“My pleasure.” He took her arm. “How much time do you have?”
“Only about an hour.” She looked downcast. He put his fingers under her chin and lifted her face. Her smile came as he stared deeply into her luscious light green eyes.
“No worries. That’s plenty of time for the date I have in mind.”
“Date?” Her whole being brightened with the word.
“Yes. I’d like to have a date with you. I likely should’ve asked if you want to have a date with me, so let me be clear. I’d like to take you out, Lucy. Will you go with me?”
“I’d love to go out on a date with you. Where will we go? What will we do?” She glanced at the automatic doors leading out into the large way station that featured all sorts of interesting things for space travelers to enjoy. “Since we only have an hour.”
The basement level of the Big Bang Truck Stop had been designed several decades ago with the idea that space travelers wouldn’t be able to go out into Earth territory because of the strict secrecy of aliens hiding in plain sight. That meant they brought all things Earthly inside. The space was as large as a football stadium and three stories high in some places. It included every kind of shop imaginable, from art galleries filled with creative and popular earthling prints and sculpture to baby zebras in the petting zoo. It was billed for all ages, but mostly children went there.
Axel thought for a moment about where he wanted to go and what he wanted her to see.
He didn’t want to take her anywhere in the basement facility. They could do that anytime in the next two days. There were several places he’d love to go to with her on his arm downstairs to show her off. But not right now.
Instead, Axel wanted to take her someplace special,outof the facility. He wanted to show her something she couldn’t see in the basement. He wanted to create a special memory of a beautiful place in the Arkansas woods that they could tell their grandchildren about. He might be jumping the gun, as this was only their first date, but Lucy was special and he was smart enough to realize it.
Axel wondered if she’d balk at leaving when they weren’t truly supposed to.
“What would you think about leaving the facility to visit a place nearby?” He braced himself for her to shut that down.
Color came up in her cheeks. She was so beautiful. He wanted to kiss her again. But he didn’t. He admired her blush, taking a moment to fall even further in love with her.
“In town?”
“No. Someplace else. It’s something I’d like to show you in the woods nearby.”
“A surprise?” Her cheeks bloomed with more color. She seemed eager to go wherever he wanted to take her. It was foolish to be falling in love with someone he barely knew, but his brother had done it…come to think of it, both of his married brothers had done very similar things with the loves in their lives.
Diesel fell in love with an earthling—well, she was actually not quite all human—and Cam fell in love with someone off the last luxury liner that had visited Alienn.
A month later, Axel was extremely interested in someone off another luxury liner. Interestingly ironic, but perfect as to following in his brother’s footsteps regarding love from an airship.
“I’d love to go see Earth. But I don’t have special permission to leave the way station.” Axel shrugged. “That’s okay. Just stick with me.”
“We won’t get into any trouble, will we?”
“Of course not. Or my name isn’t Axel Grey, and it is.”
“I read that your brother is the Fearless Leader in charge of this place.”
“True.”
“And that another brother, Cam, has invented all manner of important devices for Alphas, especially those living on Earth.”
“Also true.”
“May I ask what you do here?”
“I oversee communications for the most part, both down here and upstairs on the Earther side, but I also handle the liquid bauxite refueling for the ships that dock here from Alpha-Prime.”Wow. You’re a gas station attendant. Way to show off.
“But we also fill in for each other on occasion. Diesel is away for the day so Cam and I are in charge this go around.”
“Oh, so is that why we can go outside? Because when you’re in charge you don’t follow the rules? You just break them left and right to suit your own desires.” Interesting word. Desires. He had desires all right.
Axel laughed. “No. I would neverbreakany rules outright.”
