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“Do you often need to disappear?”

Karn shrugged. “Now and again. Never for long. You’ve never been to my home planet?”

“Earth is the only planet I’ve been on. I plan to explore when the war calms down. I’m not sure I want to hop through the wormhole any time soon to see that.”

“There are safe places to visit,” Karn said. “A number of aliens have grown tired of the constant fighting and have peace treaties in place. There are dozens of planets you could visit with no risk. I can show you around. My home planet is a stable one. You might like it. We have a particular fondness for gold. Our leader’s home is full of gold. Everything glitters as you walk past.”

“You know the Forka leader?”

Karn inspected his nails. “Of course. We’re friends.”

“You move in fancy circles.”

“It pays to be on the right side of the aliens in power.”

“I shall add your home planet to my list of places to visit.”

“Any time you need a guide, you let me know. I’d be happy to show you around.”

Now Karn had dropped his smooth act, Ivy felt herself relax. “Do you still have family living there?”

“A brother.”

“No parents?”

“Sadly not. My brother is... different. He lives in a commune with others similar to him.”

This was the first Ivy had heard of a sibling. “How is he different?”

“Derr sees the world differently from others. To him, everything is muddled up.”

“I’m not sure I understand. How does Derr see the world as muddled?”

Karn leaned forward in his seat. “I’ll give you an example. When he hears a noise, he gets the taste of something in his mouth. Derr also sees certain colors when he hears certain sounds.”

“We have that condition on Earth. It’s called synaesthesia.”

Karn shook his head. “The translator hated that word. It’s not a condition. It’s the way he is. Some on my planet think it’s abnormal and don’t like sound tasters to mix with the general population.”

“Sound tasters? Is that what you call your brother?”

“It fits. He finds the world overwhelming. Anywhere noisy or busy makes him nervous. The commune Derr lives in looks after him. He has others around him who experience the same things and see the world in a similar way.”

“I’d like to meet him.” Ivy wasn’t sure why she’d said that. Meeting Karn’s brother would give her insight into his family responsibilities. The fact he kept an eye on his brother showed he cared about more than himself.

“Perhaps I shall introduce you. He’s a great brother.”

Karn clearly cared for Derr. Ivy saw a different side to Karn, and she liked it.

She needed to keep a clear head and not get clouded by Karn opening up. Ivy had always gone for smoking hot and mysterious guys. It led her to heartbreak and frustration when they’d messed around, thinking they could get away with it because of the way they looked.

Ivy wasn’t proud of the fact that, sometimes, she’d even let them. She shook her head as she recalled her last relationship. Marcus had been gorgeous but completely flaky. She’d fallen for him hard, and he’d abused her trust. More than abused, he’d stamped his way across her heart.

Would it be the same with a gorgeous alien? Ivy had never considered dating an alien before, but she enjoyed being with Karn. He set her at ease every time they went out. He didn’t judge the fact she liked expensive things. In fact, he liked his own expensive things. That tight-fitting bodysuit wouldn’t have been cheap.

“You’ve got that look in your eyes again,” Karn said. “I wish I knew what you were thinking.”

“Maybe I’ll tell you some day. Shall we have another drink?” This fact-finding mission was turning into fun.