He swept his gaze up and down her. His eyes were intelligent, maybe too much so. “Of course you may think about it. The job is yours if you want it. I would just request that you decide soon. We need a new house mother inside the dorm as soon as possible. As you know, we have more women arriving within the next few weeks.”
“I didn’t know that,” Ellie admitted. “I thought they were only going to send in a few dozen women at first to make sure it would be a good environment.”
“They’ve decided it is.” He smiled. “You helped them make that decision. Every woman at the dorm highly endorsed you as a positive role model. I heard your cooking classes were a favorite.”
Ellie smiled back. “I tried to make it fun.”
“And you succeeded. They are very fond of you.”
“I do miss them,” she admitted. “I am fond of them too.”
“I heard they needed help learning how to do almost everything.”
Ellie shrugged. “They were locked inside sterile cells inside the testing facilities. Learning how to dust, make coffee, and cook pancakes wasn’t exactly something they had the opportunity to learn where they were raised. I remembered how daunting a washing machine could be when I became a teen and my mom told me I had to wash my own clothes. When you are raised with all of that stuff, you learn it a little at a time. They’ve had all this technology shoved at them suddenly. It’s all the things we took for granted. Imagine facing an answering machine when you didn’t even know what a telephone was a year before.”
Interest sparked in his gaze. “Did they talk to you about their lives before they were freed?”
Ellie studied the man warily. She refused to share private details she’d been given in friendship. “Some. Why?”
His expression softened. “I’ve read the reports and talked to a lot of them. It’s horrible what they had to deal with all their lives. I swore to Justice North that I’d do my damnedest to make sure the rest of their lives were nothing similar to the past. It’s very important to me that the New Species be happy and safe. I want what is best for them and I think that’s you, for their women.”
It touched her. Ellie would have taken the job back in a heartbeat if it weren’t for having to leave Fury. She caught a glint of satisfaction flash inside Tom Quish’s eyes and opened her mouth.
“You’re really good at manipulation. You know that, right?”
A grin curved his lips. “It’s my job. How else do you think I’ve been able to get all the funding for Homeland so quickly and talk the military into giving it up? The reason it’s nearly completely built and we could move into it so fast is because it had been slated for a new Army base. Charm and good friends in high places have their advantages. Will you take the job, Ms. Brower?”
She wanted to but couldn’t. “I have to think about it still.”
“You look as though I’ve held out candy to you that you want really bad but you’re afraid to take it because you were taught to never trust strangers.”
She grinned. “I couldn’t have put it better myself.”
“I’m good with words too.”
“What is going on?” Fury stormed up the sidewalk glaring at the new Homeland director. He moved to Ellie’s side, tense and angry.
Ellie glanced up at him and wanted to flinch. He looked as if he were a jealous boyfriend, which she guessed he was. If he didn’t get a leash on his emotions the director would be an idiot not to see they were involved. She peered up at him and gave him a warning look but he refused to glance at her. He was too busy glaring threateningly at the director.
Tom Quish took a few steps back. “I’ve been just talking to Ms. Brower. It’s good to see you again, Mr. Fury.”
“What do you want with her? She stays here. You have no power to make her leave.”
Quish’s gaze darted from Fury to Ellie and back. Ellie could almost see the man’s mind taking in the scene, his thoughts going where she feared they would, and it just confirmed it when he took another step back. A wary, “oh shit” expression paled his tan features.
“I came to offer Ms. Brower her job back. Your women really miss her and they fired the last woman who held Ms. Brower’s position. They’ve stated they wish Ms. Brower to return to the dorm. I’ve been told by Justice that the women could choose their own house mother. I came here to let her know the job is open and available for her if she’s interested.”
“She doesn’t want it,” Fury stated firmly in an angry snarl.
Shit, Ellie thought. Fury isn’t keeping his cool at all. Her gaze flew to Tom Quish. He studied her and then he looked at Fury again. “She could remain living inside your home if you are worried about her safety. She could work at the dorm during your working hours. It’s not exactly what the job hours entailed but I’m sure everyone would be able to work around a schedule that you would find suitable.”
Fury finally glanced down at Ellie. “What do you think?”
It amazed her that he’d thought to ask her for her opinion at all after how he’d first reacted by refusing her job offer. She nodded. She knew Tom Quish watched both of them with fascination. Fury nodded back. His focus returned to Tom Quish.
“She will take the job on the condition that she lives with me.”
Tom looked amused suddenly. “Great, Ms Brower. Can you start tomorrow at nine?”
“Yes,” she answered before Fury could open his mouth and speak for her again.
The director seemed pleased. “Terrific. I’ll make the calls and have everything set up. Someone from security will drop by later with your new badge.”
“Thank you,” Ellie called out as she watched the new director jog away and out of sight before she dared face Fury. She shot him an annoyed look. “Damn it. You should have kept your cool. He knows we’re a couple. You acted like my boyfriend.”
Fury’s gaze darkened as his mouth tensed into a line. “I am.”
“Well, no one is supposed to know that. Remember? And thanks for letting me make a decision finally.” She stormed inside the house.
“Why are you angry?” Fury followed her and closed the door.
Ellie spun and put her hands on her hips. “We are supposed to hide our relationship, remember? Do you want those doctors bugging us to do tests and have people in our faces demanding we tell them how we have sex? I don’t. What if they want to video it? And you told him I didn’t want the job without even asking me first. I miss the dorm but I want to live here with you too.”
Fury knew he’d messed up. He’d been instantly alarmed when he’d gotten word from his men that Tom Quish, the new director, had come to his door. There could be no reason for a human to be in that section of Homeland except for Ellie. He’d quickened his pace knowing that everyone on the human side preferred Ellie not live with him. He’d heard their concerns and ignored each one.
Ellie loved working with New Species women, he knew how much they meant to her, so when he heard Tom offer her job back, he’d instantly said no without thinking. It had to be a lure to get her to leave him but one look at Ellie’s face told him that he’d messed up by answering for her. Human women could be as stubborn as New Species ones. They demanded the right to make their own decisions, and while they appreciated some protection, they were by no means weak enough not to be able to fend for themselves if the need arose.
He’d backed off when he received the assurance that Ellie could live with him and the job wasn’t a bribe for her to leave his house. He’d relaxed when the new director walked away but Ellie’s anger remained. He studied her features and knew she was still ticked off at him. He’d overreacted but he just wanted to protect and keep her with him.