The Alien Reindeer’s Bounty (A Winter Starr Book 6)

by Nancey Cummings

  Such baloney. Stick and stones hurt, and words also hurt.

  And she had no clue while it was happening. None. He didn’t trust her to share his secret and she was a horrible friend who didn’t recognize when her best friend walked on eggshells around his father.

  “He was a really great friend to have growing up, better than I deserved, but I really don’t know what he’s been up to lately. I’m sorry I can’t help you,” she said.

  Mads

  Mads turned the fire pearl over in his hands. The motion helped organize his thoughts.

  He had hope, and hope was a dangerous emotion. It hurt as much as it bolstered dreams and made no distinction between attainable results and fantasy.

  Karl came to Earth hoping to find a way to slow or even reverse the degenerative disease destroying his people. That hope failed to deliver, ruined Karl’s career, destroyed his relationship with his brother, and kept him isolated on Earth, living and working in an abandoned warehouse. Karl lost everything except his hope.

  Was he on the same desolate path as his uncle?

  He could see the life he wanted, yet it remained just out of his grasp.

  He liked Earth. He felt comfortable on the planet in a way he had never felt on Reilen. He loved Odessa. The first glimpse of her aura nearly blinded him with its radiance and playful colors. He had been young, yes, but he knew they would be mates. All he desired was a future with his mate and her calf, on Earth, away from the interference of Reilen and toxic reilendeer superiority.

  All he needed to do was find a way to remain on Earth and to win Odessa’s heart. Simple.

  He unfurled the tool kit, revealing chisels and hammers suitable for stonework. The tools were small, machined for delicate work. Again, he turned over the fire pearl. The stone belonged to Odessa. He knew that the moment he saw the rough stone gleam in the sun.

  The red light blinked on the communication unit. “Status update requested.”

  Mads carefully composed his reply. “Subject is no longer with the university that employed him. I am following potential leads to his current whereabouts.”

  There. That should satisfy Svallin.

  Mads hated to deceive his friend, especially since Svallin used his influence to get Mads the contract, but he had no intention of apprehending his uncle.

  Or returning to Reilen.

  The return reply came instantly. “Stop fucking with me. What are you doing? I’ve got higher-ups breathing down my neck, convinced you’re going to disappear like your crazy uncle. I swore you could be trusted. Don’t make me a liar.”

  Svallin did not mince words.

  Mads disliked misleading his friend, but he would, to obtain his ultimate goal. It was a treacherous path but necessary. He was sure Karl felt the same way, once.

  Chapter 10

  Odessa

  “We’re heading over to Pour House when our shift ends,” Bonnie said, hands hooked in the back pockets of her jeans. “Want to come?”

  The invitation came every Friday without fail and Odessa always declined. “No one wants to hang out with their boss after work,” she said.

  Bonnie rolled her eyes. “I thought you were smart.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “I wouldn’t keep inviting you if I didn’t want to hang out with you. Obviously.”

  “You’re just being polite,” Odessa said. At least, that’s how she always labeled the invitations, as polite-but-not-really-a sincere-invite. A non-invite, really.

  “And what are you doing tonight that’s better? Oh!” Bonnie clapped her hands in excitement and rocked up on her toes. “Do you have a date with that hot guy who asked you out but then you yelled at him? Did you change your mind because he was so patient and didn’t get rattled even though you were huffing and puffing and all red in the face?”

  Bonnie finally took a breath and stopped talking. She tilted her head to the side, like a dog waiting for a command.

  Odessa pushed back the stray hairs that escaped from her ponytail, tucking them behind her ear. Bonnie was the closest person she had to a friend, which was sad because Bonnie was her employee. “I’ve got a hot date with the laundry,” she said.

  “Lame. Come out with us and dance.”

  Lame or not, it wasn’t an excuse; she really did have a mountain of laundry waiting at home. Ruby spent every Friday night with the Beckers, so she was free to go out for drinks. No one would judge her. She knew exactly the last time she went out to have fun because that night resulted in Ruby.

  But she also really wanted to fold laundry and watch an adult movie—not that kind of adult movie, just something stronger than a G rating—with cursing and maybe a naked butt.

  Beer or butts.

  Decisions, decisions.

  “One beer,” Odessa said. Bonnie clapped and bounced, the standard Bonnie response to good news. “I’m down to my last pair of clean underwear, so laundry has to happen.” And maybe she could watch a few episodes of that new sci-fi show where the sexy astronauts stray off course and they end up in their underwear, for some reason. She didn’t pay attention to the trailer, okay, before she added it to her video queue.

  “Ew. TMI, boss.”

  “Oh, sure, act like you’re not impressed with all this glamour.”

  Loud and crowded, the bar basically embodied everything Odessa hated.

  She found Bonnie at a table in the back, along with Tina and two other women she didn’t recognize. Bonnie waved a hand and made quick introductions. The women were Alyse—she of the infamous coffee shop butt grab—and Luz. Or Liz. Again, the bar was loud. They ordered burgers, fries, and far more wings than Odessa thought possible for four people to consume, but as she licked the sweet chili Polynesian sauce from her fingers, she had zero regrets.

  “So, what happened with the hot guy?” Bonnie shouted across the table.

  All eyes at the table fixed on her.

  “He’s not a hot guy,” Odessa said, lying through her teeth. “He’s my friend from high school. That’s all.”

  “He’s that guy she’s been hung up on for ten years,” Bonnie told the table. “The guy who every guy is in competition with.”

  “Tell me everything,” Tina said.

  “I don’t know what you think I know,” Odessa started.

  “I know you never go out, even though you have plenty of game,” Bonnie said.

  “Whatever that is, I don’t have it.” She wore basic clothes to work and hadn’t indulged in a salon hairstyle in years. Two weeks ago, she spilled expired milk on her shoes and they still smelled like yogurt.

  “You really don’t see the way people look at you, huh? Trust me, plenty of guys check you out. Like that silver fox over there.” Bonnie pointed to a man with graying hair at the bar.

  He stared at their table, but Odessa didn’t think she was the reason. Bonnie, Tina, and Luz—or Liz, she really needed to know but too much time had passed to ask without it being awkward—were younger and prettier.

  “You could date if you wanted,” Bonnie said.

  Odessa sighed. She didn’t want to date, not really. She hid behind Ruby as an excuse, but she fell hard for Mads a long time ago and never got back up. He was it for her. She couldn’t see the point in dating when she couldn’t offer her heart.

  And now he was back.

  The situation made her nervous and excited and a bit warm and fuzzy, like the sensation she got after a hard apple cider. It made no sense because she should be upset, bitter and angry, not fighting back a grin whenever she thought of him and his warm brown eyes and those dumb, kissable lips—

  “Damn. If I ever found someone that made me look the way you do right now, I’d never let them go,” Tina said.

  Her phone vibrated with a text message from Mads.

  I salted your steps.

  You didn’t have to, she replied.

  And I replaced the lightbulb in the front hall.

  Why are you in my house? She felt more amused than upset. How he got
into her house, she already knew. She kept a spare key stuck to the inside of the mailbox with a magnet, the same system her parents used. Mystery solved.

  I’m helping so you don’t fall on icy steps in the dark, and then you’ll be stuck in bed with a broken foot and I’d have to make you soup. You’re welcome, he texted back.

  That wouldn’t happen.

  I can make good soup. Okay, adequate soup. Can I claim to make the soup if I open a can and heat it? Because that’s the quality of soup you’d be getting if you fell on the ice and needed to be nursed back to health. You don’t want that.

  She nearly laughed, covering her mouth to hide her grin. Threatening me with subpar soup and care, plus you broke into my house. Someone’s on Santa’s naughty list. She sent her reply before she could question if it sounded too flirty, because it totally sounded flirty.

  He responded with a leering red-horned devil emoji.

  Oh no, you figured out how to use emojis.

  That earned her a GIF of a dancing kitten wearing a sombrero.

  She snorted, loud like a pig snuffling happily in the mud.

  “What are you doing?” Bonnie asked, suspiciously.

  “Nothing.” Odessa pulled her phone into her lap, screen side down. “Ruby is sending me her Christmas wish list. She’s calculated how many times she has to wash the dishes to get a cellphone.”

  “Uh-huh.” Bonnie turned away, more interested in her beer than Odessa’s lies.

  What are you doing?

  What are you doing in my house? she replied.

  Manly things with my manly tools, spreading my manliness around.

  Don’t spread your man tools around my house. Gross.

  My manly tools or my man tool? Another devil emoji. Do you want to see my man tool?

  No. Absolutely not.

  Okay, only because you asked real pretty-like, which makes this a consensual tool pic, he wrote.

  It is not a consensual tool pic. Don’t. You. Dare.

  Three dots blinked on the screen. Odessa waited, ready to delete a dick pic but also super curious and more than a little excited.

  A well-used red monkey wrench with tape wrapped around the handle filled the screen.

  That’s MY monkey wrench, she wrote, giggling.

  Giggling.

  Actually, I think it’s your father’s, which makes this joke weird, but I’m committed.

  Are you fourteen? You think this ridiculous dick joke is funny?

  He sent a GIF of a kitten covering its adorable face with its teeny-tiny paws, like it was in shock. You’re laughing.

  I am not.

  I can tell when you lie, Dessa. You like my manly tool.

  He sent another picture, this one with the monkey wrench placed seductively against his mouth while he smoldered for the camera.

  “What is so funny?” Bonnie snatched the phone out of Odessa’s hands. “I, uh, I don’t understand what’s going on here.”

  “Mads is being stupid.” Broke into her house, did minor chores, and sent a suggestive photo with her father’s tool. “Super stupid.”

  “That guy you hate?” Bonnie scrolled up through the text conversation. “Seems like you got over that.”

  Alyse gasped. “You said you weren’t interested in him.”

  “We had coffee and pie,” Odessa confessed. The phone vibrated with another text.

  I showed you my tool. Pls respond.

  “Oooh,” Bonnie whistled. “Is that what the kids are calling it nowadays?”

  “What? No. We talked. Nothing happened.” Last Friday, he came over and they talked. Just talked, about everything and nothing. The conversation was easy, like they hung out every evening after work and didn’t have a twelve-year gap between them. And they started texting each other a lot.

  Having dinner with friends. Can’t talk now, she typed back.

  “Except you’re glowing,” Luz—or Liz—added, finally joining the conversation.

  “And sending dirty pictures to each other,” Bonnie added.

  “I’m not glowing,” Odessa protested automatically. “It’s the beer and it’s warm in here.”

  “Sure,” Bonnie said, giggling.

  “I sign your paychecks, you know.”

  Bonnie rolled her eyes. “Way to kill the mood. We almost believed you were a human under all that bossiness.”

  Yup. Time to go home. The beer loosened Bonnie’s tongue and Odessa needed to leave before her best employee said something she couldn’t take back.

  “It’s been a scream, ladies, but someone’s gotta do the laundry.” Odessa tossed two twenties on the table, which should cover more than her fair share of the bill.

  “Sure, laundry is what you’re going to do,” Alyse said wistfully.

  Outside, fluffy flakes drifted through the early December air. Lampposts created pools of light in the darkened parking lot. Odessa hustled into her car, turned the engine over, and pulled her scarf over her nose while she waited for the interior to warm up.

  When her breath no longer hung in the air, she headed out. The drive normally took fifteen minutes. While the snow failed to stick to the road, she drove cautiously. Her first time driving in icy weather, she slid off the road and slammed the back half of her car into a fencepost. She never wanted to repeat that sickening sensation of moving with zero control and then coming to a sudden stop.

  Mentally, she went over her task list. The unfortunate underwear situation was true, so that had to happen. Packages filled with Ruby’s Christmas gifts arrived from the internet, carefully hidden in the garage. She’d like to get those wrapped and under the tree. The ones from Santa would remain hidden in the locked storage chest, but she should wrap them tonight while she had a chance.

  Last year, Ruby went snooping and found a shopping bag of stocking stuffers crammed in the back of Odessa’s closet. As far as uninventive hiding places went, closets were at the top of the list. Odessa had it coming, which is why she bought the plastic storage chest in the summer, claiming she needed a place to stash gardening gloves and whatnots.

  The snow melted instantly when it touched the windshield. The wipers beat a steady rhythm, clearing away the melted flakes.

  Earlier in the day, she considered inviting Mads over, but he was already at her house doing who knows what. Oddly, Mads using the spare key to let himself in didn’t bother her. It felt right.

  They could watch a movie or something while she wrapped presents. A week had passed since their coffee and pie date—not that kind of date—and they texted every day, but she hadn’t spoken to him.

  Which was fine. She had work. He knew that. They were both adults with responsibilities. A few texts, some of which might be considered flirtatious, was all the socializing she could handle.

  If she invited him to stay for a movie, would he think it was a booty call? She chewed her bottom lip, thinking. Did she want it to be a booty call?

  Mentally, she wasn’t there yet, considering that she hadn’t had a casual hook-up since… Well, since the night that made Ruby, to be honest. She wanted more than a booty call and hoped Mads felt the same.

  She didn’t want to give him the wrong impression. Sex was awesome and all, but last week had been fun. Honestly fun. She laughed until she couldn’t catch her breath and her sides ached. She wanted more of that.

  She wanted more of Mads, too. She wanted his hands on her. She wanted him above her, holding her down on the bed, and then inside her. Filling her.

  For a moment, her mind spun in place, imagining Mads without his shirt. Or pants. Or anything. Maybe just a scarf. Or a Santa Hat.

  Yeah. She’d let him keep his hat on.

  He probably had the kind of abs that came in a six-pack. He should have sent her a picture of that instead of his monkey wrench.

  Part of her felt it was too soon to start thinking about sex, that she should be ashamed of her desires, but the responsible part of her brain recognized that as bullshit. The time to think about what she wanted f
rom a relationship with Mads was now, before they got too involved and intertwined. She had more to think about than just herself and her libido. She had Ruby to consider.

  Her goblin had met Mads twice. Whatever relationship they had—lovers or friendly neighbors—would impact her daughter so Odessa needed to have a good long think about that.

  That fizzy, warm sensation that had nothing to do with alcohol came back.

  “If he’s still there when I get home, I’ll ask him to stay,” she said, filling the silence. There. Dilemma over.

  She wanted Mads. She had wanted Mads from the very start, when she discovered a barefoot ten-year-old boy in the forest wearing an antler headband and no shirt. He smiled at her and took her hand, despite being strangers, and she felt like the most important person in the world. That want to have him in her life changed and morphed as they grew. From friendship to awkward first crush to first kiss and then a broken heart, she navigated the way forward with limited visibility like headlights piercing the darkness in a snowstorm.

  The car shuddered.

  Odessa immediately lifted her foot from the gas pedal and the car slowed, the tire thumping wildly. The back end slid but front tires maintained traction.

  Freaking flat tire.

  She eased the car to the side of the road and finally stopped. The snow had picked up and came down in heavy flakes. The mechanical clicking of the hazard lights filled the cabin. Checking her phone, she had two bars of reception. Wonderful. Crummy reception and a long wait for the auto club to send someone out, no doubt, because car trouble only happened during bad weather. She’d have to change the tire herself.

  No problem. She could do that. It had been a while since she last changed a tire and she had a spare tire, jack and tire iron in the trunk.

  Just to save herself the frostbite, she tried calling the auto club, but the call failed. Resigned to cold toes and frozen fingers, she wrapped her scarf tight, zipped up her coat, and lifted the hood.