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“You’re on such a solid path. You know exactly what you want and where you need to be.”

Sloane laughed. “None of that’s true. I wish it was, but I’m muddling along the same as everyone else. Although there is one path I’d really like to stumble down.” She stood on her tiptoes, so her mouth was almost level with Dallin’s.

“What path is that?” His gaze turned molten.

“I think you know. You’ve always known. I’ve never hidden from you.”

His eyes narrowed. “Sloane, now’s not the right time.”

“Will there ever be a right time?” She breathed in deep, and got a hit of his spicy, warm scent. Just one kiss, that was all she wanted, and Sloane could die a happy human.

But she knew one kiss would never be enough. Once she’d gotten a taste of Dallin, her world would change. She’d capture the kiss in a memory, never let it go, and always want more. She’d be waiting for another chance to fill herself with this gorgeous alien.

Dallin stared at her mouth, not blinking, not even breathing.

He was going to kiss her!

He shook himself and looked away. “We can’t.”

Sloane stepped back, her knees unsteady as her heart thumped out the unhappy beat of rejection. It always seemed like he cared about her, but maybe Dallin was just worried about losing his lab assistant to this poison.

She tried to stifle her disappointment, but it overwhelmed her, and she took a minute to blink back tears and focus on anything but Dallin.

His hand settled on her shoulder, but she couldn’t look at him. “Don’t worry about this poison. I will fix this. And you’re right, there isn’t a problem I can’t solve, once I have enough data.”

Sloane leaned into his touch, but it was gone too soon for her liking.

No matter what she did, Dallin seemed destined to remain her gorgeous, unobtainable alien geek.

Sloane finally turned and looked at him. “You’ll make this right. For all of us.” She returned to her workbench and saw another message flashing in her inbox. She opened it and sighed. It was from Cameron.

“Have you got something interesting?” Dallin jerked his head at her screen.

“No, it’s nothing.” Sloane’s stomach lurched at the thought of dating someone else. But if Dallin didn’t want her, maybe she needed to accept that, and find a way to move on without him in her life.

She started her reply, congratulating Cameron on his new job, but saying she was no longer available.

Sloane didn’t send it, but left it in her drafts folder. Was she being an idiot by holding out for an alien who wasn’t emotionally available for her? Would Dallin ever be available?

She looked at Cameron’s message again and sent him a swift but firm thanks but no thanks reply. She was being foolish, but even if Dallin didn’t want her, she could only see him in her future, no matter how short that future was.