Interlocking Hearts (11 page)

Coral turned to Mr. Bond. “Paisley needs sex to release tension. Let’s get to our appointment, and if we finish early, perhaps you can finish what you started. From what I have heard, Paisley is an excellent sexual partner.”

The loud
thunk
was Paisley’s head smacking the center of the desk. She would probably have a red mark on her forehead for the remainder of the day, but really…did it matter?

This
really
was not her day.

* * * * *

There was a lot to get used to with the data management system the DMA used. Paisley was technically an assistant for the magistrate, but she was being used as a middleman between him and Coral. She was relieved that much of her day was going to be spent with someone she considered her best friend, but it also happened to mean she was going to be acting as intermediary between Coral and the humans she interacted with.

Wrangling her best friend to appropriate levels was a lot easier when Coral took commands. Her certificate of humanity had her questioning everything. At least the woman conceded to wearing clothing now that she could afford the good stuff.

The door behind Paisley opened and Coral shook Bond’s hand as he exited the room.

“I have found that shaking hands is an important humanized way to end a professional meeting,” Coral informed him. She liked giving tips to newly certified humans.

They shook hands for far, far longer than would be considered normal. But both of them had unblinking eyes glued to the handshake. They needed something to focus on as they acquired data.

Bond broke the silence with something Paisley was sure she heard wrong, and then he left.

Coral didn’t say anything before returning to her office space.

Well, technically it wasn’t her office—because even with her certificate of humanity, full-time government employ was a no no. At the end of the day, she locked up a space no one else had access to with her own key. Whatever the lawyers had to do to make themselves sleep better.

Paisley was about to ask about what Coral had said to Robohippie when the notification dinged on the computer in front of her, and Paisley could not believe it.

Coral had sent an addendum to the calendar under the label “Personal”.

In that section, dinner plans popped up. She was having dinner with Bond and his roommate.

“Why are you going to dinner with him?” Paisley asked after barging into Coral’s space.

“I am not doing this to make you jealous. He is a friend of Quinn’s.” Coral went about doing something with papers at a speed that Paisley couldn’t achieve on the highest dose of methamphetamines.

Paisley could not believe this. It was one thing for the guys she was lusting after to be friends with Quinn. It was quite another for the scrodless bot and his buddy to be hanging out with Coral, after they’d both seen Paisley naked. Twice. And she really needed more details about who she’d almost banged if they were going to be hanging around for a while.

“Coral…sweetie. This is one of those instances where I need you to fill me in on the background regarding Mr. Bond and his buddy Ben.”

Coral stopped sorting the paperwork, and a slight breeze went up as the papers floated down. “How do you know Ben?”

“It’s a long story involving a lot of lube.”

Coral smiled wide. “Sounds like some wonderful data. You should tell me about it at dinner tonight. Unless you think Ben and Jon would tell it better. You are invited of course, unless I didn’t make that clear.”

Paisley really needed to look into those optional human upgrades they were talking about in the news. She needed something to keep her head on straight if she kept Coral as her robobestie. Those microcomputer chips were supposed to be relatively painless. They also cost as much as a house.

Paisley realized part of her excitement about going to Coral’s for dinner involved the free food. Maybe she should wait on upgrading herself until she could afford not to mooch off her best friend.

Chapter Ten

Paisley knew dinner wouldn’t be fancy, but as she tucked her keycard into her purse and looked in the mirror before she left, she had to admit to herself that she had gone above and beyond what she would normally.

She had on at least four extra layers of eye shadow, because it was only by blending these colors that she brought out the flecks of gold in the overpriced eyeliner she saved for special occasions. Sure, she was wearing jeans, but these jeans were dark and expensive, and painted on her body like a second skin. If she were having dinner with just Coral and happened to put these on, she would have paired them with a flowing top to skim over her hips.

Not tonight. Tonight she was wearing a top that went to the edges of her low-cut specialty bra. Her girls looked good, especially with the contouring powder she ended up dusting to amplify her cleavage at the last minute.

Paisley wasn’t sure if she wanted to try and hook up with Ben the Hottie, make Mr. Bond regret stopping, or try and replay the scene in their apartment with much less arguing, and a lot more lube.

Having no idea what she was doing didn’t stop her from going. She was too curious—read nosy—about what was going on with them.

A throat cleared next to her as she decided she couldn’t make herself look any hotter and still wear clothes. Turning, she saw she wasn’t the only one looking good tonight.

Ben and Jon were both in the hallway. Ben wore a simple polo that hugged tight around his biceps. She could see the tendons in his arms as he awkwardly waved to her. Jon hung back and watched the interaction without the embarrassment his roommate obviously felt.

Jon’s jeans were a little looser. His shirt wasn’t as snug, but it was thin, and without touching the stylized logo across it, she could tell it would be soft. His rainbow suspenders held his waistband in place, but unlike at the coffee shop, he wasn’t wearing the knit cap. His dark hair was a bit unruly, but the thick waves were something that Paisley had an urge to dig her hands into. He’d combed his beard and all of his hair glinted in the soft lights of the hallway.

She remembered other areas of his body that had dark hair, and coughed as she double-checked that the door had latched completely.

“I guess we all get to have an awkward dinner with Quinn and Coral,” she said as she turned to face them.

Both men immediately dropped their eyes to her cleavage. Ben recovered fast, but Jon unabashedly kept staring.

Thank you, contour powder
.

“At least we have already met. That should help reduce the need for small talk, right?” Ben was trying real hard to make this whole thing seem normal.

“So instead of chatting about the weather, we would talk about how lovely Paisley looks when her pussy is wet for me, and you stop us mid-thrust?” Jon needed some lessons in tact, but Paisley couldn’t say she disagreed with him.

“I know I said that I didn’t want either of you to speak to me again, but as long as you apologize for trying to use sex to get me to admit I’m a horrible person, I’ll accept and we can move on.”

Ben looked horrified. “You want to act as if nothing happened? I don’t know how I can do that.”

“You’ve both seen me naked. It’s not like you are the first or will be the last. I got a couple of really hot orgasms out of the deal, and I’m pretty sure the bartender downstairs was happy with the material we gave him for his next book.” Paisley ignored the confused look Ben shot her. “So as long as I’m off your awful person suspect list, I can move on…if you can.”

Jon nodded. “I don’t find you’re a suspect any longer. You are far too open and easily readable in your intentions. The deception required would not suit your personality.”

“Thanks…I think.”

They all went down to the lobby and sure enough, only one car had been sent to drive them and the back seat was terribly tight. Paisley agreed to sit in the middle because she was the smallest, but it became obvious really fast that she’d made a bad choice. Ben tried to keep to the side and give her as much space as possible, but his shoulders were far wider than his hips and she could feel his arm move against hers as he fidgeted. Jon left his legs hang open and there wasn’t an inch of her leg that wasn’t touching his.

Finally, Paisley crossed her legs toward Ben to stop herself from overheating. Jon really needed to turn down his body temperature.

There was nothing but silence as they approached Coral and Quinn’s cottage. The road was bumpy. They still hadn’t paved it, but at least there was a path for cars now. This had been Quinn’s hideout. He’d given up his secrecy because Coral wanted to live here.

Paisley couldn’t fathom living outside the city. But when Coral talked about the fact that she and her man could be as loud as they wanted because the trees dampened any sound, Paisley could see the perks. Especially when taking into consideration the voice amplification modules they both possessed.

The driver opened the door, and Ben stepped out first. He held a hand out to Paisley. She was never really one that was impressed with gallantry and having doors held for her, but she’d made the mistake of wearing heels, and the ground was soft. Even after she got out of the car, she held on to Ben’s arm for stability. She made a mental note to steal some flats from Coral.

While Jon worked his way from the vehicle, Ben leaned in to whisper, “I really do apologize for causing you trouble in the palace.” He took a breath before continuing with, “I hope your breasts pressing against my bicep is a sign that you can forgive me as well as Jon.”

“I’m holding on to your arm because I might sink into the mud here. Don’t read into it.” She gave up on trying to put space between them, because the fresh path was covered in gravel, and she was walking on her tiptoes to keep from falling.

“Doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy the benefit of your supple skin.”

Even with her hanging on, the point of her toe caught beneath a rock and Paisley nearly face-planted on the gravel sidewalk.

“This is ridiculous.”

Paisley was righting herself when her feet were swept out from under her.

She let go of Ben’s arm to grab around Jon’s neck as he hoisted her up into his arms.

Ben laughed. “I was going to be a bit more subtle, but points for being blunt.”

Paisley fought for just a second, but really…there wasn’t much she could do against the arms of a robot. So she resigned herself to being carried. As much of a hardship as it wasn’t, Paisley still pushed away to straighten her clothes once she had her feet on the porch.

She tucked a boob that was starting to slip out back into her bra just as the door opened.

Coral smiled. “I’m so glad you could all come over for dinner, and lubricant.”

Coral waved them all into the small room. She and Quinn had made the bed that used to take up the majority of the space into a Murphy bed. There was room in the cabin to do more than stare at the place they had loud robosex. Although, Paisley doubted her bestie was a bed-only type of girl.

Sure enough, Coral handed out lubricant. Her neon pink lubricating beverage was opened and handed to Jon.

“I know the sea life additives aren’t necessary for your function, but I find it usually appeals to most taste receptors.”

Jon sipped. “I’m just a regular old human skin transplant, Coral, but maybe this will prevent the gray hair for a few years longer.”

Coral shook her head. “No. It has no benefit to you. You’ll still decay at a normal rate.”

Paisley laughed. “So you get super strength, but you still have to get old?”

“I plan on aging gracefully. If James Bond can do it, so can Jon Bond.”

Paisley had a beer put in her hand. She turned up and smiled her thanks.

Quinn smiled back. “You’ll need this if you have to deal with Major Renolds and his equipment all night.”

“Why do you call him Major?” she asked.

Quinn swallowed twice more from the bottle before answering. “Ben was my commanding officer. Don’t let these two fool you. They are idiots at times, but I asked them to come because of the Anti-Mech movement.”

“You shouldn’t call your CO an idiot, Quinn.” Paisley cocked an eyebrow. She wasn’t up on much military protocol, but that seemed like a bad idea.

“Of course I should. It’s one of the perks to being retired.”

Out of habit, Paisley got up to serve the meal to herself, Quinn and Ben. Ben thanked her before reaching for some of the lubricating drink himself.

Coral saw Paisley watching. “You’re the only one who doesn’t have any mechanics in her body here tonight, Paisley. I thought you already knew that.”

“They were some of the other lucky experiments in my unit,” Quinn said.

Jon sat next to Paisley. There was no plate in front of him, but he put a napkin on his lap anyway. “Except for me. I wasn’t working, I was owned. They did what they wanted to me, without having to ask.”

Ben put down his drink. “You really wish you were back working in Japan?”

Jon’s expression soured. “What I was created for isn’t my fault.”

“Don’t get your dick in a bunch. I never said it was. I’m saying, you got to serve a country that, in my opinion, owes you a debt. The least they can do to repay it is grant you your CoH.”

Coral smiled. “That’s where I come in.”

“You could just push the approval through,” Jon mumbled around his drink.

Ben was the one that laughed. “Yeah, because that’s how our government works.”

Paisley wasn’t needed for this part of the conversation, so she decided to go ahead and eat. She always felt on display when she went to dinner with mechanical beings. They were always acquiring data and tended to stare. She was used to it, but she didn’t care to be noticed as she masticated her food. Well, she wanted to be noticed, but not when there was basil between her teeth.

This was going to turn into a big bummer of a conversation about the Anti-Mech assholes, and her idea to make Quinn’s military buddies want her held a lot less appeal now that it looked like they’d be hanging around for a while.

The Anti-Mech stuff wouldn’t be an easy fix.

“As soon as Paisley has time to eat, we can get going with reviewing the files,” Quinn said.

That was her cue. There might be beer, but this was no party. She drank more anyway, because this stuff with the protesters really made her uncomfortable.

“I’m almost done. Just work around me.” She slid her food closer. “I’ll try not to touch anything.”

“I want your input on this too, Paisley,” Quinn said. He didn’t ask her to hurry, but he still went and retrieved a small file box from a coat closet. “You have a unique relationship with mechanics and since you don’t have any in your system, I figured you were the best human to answer the questions we have.”

“You and Ben are human too. And you have a ton more training than I do. What can I contribute?”

“Interpretation,” Coral answered for him. “You understand the cultural norms at a commoner level, but have the insight into a world of mechanics and bureaucracy. And you understand how to explain things to me in ways they don’t.”

“Okay,” she said around a bite full of food. Coral might not eat, and Quinn might not need as many calories because of all of his mechanics, but the two could cook. Paisley wasn’t about to waste food that didn’t come from a place with a drive-thru.

Robohippie tapped his fingers along his suspenders. “Wait…you said you were going to consult with an expert. She really is just a maid? I don’t think this is a good idea. I no longer believe she is working for these green paper assholes, but she is not the type to work on a secret project.”

Even with a vibrating penis, Jon was getting a lot less sexy.

Paisley rolled her shoulders back and the pops and crackles were loud. Cleaning a castle put a strain on a girl’s joints over the years. She was about to get even louder when Coral spoke for her and turned Paisley’s anger to humility.

“Paisley is the reason all of this began. She is the reason the bill exists and the reason you can apply for human rights in this kingdom.”

Coral stood, took away the remaining bottle of her lubricant and put one that looked a lot more generic in front of Jon. It read MMC. Paisley had no idea what those letters stood for, but the smell was not pleasant when Coral opened the bottle.

“I know Quinn trusts you to perform your job, but according to cultural practices, I hate you. You insulted my best friend, and despite the ample benefits sex with a former pleasure bot would bring her, I no longer would be happy for you.”

Jon was pissed when he turned to Ben. “You told Quinn’s girlfriend what I was?”

Paisley nearly choked on her food. Jon was a pleasure bot? Those were supposed to be illegal.

The time in Japan…

“You were the prototype they talked about the Japanese developing? Everyone thought that was a rumor.”

He turned back on her. “I cannot change what I was, but I am not a pleasure bot any longer.”

“You’re telling me. You sure didn’t finish my job,” Paisley fired back.

That was what he got for calling her
just a maid
.

Quinn choked on his beer.

Ben smiled. “I like her.”

Coral forgot to reference cultural norms and ignored the way Jon was getting angrier and angrier. “So do I. She is my best friend. Which makes me curious if she is aware that you and Jon participate in sharing sexual partners. She was unaware of his origins—I was wondering if she was unaware of your relationship?”

Now Paisley choked. Holy hell…they shared?

Ben coughed into his hand. “We were supposed to be here to discuss recon and a plan to combat the Anti-Mech movement since the government is taking no official steps to handle the situation. Not our sex lives.”

Then Paisley thought of something. “Why did I only get one of you?”

“You didn’t really get either of them, from what you told me,” Coral reminded her.

Paisley flipped her off. Coral raised her middle finger and waved her hand back. She must have deleted that gesture to make room for other items. Paisley would have to remind her later. Quinn put her hand down, and motioned for her to be quiet.