by V. Vaughn
His smile is infectious, and I give him one back. “Fine,” I say. “Would donuts for breakfast work?”
“No. I have something much tastier in mind.” He waggles his eyebrows at me, and my cheeks heat up as my mind goes straight to the juncture between my thighs. Hunter chuckles. “I was thinking another kiss, but--” I gasp when the sensation of a tongue laps up my neck to stop behind my ear.
I stumble as my ankle turns, but quickly regain my balance and say, “Stop that.”
Now he laughs harder, and when he recovers he says, “Lexi, you belong with me. And I’ll take as long as you need to convince you I’m your perfect match.”
How I wish that were true. I steal a sideways glance at the sexy alien walking by my side. When I recall our kiss, I resist the urge to touch my lips. It was the best kiss of my life, and for a moment I let myself believe he’s right.
Chapter 5
“It’s the strangest thing,” says Kiely. I’m back in my office and had hoped to bring Hunter a laptop tonight so he could start looking for a match. “I can’t find anything wrong with the code, but Hunter’s profile won’t let the search work.”
“Maybe it has something to do with the fact we set this up for only five hundred aliens.”
“No, that’s not it.” A pen taps on the table as Kiely bounces it. “I’m completely stumped.”
I reach over and grab her pen so she’ll stop the annoying noise. “Should I reload him? I could have done something wrong setting him up.”
“I doubt it, but sure, go ahead and delete his profile, and start again.”
Kiely yawns, and I say, “Get out of here. I’m sorry I kept you late for this, but I appreciate your help.”
“No problem.” Her laptop clicks shut and she tucks it under her arm. “I’ll take another crack at it in the morning.”
I know better. Kiely is like a dog with a bone when a coding problem presents itself, and I bet she’ll stay up all night trying to sort out the issue. “No you won’t.” I reach over and yank the computer out of her grasp. “This stays here.”
“Hey!”
“If I let you take this home, you’ll be working all night until you solve the problem.”
She puts her hands on her hips. “No I won’t.”
“Right. Then you won’t care that this stays here.”
Kiely squints at me as she drops her hands. “I don’t like you when you’re pushy, Boss Lady.”
“Boss Lady?” Hunter steps into the room and flashes Kiely a smile that could land him a starring role in a toothpaste commercial.
Kiely lets out a low whistle as she scans the alien with her gaze. “Day-um. We don’t need to fix this guy’s profile. I’ll just take him home and call him mine instead.”
Hunter glares at her. “I’m matched to Lexi.”
I stop myself from snapping back and sigh. “What do you need, Hunter?”
“Can I talk to you when you have a minute?”
Kiely says, “I was just leaving.” She slides a hand down Hunter’s arm as she moves past him. My heart stops a second, and the urge to punch Kiely overwhelms me. She has no right to touch him! “If you two don’t work out, the name’s Kiely.”
Hunter doesn’t take his gaze off of me as he barks out an order to her, “Shut the door on your way out.” Once Kiely is gone, he steps closer to me with a predatory look in his eyes. “I heard you have a coding problem.”
I step behind my desk to put it between us, and the laptop Kiely was using thumps when I set it down. I’m not sure how Hunter knows, or why it would concern him. “We do, but I’m sure it’ll get sorted out.”
When Hunter reaches toward me, I step back. But he was lunging for the laptop and lifts it up with one large hand. “Let me take a look.”
“What? No.” I reach for the computer, but he lifts it above my head as if I’m a child.
“Why not?”
“Because for one, you don’t work for me. And two, if Kiely couldn’t figure it out, then it’s too--” I realize I’m about to insult his intelligence, and since he’s holding the laptop I switch gears. “I’m sure it’s time consuming, and I couldn’t let you spend your night doing something I’m not authorized to pay you to do.”
Hunter’s sexy grin disappears. “You don’t think I can do it.”
“It’s not that. I swear.”
“No?” He plops down in the chair Kiely just vacated, and it groans under his massive body. “Then you won’t mind if I take a look.”
I bristle at the tactic I just used with Kiely. “Hunter. I don’t know.”
He ignores me as his fingers move smoothly over the keys, and I’m reminded of his graceful table manners. I never would have guessed he was a programmer too. This man might be more than a hot body. And I decide since he’s working on his own profile, I might as well let him take a shot at fixing it.
As Hunter scowls over what he’s seeing, I walk around my desk to peer over his shoulder. I see the usual lines of code. He says, “If you’re going to breath down my neck, I’m going to lose my focus.”
“Oh.” I step back. “Sorry.” I wander back to my desk and know I should find something to do, but I can’t seem to stop staring at him.
He barks out a sharp laugh.
“What’s so funny?”
“You listed my profession as a personal trainer.”
I recall the conversation I had with Nate about what to put down. I thought manual labor, but Nate convinced me that a body like Hunter’s doesn’t just happen from a physical job, and insisted it must be gym-created. “And that’s funny because?”
“Because I’m the biggest nerd you’ll ever meet.”
Now I chuckle, because brilliant men do not look like Hunter. “You can’t be serious.”
“Found it.” He types something and then turns to me with the computer held out so I can see the screen. “Want to try me now?”
His tone is suggestive, and I scowl at him before I click on the ‘search matches’ button. The screen begins to populate with a list of potential females for Hunter based on the made-up profile Nate and I created. I stare at him in shock. “How did you find it so quickly?”
“Basic hacker move.”
“Someone’s hacked into our system? That’s not possible.”
“Not only is it possible. It happened.” The chair squeaks as Hunter leans back. “You’ve got a security problem.”
“No.” My stomach knots up, and my shoes click on the floor as I begin to pace. Who would want to break into the dating program? “We’re the United States government! We have the best computer programmers in the world.” I turn on my heel to face him. “How could this happen?”
“You don’t have the best programmers in the universe.” He grins at me. “But you could.”
Mandy’s alien husband Caiden is a computer genius, and he’s supposed to be working for us starting next week. It occurs to me that if he and Hunter are good friends, they probably worked together. “Are you saying you’re the best?”
“I’m saying I can fix this.”
The edge of my desk is hard on my bottom as I lean against it. I imagine what my ruthless boss would do if she knew about this. I could easily lose my job, and more importantly, my entire dating program could be scrapped. I think about the countless hours I’ve poured into the Intergalactic Dating Agency, and my stomach knots up. If Kiely couldn’t find a solution, I’m not sure my IT department can fix this. But Hunter doesn’t work for me, and he doesn’t have clearance, and.... Now I think I’m going to vomit. “Having you do this goes against all protocol.”
Hunter raises his eyebrows. “This isn’t going to go away. The door to your system has been opened, Lexi.”
“I can’t pay you.”
“I’m not asking you to. I’m doing this to help you. You’re my mate, and I’m on your side.” His gaze intensifies when he adds, “Always.”
I take a deep breath because as much as I want to ponder the fact Hunter might be my typ
e after all, I’m trying to come to terms with letting him help. But if I don’t do something, more than my program could be at risk. The hackers have opened a door into the government computers. “Do it.” I catch myself and add, “Please.”
Hunter nods at me, and he gets up from his chair to grab the laptop. “I’ll have you set by morning.” I watch him walk toward the door, and while I enjoy the view, it hits me that he has a brain that is just as sexy. He glances over his shoulder at me and says, “I’d like to try jelly donuts. I hear they’re--” He pauses for a moment to flash me a playful smile, and to suck on one of my fingers in his mind. “--sticky.”
Once he’s gone I stare down at my hand, and the heat of his mouth is still on one of my fingers as he works his way through them all. A shiver of desire runs through me as I let myself contemplate the fact Hunter said he was the biggest nerd I’d ever meet. Could he really be the incredible kind of man that makes my body sing and who also has a mind that will challenge and satisfy my intellect?
Chapter 6
The pastry bag rustles as I carry it down the hall toward Hunter’s room. I got him six jelly donuts, but if he’s really fixed the security breach I’ll buy him a lot more. I couldn’t sleep last night for worrying about all that could go wrong if hackers got further into the government system. I have no doubt the fact they entered through my alien dating program would make me the perfect scapegoat for the whole mess.
I also spent a fair amount of time thinking about a future with Hunter. He’s turned out to be much more than the feral alien I thought he was the first day we met, and I can’t deny my attraction for him is off the charts. I’d really like to see what my matching program would give us for a compatibility score.
When Hunter opens the door his appearance surprises me. He’s wearing gray sweat pants that have a coffee stain on the thigh, his hair is standing on end and his eyes are puffy behind a pair of glasses that are crooked on his nose. Now he’s hot in a sexy-nerd way, and I want to tug those spectacles off his gorgeous face and kiss him. “It’s done,” he says before I have a chance to greet him.
I hold up my bakery bag. “I brought donuts.”
His lips turn up in a small smile as he grabs me around the waist and tugs me closer. He lifts my hand and opens the sack to peer inside.
“Can I come in?”
“Oh.” Hunter steps back and pulls me with him. “Sorry.”
The aroma of burned coffee wafts toward me, and on the table I notice a pile of snack wrappers. I guess he found the vending machine down the hall. “Did you stay up all night working on this?” I ask as we sit down on the couch.
The day-old beard on Hunter’s chin rasps as he rubs it. “Yeah. And while I have a bandage in place for now, fixing this problem is going to be more work than I expected. Your hackers are smart.” He bites into a donut.
“How much more work are we talking?”
He shrugs as he chews. “Won’t know until it’s done, but you need to assign a team to this. When does Caiden start work?”
“Monday.”
“Call him and get him in today. I’ll catch him up on what I found.”
He takes another bite of his donut and jelly oozes out. It dribbles on his chin, and while I’m tempted to wipe it off for him, his serious tone makes me flip into crisis mode instead. It’s clear Hunter knows what he’s doing, and I think he should be on this job. “What about you? You’re going to need employment, and if you give me your credentials I can fast track the review process to get you working on this too.”
He smiles at me as he licks his jelly covered fingers slowly, and I bet it’s to remind me of when he did the same to mine. “The rules say I have to marry first.”
Damn it. I forgot. When Hunter arrived, he was given a manual to read as part of his processing. One of my rules to keep the human woman safe from a wandering alien match was to demand the couple marry before the man settles into a life here. “You read the handbook?”
“I did.”
I consider the rule as I grab a donut for myself. Sugar is sweet on my tongue as I begin to eat it, and I say, “We’ll have to fast track that for you too. I don’t suppose you’d fill out your profile for me now?”
“I already did.”
I raise my eyebrows at him, because I wonder why he chose to do that instead of sleep. “Great. Have you gone through and picked out your women yet?”
“I only need one.” He waggles his eyebrows at me and reaches for the laptop.
“Cute.”
“I thought she might want to watch as logic shows her what I already know.” He pulls up his profile, and slides closer to me so I can look at the screen. I see my avatar on the page. “How much do you want to bet we’ll match in the ninetieth percentile?”
I frown because he might be right, and I’m not sure how I feel about that. At first I was convinced he wasn’t right for me, but finding out last night Hunter is smart as well as sexy has me seriously considering a relationship with him. Although, I want to know for sure that we’re compatible. “I guess you’ll just have to push that button and see.”
Hunter nudges me with his shoulder. “You do it.”
I turn to gaze into his eyes, and my chest gets tight as I think about how this man might be the one I spend the rest of my life with. He reaches over and wipes the corner of my mouth with his thumb. “Sugar.” My heartbeat skips when he sucks the residue off and says, “So sweet.”
I wonder about what might happen if we don’t rank high enough to be a good match. My heartbeat skips again, and this time it might be from fear. I don’t bother to think when I lean in, and his glasses are warm in my fingers when I remove them to kiss him. The flavor of coffee and sugar is faint as we hold onto each other and let our unique chemistry sizzle. He tugs out my hairpins, and my thick wavy locks are soft on my neck as they fall around my shoulders. Hunter grabs fistfuls of it as if he’s trying to pull me inside his body. I never want this to end, and I wonder if he’s kissing me with the same desperation knowing it might be our last.
When it’s over, I take a deep breath for courage, and I reach to push the initiate match button as I ask, “What if we--”
Hunter places his finger on my lips as he says, “Shhh,” and he kisses me again. I know the computer screen is showing the progress charts, but I don’t dare look as I take as much of this man as I can get. When a bell chimes I hear a female voice say, “Congratulations! Hunter TS-501 and Lexi Boynton are a match.” I try to pull away, but Hunter only lets out a low noise and pushes me down on the couch. It’s soft under my back as I lift my legs up to rest on the cushions, and he presses his body against mine to make our kiss become something close to an out-of-body experience for me.
We’re not supposed to go any further sexually, but when Hunter stops to remove his shirt, I don’t worry about where things are going. I gaze into his eyes that have deepened to dark green from his desire, and I place my hand on his chest. A light dusting of hair is rough under my fingers, and when he begins to unbutton my blouse I let him. I say, “You can’t touch.”
“But I can look.” I nod as he moves down past my bra. He smiles, “I like Earth women’s underthings.”
I grin back because the women on Eroscia don’t wear underwear with their skin-tight clothing, and nothing is left to the imagination. I’m happy he finds the adornment of female body parts by pretty lingerie appealing, since my fantasies of a future with Hunter led me to put on something lacy this morning. His fingers are hot on my skin as he opens up my blouse to get a full view. He speaks his language softly while he traces a finger down my sternum and then my belly. I tremble under his touch as his words play like music. I say, “Whatever you’re saying sounds beautiful.”
“You are the one that’s beautiful, and I’m telling you so.”
He glances over at the screen and chuckles. I look too, and discover our match is one hundred percent. I sit up in shock. “No way.”
Hunter leans in and kisses my neck light
ly. “I told you, Lexi. There’s a reason electricity sparks when we’re close. You were just too uptight to admit it.”
“I was not.” I tug my shirt closed and think about how I wear blouses buttoned all the way up to the top, and always pull my hair back to ensure the sophisticated look of a woman with power. I resolutely believe sex appeal doesn’t belong in the workplace. But was I taking my job too seriously by ignoring the possibility that Hunter was my perfect mate? His lips are soft on my neck as he continues to nip at my skin. I let my head fall back and drop my hands to let my shirt fall open as I enjoy the pleasure of his touch. “Okay, maybe a little.”
Hunter chuckles and lets a lock of my hair slip through his fingers as he gazes into my eyes. “It’s sexy. On the outside you appear to be no-nonsense, but I can’t wait to see what peeling off your polished exterior will reveal.” He licks his lips, and
my insides quiver in response. “I plan to release your wild side, Lexi. Have no doubt.”
Chapter 7
After my steamy make-out session with Hunter, I had a meeting to attend. While I’m sure my exterior was professional, my straying thoughts were anything but, and I left the meeting knowing I wanted to marry Hunter as soon as possible. The alien is my perfect match, and I have the confidence in my program to know it makes us a sure thing. The fact men were nearly eliminated from Earth during the plague means I need to jump at my chance at love and companionship for the rest of my life. And who better to do it with than a guy who makes my blood simmer with desire?
I’m pleasantly surprised when I walk into my office and am greeted by the clean and grinning version of my alien match. “Hey, what are you doing here?” The door clicks shut behind me, and I walk over to place my hand on his chest and stand on my tiptoes for a quick kiss.
