Alien Healer Page 4

  “Is that so? I guess you’re right since it seems I just caught myself a Peeping Tom.” It was then that he noticed the blaster in her hand. And it was aimed at him! What did she think she was doing? She had no business handling a blaster let alone pointing it at someone.

  And how had he not spotted it immediately?

  “I do not know what you mean by Peeping Tom but I am going to have to insist that you give me the blaster,” he demanded.

  “Insist away, but it’s not going to happen. I want to know what you’re doing out here. Were you spying on me? Were you getting your rocks off from watching me undress?”

  “Rocks off?” What did that mean?

  “Were you getting pleasure from watching me undress? Back on Earth, that shit will get you locked up, you know.”

  He did not understand her words and right now, he did not care. He just wanted her to hand over the weapon in her hand before she harmed herself. “Give me the blaster.”

  She snorted. “Why would I do that? I’m not the one in the wrong here. You are. Don’t like having a blaster aimed at you, then don’t hide outside people’s houses and watch them undress! It’s simple.”

  “I was not spying on you. I was checking to ensure you were well.”

  “Uh-huh,” she replied skeptically. “And you couldn’t just come to the front door like a normal person?”

  That probably would have made more sense. “You must give me the blaster before you hurt yourself.”

  “Before I hurt myself? It’s not my privates it’s aimed at.”

  He glanced down then swallowed as he realized she’d lowered the blaster to point at his shaft and balls. Still, he was more concerned that her hold on the blaster might slip and she could accidentally harm herself.

  “Female—” He took a step forward, freezing as she stepped back. Okay, that was not a good idea. He did not want her to trip and accidentally fire her weapon. He didn’t want to take it by force either. That could frighten her, and there was a chance her finger might slip on the trigger. He needed to convince her to give it to him.

  “Jesus, even now, you can’t be bothered to call me by my name. Or have you already forgotten it?”

  Forget her name? Never.

  He took a deep breath. “Give me the blaster, sunshine.” That was what she reminded him of. Zerconia’s suns setting, sending streaks of red through the sky. And when she smiled, like she had been with her friends earlier, the world became a little brighter.

  “Wrong answer. That’s not my name, and there is no way I’m giving you my blaster.” She sighed. “You’ve seen that I’m all right. In fact, you’ve seen more of me than I would have liked you to have seen. I’m fine. You can go back to saving the world now.”

  He was not trying to save the world. Although, perhaps in a way he was. Yet somehow, that didn’t seem so pressingly important right now. Not with her standing there, sounding defeated.

  “I did not mean to upset you, sunshine.”

  “Don’t call me that. Perhaps we could agree to forget that tonight ever happened. I’ll forget you were here having your own peep show and you’ll forget all about that embarrassing shit that went on in your office. Okay?”

  No, it was not okay.

  Stars. What was wrong with him? He should take the offer. It would not go well for him were she to tell anyone what he had been doing. But still…he would find it hard to forget this night.

  Except he had no plans to tell anyone what had gone on. So maybe he could agree to this. Especially if it would give her peace of mind.

  “All right. I agree not to speak of this night to anyone else.”

  The tension went out of her body and the blaster dipped, pointing to the ground. His own tension dropped a few notches.

  “Put the safety on,” he demanded. It would still be all too easy for her to shoot herself in the foot.

  “It was never off,” she told him dryly. “Didn’t actually want to shoot you. Just scare you a little. You do know that it’s wrong to watch women undress without their permission, right?”

  “Of course,” he replied, insulted.

  “Just checking. You should go now.”

  He should go and yet…

  “You should not have come out here,” he lightly scolded. “You did not know it was me. That I meant you no harm. What if I had been someone who meant to hurt you?”

  “Um, that’s what the blaster is for,” she pointed out.

  “It would have been easy for me to take that from you. I am strong. Big. You are small and weak. A blaster does not make things even between us. Next time you hear a strange noise outside, you call for help. You do not come out to confront anyone, understand?”

  “Are you seriously standing here and lecturing me on safety when you are the one who was spying on me without permission?”

  “I thought we were going to forget that tonight happened.”

  “That would be a lot easier to do if you would leave. I don’t need you to tell me what to do. If I need help, I have people. And we both know you certainly don’t need me. So go back to work and I’ll do my best never to bother you again.”

  3

  We both know you certainly don’t need me.

  Why could he not get those words out of his head? They kept coming back to him, interrupting him, pulling him away from his work.

  Groaning, he leaned back, stretching. He glanced down at his communicator to see what time it was. Midday. No wonder his stomach was rumbling. He’d slept on the couch in his office last night, as he did most nights. After a few short hours of rest, he’d started work without taking the time to eat or bathe.

  He looked down at himself. His clothes looked wrinkled and stained. He needed to clean up a bit. Luckily, he had a bathroom attached to his office. He looked around the lab, noting how quiet it was. It was only the middle of the day; his assistants should still be here. Maybe they’d gone to get lunch.

  Yawning, he made his way to his office. He searched through the pile of clothing he kept there, looking for something clean to wear. He frowned. Had Ellie really done his laundry for him?

  Finally, he found a clean pair of pants and a shirt. He gave them a sniff. Sure enough, the scent of her clung to the material. His insides tightened, the ache of arousal no longer catching him by surprise. His body had been in this state ever since the other night last week when he had watched her undress. He groaned as his cock hardened at the memory. What was it about this female that made him so aware of her? That had his body heating with need?

  At first, he thought staying away from her would help. That he would soon forget her and fall back into his research. That time would make her disappear.

  Instead, time just seemed to make the ache grow deeper. Stronger.

  It was frustrating. And not for the first time, he found himself wishing he had never noticed her. It would make his life much simpler.

  He quickly showered in the cleaning unit. He needed to get dressed, eat, and then concentrate on his work once more.

  After dressing, he walked back into the office and over to the autocooker to find what it had been stocked with. He scowled as he searched through the meager offerings. What was this? Where was all the food? Who had failed to stock the cooker? Finally, he settled on bowl of agair berries with a sweet sauce.

  When he walked out of his office and headed back to the research lab, he was gratified to hear voices. The scent of food reached him, making him look down at the pitiful offering the autocooker had given him in dissatisfaction.

  “Where have you been?” he demanded of his two young lab assistants.

  “Piece of Cake opened today,” Zeun explained.

  “What? How does a piece of cake open?”

  “No, that is the name of the stall,” Zeun said.

  “Actually, I believe the humans call it a bakery,” Jaden offered.

  He waved that off. “And going to this bakery was more important than your work?”

  Both assistants l
ooked at each other in worry. Now they understood that he was upset with them.

  “Well, no,” Zeun said slowly. “But…”

  “Yes?” he demanded impatiently.

  “It’s just we haven’t had any of Ellie’s baking in a week,” Jaden explained. “I’ve gotten addicted to her muffins.”

  “Her muffins?” Ellie? What did Ellie have to do with any of this? His heartbeat quickened at just the mention of her name.

  This was becoming ridiculous.

  “Yes, muffins are sort of like a cake, but they are smaller. And just as delicious—” Zeun started to explain.

  “I do not care about what muffins are,” he snapped.

  “You should,” Jaden said, almost defensively. “We have missed Ellie’s muffins. And her slices.”

  “And her cookies,” Zeun added. “So we had to go and get some today, when Piece of Cake opened. There was a line, though, so we had to wait.”

  “We will make up the time,” Jaden added.

  He waved that away. He needed them to go back a few steps. “Are you saying that Ellie works at this stall?”

  “She opened it,” Jaden told him. “I guess that is why she has not been bringing in any food for us lately. She has been too busy baking for her stall. Now we will have to go there to buy some of her sweet treats.”

  “She is selling food? Making food and selling it?”

  Jaden and Zeun looked at each other, then at him. “Um, yes,” Zeun said hesitantly. “Racar, are you well?”

  “Perhaps you need more sleep?” Jaden offered.

  “Or a muffin? I bought six,” Zeun said.

  “Six?”

  “Yes, I wished to make certain I had plenty in case she sold out,” he defended himself.

  “With the size of the line waiting to purchase her goods, I think that is likely,” Jaden said with a nod.

  “I do believe having an actual shop is a better idea,” Zeun stated. “One with a kitchen installed for her so she does not have to transport all the goods from her home to the stall each day.”

  Racar looked back and forth between them. Were they actually having this conversation? About Ellie? His Ellie?

  “How did I not know about this?”

  Zeun frowned. “You rarely leave the lab, so I suppose you would not know.”

  “Although I thought you might have noticed that Ellie hasn’t been here in a while,” Jaden added. “She was always bringing you food, stocking up your autocooker. I think she even did your laundry.”

  They both had accusing looks on their faces, as though he was at fault somehow. As though he had made her do those things. Or perhaps they were upset because they thought he had something to do with the fact that she no longer visited with her baked goods.

  Which he did. Not that they would know that since he and Ellie had come to an agreement not to speak of that night. And since he still had his freedom and his career, he had to conclude she had kept that promise.

  “Ellie was the one who kept my autocooker stocked? I thought it was one of you.”

  They both gave him looks. “No, it was Ellie. We never saw you thank her. Or even acknowledge her. But we thought you knew who it was doing all those things for you.” Zeun frowned at him.

  Racar did not like having his assistants essentially scold him. However, he had to admit that he was disappointed in himself for not acknowledging what she did for him. And now that she was not doing those things, his life seemed to be unraveling. He was having to take time out of his research to attend to other matters, things he had not had to do when Ellie was taking care of them for him.

  And he had not once thanked her.

  Instead, he had upset her. He had sent her running from his presence, upset and alone. And he had stood outside her house and spied on her.

  He was ashamed.

  “Guess she’s too busy now to bake for us,” Jaden said with disappointment.

  “But at least we can now purchase her food,” Zeus said. “I believe I have been going through withdrawals this past week.”

  “This is true,” Jaden said.

  “Enough,” Racar said sharply. “You both need to get back to work.”

  Jaden and Zeun nodded and turned away.

  “Oh, did you want a muffin?” Zeun asked, opening a large box on his desk. Immediately, Racar’s mouth watered at the scent that wafted out, but he forced himself to shake his head and step away. The more distance he had from the red-haired female and her goods, the better.

  “No. Enough about food. That is not what we are here for. We have far more important things to concentrate on.”

  “Sure,” Jaden muttered. “But it is easier to work when our stomachs are full.”

  “Makes putting up with him and his moods much easier,” Zeun said back in a quiet voice, which he obviously didn’t think Racar could hear.

  Racar chose to ignore him. He had work to do and he was not going to let anything interfere with that. Not his two assistants and their opinion of him. Certainly not a sweet little red-haired female with freckles across her nose and a smile like sunshine.

  Ellie stretched and looked around at the mountains of baking filling the small kitchen. Who knew her baking would be so popular with a bunch of aliens? She could barely keep up with demand. For the past three weeks since she’d opened her stall, she’d spent all her time when she wasn’t working there baking goodies to sell.

  She glanced over at the time. Shoot. It was almost time to leave and she still had to ice this last bunch of cupcakes. She’d been up for hours, her back ached, her feet hurt, and she was so tired, she couldn’t see straight.

  Still, she was doing what she loved. She was making people happy. And she was earning money. Good money.

  But it still felt like something was missing.

  Him.

  She’d tried to put him out of her mind. To convince herself that she didn’t need him. That he wasn’t worth her time. He was an ass. He was ungrateful and rude and a Peeping Tom. Okay, so she didn’t really think he was someone who got sexual pleasure from spying on other people while they undressed or she would have made a complaint. However, she really didn’t know why she kept checking for him each night before she crawled into bed.

  It wasn’t that she wanted to see him. Wanted him to be out there, spying on her. That would just be wrong.

  So why am I disappointed each night when he’s not there?

  She groaned. She was losing it. She needed to forget about him. He didn’t want her. He wasn’t hers.

  She didn’t need a man to feel complete.

  She rubbed at her throbbing head. Then stretched her tired muscles. She really needed to get some more sleep.

  “Ellie, you okay?”

  She blinked, looking over as Keely entered the kitchen. Her friend glanced around the kitchen with a frown. Immediately, Ellie fretted that she was annoyed at the mess.

  “I’m sorry, Keely. I’ll get this all cleaned up, I promise.”

  She wasn’t sure when, since she was due at the market in less than an hour and she still had cupcakes to ice, herself to dress, then she had to get everything up to the market and set up the stall. Luckily, Tane would be here to help her soon. She didn’t know what she would do without her friends. She wouldn’t have been able to do any of this without them.

  “I’m not worried about the mess, babe.” Keely watched her, her beautiful tawny-colored eyes filled with concern. “I’m worried about you. You look exhausted. What time did you get up this morning?”

  “Oh, not that early,” Ellie said, trying to downplay things. She hated making other people worry. “Don’t worry about me. I just hope I didn’t wake you up.”

  “Ellie, you’re burning the candle at both ends. Your stall is a huge success, just like I knew it would be, but I don’t think you can keep up this pace, doll. You need to slow down a little.”

  Ellie ran her hand through her hair. “I can’t. No matter how much I make, I still sell out. People are still disa
ppointed.”

  “So let them be disappointed,” Keely stated in her straightforward way. “They’ll learn to come earlier the next day. You can’t please everyone, babe. You gotta look after you. It’s okay to put yourself first, Ellie.”

  “I’m fine, I promise. I’ve got to go shower while these cupcakes cool and Tane will be here soon,” she said to Keely. She walked over to her friend. “I’m okay, really, Keely. But thanks for worrying about me.”

  “We’re all concerned, Ellie. You haven’t been the same since that night that jerk …”

  “Made me realize he wasn’t interested in me at all?” she said, trying to inject a hint of amusement, even though it was anything but funny.

  Keely scowled, so she knew she hadn’t done a good job of acting unaffected.

  “He’s entitled to his feelings, Keely. He doesn’t have to want me.”

  Keely snorted. “He’s an idiot for not seeing how amazing you are. He should be so lucky to have you, in my opinion.”

  “You’re my friend and you love me, so you’re kind of obliged to feel that way,” Ellie teased her.

  “As your friend who loves you, I’m telling you that you’ve got to slow down, babe. You can’t keep up this pace.”

  “I don’t see what choice I have.”

  “I think you need to move from a stall into a building. Install proper cooking facilities. Hire some help.”

  “That’s all going to take money,” Ellie pointed out. It wasn’t something she hadn’t already considered. Lord knew, she could do with the help, but she didn’t have the funds to invest in something like that. And this wasn’t Earth; she couldn’t just go take out a loan.

  Keely pursed her lips, looking thoughtful. “Safan’s got money.”

  “I’m not asking Safan for money.” Ellie gaped at her. “Have you lost your mind?”

  Keely shrugged. “You could get Blue to ask him.”

  “No,” Ellie said firmly. “Not happening.”