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"Hi." Negal pulled out a chair from the next table over, sat right in front of her, and put his drink on the table. "You look stunning tonight. I almost didn't recognize you when you walked in on Max's arm."
Margo didn't know how to answer that. Should she thank him for the compliment or tell him that it was none of his business whose arm she'd walked in on?
Mia cleared her throat. "Good evening, Negal."
He shifted his incredibly blue eyes to her. "Hello, Mia. You also look lovely." His gaze returned to Margo. "Just in case Max somehow beats me to it, I came over now to ask you to reserve the first dance of the night for me. In fact, I would like you to reserve all subsequent dances for me as well."
Was he drunk?
"I don't think Gertrude will be okay with that."
His expression darkened. "Gertrude doesn't mind one way or another. She and I are not together."
Margo frowned. "I heard you making plans with her for tonight. Did something happen?"
He just looked at her for a long moment, pinning her with his intense gaze. "Yeah. Something happened. You." It sounded like an accusation.
"Oh, boy," Mia murmured and reached for her drink.
"Me?" Margo lifted a brow. "What did I do?"
He shook his head. "Forgive me. I'm being as smooth as a bed of nails."
Margo frowned. "I've never heard that expression before. Is it a literal translation from your language back home? And I don't mean Portugal."
As Negal cast a glance at Mia, she nodded. "Margo knows about you. Frankie and I told her that you are a god." She chuckled. "I got so used to referring to Toven and you three as gods that it only strikes me as odd saying that to someone who hasn't heard about you. I'd call you Anumatians, but Toven was born on Earth, so that doesn't apply to him, and calling you aliens brings up images of little gray people with big, all-black, slanted eyes."
Toven had been awfully quiet throughout the exchange, and as Margo glanced at him, she caught his amused smirk before he schooled his features and looked away.
"On Earth, the term god implies divinity," Negal said. "Which I don't claim to be, but that's what my people call themselves in relation to created species. In our language, god and creator are synonymous. The bottom line is that I'm not human, but neither is Max. Well, he's part god and mostly human, but still, he's more like me than he is like you."
"I know," Margo said. "But why are you so focused on Max?"
"He's my competition."
No one could compete with Negal, but she wasn't about to tell him that and watch the smug expression on his face. Still, it bothered her that he was so focused on competing with Max.
Was it a cultural thing?
Maybe on his home planet males competed for female attention differently?
What if duels to the death were a thing there?
Suddenly, she remembered what he'd said about dragons, and it occurred to her that he might have actually encountered real beasts like that and had maybe even slain one or two as tribute to a lady.
"I think we need to talk." She tried to take a deep breath, but the bodice of her dress was too tight. "I don't want anyone fighting over me or slaying dragons to win my heart."
Negal frowned. "Who said anything about slaying dragons? I've been on Earth for five years, and the only dragons I've encountered were in movies and myths."
On Mia's other side, Toven started laughing and then pushed to his feet. "Come on, Mia. Let's give these two some space so they can clear out the misconceptions they have about each other."
Margo wanted to tell Mia to stay and run interference between her and this new Negal, who was nothing like the chivalrous guy who had caught her when she'd fainted and then cradled her in his arms like she was precious to him. But she wasn't a coward, and Toven was right. She and Negal needed to have a talk, but not here and not now.
"The clearing of misconceptions will have to wait." Margo looked up at Toven. "The ceremony is about to start soon, so I don't think you should wander off."
Hopefully, it wasn't considered rude to suggest to a god what to do.
Toven lifted his wrist and glanced at his watch. "You are right." He sat back down and looked at Negal. "You're welcome to stay here, but I believe that you are supposed to sit with Aru and Gabi."
