The statement caused an unexpected burst of laughter. It was short-lived. He was serious. “I just told that guy you were, so he’d leave us alone.”
“You made your intentions known. I accept.” The words were matter-of-fact as he watched the road.
Elle was at a loss for words. Maybe he didn’t understand what a boyfriend was. Maybe he thought he was male, and they were friends? It wasn’t a topic she wanted to explore at the moment.
A combination of nerves and excitement filled her. There was something about this man that attracted her. It made no logical sense. It was not something she felt comfortable saying aloud to other people. Yet, no one was here to judge her.
“If you didn’t know my intentions were to help you, why did you kiss me?” The second the intimate question was out of her mouth, she wanted to pull it back. Her mind did not need any help going down this avenue of thought.
Her eyes strayed to a dark turnoff leading down a country road. She stayed on the highway.
“Because you let me.” His mouth shifted, and she could have sworn he smiled. Shadows crossed his face as they drove. “And you make my body vibrate.”
Don’t ask, Elle, don’t ask.
“Vibrate?”
Shit, why did I ask?
“I mean,” Elle said, “are you hungry? Do you need food? Do you need…water? Anything?”
“I am told my system is compatible with Earth food, except for berries. I am to avoid berries.” He tugged at his sleeve, slipping his arm out of the jacket before grabbing the shoulders and pulling both the jacket and shirt over his head. He breathed deeply as if disrobing brought him some relief.
“I noticed you didn’t like the sun when it came through the window earlier.” She tried to turn on the air conditioning on the consul, but it was no surprise it only blew warm air. She turned it off.
“It is not the sun,” he said. “It is the heat. My body is not used to such extreme temperatures. These scratches do not help.”
It was only about seventy degrees out. “What scratches?” She glanced over his naked chest. The muscle structure was close enough to pass for that of a human.
He turned in his seat and pointed at his arm. A deep cut sliced along the biceps.
“Were you hit when they fired at us?” She tried to grab his arm, but it was too far for her to reach and drive at the same time. “Why didn’t you let me know?”
She couldn’t believe she’d missed a bullet wound.
“They are scratches.”
“They?”
He pointed at his leg, near the hip. “They will heal once my body is cooler. I am not concerned. When do we reach my brothers?”
“I’m not sure where they are. The good news is, they weren’t captured. The bad news is, there is a whole lot of territory they could have gone to. I’m driving us toward Colorado. It’s where some of the scouts tracked them to before they lost the trail.” She tried not to stare, but it was difficult to keep her eyes on the road. “Do you know where they’re heading?”
His expression changed by small degrees at the question. “We were supposed to be met by guides to take us to the place.”
“Which place?”
“The place where we were going.”
A sign for a gas station prompted her to look at the gauge. They were low on fuel. “We need to stop. I’ll grab cash from the ATM, but we’ll have to make it last. I hate to sound paranoid, but it wouldn’t surprise me if they can track my cards.”
His naked blue arm lifted, and he turned in the seat. “I liked the first transport better than this one.”
She gave a small laugh. The breeze through the partly open window did little to help the smell. “It’s like my mom always said, beggars can’t be choosers.”
“You do not look like a beggar, so you should be able to choose a different transport.”
“You do understand that we stole this car, don’t you? We took something that doesn’t belong to us. Yes, it was out of necessity, but it’s still wrong. Some person is going to wake up tomorrow and be?—”
