Page 36 of Zalis
“Yes. I will not insult you by lying or omitting facts which embarrass me,” he said. “Before I could return, the warlord summoned me. I instructed a bot to deliver the meal. The system requires a full cycle to update assigned quarters, a fact which I failed to remember.”
“So, my dinner went here.”
“Indeed. When I was released, I feared it was late and I did not wish to disturb you. I came here to sleep and pack. I am scheduled for a brief break, so my normal alerts did not notify me of the time.”
Understandable, like he overslept. Gemma slept through plenty of alarms herself.
Except nothing about this room suggested a sleepyhead. It looked like a distracted squirrel rooted its way through all the drawers and cabinets.
Gemma twirled more noodles on the weirdly elongated fork. “You had a lot on your mind. Mistakes happen.”
“You werestarving.” Zalis leaned forward, his gaze fixed on her.
Was he teasing her or was he serious? Gemma had no idea.
“It is unacceptable that you went hungry today. I have failed you as a mate.”
Oh, he was serious.
“That was an exaggeration. I wasn’t starving. I had breakfast, with the warlord’s wife, actually. She did a whole new arrival orientation today.” Gemma flashed what she hoped was areassuring smile. “The address mix-up actually makes me feel better, believe it or not.”
“I do not,” he said quickly.
“Since you were honest with me, I’ll be honest with you. I thought you were avoiding me.”
“Not intentionally.”
“If you were, I understand. This is a lot, and I just panicked and picked you?—”
“You chose me,” he said, sounding pleased for the first time.
“For the wrong reasons.”
“Incorrect. You were honest with your reasons. You were afraid.”
“I was scared—I still am—but that’s no reason to do what I did to you.” Gemma pushed her plate away, no longer hungry.
Zalis growled, as if displeased, and pushed it back toward her. “You needed a mate for protection. You chose me.”
Gemma pinched the bridge of her nose. They were going in circles.
“Can’t you just accept my apology?”
“You have no reason to apologize.”
Yeah. They were getting nowhere.
“Look,” she said, pushing the damn plate away again. “You didn’t ask for this. I think it’s best if we just wash our hands of this and walk away.”
It’d been less than twenty-four hours. There had to be an undo button.
“I want to go back to Earth,” she said.
“No.”
GEMMA
What the hell? Talking to this alien was like having a conversation with a very stubborn lavender brick wall. Gemma would expect a lavender brick wall to have a touch more whimsy and not be so inflexible, but brick walls were gonna brick wall. Or something.
