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She smiled, and rather than taking the fruit from him, she grabbed it between her teeth and pulled it away.
His laugh sounded startled as he watched her eat it. “You humans are so odd.”
“As are you. I never know if you’re thinking about punching me or kissing me.”
His jaw dropped. “I would never hurt you.”
Kendra waved a hand across her mouth as she chewed quickly. “No, I was joking. It’s just that you always look so serious. But I feel safe around you. You make me feel protected. You look out for me. That doesn’t happen often.”
“You should have dozens of men looking out for you. You deserve nothing less.” Faron ducked his head.
Kendra’s cheeks grew warm. “That’s lovely of you to say. I’m not as much of a man magnet as you seem to think I am. I’ve been single for a long time.”
“Then the men you are meeting are fools.”
“I agree.” She smiled as his gaze met hers. “Perhaps I’m the fussy one. Besides, now is not the right time to fall head over heels in love. I worked hard to get to My Single Alien. I don’t want to mess that up. My boss is strict about who we’re allowed to be involved with.”
Faron nodded slowly. “My family is the same. In fact, they’ve seen footage of us together on our previous encounter.”
Kendra’s stomach tightened. “Is that a worry to them? Did they see something they didn’t like?”
“That is not for you to concern yourself about. I should not worry about it either. My family has been clear as to their opinion of me. Until recently, they barely acknowledged my existence. My mother has always been the exception. She’s desperate for a bigger family. Desperate enough to ask me to provide her with grandchildren.”
“Desperate enough! Your mom doesn’t sound like a nice lady.”
“There’s nothing nice about her. She wants more wealth and power. She wants to regain what I lost them after my accident.”
“How does she treat the grandchildren she already has?” Kendra’s gaze returned to the scars on Faron’s hand. “Does she love them?”
“She shows kindness of a sort. She is different from my father. She values healthy and stable children because they turn into willing, obedient adults. The way our females demonstrate love for their offspring is different from how you experience it. She will never intentionally harm a child or allow them to go hungry.”
“There’s more to love than that,” Kendra said. She should know. She’d missed out on it often enough.
“My family is my concern. They’re planning a future for me. I’m deciding if it is one I wish to pursue.”
“Where will this future take you?” Kendra leaned forward, her heart pounding in her chest. “You’re not thinking of leaving Prodigy, are you?”
“I am thinking a lot, and that is never healthy. I prefer simple problems and simple solutions. I currently have none of those.”
“If you want to talk about anything, I’m here,” Kendra said. “I know we’re not right for each other, and I get the feeling your family will hate me but don’t dismiss a friendship. Good friends can be hard to find.”
Faron offered her the last piece of fruitcake. “Agreed. So, what’s next?”
Kendra smiled, a bubble of happiness inside her at his acceptance that they were to spend the day together. She shouldn’t care, but she did.
“All I know is we have to go to the holo booths next. Ivy has set up a surprise.”
“A surprise.” Faron’s mouth turned down. “How are we supposed to prepare if it is a surprise?”
“Maybe we aren’t,” Kendra said as she stood and licked her fingers clean of sticky cake crumbs and fruit juice.
“I loathe surprises.”
She grinned, not surprised to hear that. As Kendra followed Faron out of his room, she spotted a camera bot outside. She groaned and shook her head.
“The bots continue to bother you?” he asked her.
“They don’t you?”
