Lainey blinked, surfacing from whatever spell he’d put her under. As if burned, she jumped back from Kirov’s touch and his hand fell away from her cheek, the connection gone.
Only then did she feel like she could breathe again.
Chapter Seven
Crystal kept giving her the side-eye. All morning long. But all throughout breakfast—which consisted of smoked meat, smoked meat, and more smoked meat—Crystal thankfully kept her mouth shut about whatever she’d seen between her and the alien Ambassador when she’d interrupted them.
Lainey could tell she was itching to say something about it, however.
All throughout breakfast, Kirov watched over them from his spot near the front door, with his arms crossed over his chest and his legs spread wide. Most of the time, Lainey could feel his eyes on her, though she did her best to ignore it. To ignore him.
Other times, whenever she peeked up at him and hewasn’tlooking at her, she found him…lost in his own mind. But it didn’t seem peaceful, though his gaze seemed far off. He would shift from side-to-side, his fingers would tap a rhythm on his folded arms, and his lips would downturn every so often.
He seemed restless in those moments. Though every time Lainey happened to glance up at him—which, to be perfectly honest, was more often than not—and she found his gaze onher, he was still. He seemed…present.
Lainey couldn’t help but wonder what he thought about in those moments of restlessness. She wondered what made him like that, what worries and responsibilities a male like him had to deal with.
Then she would shake herself, tell herself to stop thinking about him, even though he intrigued her on a level she’d never felt before.
After breakfast, Kirov actually left them alone for a brief moment. It was during a moment of restlessness and without a word, he went out the front door, though he left it open behind him. Through it, Lainey saw him go to the balcony on the terrace, where he gripped it with both hands, his head dropping between his shoulders. As if he needed a moment of quiet to recompose himself.
Lainey was watching him, her eyes glued to him, when Crystal suddenly whispered, “What the hell is going on with you?”
Lainey swallowed, her attention jerking from Kirov to the blonde sitting beside her on the cushions surrounding the fire pit.
“Nothing,” Lainey immediately answered. “Why?”
“Why?” Crystal repeated slowly. “You’ve been weird all morning. Not to mention that I walked in on you and that alien…having a moment, or something.”
Lainey scoffed. “We were not having a moment. Please.”
“That’s not what it looked like to me,” Crystal argued, her tone serious. She was usually playful and upbeat, but right then, her expression wasn’t either of those things. “Please tell me you won’t be the next one.”
Lainey played dumb. “The next one?”
Crystal sighed. “Beks, Cecelia, and now Taylor. Not to mention this woman named Kate. One-by-one, they’ve left with these aliens and they’ve come back…different. Completely and utterly infatuated. In love. Whatever you want to call it.”
“Not to mention high off alien dick,” Lainey tried to joke.
“I’m serious, Lainey,” Crystal said. “The way you were looking at him this morning…”
Thatwiped the teasing smile off Lainey’s face. She looked down at her empty plate.
“You have nothing to worry about,” she said, trying to reassure the worried blonde.
Lainey decided in that moment not to tell Crystal what had happened the previous night. Not to tell her what she already feared, that something had shifted in her the moment she’d seen Kirov. That what Cecelia had said about an undeniable connection might be true.
Because Lainey felt it too. And that scared her most of all.
“They will find that fuel source,” Lainey said, noticing that Kirov was pushing away from the balcony and returning back to them, to her, “and then we will be off, back to Earth. And I’m going to come visit you in Los Angeles and you’re going to take me to the beach and the Walk of Fame and the Disney Concert Hall, just like you said you would. Okay?”
That brought a smile to Crystal’s face, the longing for her home city evident in her eyes.
“Okay,” Crystal said, her shoulders sagging with relief. That twinkle that Lainey had witnessed often during the past few weeks reentered the blonde’s eyes and she whispered, “Tell me the truth though. You totally want to bang him and see what all the fuss is about.”
Lainey laughed. Kirov was a few steps away from the front door but he froze when he heard her laugh, his blue eyes zeroing in on her. She shivered at his look because everything about him was just sointense, so focused. She wondered what a male like that would be like in the bedroom and she decided right then that he would be good. So damn good.
Lainey couldn’t help but let her eyes run down his body because let’s be real…he was afinemale specimen.
