Page 6

He nodded. “It has its uses.”

Kendra’s gaze shifted to the camera bot that now hovered by her right shoulder. She closed her eyes for a second and blew out a breath.

“You don’t appear to be enjoying yourself,” Faron said. “Have you been forced to come here too?”

Her eyes shot open. “No! Have you?”

Faron nodded to a tall Lillip three tables along. “Sala insisted we come.”

“Oh, so you don’t want to find love?”

He shrugged. “It’s not relevant. Love is not an option.”

“Love is not an option?”

Faron looked at her ears. Had she misheard him, or was she hard of hearing? “That is correct.”

Kendra glanced at the camera bot one more time. She cupped her hands around her mouth, so the bot couldn’t see her talk. “I’m the same. Please, this really has to go well for me tonight. Can’t you play along and ask the right questions? If my boss realizes this is going wrong, she will string me up.”

“Your boss will hang you because there aren’t couples joining at the end of this evening?” That punishment sounded harsh even by his standards.

A laugh burst out of Kendra. “Not literally. Although, she might be tempted to.” She leaned closer and lowered her voice. “Since you’re not here for love, I’ll share a secret with you. I work for My Single Alien. This event was my idea. I got let down at the last-minute by some women who were supposed to meet the single aliens. I got strong-armed into doing this to make up the numbers.”

“You don’t seek a partner?”

She looked around and nodded. “That’s right, but I need to make sure other people get what they want from tonight. Can you help me?”

He raised his chin. “What’s in it for me?”

Kendra’s eyes widened. “I could say a sincere thank you, and you could have an enjoyable evening chatting to people and making new friends.”

“I find small talk tedious. That would not be enjoyable. I do not consider that appropriate payment.”

“You want money?”

Faron snorted. “Absolutely not. I make my own money.”

“Okay, how about a free drink?”

“A drink will be a good start,” he said.

“A good start? All I’m asking you to do is be polite and not put too many noses out of joint this evening. What else do you want?”

Sala had assured Faron there would be available females this evening. It had been a long time since he’d experienced release. “I want sex.”

Spluttering noises came from Kendra’s mouth. “You want me to have sex with you, so you don’t ruin my evening?”

“It’s a good deal. I’m an excellent lover.”

Kendra coughed into her hand. “Is that what you tell yourself?”

He glanced at his cybernetic arm and grimaced before looking away. Of course, she would not find him desirable. “It’s not important. Forget I said anything.” When Kendra didn’t speak, he looked back at her.

She shifted in her seat. “I can’t offer you sex, but I can arrange for you to have a few dates. We have thousands of women on the database at My Single Alien. I’m sure they’d love to go out with someone as striking as you.”

He looked at his arm again. “By striking, you mean deficient?”

“No! Absolutely not. You’re very... handsome. Any woman would be thrilled to be on your arm.”