Page 159 of Stardusted

I swallowed hard. “Partners.”

That smile began to creep back. Unfair. How were his eyes so many shades of blue?“Maybe even friends?” He tilted his head. “Can’t say I have a lot of those. Not who know the real me.”

My cheeks heated. The real him, like the silvery-sparkly version? The one on a life-or-death mission? The self-sacrificing, capable, broody alien super soldier?

The one who kissed like a dream in a way that was not at allfriend-like?

“Kelly would disagree,” I muttered, biting back my answering smirk. “You have a whole club, you know. The Friends of the Extraterrestrial Races.”

“The what?” Sky frowned, looking bewildered. “Work Kelly?”

A laugh burst from me. That was a story for another day. “Never mind.”

Friends with Sky. Sure. What else would I call the visitor from outer space I was embarking on a road trip with?

He had my life in his hands, after all. And I apparently had his entire race’s well-being in mine.

“Okay.” I drew in a deep breath through my nose, held it, then exhaled in a rush, squaring my shoulders. “Okay. I guess let’s go save a couple worlds.” I glanced his way. “Friend.”

I didn’t usually lust after my friends—but whatever. Something to work on. Maybe a couple of days trapped in a car with him would lessen the appeal.

His smile faded a little, and he was looking at me in a way that made me wonder if he was also thinking about the stairwell and maybe some lust. Which wasn’t going to help matters. I lost the fight against my flush.

Friends,I reminded myself.

But then he seemed to catch himself, and he leaned both elbows on the console and shot me a crooked smirk. “All right then, Rachel. Let’s go save some worlds.”

“Notfunny,” I said, narrowing my eyes. I had to bite my cheek, though, because it was a little.

“Thank you,” Sky said suddenly, and I blinked and slid my gaze back to his.

That was arealsmile, not the polished, bartender one. A real, grateful smile he’d trained on me. It melted me a little.

“For what?” I asked, clearing my throat. I dialed my googly eyes down a notch.

“For trusting me. And for agreeing to come.”

I let out a puff of air. “Yeah, well.” I settled back into my seat and reached for my belt. “I didn’t want you to abduct me in your spaceship or something instead.”

That killed the pretty smile. He heaved a sigh instead. “I don’t abduct people in my spaceship, Raven.”

“Just your SUV,” I said, with a pointed look.

“Uh huh. Just my SUV.” He turned on the defrost setting and gripped the steering wheel. “Ready?”

Was Iready?

Ready to run from space robots and the real-world version of the MIB? Ready to see if I could dig an intergalactic info cache out of my skull, one that might save a whole species from annihilation? Ready to go meet a mysterious Pladian named Bast, who lived in the Sunshine State?

All while trapped in a car with the guy I’d been secretly fantasizing about for the better part of a year who—oh yeah—was also an alien and had just put usfirmlyin the friend zone?

Sure. I was born ready.

I buckled my seatbelt and said cheerfully, “Let’s go.”

After one final, searching glance my way, as if giving me one last chance to change my mind, Sky put the SUV in drive. We pulled off the shoulder and merged with late-night traffic. Just another car in a stream of headlights cutting through the storm.

If this experience had taught me anything, though, it was that appearances could be deceiving.