After Feros
She'd said "no." When Liara had asked her if she was interested in being more than friends, Melanie had lied and said no. The truth, she admitted to herself as she sat in her darkened cabin, was that she'd had the scientist on her mind ever since she'd first seen her trapped in the stasis field on Therum a few weeks earlier. Those bright blue eyes, those curves, a voice that was soft and sweet and yet seductive at the same time; how could she not be interested?
And yet, she couldn't go down that road again. After her encounter with Sha'ira, she'd been on edge for days. She'd felt like a fool and she took it out on those around her, snapping at her crew, blowing off C-Sec security, bickering with the Council. She needed to be at her best right now, and that included her diplomatic skills.
Of course, this wasn't exactly the same situation. Nobody could mistake the shy, awkward archeologist for a professional seductress like the Consort. Liara was a recluse, someone who didn't really like people. Why would she be interested in a human soldier she'd only just met? What she liked, what fascinated her, were the Protheans and thanks to her mishap back on Eden Prime, Melanie Shepard had become a living repository of Prothean data. She didn't want to be a curiosity, just something to satisfy Liara's scientific interest. No, for once Melanie was going to make the sensible choice and not get involved.