Page 21 of Secretly Craved By My Monster Alien Boss

Nazyn turned only to mouth, “insignificant” Richard’s way, and watch the man turn red with anger and stomp away.

Then he forgot all about Richard and Archam Tech as Elias wobbled his way, a true smile on his wrinkled face.

But he shouldn’t have ignored Richard. Frightened beings did monstruos things when scared.

9

DARCY

“This is as good as it’s going to get,” Darcy whispered to herself in the mirror, hastily applying the last puff of blush to her cheeks.

If she was being truly honest, it was better than good. She looked, dare she say it,cute? Presentable, at the very least.

She’d packed her only fancy skirt, a red little pencil number that her mom said made her gambs look awesome. It also had a special place in Darcy’s heart–this was the first piece of clothing she’d bought straight out of college. It was a testament that she could strike it out on her own.

She paired that with a white shirt, the only pair of stilettos she owned, and had even pulled her hair back into a fancy braid.

With her tablet resting safely in the crook of her elbow, a deep breath, and a kiss to herself in the mirror–her mom was right, shedidfeel better after doing that–Darcy flew out the door, feeling pretty damn good about herself.

She’d seen pictures of the Forum participants from previous years. People dressed fancy, but nottoofancy. And she wanted to look nice. Whether or not Nazyn’s presence had anything to do with it, she couldn’t tell.

He was so smart and nice andtall. She felt like she could be herself around him. Like he got what it was like to suddenly be so consumed with an idea that you couldn’t rest until you dissected it. He liked to know how things worked. Darcy did, too. And he didn’t make a show out of it, you know? He just…was. People–well, beings–like that were rare. At least from Darcy’s experience.

Also, Kiara was right–he was smoking hot.

But she couldn’t think about that now. They’d be sharing a bed tonight, it was already awkward without her starting to have the hots for herboss. Not doing that again, thank you very much. Though last time she’d had the hots before she became an employee–

It didn’t matter.

That was the wretched past and she had a bright future before her.

Ghosts still clung to her memories, but she tried to ignore them as best she could. Especially now that she’d reached the lobby and found a literal crowd circling Nazyn.

“And when the first of your lot came through that portal and the army had all their guns and tanks pointed at you, because nobody had a clue what in the devil that gateway to hell was,” a stubby man said, tears of laughter at the corners of his rheumy eyes. “And you said–” He gasped for breath between giggles, the amber liquid in his glass swaying. “And you said–”

“Those look a bit small to be able to harm us,” Nazyn finished, the last of his words almost swallowed by the man’s raucous laughter.

“Now that takes someballs,” the man went on. “Knew you’d be alright when I heard that.”

“We were a bit concerned you might invade us,” Elias said, much more calmly than his colleague.

“There was quite a debate on whether to allow you to start a company here,” Alina said. “I had the secretary of state call me to run a test on how humans would react.”

“And what did you find?” Nazyn asked. He seemed much more at ease now than when they’d first arrived. He still gripped his own glass so hard it looked like it was one weird question away from breaking, but his face was more relaxed.

Darcy smiled, stopping at the edge of the circle and standing on her tiptoes to look for a way in. The place was packed, and Nazyn’s speech was about to start in seven minutes. Tik-tok.

“The results were mostly inconclusive.” Alina sighed. “Humans have a hard time relating to beings that don’t look like them, but as long as they don’t feel threatened, either for resources, status, or values, they mostly avoid conflict. And Deruzians have only expanded our commercial opportunities. No toes have been stepped on, so to speak.”

“Deruzians are not in the habit oftoe stepping,” Nazyn said. He sounded so sincere, too, and seemed quite surprised when everyone around him began laughing good-naturedly.

“Sorry, coming through,” Darcy muttered as she finally found the courage to make her way through the crowd. She got a few dirty looks, but people mostly ignored her passing. Which was fine by her. She didn’t have some of the massive egos in the industry. As long as she got credit for her work and she could do her job, she was happy.

“I’m really curious what you’ll present on Sunday,” another voice said, this time coming from the back.

“I cannot reveal that information at this moment,” Nazyn said.

“Oh, come now,” another voice rumbled. “What’s with the secrecy? It’s not some kind of weapon, is it? ‘Cause some folks have been talking.”

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