by KD Jones
She watched his face. He was good at hiding his expressions but she had seen a great deal of emotion from him when his sister mated Ronin. “If she leaves, what will you do? Will you stay here or establish a home on your home world with your new mate?”
“I honessstly don’t know. I sssuppossse essstablishing a home on Reptan would be the bessst place for my mate while I’m traveling on circuit.”
“You don’t think your mate would travel with you?”
“I am not sure she will want to. It will be good to provide a home for her, whoever she will be. It would probably be the right place to raissse children…eventually.”
Nina couldn’t imagine a female not wanting to go wherever Esan went. She would share his life and his bed. She shook her head to clear her thoughts and changed the subject a bit. “I have arranged for us to visit two venues today, but I have a third venue I think you might really like. If you are available, perhaps you could come and check it out on Friday evening.”
“Sssoundsss good.”
When they finished eating, Esan paid for their lunch, even paying for hers despite her protests. Then he stood and moved around the table to help her stand up.
“I’m impressed,” she commented as she walked beside him to the exit.
“Impresssed by what?” He opened the door and let her exit first.
“Your manners are amazing.”
He shrugged, “I wish I could sssay it was becaussse of my proper upbringing, but it wasssn’t. Our fossster parentsss ssspent asss little time with usss asss posssible. When Sssersssan and I came to work for the GCFA, you could sssay that we were rough around the edgesss. We were not only taught fighting techniquesss but mannersss asss well. Ssso, where’sss the firssst venue?”
“It’s the second-floor chapel. I figured we would start with what’s typical and pinpoint what exactly you are looking for.”
“Great.”
They headed toward the elevator. “Do you have any ideas of what you’re wanting?”
“Not a clue. What’sss important to me isss that I want to feel comfortable. I sssuppose I couldn’t have the whole thing in the cage.”
Nina laughed. “Do you want to throw the women in there and have them fight for you?”
He chuckled. “I sssuppossse they wouldn’t want to do that. Though ... my ancessstorsss at one time did have that kind of gathering.”
She shook her head. “I am not planning a throw-down match just to find you a mate. We are not even going there. No way.”
“That’sss too bad. I could really get into that kind of gathering.”
She rolled her eyes at him and stepped off the elevator when the doors opened.
*****
Esan couldn’t stop glancing down at Nina. He hadn’t taken his eyes off of her since he spotted her at the grill and bar. She was wearing a simple pair of jeans and a blue blouse. Her hair was up in a ponytail and the only makeup she wore was red lipstick. Her appearance was simple, but he found himself mesmerized. She was attractive, but that wasn’t what drew him to her.
During their lunch, they had good conversation. He wasn’t known for his conversational skills. Most times he didn’t even attempt it with humans because his words, especially any words with the letter s in them, often resulted in a hissing sound because of his tongue. His people have tongues that are forked. Because he and Sersan were only half Reptans, they could make their forked tongue hold together like one single tongue like a human’s, but it took a great deal of effort to maintain. It felt unnatural to him, so he preferred to remain silent when he was around humans. The other halfsies were used to his way of speech, so he didn’t have to alter it for them.
Nina made him feel comfortable enough that he didn’t feel the need to alter his speech. He found himself talking to her easily. He enjoyed her company and appreciated her shared thoughts and laughter. The more time he spent with her, the more he wanted to continue.
“The first location is a typical chapel site. It’s often used for events other than worship. I don’t know what your religious beliefs are, or if you are religious at all, but the architecture is formal and elegant.”
He followed her through the ornate double doors into the chapel. The pews were set up in an atypical pattern with an open pathway straight down the middle leading to an altar up on a platform. He looked around the room and had to admire the details put into making it look like a chapel with history. The stained-glass windows had lighting behind them, filling the room with soft beautiful and colorful light.
“The pews and altar can be removed and tables can be set up,” Nina said as she pointed around the room.
“It’sss beautiful…” he started to say.
“But it’s not you, is it?” Nina interrupted him.
“It’sss not my ssstyle. I am not a very religiousss person.”
“Okay, no problem. Take a look around and see if there is anything you do like. We can always add it to the final location.”
“The light from windowsss isss nice.”
“Do you want me to have stained-glass windows added to your venue?”
“Not necesssarily the windowsss, but the type of lighting that they give off isss pleasant.”
“Gotcha. Good lighting is key.”
“The lighting makesss the room feel like we’re outssside in the foressst with the sssun sssetting. It’sss a calming feeling.”
Nina bit her bottom lip. “I have another venue and it’s a ballroom. We can go there next but I have a feeling that you may not like that one either. The third venue will probably be more to your liking.”
“Where isss that located?”
“It’s the arboretum on the top level with the glass roof over it.”
“Let’sss go see it.”
“We can’t right now. It’s being prepared for my next wedding.”
“That’sss Friday?”
“Yes, I thought you could come to the wedding and see if the venue is more to your liking.”
“Will I have to wear a sssuit?” He hated those things.
She laughed. “If you have a pair of black dress pants and a black dress shirt that will do. You will look like me and the rest of my staff and blend in.
“I have never been told that I blend in anywhere.” He smiled at her and she returned the smile. It lit up her pretty eyes. He loved her smile.
“Even if you don’t blend in, I don’t think anyone will question you about it. You’re very intimidating.”
He frowned, not liking that she felt that way about him. Esan took pride in having others afraid of him but he did not want Nina to feel scared of him. It shouldn’t matter to him what she thought of him. She was planning a gathering for him to meet his future mate. Yet, he did care.
Esan stepped closer to her without thought and reached to caress her cheek. “You don’t have anything to fear from me.”
She blinked at him in surprise. “Where did that come from?”
“You sssaid that I intimidate you.”
Nina laughed and shook her head. “You can be intimidating to others. I know you would never hurt me.”
“Hurting you isss the lassst thing I want to do to you,” he admitted. Then he did the one thing he swore he would not do again. He leaned down and kissed her.
The feel of her lips was soft and warm ... delicious. He hadn’t imagined how good this had been the first time. He wrapped his arms around her waist and started to pull her closer. She moaned and he knew she was starting to relax into the kiss, but suddenly the sound of someone clearing their throat from the doorway interrupted them.
He glanced up to find, of all people, Zen standing at the entrance. “I don’t mean to interrupt, but I was looking for Nina. I’m trying to plan a surprise party for my mate and need assistance.”
Esan growled at Zen as Nina extricated herself from his arms. He wanted to pull her back, but first he should beat the shit out of Zen for messing things up.
“I’m more than happy to help Zen
. Esan and I were finished here,” Nina said as she walked toward Zen.
“I thought we were going to the other venue.” Esan knew he sounded gruff.
“Come and check out the arboretum on Friday evening. If it’s not what you want, we can always go for the ballroom.”
“Fine. I guess I’ll see you Friday,” Esan grumbled as he moved past her and shoved Zen’s shoulder on his way out.
Chapter 10
Friday wedding of Mary Desmond & Richard Burk
“No, do not let the bride’s father take another drink. He’s already drunk as a skunk and can barely walk in a straight line. Any more boose and the bride will have to drag his prone body behind her down the aisle,” Nina growled low into her wireless headset.
“Nina, the best man says he doesn’t know where the rings are,” her other assistant Vicky told her, sounding panicked.
“I have the rings. Mark was acting way too idiotic to be trusted to hold on to the rings for longer than an hour. I’ll pass it off to him right before they come out to the altar.”
“Nina? Nina can you hear me? There’s a problem with the musician,” her part time intern Tammy whispered into the headset.
“What’s the problem? Speak a little louder Tammy because I can’t hear you whispering.”
“THERE IS NO MUSICIAN! She never showed up this morning for practice.”
Nina dropped the bow she had been tying to one of the small vases on the front entranceway table and started to stomp her way toward the area in the center of the arboretum where the ceremony would take place. “Why am I only hearing about this now?”
“I’m sorry. I thought she was just running late, then I got distracted running errands and helping to set up the reception room. I tried to get the reception band to step in but they set up in reception and are taking a break before they go on later.”
“Tammy, look in my emergency kit in the bride’s dressing area and bring it here. I should have the wedding music on my ipod. We can tap into the sound board and play it from there.”
“Is there anything I can help with?” a man’s voice said from behind her.
She turned to find Esan watching her with a bemused look on his face. “No, I’ve got everything under control. I brought you here to check out the venue and the way the reception is set up, and to give you ideas of what you might want for your gathering.”
At that moment, the employee on the ladder trying to hang a wall ornament yelled out as he almost lost his balance. Esan looked at her and raised an eyebrow.
“Okay, if you could make sure Tom doesn’t fall and break his neck, I would appreciate it.”
He winked as he walked off to help steady the ladder. She would love to keep watching him but she had to get back to work. The man was beyond distracting. He had kissed her twice and both times left her flummoxed. All she wanted both times was to get naked with him. Thank God Zen interrupted the second kiss. At this point, she could not trust herself to be alone with the man.
Glancing up at the oval-shaped glass dome rooftop of the arboretum, she stared out at the stars twinkling in the distance. This had to be her favorite venue of all time. Botanical gardens spread out in all directions from the center, and a waterfall and stream on the outskirts of the area contributed sounds of nature, along with a few birds chattering who were allowed to live in the environment. She could almost forget she was on a large space cruiser, but instead on a planet’s surface, walking in a forest.
“I think thisss will be the perfect venue,” Esan suddenly said from behind her.
She jumped around to face him, her heart racing. She didn’t realize how much she had been lost in her thoughts. “What?”
“Thisss isss the venue I want.”
Nina nodded and smiled. “I thought it would be.”
“After the wedding, could we remain here ssso that we could discusss how we might ssset everything up?” he asked.
“Of course, I had planned to suggest that.”
She was called away for another pre-wedding emergency and left Esan to take a seat in the back to observe everything. When the vows were being said she couldn’t help but wipe tears from her eyes. No matter how many of these she did, when she watched the love being expressed between the couple getting married, it always got to her.
Her eyes traveled the arboretum where she had placed the seating in a circular pattern. She stopped when her eyes landed on Esan. He had brushed his blond hair down and back, leaving his face exposed and emphasizing his chiseled features. He was looking at her as well. Her heart beat faster and she felt her palms get a little sweaty. Why did he make her feel like this?
“Nina, should we start preparing for the reception now or wait?” Tammy asked.
She answered as she turned to head toward the entrance of the arboretum. “Start on things now. Make sure that the appetizers are ready for guests when they start arriving. It will keep them busy while pictures are being done. Make sure someone assists the photographer and keep him on schedule.”
Two and a half hours later, Nina took another lap around the reception room to make sure all the guests were enjoying themselves. There would be music and dancing for another thirty minutes, then the happy couple would depart to head to the honeymoon suite. She had snuck out for a few minutes earlier to check the honeymoon suite as she had done for Sersan. Now all that was left was arranging the collection of the wedding gifts to be shipped to the couple’s home, and give orders to her clean up crew.
Her team was well trained to handle the rest. This was the perfect time to take Esan back through the arboretum. She told him he could stay during the reception but he said he would feel more comfortable waiting in his suite until the reception was over. She couldn’t blame him. He probably changed into comfortable clothes and shoes. She was personally ready to get out of the heels she was wearing.
She texted him to meet her at the arboretum. It wouldn’t take him long to get there and she only had to take the elevator up two floors from the level the reception was on. The arboretum would allow for a small buffet but there was no dance floor so the reception had to be set up in a separate location. When she stepped off the elevator, Esan was already there waiting for her.
“You’ve worked hard tonight. Did you want to possstpone thisss until another time?” Esan asked.
“No, I’m fine. My team is finishing up the reception and I want to get notes on the gathering as soon as possible. I heard that you have recordings of potential mates that you need to review.”
“Yesss, I was looking through some of the recordingsss and profilesss while you were working the wedding. So far, there are only a few that I would be interested in meeting in person.”
She ignored the slight jealousy she felt at hearing how he already found some potential mates. This was what she was doing here, helping him find someone else. She needed to focus on her job.
“I thought we would have you in the center of the arboretum where we had set up the platform for the ceremony. The platform will be removed of course. Instead, there will be benches placed throughout the walkways inside the arboretum so that you can find private moments to speak with each candidate. We could set up a few tables with glasses of wine and light fare.”
“That soundsss perfect. My only requessst isss to ussse low lighting like in the chapel ssso that we can sssee the ssstars above usss. It makes me feel at peace looking at the stars.” He glanced up as he said it.
She was drawn to him and wanted to ask so many questions. Instead, she looked up at the stars. It was a beautiful setting.
“It is peaceful. I will arrange the lighting expert set up everything. We can have a preview two weeks prior to the event.”
“That’sss sssomething elssse I wanted to tell you. I need to do the gathering by next weekend.”
“What?”
“I’m sssorry for the short notice but the government of my people isss demanding I sssend the lissst of femalesss I would like to have come for the gathering by to
morrow and the officialsss are alssso demanding that the time frame for the event be bumped up. If I don’t want to comply I would have to go there to hold my gathering. I really don’t want to do that.”
Nina placed a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “This complicates things. I have another wedding that I have to plan for at the arboretum next Friday.”
“What if I hold my gathering on a Sssunday. My people aren’t very religiousss, ssso that would not hold much meaning for usss.”
“I suppose that could work. I’ll have my team help me with the wedding and take on more responsibilities so that I have a little more free time.”
“Then there’sss only one thing I need you to do for me right now.”
“What’s that?”
“Come back to my sssuite and help me narrow down the lissst of femalesss. I won’t be able to view every sssingle video. If you could help me go through the profilesss and narrow them down, it will help me tremendousssly. Then I can watch the videosss tonight and have my ssselection sent off to my people’sss government in the morning.”
“This feels ... rushed,” she told him.
“I know, but if I want a Reptan female, I have to abide by the governing rulesss for gatheringsss.”
“Okay, I’ll come help you pick out profiles,” she agreed. She wasn’t sure this was the best thing to do, but she was already committed to helping him arrange his gathering. How much harder would it be to pick out a few women for him to take a look at? The final decision would be his.
Chapter 11
Esan didn’t know why he was asking Nina to come back to his suite to help look through profiles. It was true that he had to send a list out the next day and there were a lot of profiles to go through. But when he tried to watch the videos of the Reptan females, he kept getting distracted with thoughts of Nina. He would compare the females to the human and the Reptans were always found lacking in some way.
