VirtuallyYours Read Online Free

with the
Pegasus.”
    Pete went to his room and threw a few things in a bag. It
was a two-hour ride to the base where the ship was undergoing trials and he
didn’t know how long he would be gone. Pegasus was a top-level project and only
a handful of people outside the research facility knew of its existence. What
the hell was he going to do with Charley? Pete tapped on the door of Charley’s
room and went inside. She had unearthed clean sheets from somewhere and was
busy making up the bed. “Don’t bother unpacking, Charley. Something has come
up. I’ll drop you back at the Academy on the way.”
    He expected that she’d be hurt and annoyed. He wasn’t
prepared for her silence. When she bit her lip, trying not to cry, he felt like
a heel.
    “Of course, Sir, I understand perfectly. Just give me a
moment.”
    Pete went outside and picked up his bag. He couldn’t figure
her out, the giggling blonde who had danced in the fountain, the passionate
woman who had made love to him and the blushing girl who had run away from him
twice. He had just ruined her final-year plans and yet there was barely a
flicker of emotion. It was almost as if she expected to be disappointed. Pete
dropped the bag and sat down heavily. He was useless with women. Machines were
much easier to decipher. If he was completely honest, he wanted more than a
one-night stand with Charley, but first he had to get her to trust him. Pete
heard the bedroom door open.
    “I’m ready.”
    Her voice was steady and calm, and that made him feel angry.
She had no right to feel calm. They had gone from strangers to lovers and back
again in the last twenty-four hours. She should be bawling him out at this
stage. He patted the cushion beside him. “I’m not. Sit down, Charley.”
    He didn’t look at her face. That would have unnerved him
completely. He felt her weight as she settled down on the cushion beside him.
Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a flash of silver. A tiny fragment from
the foil packet she had torn open the night before. It had been one of the best
nights of his life. There was no way he was letting her go. She would have to
come to the base with him. “Charley, I’m working on a top-level project for
Fleet Command. If you come with me, you’ll probably end up working night and
day and you won’t get any credit for it.”
     
    Charley couldn’t believe it. Pete was giving her another
chance. Her first reaction was to wrap her arms around him. No. This was the
new Charley. No more fountains. No more kissing strangers. No more fantasies
about her new boss. Okay, forget that last one . “I don’t care about the
hours, Sir. I want in.”
    Ten minutes later, they were on their way. Mile after mile
of anonymous tree-lined road flew by them. She gave up trying to keep her
distance from Pete. Charley wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her
chin on his shoulder. She liked the feel of him under her hands and the earthy
smell of leather. They made good time, arriving less than two hours later.
    Pete waited impatiently as the security guards at the base
checked her ID twice, scanned her retina and fingerprints and finally allowed
her to enter.
    “This way.” Pete strode ahead of her toward the hangar. He
swiped his security pass and ushered her inside. The Pegasus hovered silently
in the middle of the hangar—a sleek beauty the color of gunmetal, with an outer
skin that seemed to pulse with energy. The ship was so beautiful that it took
her breath away.
    Charley walked around the craft, stroking the underside admiringly.
“I can’t hear the engines,” she whispered. “And where is the propulsion unit?”
    Pete laughed proudly. “You’re touching it.”
    “You’ve cracked light propulsion?” Charley’s face was a
picture of wonder as she imagined the possibilities. With this new propulsion
system, human beings could travel further into space than they had ever
imagined. If only they could solve the problems associated with