I can honestly say that I did not take the news of Douglas well. Chase tried comforting me but it was not much good. At school I am constantly on the lookout for the girl from my memory but cannot find her anywhere. Davenport is working that much harder with my training now. He is determined that I be as confident with my bionics as possible before Douglas comes. Either Bree or Chase is almost always with me when I am anywhere but home, which is a limited number of places, seeing as I am still grounded.

At long last my grounding ends. I have something planned to celebrate so I borrow my mom's car and drive to the mall. During school I had told Chase I was going to pick him up from work. During the past three weeks he had applied for a job at Tech Town and gotten it. Bree is furious that her younger brother has shown her up in a job she had first. Sometimes I really enjoy being an only child.

I walk into the shining displays of Tech Town. Bree is somewhere in the back and Chase is speaking with a customer. I absently browse the tablets while watching the steady flow of pedestrians filter through.

"Hello, and welcome to Tech Town, where all your electrical needs are techen care of." I turn around to find Chase leaning up against the shelf. "Can I interest you in the latest and greatest tablet? We also have a special sale going on: when you buy $350 worth of merchandise you receive a free pair of ear buds," he continues with a smile that would have girls begging him to explain for hours how their computer works.

I play along, "I have been having trouble with my phone. For some reason it refuses to connect to the internet. Could you help me?" I ask, pulling out a flip phone and banishing the screen for him to see. He gives a sad smile and pats my shoulder sympathetically.

"Ma'am, I think it's about time you got a new phone."

I pull a horrified face. "And give up Flippo, my companion and partner-in-crime?" He laughs and places a quick kiss on my cheek.

"Chase, your shift is over," his boss, Scott, calls out. "Are you sure you have no desire to stay?" He adds with a note of hopefulness.

"Sorry, sir, but I have plans for tonight. Where are we going?" He asks, turning away and lacing our fingers together.

"I heard that the museum has The Secrets of the Giza Pyramids playing. Does that interest you at all?" Chase's face contorts to a boyish grin and he nods vigorously.

We eat an early dinner of Chinese food and hurry to the museum theater. The movie is interesting to me, although it has Chase hanging on the edge of his seat the entire time. I find it cute how nerdy he can be at times. On the drive home he talks of nothing else but the documentary.

"The theory of the Egyptians building the pyramids from inside/out rather than using ramps like previously believed is highly logical. What was your favorite part?"

"My favorite part was when the archeologists investigated King Akhenaten's tomb."

"Oh, that was awesome!"

I park the car in his driveway and walk in with him, expecting him to stop in the living room but he goes through a back hall and steps out on a balcony overlooking the ocean. The last colors from the sunset are dripping past the horizon, blending into the indigo sky and blue water.

"This is my contribution to this evening," Chase says, bracing his hands against the railing and gazing out. I rest my chin on his shoulder and rub slow circles between his shoulder blades.

"Are you sure your family doesn't mind me always being around? With you and Bree and training?"

"Of course not. Everyone here loves you. Even Eddy doesn't bad mouth you often."

"Yep, how a girl knows she is accepted by her boyfriend's family: when the security lets her through without setting alarms off." He laughs and wraps an arm around my waist. His eyes trap me, an irresistible magnet I would be powerless to fight against even if I want to. My hands slowly trace the veins and muscle tone in his arms. He shivers under my touch.

Slowly Chase's lips travel from my forehead to temple to nose to jaw. His nose traces a delicate trail down the length of my neck and along my collarbone. My mom used to tell me when I was little that butterflies won't bite, they give kisses. This is how it must feel to be kissed by a butterfly. A tingling runs through my body, quickly turning into a fire that slows my muscles but intensifies the thumping in my chest. Somewhere in the back of my mind I think about how embarrassing it is that thanks to his bionic hearing he can hear the hysterical beating of my heart. As though reading my mind he places one ear against my chest and smirks.

"Like yours isn't doing the same," I mutter, pressing my lips to his. His arm around me tightens. Chase lifts me onto the wooden railing and I kick off my shoes. I feel lightheaded and would probably fall backwards if he were not holding onto my waist so tightly.We watch until the colors fade from the sky. Speaking would break the spell, so neither of us says anything.