Page 103 of Stardusted

“For the record, I can’t carry anything, remember?” he said, his grin lopsided and maybe a little chagrined. “The suit?”

My face was on fire and having absolutely nothing to say in response to that tidbit of knowledge I could’ve done with never being privy to, I could only stare.

His smile fading, Sky angled his chin to assess his rumpled shirt and reached for its buttons. “But you’re right. Any of…thatwould complicate things.” His fingers stilled and he huffed a weak laugh. “Well, complicate things more. It’s best we keep our distance if we’re going to work together to fix this.”

He darted a glance at me, then back down. I opened my mouth to respond, came up blank, and shut it again. Well, at least we agreed on no sexy time. Because that would be, like, theworstidea.

…right?

I didn’t have a chance to analyze what my urge to argue said about me before he began working his way down his shirt. Only then did I realize he was unfastening buttons. It fell open and suddenly I was faced with a chiseled chest and a flat, tanned stomach rippling with eight whole abs.

I swallowed a squeak and spun around. Partially to give him privacy and partially to give myself a breather.

Because damn.

Sky was telling me to keep my distance while stripping in my living room. That seemed counterintuitive. It was also suddenly very hot in here again, too. I gulped air and stopped just short of fanning myself.

“Seriously, Sky. I don’t know if it’s the best idea for you to stay here,” I said, glad my tone came out cool despite my racing heart and verynotcool face. “I…I think I need to be alone.”

After that display, possibly with BOB, the battery-operated boyfriend.

ALIEN, Rae. He’s an alien.

Over the blood rushing in my ears, I heard Sky’s frustrated exhale.

“I’m not going to force it, obviously. This is your choice.” It came from much closer than he’d been a second ago, meaning he’d brought his chest and abs with him.

Steeling myself, I turned around. He had closed the distance between us, and all humor had vanished from his expression. I didn’t miss the flash of disappointment. “But at least consider it, okay? For your own safety.”

I kept my eyes firmly fastened on his face despite the fact there was an awful lot of very human-looking skin on display in my periphery.

But he radiated heat. And he smelled good.

“My safety. I like safety,” I whispered weakly. So much skin.

He was looking at me now, too, his arms at his sides. There was caution and something else lurking behind his mask, something that looked like it could be curiosity?—

But then a pounding sounded at my door.

Chapter 26

UNINHIBITED FLIRTING OBJECTIVES

Ispuntoward Sky. Forgetting, for a second, his mostly naked state in lieu of panic.

The knock faded into silence. Sudden, waiting silence filled only by the hissing rain and my own unsteady breathing. Neither of us moved for a full ten seconds.

Then I broke free of the shock and whirled to face the stairwell instead. My pulse stuttered. The microwave clock read eight-thirty at night. Who would be stopping by now?

Amelia hadn’t answered my text, had she? A glance at my phone told me no.

“Are you expecting anyone?” Sky asked, eyeing my phone grimly when I set it back down. His shoulders had bunched. The vivid ice-blue chips in his eyes looked brighter than normal.

“No,” I whispered, like my words could carry down the stairs and through the door. “I texted Amelia a while ago, but she never answered.”

“Okay. Get behind me.” Without waiting for an answer, he strode around me and headed toward the stairs.

It took me a heartbeat to catch up. “Wait—hang on!”