”
    “Cagey bastard,” Sean muttered.
    Samuel Tek was a good man to work for, but he was ruthless and ambitious. It took more than a good idea and a bit of money to carve out a business empire during an ice age. Tek had served in Union Space Command nearly forty years himself before he’d retired and taken the private sector by storm. He lifted robotically as he considered the political wrangling taking place on Earth. “Did Admiral McAlister send anything?”
    “No. The official email from Space Command came from Fleet Admiral Gerald Cramer.”
    “Not a surprise,” Sean acknowledged. “Have you opened it?”
    “No, sir.”
    He continued through his exercise regimen, distracted by the implications of a five-year commitment to a woman he barely knew. It was a done deal, and unless she was unwilling, he was going to see the marriage consummated. His dick gave a hopeful twitch at that thought, so he pushed the details back and tried to focus on the emotional investment.
    “Captain Hawthorne is awake.”
    “Let her know where I am,” Sean ordered.
    By the time she entered the gym, he was out of the resistance area and on one of the large mats stretching. Eliza dropped down in front of him, wearing one of his form-fitting tank tops and a pair of silk boxers. Her hair was damp and falling down to her shoulders in wet curls. She frankly looked good enough to eat.
    “I didn’t buy those boxers for myself.”
    “Arti says they were a gift from your sister, Danica.”
    “She spends her money on ridiculous things,” Sean said. “There is no point to silk boxers.”
    “They feel pretty sexy,” Eliza said with a little grin, then frowned. “Why in the hell is there a view screen in the shower? Arti showed me the vid-comm from your grandmother in there.”
    “I have no clue,” Sean said. “I had no input in the design of the station. Did you check your emails?”
    She sighed. “Yes.”
    “Will you tell me what Admiral Cramer had to say?”
    “Official orders to surrender myself to the retrieval team that is en