Page 2 of Snowed in with my Alien Boss

She probably wouldn’t be able to reach anyone for the next two or three days. Whatever. At least when they finally checked their messages, they’d see hers and know that she was ending her stay there, and not to expect any more rent from her.

With the azak bloom tucked into her hair, she took off her coat, tossed it over the back of the couch, and removed her shoes. Then she got to work, looking for a new place to live. Reka 5 had grown a lot since she first arrived. The repair shop had once been at the edge of the colony, but now the entire sector was built up and thriving. Ooh, maybe she could find a unit in one of the newer fancy buildings.

She was interrupted by an emergency colony-wide broadcast on her comm unit warning that the incoming storm would be hitting early and for everyone to get to shelter, stat. She went to the window. Sure enough, the snow was coming down harder now, and the wind was blowing the wet, heavy flakes sideways.

She was glad Grogen kept the shop heated throughout the holidays to protect the various fluids from freezing. It looked freaking cold outside, but she was toasty warm in here—so warm, in fact, that she felt overdressed.

She pulled off her super comfy sweater dress and leggings and folded them neatly on the table before returning to the couch in just her silky slip. There was a message from her father on her comm which she ignored, deciding she wasn’t going to waste a second more on that ass. Instead, she sent a message to Jenny, explaining what had happened and that she was staying at the repair shop since it was empty and not to worry. Then she continued her search for a new place to live.

She was trying hard not to fall asleep and focus on her screen when a sound had her bolting straight up. Fuck, was there someone in the shop? Suddenly, the door to the staff room swung open, slamming against the wall, and she gasped when she saw her boss there, arms crossed and glaring at her.

“What in the Stars are you doing here, Abby?”

Chapter 2: Grogen

Grogen had been on his way out of the colony when the alarm to his repair shop blared from his comm unit. There was someone in his repair bay. What in the Stars? The shop was supposed to be completely empty for the next five days.

His first instinct was to call the colony guards and send them over to arrest whoever was breaking in, but then he decided to check the video feeds first. A good thing, too—it hadn’t been a thief at all but his little human receptionist Abby. She must have forgotten something and gone back to the office to grab it.

Against his better judgment, Grogen stopped his vehicle at the side of the road and continued to watch her on the video feeds as she went to the staff room. The white azak bloom in her hair caught his attention.

Did she plan on giving that to someone?

A bolt of jealousy speared through him at the thought of her with anyone else. It had been difficult enough watching the two junior mechanics he’d hired wrap berry garlands around her neck every year. The only thing that had kept him from turning on the two younger males was the fact that Abby herself never came in with the large white flowers in her hair.

In Tallean culture, males would wrap strings of winter berries around the neck of a female if they were interested in bedding her during the winter solstice. Tallean females, meanwhile, wore a large, white azak flower in their usually dark hair to signal their availability. The contrast made it nearly unmissable. Throughout the festivities, they’d offer a bloom to a male if they wished to spend the night with him. Usually, they’d offer it to a male who’d given them berries, but not always.

Did Abby plan on giving that flower to anyone?

Grogen considered turning his vehicle around, even though it would mean he wouldn’t reach his cabin before the big storm hit. But it soon became apparent that she wasn’t going anywhere. She removed the outer layers of her clothing and flopped down onto the couch wearing nothing but the azak bloom in her light brown hair and a silky sheath dress with tiny straps.

She planned on staying all night! Did that mean she had nowhere else to go? Had something happened at home?

Grogen knew her home life was stressful. It hadn’t been when she first started working for him, but then she found her sire in a recent group of rescued slaves and had allowed him into her apartment. Since then, he’d noticed that her smile had become less frequent.

It was hard for Grogennotto notice. It was impossible for him to ignore Abby even though he knew he wasn’t the right male for her. Someone as perfect as her should be with someone better than a grumpy, washed-up ex-mercenary with neither family nor friends.

That was why he left the colony every winter solstice to hide out in his cabin: he had nobody to celebrate with, and he couldn’t bear seeing everyone else so fucking happy.

Before he knew what was happening, Grogen had turned the vehicle around and was on his way back to the colony. An alert blared out from his personal transport’s comm, warning that the storm would arrive tonight rather than tomorrow as originally forecast.

Fuck.

He couldn’t let her stay in there alone all night. The heat was still on for now, but it was common for the power to go out for hours at a time during these winter storms. She could freeze in there.

Compared to many colonies, Reka 5 generally had relatively mild weather, but the one time the cold was bitter enough to kill was during the storms that almost always hit like clockwork right before the winter solstice festival.

He pulled up the report with the updated forecast. If he turned back now, there was a good chance he’d have time to make it back to the repair shop, get Abby, and take her somewhere safe on time. If he pushed it, he’d even make it to his cabin ahead of the storm front.

He’d need to drive like the wind, but it was doable. Glad for the extra tread on his transport tires, he urged it faster, slicing through the snow that was already sticking to the ground.

And now he was standing in the door between the repair bay and the staff room, staring down at the very female he’d been trying to avoid being alone with for years.

“What in the Stars are you doing here, Abby?”

The words came out sounding much angrier than he intended. Not that he was upset at her, but the way she was sprawled on the couch meant he had the perfect view up her thin dress and of the red, satiny scrap of fabric that covered her sex.

She gasped and straightened, cutting off the delectable view. “I thought…” Her cheeks turned a delightful shade of pink, and her hand went up to cover her face. “I’m sorry…I didn’t… I’ll go now.”

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