Page 14 of The Alien Who Saved Christmas
Sadie let him gape. While the stares of the other guys had made her nervous, the weight of Xane’s gaze made her blood heat. That was probably bad. He was an alien, after all. But his eyes were simply…perfect. Goodness and honor shone from their cerulean depths. Sadie had spent a lifetime reading people’s eyes. Xane’s were magical.
Whatever residual fear she had of the man’s frightening appearance melted away. She trusted her instincts about his nature. And since he’d followed her here and had protected her against the creepy guys, it seemed likely he didn’t hate her after all. That was great!
Xane finally dragged his attention away from her and muttered a curse under his breath. Shaking his head, he headed for a table in the corner.
Sadie trailed after him, still clutching her drink. “Wanna sit together?” She asked, as he flopped down with his back to the wall.
“What I want rarely matters. I have never been surer of that than I am at this moment.”
She ignored that gloomy pronouncement and plopped down in the chair across from him. He looked winded to her. All the exertion of the day was getting to him. “Why are you here?”
Silence.
Sadie tilted her head, translating that without the aid of her lousy translator. “You remembered me saying I was coming here, huh? You woke up and came looking for me.” She was touched. “That’s sweet, but you shouldn’t have risked it. You’re too fragile to be moving around, yet.”
Xane gave her an aggravated look, not liking that remark. He was such a guy.
“Oh, you know it’s true.” Sadie rolled her eyes.
“Rtaharions areneverfragile.”
“You passed out, Xane. Not to mention the auction and those three-legged things hitting you. You’re hardly at full strength.” She frowned just remembering what he’d been through. “No, better let me deal with this. I have everything under control.”
“It didn’t look that way when I arrived.”
“Well, I noticed it getting a little tense in here.” She allowed with a sigh. “For a minute, I was afraid I’d have to leave without finding the duckling.”
“Odds are, you would not have been allowed to leave, at all.”
“Yeah, everybody kept staring at me. It can’tjustbe my humanness, right? I guess it could be this.” She gestured to her colorful top with a rueful face.
“That is a wise guess.”
She felt a little embarrassed. “The waitresses at the diner wear ugly Christmas sweaters for the whole holiday season. It helps with tips. I don’t usually dress like this. Do you guys have polar bears in space? These are polar bears.” She adjusted the fabric to point out the cartoon animals.
He stared at her chest. Fixedly.
“Real polar bears don’t ice skate, of course. Wait, do you have ice skating in space…?”
Xane cut her off. “No one here is looking at your clothing. They’re imagining what’s under it.”
She frowned and leaned closer to him across the table. “Yeah… This is going to sound nuts… but are there any other girls in this town? I haven’t seen any.”
His dark brows soared. “Females? On Corono? Gods, no.”
Sadie blinked. “No other women on this wholeplanet?”
“Likely in this whole system.”
Crap. That wasn’t good. Being the only girl at a bar was socially awkward. Being the only girl in a solar system was just asking for trouble.
“Why are you surprised at this?” Xane demanded, reading her face. “Females are rare. They would be welcomed and pampered on far more luxurious worlds. Of course, they would choose better places to live.”
“Women are rare? You’re kidding.”
“Why would I jest about the extinction of females?”
“Because it’s not true! There are plenty of women. On Earth, we outnumber men.”
