."
He opened the door to the sidewalk for her and followed her through before
he spoke again.
"Mandi, you're kind of like a fighter jet in that you're extremely powerful
and you're on our side in this thing against terrorism. People should respect
things like fighter jets and behave in a responsible manner around them, but
they shouldn't fear them. You're also a very beautiful woman and I expect you
have all the usual feelings that come with being a female human being. Your
feelings deserve a level of respect and responsibility."
Some moments of walking toward the corner passed before Mandi asked,
"And..?"
"And what?"
"That's it?"
With a shrug, Cade said, "Yes'm, that's about it. I've been treating you
like a beautiful woman because that's mostly what you are to me. If you need
more than that -- or less than that -- you'll probably have to look elsewhere."
"Mostly?"
"Yeah, mostly. I'm not forgetting that you can speak other languages and
fly, but at the moment you're just walking beside me and being good company.
Seems to me that I should respond in kind; that is, to make every effort to be
good company in return. If you wanted more, you'd probably be somewhere else
with someone who'd feed your ego."
With a grin, Cade added, "With the guys on the fourth floor, for instance,
who'd either be waiting on you hand and foot and fawning all over you or
avoiding you."
Sighing, Mandi said, "That gets old fast, you know. People either weigh and
measure every word they say or they babble. There's almost no middle ground."
"The price of fame," said Cade, "However clandestine."
"Screw fame," said Mandi. "I haven't had an intelligent conversation with
anyone but John since Wednesday. Well, not until you showed up, anyway. All
anyone wanted to talk about was me. Same old questions, over and over."
Making a suitable sigh of pity, Cade said, "Well, I'll try not to disappoint
you, milady. I won't ask where you're from, how you got here, how fast you can
fly, or anything like that."
Peering sharply at him, Mandi said, "Yeah, you've managed to avoid those
questions so far. Why?"
"Because I don't really need to know the answers. It's enough that you're on
my arm and sharing time with me."
Continuing to regard him askance, Mandi asked, "Or is it that you already
know the answers? Did John or someone else brief you about me?"
"Nope. You appeared out