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Phate was definitely...what was the human word used to describe their situation he’d learned from the television?
Oh, yes.
He was definitely screwed because he could only stare, mouth agape, at the female standing in the hallway. There was an overwhelming urge to tell her everything about his life and he wanted to know everything about hers.
Phate wanted to tell the female about Thelli. No. He wanted to take her to Thelli. He wanted to introduce her to his parents and siblings. He wanted to take her shopping on one of the many pleasure planets known for their expensive dining, and leisure activities and spend every credit in his account on her.
He would rob, steal or kill to make her happy. Anything she required, he would do.
As overpowering emotions he couldn’t identify or control poured over him like warm water, Phate took a shuddering breath. He knew he was done for. He would lay the galaxy at this human’s tiny feet just to know her name.
The female next to her waved a hand in the air. “Hey! My name is Nisha.”
Nisha was pretty. Both were the same height, the top of their heads barely reaching his shoulders. The one who had his heart pounding was rounder. Voluptuous was the word he would use to describe her.
The unnamed female wore a black, long sleeved, loose shirt with matching pants while Nisha wore jeans needing repair to fix the rips down the front of them and a form fitting shirt that hugged her small frame.
Nisha elbowed the female next to her.
“Oh! Um...I’m Tasha. This is...uh...Nisha.”
Phate couldn’t take his eyes off Tasha and her beautiful, pink-tinged lips.
Tasha.
He hadn’t heard that name before. He liked it and repeated it over and over in his head to make sure his brain could pronounce it correctly.
“I already told them my name,” Nisha whispered to Tasha from the side of her mouth.
Tasha’s expressive brown eyes widened. “Oh, yeah. Well, um...I’m Tasha and this um...is Nisha.”
Nisha groaned and rolled her eyes. “Jesus. Get it together.”
A fine sheen of sweat formed on the top of Tasha’s brow and Phate had the urge to wipe it off just to feel her skin under his palm.
“My friend. I mean...she’s visiting. She doesn’t live here.”
Kien shouldered his way to stand next to Phate. “I’m Kien. The one at a loss for words is Phate and the one pacing behind us is Solgre.”
“Kien, Phate and Solgre,” Nisha repeated. Her lips curved into a smile as she bumped Tasha with a slender shoulder.
“It’s nice to meet you all. Sorry, for...um...eavesdropping,” Tasha said, shifting from one foot to the other and rubbing her hands down the front of her soft looking pants.
Nisha turned her back to Phate and Kien and stepped in front of Tasha, blocking her from view. “What is up with you? Pull it together.” Then Nisha stepped back into place and smiled again. “The walls in this apartment building are paper thin, am I right?”
“The walls are made from paper?” Solgre asked. He walked over and knocked on one of the walls. “No wonder tornados cause upheaval on this planet.”
Tasha chuckled nervously as her gaze moved from Phate to Solgre. “What did you say?”
Nisha’s brows creased in confusion. “What do you mean, ‘this planet’?”
“Great Ancients! I thought it would be one of you who wouldn’t be able to keep their mouths shut. But it’s me!” Solgre threw his hands in the air before stomping between Kien and Phate to slam the door shut in the females’ confused faces. “There. No more of that.”
“I never would’ve guessed it would be you who spilled the bananas,” Kien said, turning toward Solgre.
“I think it’s beans, not banana’s,” Phate offered, finally finding his voice.
* * *
NISHA AND TASHA STARED at the closed apartment door.
Nisha’s smile dropped. “Well, that was weird. It’s not just me, right? Him saying ‘this planet’ was totally weird.”
Tasha stood in a daze. The entire meeting had been weird. It was weird the way the Phate guy had stared at her like he wanted to lick every inch of her skin from head to toe. Guys did not stare at her like that. Ever. Especially not guys like Phate. And since when did she stammer and become flustered when talking to a man?
Apparently when one as hot as Phate focused his attention on her.
With the door closed, she could finally get her thoughts in order. Tasha wiped the sweat away from her forehead. Her hammering heart? Only distance would get that under control and distance she would give it. Tasha turned on her heels, making her way back to her apartment where no hot men were, and she could forget about making a fool of herself.
“Hey! Where are you going?” Nisha yelled at her back.
Tasha opened her door and crossed over the threshold, leaving it ajar for Nisha. “You wanted to meet them. We did. Mission accomplished.”
Entering her apartment made her feel better already. Now, she only needed to avoid her neighbors and maybe they would forget about her stammering and sweaty face. That should be easy enough. Her hours at the boutique were long.
As the sole proprietor, she worked hours before opening to make sure the place was clean, and the inventory was wrinkle free and ready. At night, she usually unpacked any shipments, tagged the items and did more inventory. She was supposed to have one day off—Sundays—but she was never truly off.
Today, she’d spent her day stuck to her computer, handling the administrative end of the business.
Nisha finally came into the apartment but didn’t take her favorite seat on the couch. Instead, she leaned a hip against the kitchen countertop, tipped her chin up and drawled, “Tasha Louise Moore.”
“Anisha Tabitha Jones,” Tasha said, matching Nisha’s chastising tone. It was a tone Nisha had gotten from her adoptive Asian mother and thought would make Tasha—or anyone else she used it on—listen to her.
Nisha hiked her thumb toward the wall separating the two apartments. “Are we seriously walking away from all that hotness next door?”
“Yes. It was easy to do. Do you know why?” Tasha plopped down onto her loveseat. The cushions immediately molded comfortably to her bottom, making her feel at home. She glanced at Nisha and raised her eyebrow. When Nisha didn’t answer, Tasha continued, “Because they slammed the door in our faces.”
Nisha waggled her finger. “Shut the door nicely.”
“Slammed,” Tasha corrected. “Now, if you don’t mind, I have to get back to these new orders because they sure as hell aren’t going to order themselves.”
Things had been easier when she’d first started. She’d spent the last five years growing it from an internet only operation to a small kiosk that sold scarves and jewelry on the weekends at the local mall. Now, she owned a storefront in a corner suite downtown.
“Oh, what’s that noise?” Nisha crossed the apartment to peer out the main window overlooking the parking lot and tree lined street below.
Tasha shook her head. Nisha had the attention span of a squirrel. “What is it?”
“Another moving truck.”
Tasha frowned. “Someone else is moving into the building?”
“Yeah.”
“Two new neighbors in a month? What’s going on in our little town?” Considering her building had thirty-two apartments and as of a month ago, there hadn’t been any new residents over the past two years.
* * *
MARGIE SANTANA TOOK a deep breath and tilted her head back to get a good look at the building she would be calling home for the unforeseeable future. It wasn’t one of the newer, fancier places found closer to the downtown area. This apartment building rested in the heart of the West side community comprised mostly of older adults and families.
It had a brown façade with four large front facing windows directly across the street from another apartment building. There was no chipped paint, and the lawn was tastefully manicured with colorful shrubbery.
Not something she normally would pick for herself, but her current assignment called for expediency. It wasn’t all bad though, not like her last assignment, so she was grateful for that at least.
It was the perfect place to stay if someone wanted to blend in with the locals.
Which was probably why aliens would pick this building to live in.