Page 16 of Breathless Recruiter

He shook his head as she handed it back. “No, not bad at all. You’re a regular superhero.” I froze at the mention of the S-word. “Not all heroes wear capes.” He ended it with a wink. My alter ego remained a secret.

“Would you make me a pair? It’s going to get cold when winter comes.”

The thought of him patrolling the building while wearing my mittens made the butterflies take flight. In his black security uniform, he’d need something to stand out. Pink? No. Bright blue. He struck me as somebody who loved the color blue.

“I need to measure your hand.”

I reached into my desk and pulled out a paper and pencil. I slid the sheet under his hand. He clenched his fingers together,thumb proudly sticking out. I braced my hand on his, enjoying the warmth of his skin. I dragged a line around his hand.

“It’s like making a Thanksgiving turkey.”

I raised an eyebrow.

“You didn’t make hand turkeys in grade school?”

Mom had formulated a backstory for those awkward moments I couldn’t remember. “I was homeschooled. No turkeys for me.” Not that I knew what he meant. I wondered if Halo had birds they treated as pets before devouring for a holiday meal? Every time I tried to recall life before the spaceship, the details turned fuzzy. I couldn’t tell what memories were real and which I conjured out of desperation.

Dustin took the pencil from my hand, lingering as we touched. We were close to holding hands, like in the movies. “I’m not an artist, so don’t get your hopes up.” He flipped the paper over.

The security guard thrust his hand onto the paper with fingers spread wide. Tracing it with a pencil, I watched as his tongue hung from the corner of his mouth. Once he was done tracing, he added a face and drew stick figure legs. Spinning it around, he slid the paper in front of me.

“A turkey!”

“From what planet?”

“Earth.”

“Earth turkeys don’t have fingers coming from their backs.”

“They’re feathers.”

“If this is what school taught you…”

“You’re not going to hang it on your wall?”

“For you…” I let the sentence hang in the air. I couldn’t dismiss the enthusiasm on his face. “Do you want to go to the candy store?”

“Candy store?”

“It’s this place filled with sugary treats. I want to try them all. Fudgy bars might be my favorite, but I…” I trailed off, realizing I had just asked this beautiful security guardout. I wanted to run screaming to Kiki and let her know I had completed the homework assignment. Yet, at the same time, why were my shoulders tensing and my heart racing?

“That’d be fun.” He hopped to his feet, digging into his breast pocket, and pulled a white rectangle out. He slid it across the desk. Dustin Stark, Security Specialist. “The proverbial kid in a candy store.”

“I guess that makes me a big kid?”

Dustin didn’t answer. Instead, he gestured up and down my body. “I mean, yeah. But a handsome big kid.”

He thrust his hands in his pockets and wandered toward the door. I had wanted to hug him before, and now I wanted to tackle him… a lot. Naked.

“Text me, and we’ll set up a date.”

He headed down the hallway, and I picked up the hand turkey. I jumped up and down in a circle. Who had a magnet? This crazy-looking turkey was going on the fridge. I couldn’t wait to talk with Kiki. She’d be thrilled to know her advice paid off.

I had a date.

I had a date.

I had a date.

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