Titus: Luna Lodge #2 Read Online Free PDF Page A

entrance.
    “What?” she said and slipped off the yellow headphones.
    He watched as she looked at her cell.
    “Oh shit.” She jumped up and gathered a few files. “I was working on the press release notes for Friday.”
    She closed her computer and stood to face him.
    “Why didn’t you answer you phone?” he asked sternly.
    She blushed and nodded to the headphones. “Had to improvise. They work great, but I can’t hear much with them.”
    He glanced at the yellow headphones on the desk.
    “Are those my construction headphones?” He stared at them, confused.
    Kate nodded and pushed past him into the hall.
    “In case you hadn’t noticed, or didn’t read my email,” she mumbled the last part, “there’s construction going on around here. Not to mention the constant target practice.”
    He followed behind her as she continued to talk.
    “I know none of you seem to get this, but I didn’t grow up with this,” she said. “Not to mention that it’s not easy making a call when I’m having to shout over that noise. It’s like being in a war zone, and that’s the last sort of impression I want to create.”
    Titus felt a pang of guilt at his easy rejection of her needs. She was right. He had grown up with this sort of noise, and it had never bothered him. He sighed. Maybe her wishes weren’t so over the top. All she really wanted was a quiet place to do work.
    “Have you had the chance to think about ways to improve our standing in the community?” he asked, trying to keep things light.
    Titus watched as she chewed her lip with worry. He quickly shifted his eyes to hers and tried to ignore anything her mouth might be doing.
    “You aren’t going to like it,” she said flatly to him.
    He frowned. “I’m not?”
    She shook her head. “It’s a great idea, but none of you are going to like it.” She smiled. “Except for Apollo. He’ll be fine with it.”
    His frown grew as she talked about Apollo. He wondered when had they gotten to know one another.
    They stopped outside the door. He placed a hand on the handle and turned to her.
    “If I’m not going to like it, why are you even offering it as an option?” He stared at her.
    Her big blue eyes held his own. “Because it’s brilliant, and sometimes we do things we don’t want to for the greater good.”
    She pushed past him, and he wondered if she was talking about him or herself.
     
    “Sorry for the delay,” she said, smiling at Sol and the major.
    Kate knew she had a tough sell ahead of her, and even if she somehow convinced the two of them, Titus wasn’t likely to go for it at all.
    They sat down in chairs around the small table in Titus’s office. All three sat staring expectantly at her. Despite the great pep-talk she’d given herself, she couldn’t bring herself to look at him for more than a few seconds.
    “So let’s start with the easy stuff.” She smiled. “Major, I’ve heard rumors that some of your men are having a hard time fitting in with the hybrids.”
    The major sputtered at her bluntness. She had debated how best to say it and decided that if they couldn’t handle the truth, then they were in the wrong line of work.
    “I wouldn’t really say that,” Major Carter said and looked between the two men.
    “I would, and so would they,” she said simply. “But they aren’t the only ones.” She turned to Sol. “Many of your men are nervous around the military men.”
    She saw Titus twitch out of the corner of her eye and knew it had bothered him she didn’t address him.
    “They lived with only each other for so long it’s hard for them to trust others,” Sol said.
    She shook her head. “Well that’s not going to cut it. This is never going to be a fully integrated facility without full cooperation among the men.” She glanced between them. “All the men.”
    “And just how do you propose we go about this?” Titus said. She turned to him. He stared at her in challenge. She wasn’t about to back down