by Zara Zenia
Apparently, I had been too eager to get outside. I'd been standing in the cold air for fifteen minutes. There was still no sign of the Prince, but he wasn't due for another five. Too little time to go back up to my room. Fresh air, even with the early bite of winter, was better for my flopping stomach than the stale air in the lobby.
I hadn't been this nervous for a date in years. The night of my first date with Tony, I barely remembered I had a date that evening. Maybe that was my mind's subtle way of telling me to forget I ever met that loser in the first place. But Prince Lortnam was different.
For one thing, I was pretty sure I wouldn't find him in bed with another woman a few weeks into our brand-new relationship. For another, if he found out who I really was and what I did for a living, he would probably have my ass thrown in jail.
A soft whooshing sound appeared suddenly, alerting me to the arrival of the Prince's transport. My stomach clenched as the silver vehicle lowered to the ground. It stopped and hovered two feet above the pavement, displacing a pile of leaves the street sweepers hadn't gotten to yet.
The door slid open and Prince Lortnam eased himself out of the cabin. He'd chosen an indigo tunic that night that was more casual than the one he'd worn for the press junket, but no less finely tailored. It covered his entire torso, yet somehow the shape hugged his body in all the right places, giving me a clear impression of his muscular chest. His slicked back hair highlighted the sharp angle of his jaw. When his icy blue eyes found mine, a smile erupted on his lips, brightening his whole face.
"Good evening, Kelly Fillmore," he said simply, holding his hand out to me.
My knees felt weak. I'd been on lots of dates before. Bad dates. Cheap dates. Weird dates in fun places I wanted to go back to but couldn't because I might run into the guy. Boring dates. Dates that would have been perfect if only the guy and I had an ounce of chemistry. And, of course, dates that only blew up in my face later, when a charming guy turned out to be a major asshole.
But this date? The date where a literal Prince Charming fell from the sky? I'd never been on this date. I didn't know how to be this girl and I sure as hell didn't know how not to get caught while faking it.
Every instinct I had told me to tell Lortnam I'd changed my mind. Instead, I reached out and took his hand. Warmth spread from his palm to my fingers, driving away the chill.
"Have you been waiting long?" The smile flipped to a frown as he looked down at my hand. "Your fingers feel cold."
Shit! Before I could pull away, Lortnam grabbed my other hand and clasped them between his, rubbing gently.
"Not long, I just had a few errands to run beforehand." Heaven help me if he asked what errands, because it was hard to lie and not melt into his touch at the same time.
"Hm. Well, I hope you've a healthy appetite tonight," he said, ushering me toward his transport. "It came highly recommended, and I'm told the food is excellent."
I nodded, but my stomach flipped again. When the Prince sent the restaurant for my approval, I checked the prices like an idiot. Since I was on a case, wherever he wanted to take me was where I wanted to go. But the place he picked hammered home how seriously he took the date. It wasn't the most expensive restaurant I'd ever eaten at, but it was in the top five.
"I'm sure it's fine," I said, plastering a smile to my lips. "I'm not a very fancy eater. Dinner for me is usually a pizza from the local delivery place. Sometimes stir-fried greens and beef with broccoli if I feel the need to be healthy."
"I can’t say whether the meal will be particularly healthy," Lortnam said, a look of worry creeping onto his face. "I ought to have asked your dietary requirements."
Something about the genuine concern made my heart melt. I smiled, reaching down to pat the Prince’s hand. "Like I said, I’m sure it’s fine."
If I made it through the night without getting caught or embarrassing myself, it would be a miracle of epic proportions.
I slid into the cabin of the vehicle and took a breath. The sensation of the ground falling away as the transport took flight wasn't as jarring the second time around. Or maybe I was so busy trying not to panic I hadn't noticed it.
Without warning, the Prince took my hand again. I looked up to see a pair of the most earnest eyes I'd ever encountered staring back at me.
"Are you all right, Kelly? You seem nervous."
Letting out a breath I hope he mistook for a laugh, I patted his hand gently. "It's a first date, your Highness."
"They don't get easier with time?" His brow furrowed and his frown deepened, as if the news that practice didn't diminish the performance anxiety was the most troubling news he'd heard all day.
"If the first date is easy, that's a universal bad sign."
The Prince was quiet for a few moments, before he spoke again. "Then I will take this feeling as a good sign."
Minutes after we'd taken off, the transport began its descent. Outside the window, the side of a red brick building rushed up to meet us. The Evergreen Hotel.
"Is he landing on top of the building?" I asked.
"Not on top," Lortnam said, the smile evident in his voice.
The small ship continued its descent, moving past the rooms and down into a courtyard positioned in the center of the building. When it settled to a stable hover, Lortnam pressed a button and both of our doors slid open. He turned to me, grinning.
"This was safest," he said.
"It's definitely unexpected," I said, unable to keep myself from smiling back. "But aren't you afraid of pissing off everybody else in the restaurant?"
"That won't be a problem." Lortnam climbed out of the car and crossed to my side. He ducked his head into the open door frame, offering a hand to me. "I came to an arrangement with the owner. Jezebel is ours for the night."
I swallowed hard. "No guards?"
His smile faltered. "They will be out of your sight the entire night if you wish it."
Taking his hand, I climbed out of the car. "I do, your Highness. No offense, I'm sure you feel safer having them close by, it's just..."
"There's no shame in living a life away from the threat of violence, Kelly," he said. "If more people were unaccustomed to it, the galaxy would be a better place. But I do have a request. No more formalities tonight. Please, just call me Lortnam."
"It took me a whole day to get into that habit, but I'll try." I took a breath to steady myself and motioned for Lortnam to lead the way.
According to the website Lortnam linked me to, the Evergreen hotel began life as a mansion for an industrialist in the late nineteenth century. It changed hands several times, notably landing in the city’s hands before finally being sold off to investors. In recent years, the building lived a new life as a boutique hotel for the original owner's modern-day equivalent.
A hostess greeted us at the glass doors that connected the courtyard to the restaurant. She took us to the back into a room she called the Treasury. The interior designers had slapped a fresh coat of cream paint on the brick walls and tucked recessed lighting into the new plaster ceiling, but the dining area still had the chill, heavy feel of a safe.
When the hostess disappeared— with promises that our waitress would be along shortly —Lortnam pulled out my chair for me. As he pulled away, his trembling fingers brushed the bare flesh of my arm. I realized— with a rush of relief —that he was as nervous as I was, albeit for different reasons. It was my first date of its kind, but it was his first date period.
"I have to say, I'm surprised you didn't cheat and rent a room somewhere and have your cook set up in the kitchen."
His sheepish smile was enough to put me at risk of melting again. "I confess, I considered it. In the end, it seemed better to sample the cuisine of your people if I'm interested in knowing you better. And I am interested in getting to know you better."
It was too bad his first date had to be with a woman who had an ulterior motive. Too bad for both of us. The waitress— who introduced herself as Wendy —appeared pushing a cart which
held a bottle the same shade of blue as Lortnam's tunic and two glasses.
"I did make one exception, which I hope you will forgive," he continued, taking both glasses from the cart and passing one to me. "My younger brother's island has the finest vintners on our planet. He just sent me a case of a newly mature vintage. The fruit it comes from is one of my favorites. It grows in only one brief season of the year."
Swirling the glass, I watched the peach-colored liquid inside intently, as if I knew what I was looking for. Fine wine wasn't one of my interests any more than fine dining, but the pleasantly fruity aroma made my mouth water. As I took a sip, an explosion of flavor erupted over my tongue. It was as if a passion fruit, green apple, and strawberry all had a baby and I was being introduced to it after it had spent a few years in Europe mellowing out.
"It's a good choice," I said, licking my lips. "So I'll forgive you."
Whether because of my gentle tease or because I enjoyed the wine, Lortnam's shoulders relaxed in apparent relief.
"I brought an additional bottle with me in case you enjoyed it. You can take a bottle home as my gift." He paused, furrowing his brow again. "Are gifts customary on dates?"
"Flowers are acceptable, but I happen not to care for them."
"Oh, you aren't fond of nature?"
"I enjoy nature," I said. "It's cut flowers I'm not a fan of. I understand the economics and the science, but it's always seemed a little morbid keeping dying plants around my house."
The Prince leaned back, his expression shifting to one of curiosity. "The economics?"
I tensed reflexively. Damn it, I got too comfortable for a second and forgot first date rule number one: don't be too nerdy too quickly. Well, I was ankle deep now. Might as well dive all the way in.
"People don't think about it, but anything that's sold has hundreds or thousands of people depending on a piece of that sale." I took another sip of wine to buy myself time to gauge his reaction. When he seemed not only not confused, but impressed, I continued.
"So I can sit here all high and mighty talking about how I'm too good to buy dead flowers, but that choice hurts somebody's ability to put food on the table. I know that, and I know being against them almost makes me a bit of a jerk, but I still don't like them.”
"And the science?" Lortnam asked, raising an eyebrow.
"It might be different for your people, but Humans do better emotionally when our environment is pretty. And when we do better emotionally, we do better physically. We also do best when we're near nature, even though we keep cramming ourselves into cities."
He nodded. "It is the same for my people. But if you object to cut and harvested flowers, where do you get your exposure to nature?"
"I go outside," I shrugged. "The park your fortress sits on is not too far from my apartment and it has a nice walking path."
Lortnam pursed his lips. "Baltimore has its charms, but it hardly counts as nature. Even the area my palace sits on is not very big.” He smiled and his eyes brightened. “You should see Norna some time. The forests there are so vast, you can walk for days and never meet another soul. Yet they are plentiful, if you know how to manage them."
"Do you miss it, Lortnam?" I asked, noting the wistful look in his eyes.
There was something about the dreamy tone in his voice when he said the name of his home that made me want to see it. I hadn't seen much of Earth, but nothing I had seen inspired that kind of reverence. Thanks to the potent alien wine buzzing in my brain, I could see the Prince and me walking in those wilds.
"More with each passing day," he said. "But I cannot go back until I take my wife with me."
The words brought me screeching back to reality. This wasn't a garden variety date, despite the perfectly manicured flower boxes in the courtyard. Both of us had an agenda.
"I wanted to ask about that, by the way. Why go to the trouble of setting up a date at all when your people use genetic scanners to determine compatibility?"
Lortnam hesitated for a second before opening his mouth to respond. My heart started to race in excitement. I hadn't really expected him to answer. But before he could, the waitress came back to take our orders. Lortnam ordered a steak, I ordered lamb loin and mushrooms. After Wendy left to deliver our order, he turned back to me.
"There are two answers to your question," he said. "One personal and one not. We have not shared this information with many people. The genetic scanners were damaged a few months ago and we haven’t been able to use them. Not that they worked terribly well to begin with."
"And the personal reason?"
Lortnam's piercing blue eyes stared into mine. The day we met, I thought they were cold, but as they looked at me, they seemed to burn hotter than any star.
"I enjoy your company, Kelly," he said in a deep tone. "That is a rarity for me among members of any species."
The longer I stared into Lortnam's eyes, the more the room seemed to narrow in focus around him. The case, Nora Morse, Mei and Tokyo, everything else that had been worrying me hours before seemed to fade away.
"That sounds like a lonely life, Lortnam," I said.
"Not always. My twin brother and I are close. And when I find my mate, we will live in my palace together."
"Your fortress," I said. "You should know most Human men don't bring up marriage quite so often on the first date. Just in case there's another one of these in your future."
As the words left my mouth, I knew I was hoping there wasn't another first date in Lortnam's immediate future. Not because I wanted anything to happen to him. Simply because— despite the shit circumstances and the gut-wrenching stakes —I was enjoying my time with him too. More than I had with any guy in recent memory.
Which was a problem, because as soon as he dropped me back at the hotel, I had to turn in my final report. Get a grip, woman! The world will have no use for Kelly Fillmore anymore, and Kelly Grant is going to be on a plane to Tokyo as soon as her last check clears. Right? Right!
My mind reeled as it fought between what it suddenly realized it wanted and what I had been sent here to do. Sure, Lortnam was handsome and attentive, downright sweet when he wanted to be. He was still an alien whose sole mission on Earth was to find a woman and carry her back to his home. He'd even brought a warship with him to accomplish the job. I needed to get my head out of the clouds and back in the game.
"The weapons on my ship are only there to protect me and my staff, Kelly." Lortnam kept his face neutral, but he couldn't hide the slight note of hurt in his voice. "It's no threat to you or your people."
"You mentioned wanting a life free from violence," I said once he was settled in his chair. "Is that what you want, your— uh, Lortnam."
He shrugged. "You did warn me. And yes, that is part of what I want. But isn't that true of everybody?"
"Not Jake Corbin," I said. "And by the look of his mugshot, not whoever took him into custody."
Lortnam's jaw tensed. "Jacob Corbin threatened dozens of people, one of whom was standing right next to me and including myself. I have no taste for violence, it's true, but I am not weak. If there are those who will not have peace, I can and will oblige them."
"And what happens when those people who don't want peace are the majority of the population, Lortnam?" I asked. "What happens when it's the government? What will you do then?"
He held my gaze, but his eyes softened. "Leave, as my brother Manzar did in New New Orleans. Yes, there was a battle, and the group that attacked him did lose people, but when the Governor asked, Manzar left the city and returned home to Trilyn with his wife and Father-in-law. So you see, if your people no longer wish us to be here, we will simply leave, Kelly. You have my word."
I furrowed my brow as I recalled the armed group that attacked the fortress in New New Orleans. They had been called the Humans First organization, but they were extremists with violent tendencies who took other Humans hostage and killed without prejudice. But sending the Trilyn home seemed a harsh punishment for something they did
n’t start. I looked at Lortnam, concerned for his people. "Even if it would doom your people?" I asked.
"It would not doom us. Four of my brothers have found wives which has saved us from the brink. The path will be long and painful, but the rest we could do ourselves given time."
"What about you and the other unmatched Princes?"
"If we do not find brides here before we are sent away, we will try other, less similar planets. If we still cannot find a match, then when we die, our thrones will be unified and passed to the next generation."
The warm light from the ceiling caught luminescent threads hidden in his tunic.
It glimmered before my very eyes, giving the Prince a dreamy, ethereal quality he hadn't had seconds before. The gentle sparkle and fierce determination in Lortnam's eyes made him look like a benevolent ancient god. He would make good on his promises to us puny Humans to save himself and his people, but if we convinced ourselves the price was too high, the god was more than willing to take his ship and go home.
"I hope it doesn’t come to that," I said, draining the last of my glass. A sweet, pleasant warmth spread across my tongue and down my throat. "You don’t seem like someone who enjoys being alone as much as he wants others to think."
"Certain people’s company I have trouble resisting, but it’s rare." He refilled my glass and his own. Raising the glass in a silent toast, Lortnam seemed to consider for a moment before taking another sip.
What Lortnam suggested was exactly what I wanted when I took Nora Morse’s case. It would have made my year if the Trilyn took their fortresses and high tailed it back to the stars. If I hadn’t met Lortnam, hadn’t spent time with him, I probably still would have thought that way. But now, hearing him say it could come to that, it seemed like far too harsh a punishment for him. What was his real crime other than not wanting to be alone?
"It's an admirable promise to make, Lortnam, and as one of the people who lives near your palace, I thank you for making it."
"You offer thanks, and yet I sense hesitation," he said. "Do you not believe me?"