Chapter Ten
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Cam took Ria back to his place after their long day out and about. He considered the day a smashing success. Ria had added as many things to her list as she crossed off it, but she was elated. Even the carnival had been fun. While he didn’t normally enjoy such things, he had a great time seeing Ria enjoy it.
He made a mental list of all the issues he’d need to sort out once his vacation was over. It would take his mind off of missing Ria. Pain blossomed in his chest every time he thought of losing her. Each time it happened, it took longer to fade. He was starting to believe it might only be a matter of time until the pain simply didn’t fade. Think of something else.
Okay. Why was Wyatt meeting with Diesel at a biker bar a good jaunt away from Alienn, and why had they excluded Cam from the confab? Why hadn’t Wyatt mentioned his plan to meet Diesel when Cam and Ria met the sheriffs on the highway earlier? Diesel seemed troubled when he left the bar, but it must not be due to an issue with the truck stop or aliens being found on Earth because he didn’t even look at Cam on his way out.
Cam shoved that future discussion onto a mental back burner and focused on what was most important right now. Ria. The thought occurred to him during their auspicious kiss in front of the bar and was reinforced by the encore when they were high in the air on the Ferris wheel that his time to savor her sweet lips was limited.
A war raged within him as to whether he was a fool for not spending every moment in Ria’s arms, or whether he was trespassing on another man’s territory by allowing her to stay with him until the ship returned. He spent about two seconds considering moving Ria to a more neutral place where he didn’t have immediate access to her luscious lips, then decided that was beyond foolish.
His main focus should be creating enough memories with Ria to last a lifetime without her. That’s where he intended to put his thoughts.
As they walked into the house, Ria said, “Want me to cook something for you?”
“Do you know how to cook?”
“A little bit,” she said with that cute smile he’d learned gave away her exaggeration of the truth.
“Oh? What do you know how to cook?”
“I’ve never done it, but I did watch a video and I’m pretty sure that I could make a sandwich.”
He grinned. “No doubt you could, except that I don’t have any sandwich stuff.”
“Bummer.” Her face lit up again. “Oh. I’ve also seen a video where someone made scrambled chicken eggs in a flat pan.”
Cam wasn’t a big egg fan and didn’t keep them on hand. “Sorry. I don’t keep a lot of things to eat here, mostly snacks. If it wasn’t for takeout, I’d probably starve to death.”
“Takeout?” Her eyes narrowed. “Like fast-food?” She straightened and looked like she was about to add another something interesting to her bucket list.
Before she said anything, he asked the obvious. “Want to go out somewhere to eat?”
“Yes, please!” Ria’s expression lit up like a star gone nova. How was he ever going to live without her? He mentally shook off that depressing notion and prepared to head out again.
“Maybe we could try out the food court at the nearest mall.” She clapped her hands. Oh joy. Then again, seeing her react as though he were taking her on a lavish dinner date was worth eating overcooked mall food any day.
“Whatever you’d like,” he said and meant it. He’d do his best to give her that star-gone-nova expression no matter what she asked of him. Her wish was his command. He was sappy, but in a good way. Not like before.
His mood suddenly darkened. Thoughts of the earthling who’d broken his heart into a thousand pieces a mere two years ago hadn’t crept into his mind in a long while. He kept the difficult memory away by indulging his foolish whims at the human karaoke bar, hoping to flush the whole waste of his time out of his system.
Cam couldn’t help but compare Ria to Shelly, the girl who’d convinced him love would never be a permanent aspect of his life. They were so vastly different, in looks and attitude and almost everything. Well, they had one thing in common—money. The two women came from two different planets in two different galaxies, yet Cam still managed to fall for another female who came from the wealthy class.
Shelly had expensive tastes. She always needed to have the best, do the best, be the best and only ever spent time in the best of the best places. Shelly wouldn’t have been caught dead at the mall. And she especially wouldn’t have eaten at a food court.
In the six months they were together, Cam had burned through every cent he made and then some. The land he’d been in the process of purchasing played second fiddle to any trifle Shelly set her sights on. Cam justified the expense, telling himself he wouldn’t need the land when they married because they’d have to leave Earth and live on Alpha-Prime. That was the rule.
Once an earthling discovered aliens lived on Earth, he or she had two choices: face a permanent memory scrub or relocate with their Alpha beloved to a planet a galaxy away.
His recollection of the day he planned to propose to Shelly crept in, further lowering his mood.
He’d thought everything was absolutely perfect until one second before he opened his mouth to pop the proverbial question. The perfect place, the perfect time of day, the beautiful way she looked—as always. He well remembered the nervous, fidgety way he felt as he worked to come up with the perfect words, wanting his proposal to be spontaneous and not sound rehearsed. Perhaps if he’d spent as much time realizing what kind of person she was versus what he wanted her to be, it wouldn’t have hurt so much.
Her look of disgust the instant before he would have knelt to ask her to make him the happiest man in the galaxy was seared in his mind, and on his heart.
Cam shook off the bad memory the instant Ria put her hand in his. He lodged a smile in place and headed toward the SUV in the garage.
The nearest mall was not a giant one with several floors and acres of stores, but it was a two-story affair with several escalators. The infamous food court held pride of place in the middle of the mall.
Doraydo, Arkansas, was a college town filled with young people and a ready clientele eager to ring up their charge cards and slap down some dollars at the mall. Cam had grown more familiar with the town since Juliana came into his brother’s life. She’d called it home before moving in with Diesel.
Cam kept an eye out for his eldest brother and his sister-in-law-to-be. It would be just his luck to run into them in Doraydo. He hadn’t expected to see anyone he knew in the Road Rash, either, until his brother strolled on in. Hopefully Diesel and Juliana had better things to do on a weeknight.
The long drive to Doraydo seemed to take no time at all, thanks to Ria. She was so easy to be with. They talked about their childhoods, him growing up in a house full of siblings and her growing up as the only child. They were still laughing about his antics with his many siblings when he pulled into one of the mall’s parking lots.
They held hands easily and naturally, a distinction he didn’t miss or try to curtail. She liked holding hands and so did he. As he’d anticipated, her face glowed as she surveyed all the options on offer in the food court. She wanted to try several cuisines, just in case it was her only chance to visit a mall. She started off with a small hamburger and fries from one place, got a taco from another popular fast-food chain stall, mini-corndogs from a third and ended her meal with a giant cinnamon pastry for dessert.
Cam, in an effort to help her try every single offering, ordered sweet and sour chicken from the Chinese place, so she could try a bite—or six—along with two fortune cookies. He’d never had food court potluck before, but it was certainly fun watching Ria try things he’d basically grown up on.
They demolished most of the food and decided to take dessert back to his place. She couldn’t hold another bite, but managed to talk him into an after-dinner java from a bustling coffee shop. They sipped their coffee as they strolled through the mall hand in hand. The nail salon was two stores from the exit. He didn’t know how he’d missed it on the way in.
Ria gave him a pleading look that was more eloquent than any words. He could deny her nothing. She fairly bounced into the place, grinning infectiously as the nail specialist showed her different colors of polish.
Perspective was an interesting mechanism. He adored watching Ria experience Earth and what it had to offer an alien from another planet seeing it for the first time.
He would have taken her to the Nebula Nail Salon in Alienn, but Diesel or Axel might spot them there. Not that his brothers ever went to get their nails painted. However, Cam had a healthy respect for the enthusiastic grapevine that wound through Alienn, and it was rooted in the Nebula Nail Salon. If he took Ria there, the gossip mill would churn into action because he didn’t typically date—well, he dated, sort of, but not anyone more than once. And never anyone from Alienn, either.
The town’s nosy Parkers wouldn’t let him get away without a wide telephone-tree worthy notice put out to the whole town about his business. They certainly wouldn’t hesitate to chat about a beautiful, exciting, and carefree Alpha illegally visiting Earth. Everyone in town knew about Cam’s permanent bachelor status. If he so much as drove by the salon in Alienn, all of his siblings would likely find a reason to come out to the center of town and spy on him.
So Cam sat in a chair in a nail salon far from Alienn and watched Ria experience her first earthling-style pedicure. The manicure would come next. The duo was apparently called a mani-pedi. Ria looked euphoric seated in the lounge chair with her feet soaking in the little foamy bath. From what he understood, it wasn’t completely different on Alpha-Prime as far as nail beauty regimens went, but the Earth-style experience was supposedly more luxurious because water was used so liberally.
The nail technician clipped, filed and shaped her toenails, massaging all manner of gels, lotions and beauty goops onto her legs before painting her toes bright blue with a sparkly topcoat.
After her toes were painted and her fingernails were done, the technician asked if Ria wanted a free make-up consultation. Ria grinned like they’d just offered her a million-dollar check. It only cost him time, so he nodded and told her he’d wait right outside. He needed a break from all the interesting and pungent smells.
Cam seated himself on a wooden bench directly across from the salon. He had a perfect view of her having what she’d whispered under her breath was earthling-style makeup applied.
He also did a little bit of people watching. He figured it came with the territory of being a security specialist. Some part of him was always aware of his surroundings.
It was evening and the volume of shoppers had thinned considerably—a relief, given he half expected to see a horde of citizens from Alienn ready to jump out and discover his secret. Cam was running scenarios through his head as to what he’d do if he saw someone he knew when Ria walked out of the salon.
“Hi,” she said. “What do you think?”
He barely stopped his jaw from dropping. I think you are stunning. And it had nothing to do with the earthling-style makeup.
He made a big show of studying her face like he was inspecting it, taking in her lively, mischievous eyes, her devil-may-care grin and her luscious, ruby-colored lips. Amazing. “You look as good with makeup as you do without.”
She laughed. “Great answer.”
“I do my best and you do look very nice.”
“Thanks.” Ria sat beside him on the bench, close enough for her side to press warmly against his. She put her hand on his thigh and said, “The good news is that I want to kiss your lips off, but the bad news is it would ruin my complimentary perfect makeup application, so don’t you even dare think about it.”
“I’m not gonna lie, a large part of me doesn’t care if I smear your makeup all over your lovely face if it means I could get even one little stolen kiss from you.”
The corner of her mouth quirked up. “Hey, you were the one who set the rules.”
He moved dangerously close, inhaling her luscious scent deep into his lungs. “Tell me, do you always follow every rule?”
Ria’s eyes widened and her breath hitched. “You know I don’t.” Her gaze sharpened. “But if you kiss me, this lipstick will end up all over you, too.”
“Don’t care.” He moved even closer. “It’s not like I have to explain myself to anyone else.” They were as close as they possibly could be without touching. The tiniest gust of air would push them into each other and, more importantly, their lips would connect.
Her gaze swept from his face to over his shoulder. She broke into a big smile and waved at someone. What the—?
Cam turned halfway around to glance over his shoulder. “Who are you waving at?”
But he saw who it was. Crap. “Are you kidding me?” he asked the air around him for a second time today, wondering why the universe seemed to be against him.
“He’s from Alienn, right? What’s his name again?”
Cam pushed out a long-suffering sigh. “Axel.”