Page 8 of The Alien's Little Sister

Fifteen minutes later and I’m standing in Grant Park on the Dove Girl’s side, far, far off the walking path. Hell, we’re far off the dog walker’s path, and that cuts through some trees.

We’re standing in the middle of the park’s woods, where the murderers and rapists could not be happier to find a lone woman. It’s pitch black out here, and no one will hear her fucking scream. Just—justNO.

And there’s the small fact that Inara is insisting that she’s going to be safe out here tonight because no one can break into hership.

Herinvisibleship.

That’s right.

We are staring off into trees and she… she is so dedicated to this reality she’s built for herself that I believeshebelieves it.

This is seriously just sad.

“I’m going to level with you,” I tell her.

Inara’s eyes narrow to slits. “You think I’m mad.”

“I call it like I see it,” I confirm. “And you are off your rocker if you think I’m going to leave you in the park, at night, pretending that you’re going to be just fine in your invisible spaceship.”

“I will be, Matt. I promise, I will be fine in my cloaked air ship.”

“Look, honey—”

This is what finally breaks Inara’s patience with me butting into her business, I guess.“‘Honey,’”she repeats like she’s taking issue with me saying it. “One of my brothers has a mate who calls him this. I know that when used between two who are not mates, it is meant to be patronizing—”

“Whoa.Hey,”I tell her, catching her eyes before she can boil over. “I swear, not my intention. It’s…” I rake an impatient hand through my hair. “It’s a respect thing.”

Inara makes a pretty adorable-sounding noise of disbelief.

“It is,” I assure her, hoping she can see I mean it. “Let me tell you how. See, I don’t care what other men think of me, if they think I’m a rude dick. Iama rude dick,” I tell her bluntly. “I don’t care if women get that impression of me either, ‘specially since it’s the right one. But I do at leasttryto deliver my words more gently—”

“You’re aware it’s coming off condescendingly?” Inara asks, no longer sounding steamed, just trying to be helpful in pointing out how what I say hits her.

“No,” I deny. “It comes off like a man cares. If I think a man is being a fucking idiot, I have no problem telling him so. Inexactlythose words. If I think a woman needs to hear something along those lines, I choose my words with as much care as I’m able though, because it matters to me that I don’t hurt her feelings.”

Inara blinks up at me, arms crossing not in anger, but holding herself, concentrating on me. “You think we need ‘care?’”

“I think you deserve it.” I feel my shoulder go up as I give my head a once-shake. “I get that I still probably sound like a chauvinistic asshole, but hey. The rule is respect your elders. Love your mother and father. And as far as I’m concerned, without women going that extra couple miles carrying each and every one of us, something no guy can do, there wouldn’t be a damn person on this earth. Every woman deserves a little extra respect.”

Silence meets my finished speech.

“Okay,” I say after a too-long stretch of quiet. “You’re going to come with me on your own power, or I’m going to pick you up and haul your alien-costumed-ass out of this—FUCK!”

My knees lock. A damn good thing, because otherwise, I’d be on my ass in the grass. A metal sound is still ringing, and I can’t tell if it’s coming from my ears or whatever the hell I just ran into.

“Are you all right?” Inara asks, and when the stars clear from my vision, I see she’s biting her lip. “I told you my ship was cloaked. Try not to walk your face into it again.”

I just… stare at her.

Then, slowly, I reach my hands up, and feel… her…ship.

“Holy shit,” I breathe. Because my eyes don’t see a damn thing—I mean, they do, but I only see the well-tended grass of a park at our feet. I see trees all around us. I see everything I’m supposed to see—

But under my hands, in front of my face, something ishere.

Something solid, and metal, and… I mean, maybe the technology is here, maybe this woman is still in a kickass alien suit, and she’s completely off her rocker but so stinking-ass rich that she paid out for a top secret government contract so she could tool around in a vehicle that cloaks itself in its surroundings.

It’s possible.

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