Page 14 of Catfished By the Alien Pirate

I touched her arm gently after she put back a book she was looking at in the bookstore. “Is everything okay, Chloe?”

She looked up with her eyes wide. “Everything’s fine.”

“Your face betrays you,” I said. My hand reached out as I stroked her cheek.

She tilted her head as she stared into my eyes. “It’s just been rough the last few months. I was struggling before Andy left. I was too proud to tell hereverythingthat was happening and I was homeless for a bit. Couch surfing for a while if I could. Or sleeping in my car when I couldn’t. When she said I could take over her place, it was a blessing. But things are still tight. I only just got this newest job.” She stepped away as she walked out of the bookshop. She turned as she made a face. “I thought outlet malls were supposed to be dirt cheap, but these are more expensive than the other bargain places I shop at sometimes. How is this a good deal?”

She huffed as we kept walking through the mall. There was a coffee kiosk. “Do you want coffee?”

Andy had mentioned coffee in the past. “Yeah, if you go get it, I saw something back there I need to get.”

“Sure. What do you like?”

“Do you know what Andy would order? That.” I wasn’t sure if Ireallytrusted Andy’s taste in food, but it was quick and simple. As she stepped into line, I returned to the bookstore and picked up the book I saw her put back. The book had a half naked man with glowing pink tattoos all over his body. A woman wearing a circular button on her shirt walked up to me.

“Hey there. Do you need help?” she asked.

I waved the book. “My friend wanted this book. Are there any books like this she would also like? I want to make her happy.”

The woman’s eyes widened as her mouth gaped open. She looked at the title of the book and giggled softly. “Uh, yeah. I think I can help. Let’s go over here. How many more do you want to get?”

“A few? I don’t know. She just looked so sad and she mentioned to her friend about books where men glow?”

The clerk nodded as she grabbed books off a shelf. She dumped them in my hands. All the covers were of half-naked men in various colors and one book had horns, like mine. “Horns? What books are these?”

“Honey, is this your first time in the romance section? Specifically, your friend likes sci-fi alien romance.” She tapped the cover of the book on the top. “Is that all?”

“Yeah,” I said.

“Let me ring you up,” she said as she led me to the register. “You know, this is really sweet. A lot of girls I know would swoon for a guy buying them books.”

I swiped my card. “She will swoon for me? The books are that special?”

The woman shrugged. “All I know is I like books. And you’ve listened to her. Some guys don’t like these books.”

She pushed the bag to me. “If I wanted to read one of these books to see what she liked, what would you recommend?”

Her eyes widened again as a smile across her face. “Oh my god. Your girl is lucky. Uh, try the purple guy. I am not sure what your flavors are, but it’s highly recommended on the socials,” she said.

“Thanks. You’ve helped me a lot today,” I said as I turned. As I walked out of the door, I slipped out the book with the purplealienon it and put it in my bag of clothes. As I was walking back, I saw Chloe on a bench waiting for me to come back, her one bag sitting beside her with the coffees. The skylight illuminated her hair making it shine. She turned, and a smile brightened her face. My hearts stopped beating for a second.

“Did you get what you needed?”

“Yes, these are yours,” I said as I shoved the bag toward her.

Chloe’s brows furrowed as she passed the coffee to me. She giggled slightly as we fumbled the exchange and my coffee sloshed on my hand. She opened the bag and gasped. “You got me books?”

“You looked sad. I wanted to help,” I said.

“You got me other books too, though.”

“The clerk at the store said if you liked that book, you would like those,” I said.

She bit her full bottom lip as she lunged forward to hug me. Her body was so soft against mine. I inhaled her wonderful scent as my face was pushed against her neck and hair. I couldn’t stop my attraction to her. My cocks rose with her touch. A slight perfuming of my pheromones scented the air. “Thank you so much. You are so kind,” she whispered. Her hot breath on my skin caused shivers to course through my body. I pulled away to make sure my pheromones didn’t activate even more. This was the problem with staying with Chloe. I wanted her more than I thought.

“It’s not a problem, Chloe. You don’t deserve to hurt,” I said. Deep down, I wanted to do everything I could to prevent her from hurting.

Chapter 10

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