Catching Stardust (22 page)

Jude set two new cups of coffee on the table and slid back into his place in the booth. “So, I figure we need to call your friends at NASA first, then we need to call the FBI because this could be some serious Area 51-style shit, and we need to contact our lawyers to figure out all the legality of this to protect our new asset.”

NASA? The FBI?

Images of Area 51 aliens bound to hard, metal exam tables came to mind. Only instead of some trumped up vision of a little green man with a huge head and big black eyes, he saw sweet, beautiful Maia lying prone on the table, terror in her eyes.

Zander cringed. He couldn’t do it. He couldn’t put Maia through all of that. This had to end here, now. Jude had to be stopped. If he let Jude go through with this—if Jude called all those organizations—Maia would be taken away. She’d be locked up, studied, scrutinized, interrogated…hurt.

Stacking the most important papers into one pile, Zander grasped them in both hands and ripped them down the middle. He torn them again and again, trying to destroy the evidence and in turn destroy Jude’s dream.

“What are you doing?” Jude yelled, drawing attention to their table for the first time. “Stop!”

“This is for your own good, Jude,” Zander said, forcing a stern expression onto his face. “You have to stop all of this nonsense. This isn’t healthy. I think you might actually be…sick.”

The look of hurt on Jude’s face gnawed away at Zander’s resolve. It sucked having to hurt either of the people he cared about, but if it had to be one or the other, he’d much rather see this pain on his friend rather than on Maia. At least Jude’s pain was fairly superficial unlike the pain that Maia would have to endure in an interrogation.

“I can’t believe you just did that.” Jude slumped back into the booth, the life and excitement visibly drained out of him. “I can’t believe you destroyed all my work, all my research. Why?”

“Because it’s not real. You’re letting yourself get carried away on a tangent again.” Zander swallowed the lump in his throat. It hurt more than he thought it would to crush Jude’s hopes and dreams like a bug on the sidewalk. But it had to be done. “This evidence you think you have doesn’t make sense.”

“It does. If you would have looked at the numbers I could have explained how I got them.”

“Stop. It’s over. You need to get over this thing you have against Maia. She’s not from space. Oh my god, do you even hear how stupid it is to say that out loud?” Zander forced a laugh and dramatically rubbed his forehead. He could see Jude’s determination and confidence crumbling, falling away. “This notion that Maia is some kind of…alien,” he continued, dropping his voice, “has got to end. It’s ridiculous. You’re lucky you told me and not someone else. You could be locked in a padded room with this kind of talk.”

“But,” Jude said weakly, his voice barely over a whisper.

“But nothing. I looked at your evidence and I’m sorry, Jude. I don’t see anything to convince me or anyone else that what you believe is true. You have no valid evidence.”

“I thought,” he trailed off, collecting the little scraps of paper into a pile. He pulled two pieces from the heap and tried to connect them like pieces of a puzzle. “It was right here.”

Taking the scraps back, Zander scooped the papers off the table and walked behind the counter, dumping the papers into the trash bin moments before the barista dumped a container of wet coffee grounds on top.

Zander joined Jude again. “I’m sorry, but that had to be done. Now why don’t you work on the presentation you’re giving next week on calculating the distance of stars using our intergalactic compass and GPS system? The IGPS is one of our flagship personal space travel gadgets and it’s going to take multiple tries to get the presentation right before we even think about approaching new investors.”

Jude twisted his napkin in his fingers but didn’t say anything.

Zander sighed. Seeing his friend with his dreams crushed sucked. “Or better yet, go home and get some sleep.”

Jude pulled out a large map of the sky over the northern hemisphere and unfolded it. “I think I’ve had too much coffee to sleep.”

“Maybe you should get some fresh air. Take a walk or something.”

Jude stared at the map with unblinking eyes. “Maybe.”

“Are you okay?”

Jude nodded but didn’t say anything.

Zander held back his own disgust at having just betrayed the best friend he’d ever had. He’d done what he’d had to. He’d done what was right. He’d protected Maia.

The overwhelming urge to wrap her in his arms, to feel her body pressed against his, suddenly struck him. He needed to get back to her—make sure she was okay.

“I gotta run. You sure you’re okay?” Zander asked, standing beside the table.

“I’m fine. Just drained.”

“Go home and do us both a favor, get some rest.”

Zander turned and wove his way back through the busy restaurant, thankful he’d been able to convince Jude that his evidence was wrong. Now Maia wouldn’t have to worry. Stepping aside, he held the door open for two women coming into the café. Just as he was about to walk out himself, another person pushed through the small space.

The man towered over Zander, nearly filling the entire doorway, peering down at him as he passed. A twinkle of stars glinted off the man’s irises, so faint someone could easily have thought it was just a reflection of light from the sun streaming in the door.

Zander looked away quickly and walked out onto the street. Best not to draw attention to the fact that he knew what he was looking at. Just because Maia trusted him with the knowledge didn’t mean that everyone else in the universe would appreciate her letting him in on their secret.

Apparently Maia wasn’t the only alien in town.

He walked to the curb and raised his arm to hail a taxi. As he waited for a car to stop, he couldn’t help but glance back through the window to check on Jude, who appeared to be talking to someone now sitting in the booth where Zander had been only moments before. It looked as if he was showing the person something on the star map. Hopefully Jude would know better than to tell some random stranger his theories about Maia. If not, it was Jude’s own fault if he found himself in a padded room later.

“Hey, man, you want a ride or not?” a cab driver called out the open window. The taxi had stopped right in front of Zander without him even noticing.

“Yep,” he said, hopping into the cab. He quickly told the driver the address of his apartment and leaned back into the seat, relief washing over him that his conversation with Jude was done. He couldn’t take any more suspicion from Jude, not if he wanted to protect Maia and her secret.

And he did want to protect her, didn’t he?

Stifling a yawn, he glanced at his watch. It was quarter past ten already but someone needed to tell his body it wasn’t still the middle of the night. Staying out late and being involved in extra-curricular activities all night was starting to catch up with him. His body didn’t feel as young as it had in college. He desperately needed more rest.

Good thing he was heading to his apartment. And to Maia.

Of course seeing her lying naked in his bed again probably wouldn’t be very conducive to sleep. Sleep was overrated.

Chapter
Eighteen

Maia startled as the front door to Zander’s apartment opened. She stopped pacing the living room floor and bolted for the bedroom door. She hid behind it, pulling it all the way open so she was tucked safely between it and the wall. It wasn’t much of a hiding place, but if Zander returned with the authorities, it might be her only chance to make a run for it before they caught her.

And she couldn’t let them catch her.

She’d seen pictures of what they did to people like her here on Earth. Those pictures were mandatory viewing before traveling to Earth as a solid reminder of why not to blow your cover.

But Zander wouldn’t bring the authorities to her, would he? He said he was going to deal with Jude and keep her secret safe. She’d wanted so desperately to believe he would keep his word that she stayed and waited for his return. Now her pulse raced and she feared she’d made a horrible mistake staying when she’d had the chance to escape.

“Maia, are you here?” Zander called from the living room.

Her breath caught in her throat. This was it—the moment she’d learn if he were a man of his word or not.
Please be alone.
She peeked through the crack where the door met the wall. Zander moved toward the bedroom. No one else appeared to be in the room.

“Maia,” he called out again, his voice filled with concern.

She breathed out a sigh and slumped against the wall for a moment before stepping out from behind the door. “I’m here.” 

He jumped and turned, a flash of surprise on his face. “Oh thank god. I was worried you’d left.” He pulled her into his arms and kissed her on the forehead. “It’s going to be okay. Your secret is still safe.”

The scent of Zander surrounded her—warm and manly—and made her want to crawl right back into bed for a repeat performance of their night’s activities. She melted into him, comforted by his strength and his words. She’d known he wouldn’t give her away. “What happened with Jude?”

Zander rubbed her back in lazy circles as he spoke. “It didn’t go well. But I think I convinced him his evidence was nothing more than a pipe dream.”

She pulled back to stare into his eyes. “You
think
you convinced him, or you
did
convince him? Because that makes a big difference in my state of well-being.”

“Did convince. I’m sure of it. And just for good measure, I tore up his evidence and threw it away.” She saw sadness in his eyes. “I crushed his dreams. I’m an awful friend.”

She reached up and held his face in both hands. “No, you’re a great friend to me. That took a lot of guts and courage and…” she said quietly as her voice broke. “I can’t thank you enough for protecting me. For turning on your friend.”

Zander dropped his arms and collapsed onto the bed, covering his face with his hands. “What have I done to him? He’s never going to forgive me for this. Maybe I should have trusted him with the truth. He’s been my buddy for years. He wouldn’t tell a soul if I asked him to stay quiet about all of this.”

Maia didn’t know what to say so she just stayed quiet and perched on the edge of the bed. He’d done the right thing for her, but had he done the right thing for himself? Was he going to change his mind?

“I’m so sorry,” she whispered the words. She wasn’t sorry to be safe, but she was sorry to have been the cause of his pain. “I shouldn’t have asked you to do go against Jude, but I have no other option. There’s no way I can support telling someone else.” She stood from the bed and moved toward the door. “If you think you can’t go on without telling him the truth, then tell me now.”

“Don’t go.” He sat up, his gaze penetrating into hers. She ignored the distracting sexy time thoughts threatening to infiltrate her mind. “I’ll get over it and he’ll never be the wiser. We’ll make up a believable back-story about who you are and where you’re from and he’ll have no choice left but to accept you. He’ll move on to a new discovery, just like he always does.”

“Are you sure?” She hesitated by the door.

“I’m positive. Now stop worrying and come back to my bed.”

He grinned one of his super sexy grins at her and she found her legs moving her toward the bed as if they had brains of their own. Not that she really minded. If he really believed she was safe now, then there was no reason to leave Zander and his warm, cozy bed behind and flee.

She stood by the side of the bed. He wrapped his arms around her waist, burying his head into her stomach, his breath tickling her skin beneath the thin shirt she dug out of his closet after he’d left.

“Have I mentioned yet how crazy sexy you look wearing my shirt and gym shorts?”

She blushed. She’d never been so bold to go through someone’s closet and scrounge for clothes before, but desperate times called for desperate measures and there was no way she was getting back into the tight, uncomfortable dress she’d worn to the charity event last night. She should have been smarter and planned ahead with a little overnight bag instead of a clutch.

“You haven’t, but you don’t need to. I can see your approval of my outfit in your eyes.”

“Do you know what else I’d like to see you in?”

She shook her head.

“My bed. Naked. Sweating. Gasping for breath.”

Too tempting. She climbed on top of him, straddling his lap. Raising her arms, he pulled the shirt over her head, letting it fall to the floor behind her. As his tongue flickered across her taut nipple, she’d never been more thankful that he’d turned out to be the good guy she thought he was.

And she was thankful for his tongue. Oh sweet heavenly Gaia, he knew how to use it.

She tugged on his hair enough to make him break his concentration on her breast and look up. When he did, she pressed her lips to his, opening her mouth to invite his delicious tongue inside.

He grasped her butt in his hands, pressing his arousal for her into the junction of her thighs. She squirmed against him, trying to feel as much of his length as she possibly could.