"Absolutely breathtaking."
Beverly jumped as the unexpected baritone rumbled through her body. Masking her shiver of arousal with a gasp of surprise, she looked over her shoulder and met Jean-Luc's hazel gaze. "Excuse me?"
He smiled and glanced out the viewport and back at her. "This sight has greeted me innumerable times over the years, yet I never tire of the beauty. I am as awed by it today as I was the first time I set eyes on it."
"Yes," she swallowed, her throat suddenly dry, "the view from Ten Forward is amazing."
He grinned. "Indeed." The way he held her gaze made it clear he was not talking about the star cluster. Beverly's knees threatened to give out.
She scanned the nearly deserted lounge, but no one was paying them any attention. She'd come for a late lunch and been drawn to the viewports by the shimmering nebula. Lost in the raw beauty of the setting, she'd been oblivious to his approach; now he stood at her shoulder, and every nerve fibre tingled in response. She needed to escape before her body betrayed her again.
"I should— I need to be getting back to sickbay."
"Allow me to accompany you to the lift."
He was standing close. Too close. Deliciously close. Damn it, Beverly! Focus! "That's all right. I wouldn't want to inconvenience you."
"It's no trouble. I was heading that way myself."
Right. And I'm a targ's uncle. She shrugged and set her glass down on a nearby table as she moved toward the doors.
Heat pulsed up her neck as she felt his eyes following her.
Two can play this game, my dear Captain. Beverly smiled in satisfaction as the not-so-subtle shift in her walk drew a sharp hiss from the man behind her.