Francine giggled. “Yes, Luther Raphael Boudreaux. I will be your fake fiancée for as long as you want.”
He stood up, his massive frame towering over her, and helped her put the ring on her left hand. It fit like it had been made especially for her.
“Thank you,” she said, meeting his intense stare. She may be helping him out as part of this trip, but he truly was a hero to be going out of his way to help her see Pru’s wedding.
“You’re welcome.”
Francine put a palm on his cheek and leaned closer. He met her halfway and their lips touched. She sighed into his mouth. It was like magic had been released into the room all around them.
His hands slid around her waist to her lower back, pressing her tighter into his body. She slipped an arm around his neck to get even closer. Like the last time their lips met, the world fell away until it was just the two of them and the toe-curling kiss.
She swayed in his arms, barely staying on her feet. She danced him backward toward her sofa as they kissed and kissed and kissed like only the two of them existed in the world. Just when she was about to push him down onto the sofa, ready to straddle his lap and really kiss him, the doorbell rang. Loudly. Twice. Then a third time.
Francine broke away from Raphael’s mystical lip lock and shouted, “Just a minute!” She bit her lip as she tried to get her ragged breaths under control.
He leaned his forehead against hers. His breathing seemed as unsteady as hers. “Do you think we’ll ever be able to kiss as long as we want to?”
“No. I’m afraid erratic interruption is our new normal.”
“Well, that just sucks.”
She laughed. “Sucks? Where did you hear that?”
“I read an Earther expression book.”
Ding-dong. Ding-dong.
Francine pushed out a breath, disengaged from Raphael’s arms and stomped to her front door. She wrenched open the door, ready to give the visitor what for, but surprise stopped the words in her throat as a large, imposing figure filled the entrance.
“Diesel. What are you doing here?” The Fearless Leader of the Big Bang Truck Stop wasn’t a typical guest for Francine.
“Sorry to drop by unexpectedly, Francine. Actually, I was looking for Luther Boudreaux. Is he here, by chance?” As if pulled by an unseen force, Diesel’s gaze dropped to the huge diamond ring on her third finger. His eyes widened, but he didn’t say a word about it.
Francine felt rather than saw Raphael move in quickly right behind her.
“Diesel,” Raphael said. “What’s up?”
“Trouble.”
“Of course. Why else would you be looking for me?”
“Sorry to interrupt, but we just got a missive from Alpha-Prime. A couple of days ago, an extensive team comprised of the worst scum in three galaxies broke a recently incarcerated master criminal out of the XkR-9 gulag.”
“No,” Raphael said flatly. “Not possible.”
“Yes. Indigo Smith has been liberated. One likely destination he’ll consider will be this Earth colony.”
Chapter Four
Raphael shook his head in disbelief. “Indigo Smith is on the loose? Again? I find I’m almost at a loss for words.”
“Yep. Me, too.” Diesel looked not only annoyed, but like the weight of a planet rested on his shoulders. As the Fearless Leader of the Alpha colony on Earth, Raphael supposed it did. “We caught him and apparently sent him to a sissy gulag. They only managed to keep him confined for a few months before he danced on out of there like the security was nothing more than a paper ribbon tied across the gate.”
“Why does anyone think he’ll come here?”
“The gold ingots.”
