Page 11 of Help Wanted: Wife

It smelled wonderful. He took a big gulp and almost spit it out. His mouth turned downward, and he had to force himself to swallow the vile brew. How could something so aromatic taste so bitter?

She bit off a laugh. “Sorry. You’re a coffee virgin. I should have sweetened it. This is sweetener, right?” She held up a cannister.

“Not that one. The orange container.”

He added a heaping spoonful to please her because she’d worked hard. Cautiously, he took a tiny sip. “Better.” Marginally. He bit into the sweet roll to remove the horrible aftertaste.

She settled next to him with a sweet roll for herself and a cup of the nasty beverage. “Mm…” Biting into the roll, she closed her eyes, which allowed him an opportunity to watch her as she chewed. Her lips were pink rather than blue, but they looked very soft. Her bottom lip was fuller than the top, giving her a cute pout. The crescents of blonde lashes, the same color as her hair, almost disappeared against her cheeks.

Prudence was even paler than Hope. The humans’ lack of color still seemed alien, but he was getting used to it, and the brown speckles across her nose and cheeks were interesting. “The pigmented spots on your face—do they react?”

Vivid blue eyes popped open. “My freckles?” She touched her face. “React how? What do you mean?”

“Do they change or serve a purpose?”

“Only to remind me to stay out of the sun.” She chuckled.

“You can’t go out in sunlight?” he asked, aghast. He’d never heard of such a thing.

“No, no. I can. But the sun darkens my freckles and causes more if I don’t cover up with sunscreen. If I’m not careful, I look like someone took a marker and put polka dots all over my face.”

He pushed up his sleeve to show the grayish sigils. “All Caradonians have gliteri somewhere on their body. Mine covers my left arm and shoulder. It’s an emotional sensor,” he explained and then wondered why he’d volunteered that information.

The tattletale, sensitive gliteri gleamed or grayed, depending on one’s emotional state. After Sala’s death, it had turned dark gray, nearly black, and burned like his arm was on fire. Fortunately, his gliteri could be covered by a shirt. Some people had it on their necks, hands, or faces.

“May I?” she asked, her hand hovering over his forearm.

How could he fault her curiosity? She never would have seen his gliteri if he hadn’t shown her. He nodded.

Gray took on a silvery hue at her touch.Ah…yes.His breath caught in his throat. His heart raced, but the roiling angst in his soul went still and quiet.I am not aloneanymore.

“There’s a textural difference between the gliteri and your skin.” A finger gently rubbed the tingling sigil, causing it to gleam bright silver.

She lifted her hand. He tugged down his shirt sleeve. His gaze went to her freckles. “May I?” he asked.

“I can hardly say no.”

Her eyes were wide as he trailed a finger across her nose and cheek, finding no tactile difference between her freckles and her soft, smooth skin, whichturned pink. Under his shirt, his gliteri itched and prickled. He lowered his hand and dropped his gaze to her parted pink lips. Were they as soft as they looked? His gliteri vibrated. His body leaned in…

Ding! Ding! Ding!

They both jumped as the oven timer went off.

“The next batch of bread must be done.” She vaulted out of her seat and removed six loaves from the oven. Hands on her hips, she surveyed the rack laden with baked goods. “Is this enough? Do we need more? Were yesterday’s sales typical? What else do you think we should have?” She seemed to be avoiding his gaze.

I can’t believe I almost kissed her.

He cleared his throat. “That should be enough. It’s going to be a shortened day anyway.”

She looked at him then. Her light brows drew together. “Why?”

“The wedding?” His lips twitched with amusement, but he riveted on her blue-blue alien eyes.Captivating.How could eyes be so blue?

“Oh yeah.”

“We’ll leave midmorning when the sales traffic slows down. We should get a move on. While you usethe bath, I’ll finish up here. Showering won’t take me long.”

“All right.” She left the kitchen.

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