Page 11 of The Marriage Bargain

“So…that’s it? I mean, what’s the plan? What did Zyn want?”

The alien shrugged. “Merely to make certain that I was not uncomfortable remaining here tonight with you and the children.”

Huh. He sure hadn’t bothered to ask me if I was comfortable having a stranger here!

I didn’t want to say it, but I couldn’t stop myself.

“And?”

He stared at me, his golden gaze soft. “And I am not uncomfortable remaining here with you and the children.”

My heart did a funny little twist. Whether from annoyance, fear, trepidation, or excitement at being under the same roof as this alien tonight, I couldn’t say. Maybe it was all of them.

Ruthlessly, I shoved the sensation away.

Knuckling my glasses further up the bridge of my nose, I decided it was time to be the capable, assertive person I typically was, whether dealing with the kids or working down at the eatery. I wouldn’t let this alien rock me.

Oh, you’d let him rock you.

The treacherous little thought stole into my brain, mocking me, belying my confidence. I nearly chocked on my own salvia, and turned away with a quick cough to hide the flush in my cheeks.

I would not!

Would too.

He’s an alien!

He’s also gorgeous.

He’s not gorgeous.

Okay, that was a lie, but he was an Asterion, an Overlord, and represented everything I resented about the way humans were treated here on Earth. There was no way I’d ever let him touch me…rock me…sleep with me.

I’d managed to bring my coughing fit under control, but my mind was still racing faster than I could contain it, when I felt a gentle touch on my shoulder.

“Everything is well?”

I yelped and spun. There stood Caide, the very subject of my twisted thoughts, my stupid internal argument. Not only was he checking on me, but he was standing so stinking close that, when I spun, our bodies were mere inches apart.

Was it the coughing fit? I couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t catch my breath.

“I—”

The alien tilted his head, in a way I’d already realized he did when considering something. I’d seen him do it several times tonight already, like he was trying to figure me out.

“You are not ill,” he observed, and it was more like he was trying to puzzle out this crazy human woman than inquire about my health.

I visibly shook myself, and made my feet retreat. Away from the risk of touching him. Away from such close proximity to his face. That allowed me to breathe again, to think rationally.

“I’m fine,” I muttered, ducking my head, embarrassed.

What was wrong with me? I’d worked at the eatery for several years now. Occasionally, I’d been called on to go wait tables out front when they were busy, and I’d certainly been hit on plenty of times by the women-hungry men who frequented the place. I knew I wasn’t beautiful, but I also knew, given the considerable lack of human females, even I looked good to a guy who hadn’t been laid in a while. Men hitting on me didn’t bother me. Why did it fluster me that this man, this Overlord, seemed to be hitting on me? If he was hitting on me?

Maybe that was part of the problem. Since he was an Asterion it was hard to tell. Their customs were probably different. Was it normal on his home planet to invade a woman’s space? To touch her hair, her face, when they’d barely met?

I didn’t know what was normal anymore, but I did know my mortifying reactions to this alien were extremely abnormal.

I needed to be alone. I needed to retreat. Unfortunately, I couldn’t go to my bed until I’d made one up for him. But, hey, at least getting bedding offered a brief escape.

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