Impressed? Definitely. Worried? Well… Excerpt from A Stolen Heart by Kayelle Allen #SciFi #MMReads #MFRWhooks

Remember Radar O'Reilly from M.A.S.H.? He was a company clerk, and he was right there with whatever the colonel needed usually before being asked. Often, he had already done it. I thought how fun it would be to have a character like that.

So I invented Shohn Lexius. She's a Kin warrior who has become a champion for equal rights among her people, and she's had the opportunity to sign up with idBot, a huge "Big Brother" type company owned by Luc Saint-Cyr.

She has only started working directly for Luc a couple days ago, but she's already impressed him. She seems to know exactly where he is and what he's doing, and has foreseen requests. At this point, he's not sure if he should be delighted, or a little nervous.

The scene opens with him on his way to buy his new 3-year-old appentice/adoptee a toy for good behavior.

Visiting Toy Planet

In his hoversine on the way to the toy store, Luc sent a note to Shohn, asking her to set up a dinner meeting for him. Her response was a request to call. He tapped the Voice Only icon, and seconds later, the device buzzed.

"I'm with my youngest Deshai on the way to an important meeting." He winked at Senthys. "Will this take long?"

"No, sir. Mustn't get in the way of a trip to Toy Planet."

"How did you—" Why was he asking? "Never mind. Go on."

"Your calendar shows you have dinner booked with your Deshai Nikko at Miraj on the River tonight. It says you're planning a graduation gift."

He'd forgotten the dinner but had the gift ready. "Thank you. Are you my assistant now? Where is she?"

"On vacation, like you."

"Vacation? This is no vacation."

"Sen'dai?" Senthys tugged his sleeve. "Are we there yet?"

"Not yet, Senthys." He missed what Shohn had said and asked her to repeat.

"Your notes say you're on vacation to spend a few days with your Deshai."

"Oh, right." His cover because he'd known Pietas wanted to see him. He'd forgotten that too. What was wrong with him? "Is there anything about me you don't know?"

"I know you ate Whinbrice Vanilla Bean ice cream less than twenty minutes ago, and bought a third of the clothing stock at Kelthian Kids."

"More like half. Speaking of which, I should send the manager a few dozen roses."

"Would you like me to do that for you, sir?"

"You're not my assistant, Shohn. I'll ask her to do it on her return."

"Sir, if I thought you'd treat me like a gofer, I never would've asked to work with you. I can send this manager flowers."

"Not in your job description, Shohn, but thank you. When you asked to work for me, did you have any idea how much work I'd give you?"

"We were made for each other. You're a hardass and I'm a hard worker. Anything else?"

He pulled the device away from his ear, and brought it back. "Was that an insult or a compliment?"

"Yes."

"Good one, Shohn." She'd been right. He would indeed keep her. "Point for you."