Falling for Kindred Claus Read online

  And he couldn’t forget the Signs.

  The Strike and the Sight—two of the Three. Had he really experienced them? Could it be true?

  Asher told himself uneasily that it was impossible—that he had only imagined it—what he had felt…what he had seen. But somehow the sight of her big blue eyes changing to match the green of his own wouldn’t leave his thoughts.

  But what else could he do at this point, he asked himself? She clearly didn’t wish to talk to him anymore and the large indoor area of commerce seemed to be closing. Also, he didn’t have much time to prepare for his real mission to the Chorkays. He needed to get back to his ship and ask the Mother Ship to fold space for him.

  But still he lingered a little longer, watching Lisa walk away and wondering why it felt like a piece of his heart was leaving with her.

  Ten

  Lisa sat at the bus stop outside the mall and waited for the bus which was either late or else—in a much worse scenario—had come a little early and she had missed it.

  She was beginning to be afraid the latter scenario was true which would be really bad. There weren’t any more busses running to University Mall this late because it closed at ten during Christmas time. If she had missed her bus, she would have to walk a long, weary, mile and a half down to the next bus stop and hope to get the eleven o’clock bus from there.

  Lisa really didn’t want to have to make the walk. She’d been on her feet all day and the jingle-bell elf shoes she’d been wearing for most of that time had pinched her toes and cramped her arches. Plus, it was dangerous walking in the dark alone—she wasn’t looking forward to that either.

  A chilly wind swept through the half-covered bus stop and she shivered and wrapped her coat more tightly around her. Florida usually didn’t get cold until around January but there was an unseasonable frost right now that meant her fingers and toes were nearly frozen.

  Shouldn’t even go home at all, Lisa told herself morosely. What if Cameron had figured out his mistake and was even now headed up Alligator Alley, making the trip from Miami to Tampa?

  But there were things she needed at her apartment, she reasoned—not least of which was the cash she had stowed there. She wondered if she had time to pick up her last paycheck from Santa’s Village tomorrow and cash it before she left? If she did, she could get a lot further—maybe even all the way to New Mexico or someplace like that. Someplace Cameron couldn’t find her…

  Lisa looked at the time on her phone and admitted to herself that she had missed her bus. It was ten twenty and there was no way it was running that far behind. She needed to get moving right now if she was going to get to the next bus stop before eleven.

  “Well…crap,” Lisa muttered. It was just the way her luck was going lately. Although it did seem that she ought to be due for some good luck for a change soon.

  With a sigh, she heaved herself off the bench, wrapped her thin coat more tightly around herself, a prepared to hoof it.

  Just then a vehicle pulled up at the bus stop—but it wasn’t a bus. It was a sleek, silver car that seemed almost to float above the dark streets like something out of a sci-fi movie.

  The window rolled smoothly down and Lisa found herself looking at the face of Kindred Claus—no, Asher, she reminded herself.

  “May I ask why you’re out so late in the dark and cold?” he asked. “Has your vehicle broken down?”

  Lisa opened her mouth to tell him to get lost…and then thought better of it. She really had been unnecessarily harsh with him earlier. It wasn’t his fault she’d gotten fired—the poor guy was an alien. He didn’t know Santa Claus from the Easter Bunny and he didn’t have the looks to play either one. Despite that, he had done his best. It wasn’t his fault that Old Saint Nick wasn’t seven feet tall with piercing green eyes, washboard abs, and vampire fangs.

  “I missed my bus,” she said at last, a little reluctantly. She didn’t want to sound like she was begging for a ride and she didn’t know if she ought to accept a ride even if he offered it.

  To her surprise, the big Kindred neither offered her a ride, or drove on. Instead he killed the motor of his sleek, silver vehicle and seemed to deliberate for a moment. Finally he asked,

  “Can I come sit with you and just talk for a moment? Or I will stay in my ship if it makes you feel more comfortable,” he offered, seeming to realize belatedly that she might find sitting in a deserted bus stop with a seven-foot-tall alien somewhat intimidating.

  Lisa considered for a moment. It seemed like if he wanted to attack her, he would have just done it—not politely asked if he could sit with her.

  “Okay,” she said at last. “But I can’t stay long—I have to get to the next bus station or I’ll miss the eleven o’clock bus too.”

  “I won’t take much of your time.” He unfolded himself from the sleek vehicle and came to sit beside her on the bus stop bench. He leaned forward and turned to Lisa, elbows planted on his thighs and his big hands clasped loosely between his knees and said, “I want to make up the wrong I did you in some way. I feel solely responsible for your loss of employment and I am sorry if I caused you distress.”

  “Oh, well…” Lisa shifted uncomfortably. She appreciated his offer, but really, what could he do? “I’ll be fine,” she said. “Though it’s really nice of you to offer. Really though, I’m okay.”

  “You are not ‘okay,’” he said fiercely, frowning. “You were extremely upset—I saw it in your eyes. You must be worried about finding new employment and making the regularly scheduled payment on your domicile—things of that nature.”

  “Actually, I’m going to be leaving my, uh, domicile soon anyway for…personal reasons,” Lisa reassured him. “And when I move, I’ll have to get another job. So…” She shrugged. “It doesn’t really matter in the long run.”

  He frowned. “But where are you moving—if you don’t mind me asking?”

  Lisa shrugged again. “Don’t know, to be honest. Just…anywhere away from here. I just need to get moving.”

  Asher seemed to consider for a moment.

  “Well,” he said slowly, frowning down at his hands. “If you have nowhere to be and nothing to do…” He looked up at her. “Why not come with me?”

  Lisa frowned at him.

  “Look, buddy, I’ve known you all of three hours at this point and most of that time you were scaring kids so badly they puked or peed on you. Do you really think I’m going to get in your car and go to some undisclosed location with you in the middle of the night? I mean do I have STUPID stamped on my forehead?”

  “No—why would you?” He gave her a startled look and actually glanced at her forehead, as though to make sure she didn’t have “stupid” written there.

  For some reason, this cracked Lisa up.

  “Do you take everything literally?” she asked, giggling. “I meant it would be extremely stupid of me to go someplace with a guy I don’t even know—that’s all.”

  “But you do know me,” he objected. “We worked together tonight in a very stressful situation. If that doesn’t help you get to know another person’s character, I don’t know what else would.”

  Lisa had to admit he was right about that last part, anyway. And she had gotten a glimpse of the big Kindred’s character, to be honest. She remembered how carefully he had cradled the few babies he had been given to hold and the way he had defended her from the jerky dad of the kid who wanted a machine gun. Also when she’d had to cancel the rest of the photo sessions, the way he had stood behind her and glared menacingly at the angry crowd, until they got the hint and left.

  He hadn’t had to do any of that, she reasoned with herself. But he had done it anyway—he had protected her. It had been…nice.

  He also said you were fucking gorgeous and got the most enormous hard-on you’ve ever seen in your life just from smelling you, a nervous little voice in the back of her head reminded her. You should watch out, Lisa!

  But the fact was, she was getting tired of watching out.