if I dressed like one of those blue guys that perform out in Las Vegas. Didn’t think the junk was ever going to fade away. Went to the hospital when that old bull threw me and they wanted to put me on oxygen.”
She chuckled.
“It wasn’t that funny at the time.” He blushed, then grinned. “I guess it is now, though.”
She’d always liked Neil, in a sisterly sort of way. “Yeah, sure, I’ll test the waters with Carly, but all you have to do is a little sweet talkin’. That’s what a girl likes.”
“Yeah, well, Carly isn’t like other girls. She’s special.”
Neil dropped his arms from around her when the music ended, but before she could head for a place to sit, Kristor was standing in front of her.
“I’ve been watching how you move with each other,” he said as Neil took off toward the food table. “The steps seem simple enough.” Kristor pulled her into his arms.
There was something different about the way he held her from the way her last partners had held her. In his arms, she felt as though she danced on air. And if wind had a smell, it would be Kristor. The wind, the woods, the scent of a man.
“Why don’t you go back to where you came from?” she asked, but her words came out on a sigh and didn’t hold a lot of conviction.
“I have to protect you.”
“From the rogue Symtarians? Wooo, I’m scared.”
“You shouldn’t be. I won’t let harm come to you.”
“I feel so much better now.” She looked deep into his fathomless green eyes, but couldn’t see even a little spark of insanity. Which meant zilch. “If you’re an alien, why do you look like people from Earth? And where’d you get the clothes you’re wearing?” Let him answer those questions.
“My database will create anything I need.”
“How convenient.”
“And I look like everyone else because our species is similar to yours.”
“Anyone could have told you I’ve talked to a voice in my head, so that doesn’t prove anything.”
“I have a voice inside my head as well.”
She missed a step, and he caught her closer to him. She rested her head against his chest, and let his warmth wrap around her. What the hell was she thinking? The guy was crazy. He had just admitted to hearing a voice.
Oh, wait, she had, too.
The song ended. She stepped away. Kristor looked as if he waited for her to do something.
“I’m hungry.” She made a quick about-face and hurried to the table.
It practically bowed in the middle with the amount of food that had been piled on top of it. Texans rarely went hungry. She wasn’t at the moment, but she needed to do something. Eating seemed like a good solution.
She grabbed a paper plate and a hot dog, chips, and then started to reach for a beer, but changed her mind and grabbed a Coke instead. As she passed the dessert end, she grabbed a thick slice of chocolate cake with fudge icing.
There were chairs and tables set up farther back in the yard. And if someone couldn’t find a table or a chair, there were blankets spread out on the ground. Nothing formal here, just a good-old-boy backyard party.
With an alien or two.
She was so losing it.
There was a vacant table, so she grabbed it, only getting a little icing on her hotdog, which she was quite proud of since she was still feeling a buzz. A few seconds later, Kristor set his plate and drink down beside her.
“Don’t you have anything better to do than stalk me?” she asked right before she licked the icing off her hotdog. Why did food always taste better when you were tipsy?
“I’m not stalking you. I’m only here to offer my protection.”
“And try to talk me into going back to your planet with you.”
He shrugged. “That, too.”
She ate a chip, then swallowed it down with a drink of her Coke. “You don’t think that sounds a little squirrely?”
“Squirrely?”
“You know, crazy.”
“I’m sorry, but it’s the truth.”
She leaned back in her chair and really looked at him. “Okay, prove to me you’re an alien. Where are your antennae?”
“Do people still believe all aliens are green and have antennae?”
Why did she suddenly feel as though she’d stereotyped a whole race of…of people? That was ridiculous. “Tell me why I should believe you.”
He fingered a chip, then looked at her, his expression serious. “Because it’s who you are. A part of yourself that you have denied far too long.” He sat straighter. “We are a race capable of shapeshifting. Our animal guides are separate, yet we are one.”
“Shapeshifting?” Wow, for just a second, she had sort of, only sort of, started to believe him. That should warn her away from any more alcohol for the rest of her life. His stories were getting more ridiculous by the minute. “You mean, you can take on an animal form?”
“As can you. My animal guide is the hawk.”
“The one in the woods?”
“Correct.”
She leaned closer.
He did the same.
“Bullshit,” she whispered.
“Bullshit?”
“It means I don’t believe you.”
His eyes sparked with anger. She quickly moved back. Calling the guy a liar probably wasn’t a good idea. The guy was mental, after all.
“You would deny your animal guide the right to be free?”
Why did she suddenly feel guilty? Why was she even having this conversation? She picked up her hotdog and took a humongous bite. Better that her mouth was full so she wouldn’t tell Kristor just how crazy she thought he was. If she angered him too much, there was no telling what he would do.
“Has your guide never tried to get you to shift?”
“Into what?” she asked around the half of a hotdog that she was still trying to chew.
“You tell me.”
“A hawk?” she said before she thought better about feeding Kristor’s fantasy that he was a shapeshifting alien.
“A hawk.” He nodded. “That is why I’m drawn to you.”
“You’re drawn to me?”
“As you are to me.”
Before she got into a repetition of “am not, are, too”, she said, “I was only talking out loud. Besides, I’m afraid of flying, so even if I could change into a hawk, I wouldn’t.”
“Ahh, so that has been the problem.”
“There’s no ahh, about it. I still think you’re crazy.”
“Concentrate on an animal. Your guide will help you to shift. It doesn’t have to be anything that flies in the beginning.”
“Yeah, right.”
“Are you afraid to find out for sure?”
She came to her feet. “I’m not scared of anything.” With a toss of her ponytail, she took her plate and
