“They were really fighting over me?” Mia asked, chewing on her lip.

Angus nodded. “Bloody and scratched all to hell. It took six of us to pull them apart. One of them was calling yer name the whole time.”

“My name? Which one?” Mia asked, wringing her hands.

Angus pretended to think. “They all look so much alike to me. They’re more aliens on this ship than there are women, ya know. Let me think… his name was… ”

Behind Mia’s head, Erin held up her tablet for him to see. He narrowed his gaze at the letters and numbers, but read them aloud. “TJX984… I think that was his name.”

“Oh,” Mia said, her face dropping.

“What’s the matter? Ya don’t like that one?” Angus asked.

“No, Jex was nice,” Mia said.

“But…?” Angus prompted.

“But what?” Mia asked.

“It was in yer voice, woman. Jex was nice, but…” Angus paused and held his hand out, palm up. “Here’s the part where ya get real honest and tell me and Erin what the fecking problem is with him.”

Mia shook her head. “There’s nothing wrong with Jex. I just thought it might be Kor-el who said my name, that’s all. Kor-el knew more about me. He kept saying my name when we talked. I felt like I was special to him. I’ve always gone for the one who was sweetest to me, but look how that’s turned out in my life.”

Angus nodded solemnly. “I see where ya are going with this. Ya don’t trust yer own judgment.”

“I’ve made a lot of mistakes when it comes to men,” Mia admitted.

“Ya don’t have the market on that,” Erin declared, bringing Mia’s gaze to hers. “Just saying… we all make our share.”

Mia looked back at Angus. “This is the last time in my life I get the chance to choose though. Wrong or right this time—I’m stuck with the one I pick.”

“Well, that’s not a very positive way to look at this grand adventure,” Angus said. He looked over her head at Erin. “Can I see photos of the two again? Maybe I can see something in their eyes that might help Mia. My da used to tell me that a man’s soul was in his eyes. Of course he wasn’t speaking of aliens, but it probably works similar, don’t ya think?”

Erin rolled her eyes as she pulled the two photos from the file. She passed them to Mia who offered them to Angus.

Angus shook his head. “Tell me who’s who. I wasn’t joking when I said they all look the same to me.”

Mia held out the two photos. “This is Jex.” She held out one. “And this is Kor-el,” she said, holding out the other.

“Really?” Angus said. He snatched the two pictures, his gaze darting rapidly between them. “Bollocks. I hate it when I’m wrong. Erin likes to rub it in so.” He held out the picture of Kor-el. “This is the one that kept calling yer name. Kor-el, ya said?”

Mia squealed in relief and clutched the photo to her chest. “Oh, thank goodness.”

Angus pretended all the surprise he could manage. It was hard not to laugh with Erin giving him the evil eye. He was winning and she was not happy with him.

“Ya seem awfully relieved about that alien being the one, Mia. I thought ya hadn’t made a decision yet.”

Mia pulled the photo away from her chest. “I didn’t think I had, but I got scared when you told me it wasn’t Kor-el that called my name.” She glanced back at Erin. “Kor-el is the one you liked from the beginning, wasn’t he?”

Erin nodded. “Yes. The man has kind eyes and a nice arse. That’s a great combination. I certainly wouldn’t toss him out of my bed for eating crackers in it.”

Mia only blinked at her statement. The girl didn’t understand a thing she said. Maybe the girl didn’t understand her reasoning either. Her model of the perfect man was the fool trying to trick Mia.

“My opinion doesn’t count, Mia. What does yer heart say about Kor-el?”

Mia’s gaze went back to the photo. “I think if I have to look in someone’s eyes for the rest of my life, I could only hope they’d look back the way Kor-el’s did when he first saw me. He reminds me of Lexi that way, only this time I won’t have to share my man with a jealous wife.”

Angus crossed his arms. “So what exactly are ya concluding there, lass? My following got lost somewhere in yer inner determining.”

Mia held out the photo of Kor-el. “Tell Jex I’m sorry, Angus. I’m choosing Kor-el for a trial time. I also think I’m ready to move in with him whenever he wants. Prudence won’t talk to me and it will be nice to have someone paying attention when I speak.”

Angus smiled at her. “Ya sure about this, lass? There really is no rush ya know.”

Mia nodded as she smiled back. “Erin keeps telling me that same thing, but I know you two can’t call up the next woman until I decide. Thanks for helping me, Angus. I hate that I caused a fight between two good men, but knowing about it did help me admit to myself which one I wanted.”

Angus held up a hand. “Mediating yer match is my job, Ms. Johnson, and today my work’s been a real pleasure.”

Mia stood and looked at Erin. “Thank you for your patience with me, Erin.”

“This isn’t over until ya say it is, girl. Ya can still change yer mind if it turns out Kor-el snores and leaves ya staring at the ceiling all night.”

Mia giggled. “I don’t think I’m going to have a problem keeping Kor-el awake and interested. I like men and they like me back.”

Erin snorted. “Ya are a wonder. I’m trying to remember if I ever once in my life had yer level of confidence in such matters. I don’t think so, Mia. I don’t think so. But I’m guessing ya are probably right about Kor-el. I’ll cross my fingers for ya.”

“I’m going to go pack my things,” Mia said.

Erin noted how cheerful the woman looked skipping out the door. Her gaze went to Angus, who was still perched on the desk with his arms crossed. He looked just as smug as she’d expected him to look about how it’d worked out.

She snorted as she glared. “Ya only won with my help. I knew Jex hadn’t said a bloody word. He hates talking, that one does. It’s Kor-el that’s all moon-eyed over Mia. The man talked her ear off at their sweet meet.”

Angus grinned. “Thanks for the assist. Now I have the unpleasant task of informing TJX984 that he’s back in the fecking alien queue.”

* * *

It turned out that a couple glasses of alien ale numbed Jex’s heartache considerably. The alien threw up a hand and made a sound Angus took for resignation. He frowned at his tea, but drank it with grace because he did not want to go back into the cooking box any time soon.

The winner, Kor-el, looked ready to explode with excitement. While Kor-el was off gathering up his things for his move, Angus drummed his fingers on the table, finally noticing Seltz grinning at him.

“If ya know a joke, this would be a good time to tell it,” Angus said, knowing the alien hadn’t understood more than a couple words of what he’d said.

“You—mad at woman. Right?” Seltz asked.

Angus stopped drumming and shook his head. “No. I’m not mad at Mia. She needed to pick the right one for her and she did. What I don’t like is this fecking process. This is no way for normal attraction to occur. I’m for getting the whole lot of ya in front of all the women and letting them pick the ones of ya they want to meet. I bet it would move this whole thing along much quicker if the women did the picking. Human women are driven by their natures to pick the ones that appeal to them.”

Seltz shrugged. “No understand.”

Angus chuckled. “Ya don’t now, Seltz, but ya will if I get something worked out.”