For an alien with little knowledge of our culture, Hunter has surprisingly good table manners. He places his napkin in his lap, and waits for Nate and I to be ready to eat before slicing into his steak. I put a piece of meat in my mouth and notice Hunter watching me before he does the same. His eyes widen slightly when the rich taste of beef hits his tongue, and a slow smile forms on his face as he chews and savors the flavor.

Nate says, “Pretty good stuff, huh?” I transferred our dinners to real dishes from our communal kitchen, and stainless steel utensils clang against my coworker’s plate as he scoops up more food.

Hunter rewards us with a tight nod before he forks up a big bite of baked potato drenched in butter, sour cream, and chives. His eyelids fall for a second in what I think is pleasure at the new taste, and I imagine what eating must be like if food doesn’t have flavor. I bet it was a bothersome necessity instead of an enjoyable experience. I flash to a scene where the two of us are in bed and I’m feeding him waffles with strawberries and cream. The cream and red juice from the berries dribble down his chin and when it drips to his chest I lean in to lick … Oh my god, I’m doing it again! I chomp down on a green been hard enough to make my teeth hurt.

I force myself to focus on a safer subject and begin to wonder about Hunter beyond his sexy exterior. How does an angry alien whose physical presence screams ‘feral’ end up being a graceful diner? And I’m dying to know why his planet pawned him off on Earth.

Hunter stops chewing and watches me warily. He’s a criminal and someone I shouldn’t even fantasize about. Besides, I’ve got more important things to do, like find him a mate. So instead of blushing and dropping my gaze I stare right back at him as I smile. If he’s not going to talk, neither am I.

I place a bite of potato in my mouth and remove the fork slowly, and I notice Hunter’s chest rise with his deep inhale. He shoves a roll into his mouth, and when he bites down on it, melted butter drizzles onto his lip. He reaches up and swipes it with his thumb. Now I’m the one with a sudden need for oxygen, because he sticks his thumb in his mouth to suck it clean.

My fork taps against my plate as I stab what I can only guess is green bean, since I’m not willing to drop my gaze first. I wrap my mouth around the end of it and suck it in slowly. Hunter’s upper lip shines with sweat as he clears his throat.

Our battle of wills is interrupted when Nate says, “That was one good eat.” He leans back, and sighs. “Thank you, Lexi. I’m so full I might explode, but that was so delicious it was worth it.”

I don’t say anything because I’m afraid my voice would give me away. I offer him a nod in acknowledgement instead. I notice Hunter is finished eating too, but when I reach to clear the plate and utensils in front of him, he grabs them first. He stands and takes Nate’s as well, and stacks them all in a neat pile.

“I’ll get Joan to come get those,” says Nate. He retrieves his laptop, and it thuds on the table. “Let’s get back to business.” Keys click as he pulls up the dating application, and he types as he speaks. “Hunter TS-501.” He pauses to scan Hunter with his gaze. “Six feet six?”

The alien stares at him without a word, and I’m not going to speak either so I shrug when Nate glances at me. We’ve worked together long enough, and he knows to take my lead. “O-kay,” Nate says. “I’m going to put two hundred and seventy-five pounds. Green eyes.” He stops typing to ask, “I don’t suppose you’d tell me your level of education would you?”

Hunter leans back and crosses his arms in response, which only makes his biceps look bigger, and my inner girl sighs in admiration. Who needs a guy with a brain? I could teach him to read in the morning.

“Fine,” says Nate. “We can get to that later.” He frowns as he scrolls down the computer screen. “Hmmm. There must be something else—got it. Let’s talk about your type. Nod or shake for the following questions. You like a girl with intelligence.”

Hunter offers a small nod as he stares at me. I keep my face expressionless and stare back.

“Blonde?”

Hunter shakes his head.

“Ah, a brunette man then.”

A strand of my hair flops down in my face, and I eye the brown lock before I squint at Hunter, who I’m sure just tugged it out of my chignon. Hunter’s eyes flash with a sexual heat that could set me on fire. He scans my body with his hungry gaze before he gives Nate a quick dip of his chin. I decide to let the lock hang in defiance so he won’t think he got to me. I hide a shiver of desire as I flash to a vision of me leaning over a naked Hunter with my hair falling on his chest. I blink to push it away, but apparently Hunter must have control over my emotions because the vision doesn’t go away.

“Does eye color matter?”

The alien shakes his head.

“Feisty or submissive.” When Hunter doesn’t reply Nate corrects himself. “Sorry. Feisty?”

The alien nods.

“Adventurous?”

Hunter stares at me. While I don’t tend to seek adventure, I certainly won’t back down when it comes to me.

“Okay, does that mean it doesn’t matter?”

The alien shrugs, and Nate sighs. “This would be so much easier if you would just talk. We’re not getting good data this way, and you’re going to be hard to match.” He gets up and shoves his hands in his pockets. “Lexi, even if we do manage to find him a woman with this incomplete profile, it’s not going to be very scientific and will probably fail.” Nate’s shoe scuffs across the floor as he kicks at an imaginary rock in exasperation. “And who’s going to want to be with a scary looking alien that won’t talk? They’ll think he’s an idiot.”

I recognize the good cop bad cop game we play, and I’m not surprised when the table shakes as Nate slaps his hands down to lean toward Hunter. “Are you stupid? Is that it?” Nate stands again and rakes his hand through his hair making it spike up on end. “Do you have any idea what kind of woman you want?”

Hunter’s eyes flash, and his voice is steady and much deeper in tone than I expected when he gazes at me and says, “Lexi.”

A mix of emotions rush through me and make me dizzy. My body is practically trembling like a live wire from his admission, while my brain is screaming, ‘No way in hell.’

Nate bursts into laughter that goes on so long he’s wiping his eyes when he begins to recover. He manages to spit out, “Lexi?” before he begins to laugh again.

I force out a calm reply. “That’s not possible, but thank you for the compliment.”

“You really think Lexi would want a guy like you?” Nate doesn’t bother to control himself and continues to laugh. Hunter glares at him, and finally my coworker finds a way to control himself. He coughs to clear his throat. “Sorry, man. But Lexi?” He snorts one more time before he takes a deep breath and blows it out.

I gaze at Hunter and notice his brow is knit, but I don’t think he’s angry. Is he hurt? I soften my approach. “Well, now that you’ll speak, perhaps we can get a more accurate profile. I’m sure we can find you the perfect woman to make your days on Earth a pleasant experience.”

Hunter shakes his head. “Now who’s being stupid? I am your mate, Lexi.” His green eyes flash at me, and his tone changes to one of dominance. “We will be together when you let yourself see the truth.”

His words are like arrows flying toward my heart, but I’m prepared. While he’d likely be the sexual adventure of a lifetime, I won’t fall for a guy like Hunter. “Apparently our versions of the truth are two different things.”

Nate says, “Buddy, you have no idea how smart and capable this woman is. She’s going places, and I wouldn’t be surprised if she were president of the United States in a few decades.” He scoffs. “Nice try space cowboy, but Lexi is not available.”

Hunter’s eyes are dark and the muscles along his jawline twitch. I’m not sure what he’s about to do, and I don’t want to find out. I reach over to touch Nate’s arm, and it’s firm with flexed muscles when I place my hand on it. It makes me wonder if perhaps Nate is angry too, and not role playing. While I appreciate his endorsement, it’s not necessary and only seems to be angering the alien, so I hope my silent signal will make Nate stop.

“I think we’ve done enough today,” I say. “We can get back to the profile tomorrow.”

Hot breath tickles my ear before the sensation of someone kissing me on my neck sends shivers down my spine. Hunter stands up to lean down on his hands toward me as he says, “I must not have been clear.”

Now an invisible hand takes my chin, and lips brush lightly over mine, making me gasp. Hunter grins, and I place my hand on my chest just below my neck to feel my heart beating rapidly. I’m afraid to speak because I’m not sure I’ll be coherent, so I scowl at him. He takes the kiss further and when his tongue darts in my mouth I instinctively respond before I catch myself.

Nate says, “This guy’s too much, Lexi.” He frowns at me, “You’re flushed like you have a fever. Are you okay?”

No! My hormones have gone into overdrive, and all I can think about is kissing, and touching, and getting naked with the sexy alien across from me. But Hunter is a million kinds of wrong for me. Since he seems determined to have me, I’ve got to figure out how I’m going to make him understand this earth girl is not his mate. I take a deep breath. “I’m fine. I may have underestimated how difficult finding TS-501 a match will be.” I smile as my tenacious spirit kicks in. “But you know how I like a good challenge. We’ll have him paired off with the perfect human woman by the end of the week. I’m sure of it.”

My heart sinks with sadness as I imagine Hunter picking one of the hundreds of applicants in the database. But I shake it off, because my nerdy alien will come to sweep me off my feet when the time is right. Until then, I’ll have to get over my physical attraction to this bad boy and get to work.