Page 12 of Her Alien Spy
“So, what? Are you trying to get dirt on him then?” Julia asked after a moment.
He shook his head. “No. The pleasure planets are legal and trying to shame him for partaking in something like that is pointless. I just want to get him alone. On Paraxia, we can’t get to him. He keeps himself surrounded by guards and assistants who are great at keeping people away from him. But, our sources tell us there won’t be any such barrier on Paraxia.”
“Doesn’t want his underlings seeing how he has fun,” Julia said. She took another sip of her coffee and he nodded.
“But if I show up there, as me, alone, he’ll know something’s up. Savis Eletath, a known degenerate, shows up with a gorgeous brunette on his arm? No one, including my target, would blink an eye. I can keep an eye on him, and, when I get him alone… have a little talk with him.”
“Are you going to threaten him?”
He studied Julia. “There are things we know about this council person that he definitely doesn’t want getting out. I’m pretty sure I can make him see reason, once he realizes how much is at stake for him personally, since that’s all he ultimatelycares about,” he answered, watching her, studying her face for a reaction.
She smiled. “Good. Yes, I’ll help you.”
He stared. “Wait, what?”
“Yes, I’ll help. This is important, and the work you and Xarek did together to end the war with the Redlians, with the Paraxians help, made it so my best friend could have her happily ever after. I’m in.”
“I… did not expect it to be so straightforward,” he said, furrowing his brow.
She grinned. “Pick your jaw up of the floor and tell me what I should pack, spymaster.”
Chapter Six
At an ungodly hour the next day, Julia sat in the navigator’s seat in the cockpit of Andethor’s ship. The navigation was all automated, of course, so all there was for her to do was try not to constantly sneak peeks at the Bellarian as he flew the ship.
She’d be lying if she said she wasn’t nervous. She’d also be lying if she said she wasn’t excited about it. Helping the Bellarian spy with his mission felt so much like the adventure novels she’d become obsessed with as a teenager. Living dangerously, doing something for the good of the Alliance… that felt like what she’d done in her years as a soldier.
And, if it meant having to pretend to be Savis’s ditzy little plaything… well. At least the male playing Savis was the type of male she felt like she’d happily take orders from.
And that, right there, was dangerous. She would have to constantly remind herself they were on a mission. It would be too easy for her, even as level-headed as she was, to get caught up in the moment with him.
It wasn’t long before their destination came into view, and she took a deep breath. She was pretty sure she heard Andethor do the same.
“Okay. Before we leave the ship, we should both change,” he said, and she nodded, fidgeting a little. When she’d gotten home the night before, she’d looked up images from the planet they’d be visiting… and then quickly went through every single article of clothing she owned to find something revealing enough. After going through clothes she hadn’t even thought about in years, she’d found that she had a surprising number of things that might work. She wryly thanked all the times she’d assumed the burden of keeping a relationship going fell on her, that she must have needed to “spice things up” to keep a man who was beneath her.
At least it would help this little adventure. And then she’d likely recycle all of them when she got back to Asterion Station.
“You okay?” Andethor asked quietly, and she looked at him to see him watching her, a serious look on his face. Focused, intense. She wasn’t used to this side of Andethor. This side that could be quiet and serious, not flirting or joking.
It only made her like him more.
“I’m okay,” she promised. “Just nervous. I don’t want to somehow mess up your cover.”
He smiled then. “You won’t, Jules. You’re gorgeous and curvy. Just the kind of woman Savis drools over.” He met her gaze for a second, then faced forward again. “The only thing I have in common with that bastard is that we’d both be all over you in half a second if we were able to.”
All she could do was look at him. It wasn’t the compliment. She knew he was attracted to her. It was the bitterness he talked about his alter ego with. And now she felt like it was her turn to reassure him.
“I know Savis is an act, Andethor. I know you,” she said quietly, and he turned to look at her. “Whatever you say or do when you’re in character, I know it’s just that.” She smiled. “It’s a pleasure resort, right? We’ll be expected, as a couple, to spend a lot of time in our cabin having fun.”
He nodded. “If I didn’t have to keep an eye on my target to find a chance to get him alone, that’s all we’d be doing.”
Of course, those words didn’t elicit thoughts of sitting around with him playing cards or watching movies, which is what they’d usually done when they got together with Maggie and Xarek.
“Right. But there will still be times, and in those times you’ll get to be Andethor again and I’ll get to be the pain in the ass bartender who likes messing with you.”
He laughed, offering her a wink. “I like when you mess with me Jules.”
She shook her head, looking straight ahead as he pulled into the hangar and got the Hendrix situated in the docking bay.
