by Tasha Black
Georgia looked up and wondered which of those thousands of glittering lights were real and which were the ghostly reflections of what once had been.
But she could not know. It was impossible to predict what would shine brightly forever, and what had already burned itself out.
21
Georgia
Georgia spent the next day studiously avoiding Rocky. It was easier to do than she had expected, primarily because she used the time to apply herself to chores.
She spent the morning doing laundry for herself and her friends, then took the station wagon to town and did some shopping.
When she returned, she offered to help Dr. Bhimani in the kitchen. Georgia was no cook, but she was organized and focused and could follow a recipe well enough.
However, for all that Dr. Bhimani was a scientist, she did not use recipes and rather did everything “to taste” or asked for “a handful” or “a bit” of this and that. Mercifully, Rima popped her head in and Georgia used the laundry in the dryer as a reason to slip out again.
She had nearly reached her room with a load of clean clothes to fold when Posey cornered her.
“What the hell is going on?” Posey hissed, her back pressed against Georgia’s shut bedroom door.
“I don’t know what you mean,” Georgia sniffed, pulling a sweater out of the basket and folding it carefully. “I’m just helping out.”
“You know damned well what I mean. Bond says that you’re going on a date with that asshat Briggs, and Rocky is beside himself.”
“Rocky is not my keeper,” Georgia retorted. “And I’m going to dinner with Briggs to see what he’s up to. I have a bad feeling about him and I want to keep an eye on him.”
“Well, Rocky is going to dinner with Earl Road,” Posey said sweetly.
What?
Georgia dropped the sweater she was holding.
“What the hell?” she said worriedly. “Earl is totally into Rocky. He can’t go off with him alone. Rocky doesn’t understand.”
Posey just shook her head, her dark eyes wide and incredulous.
“You two are a mess, a complete mess. And you can’t even see it. Break the date, Georgia, and go make things right with Rocky.”
“Screw that noise,” Georgia said, picking the sweater back up and folding it neatly. “You know what? He can go out with Earl Road if he wants. It’s about time he learns what it’s really like to be a real human instead of getting coddled here by us. Let him go see how awkward it is.”
“I give up,” Posey said, turning on her heel and leaving the room.
Georgia fought the urge to talk to herself as she finished the laundry.
Naturally this was a crisis. Rocky would either end up offending Earl and losing them the use of the land, or making out with him.
She couldn’t stand the thought of the first one after all their hard work. And the second, as ridiculous as it seemed, still had her blood boiling with jealousy.
She briefly considered going to Rocky, explaining things to him again, and trying to work it out.
Then she heard his voice in her head:
You will not go to dinner with that man.
You are a foolish woman…
Screw that. He wasn’t her father. And he didn’t understand that she was trying to protect him.
Though she hoped Rocky would understand if she explained to him why she was afraid about Briggs, she was afraid of what he would think of mankind if she did. How could it not reflect poorly on Georgia herself if her own species would react to his presence by capturing him and doing experiments on him?
It had been the elephant in the room the whole time they’d been here. The boys knew Dr. Bhimani wanted to keep their presence a secret, but did they really know how much danger they were in?
Bhimani obviously hoped that if the boys bonded with the girls they would send for their own countrymen and she’d arrange for them to meet with the UN or something.
But Georgia somehow doubted that a single alien, occupying a lab grown human body would warrant respectful treatment. There was no perceived threat that went along with a single morphed alien. And there was so much to learn from him.
No, it seemed almost comically naive to expect any other reception for Rocky.
And so the only thing Georgia could do was have dinner with Briggs and find out what he knew. And then try to find a way to neutralize the threat.
She finished folding laundry, put it away, and then hopped in the shower.
As the warm water massaged her muscles, she tried not to think about Rocky bathing her, tried not to picture his handsome face looking up at her from between her legs…
Georgia Taylor, get it together, she chided herself.
She turned down the hot water and finished the shower cold, just to clear her mind.
Getting out shivering, she dried quickly, and headed to her closet.
She hadn’t brought much with her, but there was a single cream-colored shift dress that didn’t exactly argue with the whole Mennonite white dress thing they were still putting out there.
She slid it on, put on her grandmother’s pearl earrings, light make-up and a spritz of Chanel, and stood in front of the mirror.
The reflection of a lovely girl stared back at her. A lovely, worried, girl.
“You can do this,” she told herself sternly.
Then she turned and headed out, jogging up the stairs before she had time to chicken out. Rima was supposed to give her a ride, but she had taken Georgia’s place on kitchen duty.
When she reached the dining room she was surprised to see Rocky there.
He had obviously gotten ready for his dinner out too. He was wearing a pressed white shirt that made him look like the billionaire on the cover of a romance novel. His dark hair was still wet from the shower and a lock fell rakishly over one of his eyes as he got up from the table to greet her.
“Rima said I should give you a ride,” he said. “Since I’m going out too.”
Damn it. Damn, damn, damn.
But Georgia could hardly object.
“Fine,” she said, pressing her lips together to stop herself from saying anything else.
He opened the door for her and she stepped out into the moonlight. They headed down the stairs and out to the car in silence.
Rocky opened her door, a heartbreakingly gallant gesture.
He got in on the driver’s side and closed the door.
For a moment, Georgia lost herself in the proximity to his big, masculine body. He smelled like woodsy aftershave.
All she wanted was to scramble over the seat and straddle him, bracing her back against the steering wheel and grinding herself against his crisp blue jeans while staring into those dark brown eyes.
But he turned the key, and the engine of the old station wagon coughed to life.
“You’re a good driver,” she remarked. She’d seen him do it before, but she couldn’t think of anything else to say.
“I learned your entire language and the culture of your race,” he reminded her. “We successfully navigated to a speck in the vastness of space, using technology that the most brilliant minds of this planet could not begin to comprehend. You thought I would find it difficult to learn to operate a motor vehicle?”
“Sorry,” she blushed.
He grinned, obviously teasing her.
“That’s okay,” he told her. “Actually, it was kind of tricky to learn to maneuver this conveyance. Turns out it only goes backwards and forwards - not side to side, or back in time.”
“What?” she asked.
“I’m only kidding,” he said. “You want to be dropped off in town, right?”
The mirth went out of his tone at that last bit.
“Yes, at his office,” she said quietly.
They were silent a moment, then she couldn’t help herself.
“Where are you, um, headed?” she asked.
“We’re going to have dinner at a restaurant called Moon Bouncers,”
he said.
Oh, man, that was the outer space themed bar where all the waitresses wore really tight shirts and flirted with any guy with a pulse.
Earl was sending a lot of mixed signals.
Which was giving Georgia even more to be jealous about.
Well, smart girls didn’t get jealous, they moved on. That would have been easier just about anyplace other than the inside of a car, with Mr. Gorgeous a foot away from her on the seat, but she tried her best.
“I hope you have a nice time,” she told him.
“Thank you,” he said. “You too.”
Georgia tried not to rejoice too much when she saw the tension in his jaw.
Too soon, he was pulling up in front of the sleek office building where Briggs worked.
Rocky cut the engine, and Georgia unstrapped her seat belt and opened the door right away.
“Georgia,” Rocky said, his deep voice stopping her as surely as if he’d put a hand on her shoulder.
She turned back to him.
“Are you sure you want to meet with him alone?” he asked.
Rocky’s handsome face was sorrowful. She could see that he wanted nothing more in the world than to protect her, no matter how much she insisted she didn’t need protecting.
Suddenly Georgia wasn’t so sure about her plan.
“Miss Taylor,” a male voice said from the sidewalk.
Briggs.
“I’ll be fine,” she told Rocky, and hopped from the car before she had time to reconsider, nearly smacking her head on the way out.
22
Georgia
Georgia sat at a clear glass table covered in candles, overlooking the Stargazer skyline, such as it was.
Briggs had explained to her that this eight story building was the tallest in town, which was why she could see over the town square, the few blocks of shops and the empty miles that surrounded it stretching out in utter darkness to what only the star line told her was the horizon.
She thought she was only meeting him here, but as it turned out, he wanted her to have dinner with him in his office building. Though she was admittedly creeped out that they wouldn’t be in a public place, she had calmed herself down. He was a reprehensible human being but she had no reason to believe he was violent, and she could take care of herself.
“Champagne?” Briggs offered.
She shook her head. It would be best to stay as level headed as possible.
“Maybe later, then,” he said, looking disappointed.
“Maybe,” she agreed.
“Perhaps it’s best not to drink until after we’ve signed an NDA,” he suggested.
“Why in the world would we need to sign a non-disclosure agreement?” Georgia asked, truly shocked.
Briggs pressed his lips together in a condescending smile.
“Miss Taylor, surely you understand that a man in my position must take steps to protect himself from… enterprising women.”
She blinked at him and he rolled his eyes as if to indicate the grandeur of the room.
Jesus Christ. One BDSM novel goes viral and every two bit businessman in America thinks he’s Christian Gray.
“Carlton, I assure you I am not after your money,” Georgia told him.
He smiled, brilliant white teeth flashing against his tan skin.
“I’m glad to hear it. But we’ll sign anyway, just in case.”
He slid a sheaf of paper across the table to her and offered her a pen.
“What does this say?” she asked, without taking the pen.
“Standard stuff - that you won’t share anything we talk about or do, that kind of thing.”
He flashed that smile again, the one that didn’t reach his eyes, and she was reminded of a snake observing its prey. The fancy boots probably didn’t help.
“I’ll have my attorney look at it,” she said, smiling and grabbing the document to shove it in her purse. He must be insane to think she would sign anything, knowing what he tricked Dr. Bhimani into.
He had a stunned look on his face, though, and he slammed his hand down on the paper, pinning it to the table.
“Just for tonight, we’ll skip it,” he said, sliding it back to himself.
“Thanks,” Georgia smiled sweetly, hoping to make him comfortable again so she could get him talking.
He smiled back, more genuine this time, blue eyes crinkling behind his glasses. He was almost handsome with that silver hair and strong jawline.
“So you’ve lived in Stargazer all your life?” she asked him.
“Let’s cut the chit-chat and talk about how you made it look like your churchy boyfriend was flying,” he purred.
23
Rocky
Rocky looked around uncertainly. He had come to the place Earl had asked him to meet, but all he saw around him were women. And the women weren’t wearing much.
“Rocky,” Earl said, walking up to clap him on the shoulder really hard. “How’s it hanging?”
“Hello, Earl,” Rocky said politely, not sure how to answer the question.
“You hungry, man?” Earl asked.
“Yes,” Rocky said, glad that here was something he was sure of.
“Okay, great. I got us a spot already,” Earl said, leading the way to a booth in a corner overlooking the parking lot.
Earl sat on one side, so Rocky sat down opposite him.
A woman approached the table. Her auburn colored hair caught Rocky’s attention immediately. But of course this wasn’t Georgia. Georgia was on the other side of town. He turned his thoughts away from what she might be doing.
“Hey, Earl, who’s your friend?” the woman asked, looking Rocky over appreciatively.
“This is Rocky,” Earl said.
The woman bent low over Rocky so that he could see her mammaries trying to burst over the top of her thin shirt.
“I’m Rayetta,” she said with a big smile. “But I can be your Adrian anytime.”
“Hello, Rayetta,” he replied, hoping he was using the right name and trying not to look at her breasts.
“You’re a good looking guy,” she said. “Where you from, sweetie?”
“I’m not from around here,” he told her, gazing directly into her eyes and hoping she didn’t ask a follow-up question.
“Damn straight,” she told him with a wink. “I would have remembered you.”
He winked back politely.
“I get off work at eleven,” she told him.
“That’s nice,” he said. “You’ll be able to go home and relax.”
He was surprised to hear Earl chuckle across the booth.
“Aw, shut up, Earl Road,” Rayetta said, straightening up. “What’cha want to eat?”
“Cheeseburger and a beer,” he replied. “Rocky?”
“Yes, please, that sounds good,” Rocky agreed.
Rayetta nodded and sashayed away, muttering something about which team Rocky was playing for. This was odd because he wasn’t aware that there was a competition. Perhaps she was referring to the games at the Fall Festival. Which made him wonder exactly why Earl had asked him to meet. He hoped there would be no contention.
“Were you very unhappy when your team was not victorious at the Fall Festival?” he asked Earl plainly.
“What?” Earl asked. “Oh. No, man, no it’s cool. You won fair and square. I’m a man of my word.”
“I, too, am a man of my word,” Rocky said. “When the years have passed for our park, I will assist you in removing every trace of the equipment from the land so that you may plant your seeds in it.”
Earl nodded thoughtfully.
“You sure have a poetic way of talking,” he observed.
“Thank you,” Rocky said, hoping his way of talking wasn’t giving away to the other man that he had not always been human.
Rayetta reappeared with two frothy glasses of golden liquid.
“Be back in a minute with your burgers, boys,” she said.
Rocky studied the bubbles rising in the glas
s. He knew the solution was made of fermented yeast.
“Bottoms up, brother,” Earl said, raising his glass.
Rocky raised his too.
Then he drank.
It was awful.
He sputtered and let most of it slosh back into the glass.
“Whoa, what’s wrong there?” Earl asked.
“It, uh, went down the wrong way,” Rocky croaked.
“Are you nervous?” Earl asked with a warm smile.
“Yes,” Rocky admitted.
“Me too, it’s been a long time,” Earl said, giving him a significant look.
Rocky nodded, though unfortunately he could not figure out what the significance was.
Rayetta came back with the burgers. They looked delicious.
“Here ya’ go,” she said.
She leaned against the booth as Rocky put ketchup on his fries.
“So what’s it like?” she asked.
“What’s what like?” Rocky asked her.
“You know, not being into girls?” she said.
“I don’t follow,” Rocky said, realizing he had put too much ketchup on his fries.
Another waitress had come up to lean on the booth with Rayetta.
“I mean, being gay,” Rayetta explained. “Not being attracted to woman. Must be tough for a guy who looks like you.”
Earl coughed loudly. Rocky puzzled the meaning of the woman’s words. He wished again Georgia were there. She always had the most patient way of explaining thing to him.
“I am happy,” he said. “And I am attracted to women. It is one of the reasons for my happiness.”
“You are?” Rayetta asked.
“Then why aren’t you staring at our tits?” the other girl demanded hotly, hitching up her undergarments to display them more prominently, as though he may have failed to notice them somehow.
“It would be rude,” Rocky said. “Besides, I am in love.”
“You are?” Earl asked, sounding baffled.
