Page 170 of The Alpha

Kitty watched her a moment and waited until she’d drained the glass. “I thought you could see how much he’s into you.”

Pari froze. “He’s leaving.” She put the glass in the sink, then went to her pantry to get her hand mixer. When she came out,Kitty was gone. Pari sighed in relief and tried to ignore the dark fist of dread in her chest. Yes, Melvale and the others would eventually return to their time, their world, and all of this would seem like a dream. Even if she had to return with them for a time, as soon as the danger passed, they’d bring her back, and she could get on with her silly little life.

Good grief, what was she going to tell Dr. Merrill the next time she saw him? “Did you make any new friends over the last two weeks, Pari?” She muttered to herself in a low voice. “Oh, yes, I made friends with a bunch of aliens and some crazy people tried to kill me.”

Pari stared at the sugar she’d just measured into a bowl. If she breathed a word of this to Dr. Merrill, he’d put her in the nuthouse for sure.

53

The cookies were ready in no time, and Pari helped decorate the tree in between batches. She made chocolate chip, as that’s what she had ingredients for, and swore Dallan ate the entire first batch by himself. The man practically snarled when Kwaku tried to sneak one from him.

“Okay, are we ready?” Melvale called happily. He plugged the lights in and lit up the tree.

Pari sighed in satisfaction. “Wow, that’s beautiful.” And was it ever! It looked like something out of a magazine!

He turned to her, a huge smile on his face. “It is, isn’t it?” His smile quickly faded. “And still straight, right?”

She laughed. “It looks straight to me.”

“Wonderful.” He came to the love seat and sat next to her. “Are there any more cookies?”

“Coming up.”

He leaned toward her. “Do not tell the Scot.”

She giggled. “So, I’ve seen.” Pari grew quiet, still unsure of how to act or what to do around him. Her life had been turned upside down, and nothing seemed real anymore.

“What’s the matter, Kitten?”

She glanced at Melvale and back, realizing she needed a little space. “I… I have to go downstairs and speak with Uncle Al.”

“Fine, I’ll go with you.”

“No, please. I… need a few moments with him. He wants my opinion on something.” He did have that new piece he acquired and wanted to show her, whatever it was.

Melvale studied her as his eyebrows slowly rose. He wasn’t sniffing out her emotions again, was he? “Very well, Kitten. But I’ll be waiting for you in the hall.”

She sighed. “Okay.” There was no use arguing with him. “Let me take the last batch of cookies out of the oven.” Pari retreated to the kitchen just as the timer went off. She quickly took the cookies out, grabbed some that were already cooled and put them into a small bag for her uncles. That done she headed for the front door. Everyone was chit chatting about the party and the sorts of gifts they might get for each other. Kwaku kept insisting someone should get him an army tank.

Pari wasn’t sure if he was teasing or not and didn’t want to find out. She bounded down the stairs, trying to be as light-footed as possible. Once again, she noted how little sound came from Melvale’s footfalls, despite the fact he was wearing boots.

She knocked on Uncle Al’s door and turned to Melvale. “You’ll wait here?”

He sat on the stairs. “Of course. Go spend time with your uncle.” He gave her a tender look, one full of admiration, and a tingle went up her spine. She wanted to give in to her growing feelings, but didn’t dare. She’d seen enough movies about extraterrestrials coming to Earth and leaving a broken-hearted human behind that she didn’t want to subject herself to what could and probablywouldhappen to her.

“Pariwink,” Uncle Al said when he opened the door. He spied Melvale on the stairs and gave him a little wave. “Come in.”

Pari stepped inside and let out a long breath.

“Your boyfriend’s not coming in?” Uncle Al asked.

“He’s not…” she let out another breath. “My boyfriend.”

“Could’ve fooled me, sweetie. Especially the way he carried you up to your apartment last night.”

She flushed red. “Yeah, well, I’m not sure what’s going to happen. None of them are from around here.”

“Do tell?” Uncle Al crossed his arms.

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