Page 13 of Secret Twins for the Alien Dad

So instead I think about Myra and realize that I know exactly what she would like. It’s like I can feel her desire through our jalshagar bond.

I pick a modest bunch of flowers that are mainly white but have several delicate blue off-world varieties mixed in. The bunch is bound with blue and silver ribbons. It is not the biggest or the most decadent, but itisdelicate and stylish. In my heart, I know that she will love them.

7

MYRA

Zair stands at the table where I’m dealing cards, with flowers and a pastry in hand. It's from that upscale bakery so expensive that I can barely afford to even smell their food. Whoever he’s meeting, she’s one lucky girl. For the pastry and the good sex, if nothing else.

I try to ignore the way my heart sinks at the thought of Zair with another girl.

“Myra, can we talk?” he asks, and I blink, uncomprehending. Is he stupid enough to bring a date to the place where he’d just had a one-night stand? Or is he about to ask me to make myself scarce so that he can enjoy his new girl in peace?

I try not to think about the other reason why he’d ask to see me with an arm full of flowers and pastries. I can’t let myself dream like that.

I make eye contact with one of my human coworkers, Kara, and wave her over. “Cover for me?” I ask. “I just need, like, five minutes.”

Her gaze slides from me to him, and she gives me a knowing look, her lips turned up in a mischievous smile. “Take all the time you need.”

I squeeze her shoulder in a silentthank you, and lead Zair to a quiet hall so that we can talk with some modicum of privacy. Once I’m sure we’re alone, I speak. “I won’t say anything if you don’t.”

He blinks. “What?”

“You’re obviously here to meet another woman,” I say, glancing meaningfully at the flowers and pastry. “I don’t want any trouble, so I won’t say anything to her about last night if you won’t.”

Zair snorts and holds the gifts out to me. “Myra, these are for you.”

I stare uncomprehendingly at the flowers, Blue Starcatchers, and the pastry called a Yerin. The small, golden-brown tart is filled with a sweet custard made from the fruits from the Nion tree and is considered an expensive delicacy for even the wealthy folks of Glimner.

I must have been staring for too long because Zair’s cocky expression falls to something more uncertain, and he pulls back slightly. “I-I mean, if you want it, of course. Uh, can humans even eat Yerin? If not, I can find you something –”

“No, it’s okay,” I say with a giggle. A giggle? I haven’t giggled over a guy in years. But there’s an unfamiliar lightness in my chest. Maybe this can be something more than a single night of fun. Maybe I have a future that isn’t just work and survival. “I love it. I’m just surprised.”

“Surprised?” he repeats as though the thought never occurred to him that a woman who leaves without saying goodbye usually wouldn’t expect a second date. “Why would you be surprised?”

Heat dances its way across my cheeks. Do I really have to spell that out for him? Instead, I give him a noncommittal shrug. “I just didn’t expect you to waste your time with a girl like me.”

“Waste my time?” he asks, looking offended on my behalf. “You could never waste my time.”

My face becomes a blushing inferno. He sees this and smirks. Cocky bastard.

“So, is there a reason you came to see me aside from the food and flowers?” I ask. “Not that they aren’t appreciated, of course.”

He hands them both to me, and this time I accept, my stomach already growling at the thought of the Yerin. “I was wondering if you wanted to go to dinner with me. I’d like to get to know you better.”

I inhale the scent of the fragrant flowers. When I first saw him, I never would have pegged him for being so thoughtful and sweet. “I’d love that,” I say. “Meet me after my shift?”

“I can’t wait,” he says and leans in, pausing just before our lips touch in a silent request for permission. I close the gap, and we exchange something a little more chaste than our activities the night before.

And then he leaves. I stand alone in the hallway and press my fingers to my lips with a girlish giggle.

I munch on the Yerin as I head to the breakroom for a cup of water to put the flowers in. It’s the perfect mixture of sweet, tart, crunchy, and creamy, and the sugar lingers on my tongue.

I can’t remember the last time I’ve felt so… so alive. Like I’m not just going through the motions.

By now, I should know that the moment things start looking up for me, the world finds a way to remind me of my place as its punching bag. As I’m arranging the Starcatchers in their makeshift vase, a voice from behind clears his throat.

Zerg, one of Brev’s enforcers, stands in the doorway. His height and broad shoulders take up most of the space. “Myra, Brev wants to see you.”

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