Page 39 of My Tiny Giant

“Thanks.” I slid my hands down the powder-blue bodice of the dress the Army provided me for tonight. Its plunging neckline was decorated with so many flowers, it looked as if I’d stuffed a bouquet down my front.

When I sat down, the voluminous, gauzy skirts puffed over my lap and spilled into the seat next to me where Agan was sitting on top of a silver clutch purse.

The intensity with which he kept staring at me warmed my cheeks with a blush.

“I like this dress,” I confessed. The dreamy, princess-like gown was very feminine. It felt nice to dress “girly,” once in a while. I’d brought some skirts and blouses in my luggage from Earth. However, I only ever got to wear them when on leave from the ship, which wasn’t often. “It may take me a few tries to remember how to walk in high heels.” I smiled, pointing at my pearl-white pumps. “I’ll try not to drop you even if I fall.”

He laughed.

“Don’t fall, I won’t be able to catch you.”

“You won’t have to,” I quipped. “This skirt would cushion any fall. It’d probably make me glide down like a parachute.”

The many layers of the gossamer material reminded me of the fabulous gowns I used to make for my Barbie dolls. My mother had worked as a seamstress from home for many years, making custom clothes for women in our town. She’d made most of my clothes, too, while I was growing up. As soon as I got old enough to be trusted with a needle, she’d taught me how to sew. We’d made my prom dress together, and it had turned out simply amazing.

I slid my gaze Agan’s way and wondered if he would allow me to make him some clothes. His leather pants had definitely seen better days. He could use another pair. Maybe he’d let me make him a shirt, too. The view of his hard, bare abs was rather distracting, no matter what size his torso was.

“I can make you some clothes,” I blurted out. “If you want me to, I mean.”

“Can you sew?”

I nodded. “I’m pretty good at it. I can even make my own patterns and stuff.”

“Of course you can.” He shook his head, laughing. “Is there anything you can’t do?”

“Plenty of things—walking in high heels with grace and re-engineering any alien technology are just two examples. But I can sew pretty well. I once even made a dress similar to this one, with my mom’s help. I could definitely make you some pants and shirts.”

“Shirts?” He lifted an eyebrow, tilting his head. “Why would I need a shirt?”

“Um, well...” There was no way I’d confess that staring at his naked torso made me want to touch him. The sleek, velvety fur over the hard planes and ridges of his muscles just begged to be petted and stroked. “Don’t you ever get cold?” I asked the first vaguely appropriate thing, instead.

“Not on Tragul. The climate is mild in Ravie. And here, on Neron, most places are covered with glass and heated, even some parks.”

“Okay then.” I tried hard not to stare at his chest. As miniature as everything about him was, I couldn’t think about Agan as “small.” His attitude and larger-than-life personality simply didn’t allow for that. At the same time, I found him irresistibly cute right now. I would absolutely grab him with both hands to squeeze and cuddle him if he let me. Not that he would allow any of that, of course. “Maybe at least some spare pants then? Of course, you could always get them done by a professional...”

“I would, but apparently they’d need to take measurements for that.” He released a long breath. “After all the medical tests they’ve subjected me to in the past few days, I really don’t feel like being touched and prodded anymore.”

“There’ve been tests?” I asked, with hope.

He nodded.

“Are they trying to figure out how to bring you back? Make you big again?”

“Yes, but without much success, at this point. The best they’ve come up with is to wait and see if it ‘goes away on its own.’”

“Could it really just do that?”

He lifted a shoulder. “I don’t know. Nobody knows. And that’s the problem.”

A green light went off on the control panel of the aircraft, signaling that it was ready to land soon.

“We’re almost there.” Agan got up from the purse, and I opened it for him to climb in.

Leaning down closer to him, I said, “Be careful.”

“You, too.” He gazed straight at me, the lights of the control panel reflecting with a soft glow in his jewel-green eyes. “If any harm comes to you tonight, Emma, I’d never forgive myself.”

His words echoed my own thoughts. As small as Agan currently was, he never looked or acted fragile. Yet I constantly worried about him. I cared about many people in my life. I worried about every single man in my unit during our missions. However, what I felt for Agan was more intense somehow.

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