Page 106 of Stardusted

Did she have to mention the ChatAI night? I’d completely forgotten about my hypothetical children, Hamilton and Stella Acosta.

I groaned, burying my face in my hands. “That wasn’t...what she said wasn’t what it sounded like.” I winced into my palms. “Would you believe me if I said she was talking about adifferentbartender I work with who Ialsohappened to dance with at Crescent last weekend?”

He hummed as if giving it actual thought. “Well, considering Derek and his husband are on a beach somewhere this week, Ashley was working, and I happened to be off—and at Crescent—you’re kind of out of options.”

Right. He’d been there because he’d been following me. Dropping my hands, I closed my eyes. Maybe if I didn’t move, he’d disappear.

But when I opened them, he was still very much there, leaning against the stairwell wall. His jeans sat dangerously low, framing his tapered hips and the hard cut of his abs disappearing beneath the waistband. I hadn’t thought that V-shaped hipbone thing wasreal.I’d been sure it only existed on romance book covers.

But there it was.

Then I realized I was staring at his hipbones and hastily dragged my gaze to his face. Unfortunately, his raised brow and faint smile told me he knew exactly where I’d been looking. Great.

He pushed off the wall, moving toward me until he was close enough to touch.

I didn’t. Touch him, that is. But I wanted to. The way he looked at me, eyes glinting with laughter and…something likeinterest, my belly flipped.

Alien. Sky was an alien. I shouldn’t still want to?—

“Things probably don’t even work the same, right?” I blurted before I could consider the words. The second they slipped out, I stiffened.

What the actual hell was wrong with me?

“Uh.” Sky drew back. “What do you mean?”

I stared at the wall over his shoulder. “N-never mind.”

I could see him studying me from the corner of my eye, though. Intently. Like he, too, was wondering what my problem was.

Then he leaned in—so suddenly, I gasped. He kept leaning until he braced one hand on the door above me, crowding me back a step.

My heart skidded to a stop. He still smelled like rain. Like Sky. Like a mistake I very much wanted to make.

A heated thrill settled low. I dragged my gaze up past his perfectly sculpted pectorals to his face, only to find the humor had drained from his features, replaced with seriousness.

He wasn’t gazing passionately at me. My cardigan had slipped down, and he was staring hard at my upper arm.At the marks left by the Enil.

I balked when he reached out, but he stopped just shy of touching me, fingers hovering above my skin. His frown deepened as he took in the bruising wrapped around my bicep. The six, individual fingers drawn in blotchy purple and blue. The clearly defined handprint stood out, thanks to my skimpy tank top.

Along with my very obvious, very chilly nipples, which was just great.

“Is this from the Enil?” he asked quietly.

I assumed he wasn’t talking about the nipples. The mention of the killer robots chased away the awareness, replacing it with coldness. I bit the inside of my cheek. “Yeah. From when itgrabbed me. Right after I pulled the tablet—the halix, I mean, out of the box.”

I was lucky it hadn’t snapped my arm in two. I shuddered at the memory of shrieking metal, the storm of electricity, and the sheer terror. That painful grip.

But it all faded when Sky’s gaze lifted back to mine. Warmth prickled up my neck. He was near enough, his chest nearly brushed mine when I sucked in a deep breath. And he was—lord—so stupidly attractive. The awareness was back, and the liquid ache in my belly made it excruciatingly clear I was still affected by it. By him.

Despite everything I knew, despite everything he’d said, I still wanted him.

Alien, alien, alien, I chanted silently. It didn’t help.

I shouldn’t still want to kiss him. I didn’t even know what parts of him were…well, human.

But I sure wanted to find out.

I was willing to explore the possibilities on behalf of the entire human race.