Page 49 of Sky’s Edge

And then he said quietly, “You are very bad at this, baby.”

“Bad at what?” I whispered.

“Trying to pretend you’re something you’re not.”

“But…I’m not doing that.”

And—oh so totally falling down on the job—I wasn’t.

“All right, then hoping I’ll think you’re somebody you aren’t.”

I straightened from Hurley and informed Tanyn, “As you know, you’re not the only male I’ve had in my life.”

Erm…

Holy Hecate!

An entire crimson storm crashed into his eyes.

I’d never seen anything like it.

“Yes,” he gritted. “I know that.”

I sallied forth into the storm.

“And you’re also very aware I’m still single.”

“Not exactly,” he bit off.

“Well, I was before you put an end to it, officially unofficial.”

“Yes,” he agreed, then ground out, “And that would be officially official.”

Damn.

“What I’m saying is, males do not like females like me,” I kept at it.

His head ticked and the storm calmed.

“Pardon?” he asked.

I lifted my hands out to my sides and laid it out for him.

“I’m high maintenance. I’m almost always late. I know my own mind, which means I know what I like, but also what I do not. And therefore, I avoid, if I can, things I don’t like. I’m passionate about my work, and there are times where it comes first. I’m not totally elitist, but I will admit that I’m partially elitist because I only like expensive things. And just by a happy coincidence of birth, I’ve always been loaded, so I can have them. And I get them, doing this copiously. There are not many males I meet where I don’t make more money than they do, but even if I don’t, I have more money than they do because I’m a Truelock. I do not suffer fools. I complain when I experience discomfort. I’m a shrew in the morning. If I feel like alone time, you better leave me alone or I’ll make you want to be nowhere near me. I could go on. And males don’t like, well…any of that.”

“You missed something.”

“What?”

“You have shit taste in males.”

After delivering that, he got up and I watched him walk my way.

Once he arrived at me, he rested his very fine ass against the table by my porridge bowl so I had to tip my head way back to look up at him.

He crossed his arms on his chest and stated, “You made sure to thank the pilot before he left. You crouched low to share you aren’t a threat and approached Hurley like he likes to be approached, then, only when he gave you the go ahead, you loved on him. You put Manny and Zyr at ease immediately, joking with them and sharing you give a shit about beings by mentioning you were worried we weren’t dressed warm enough. Zyra told me you offered to unpack yourself, something that surprised her deeply, so you might be high maintenance, which is far from unattractive, but you aren’t a princess, even when you’re going to be queen. You felt my mood yesterday and accommodated yours to allow me to feel what I was feeling without demanding my attention or that I shift my mood to one you’d prefer.”

By the gods, I’d been farging it up all along, and I didn’t even know it.