Whatever his issue was, there was something going on, and blast it all to hell if he hadn’t triggered that gene in her that made her determined to find out what it was. It took all her self-control not to capture his face between her hands and make him look at her. Of course, her rational side reminded her of all the times that Max and her former professors had cautioned her to be careful about what she wished for!
No, the best idea is to stay focused on more important things, she told her curious self.
“Okay, next question—how do you get back home?” she asked.
Ashure’s startled eyes briefly met hers again, he frowned. “But—I have just arrived. Why should I want to leave before I’ve even had a chance to see your world?” he protested.
“See my world…? Oh, no. No, no, no, no!” she vehemently replied. “You can’t stay here, much less be seen walking around, especially dressed like—like that!” she added in a horrified tone.
“What is wrong with my clothing? I can assure you it is made of the finest cloth and by the best tailors on the Isle of the Monsters. No one can beat a Cyclops tailor! They have an incredible eye for fashion,” he defended.
She snorted at his unintended pun and watched him place the bag of defrosting peas on the table. He brushed a few pieces of lint left from the mop from his dark brown coat with an expression of disdain. She knew he had no idea that he looked like a character from an old English film. His ignorance gave him an air of naivety that was rather endearing.
She groaned at her thoughts, knowing that between his pouty expression and her inherent curiosity, she was fighting a losing battle. She muttered a colorful curse under her breath that would have drawn Max’s ire and set the mop to the side. Opening the refrigerator, she pulled out two beers. She twisted the tops off, tossed them in the trash, and carried the bottles over to the table. She placed one in front of him with a slight thud and kept the other one for herself. She didn’t drink often, but tonight would be one of those rare occasions when she did. Pulling out the kitchen chair across from him, she plopped down and lifted the bottle in a mock toast.
“To all the weird shit that happens in my life that I can’t write a damn word about,” she said before she took a deep swig from the bottle.
He studied her with a speculative look before he lifted the bottle to his nose, sniffed, and then raised it to his lips. She stared at him in silence as they drank their beers. He was cute in a rugged, old-world kind of way. His eyes were strange. She would love to be able to study them. One of her professors told her that a person’s eyes were a window to their soul, and he had been right on more than one occasion.
Ashure lowered the bottle from his lips and rubbed his thumb along the condensation forming on the outside. Her gaze was drawn to the small, unconscious movement, and her thoughts began to wander down another undesirable path that was best avoided.
“You haven’t given me the privilege of knowing your name. I can hardly continue to call you ‘my Lady’,” he said, pulling her back to the present.
She shook her head a little and frowned. “My name? Oh, I’m Tonya… Maitland. Listen, I don’t know what time it was when you left, but it is almost two in the morning here, and I’m exhausted. Since it doesn’t look like you’re going home and I have no desire to start searching for a hotel room in the middle of the night, you can stay in the spare bedroom down the hall. Tomorrow, or rather later today, we can find you some clothes to wear until you go back to where you came from,” she offered, rising to her feet.
“It was late when I—traveled here as well. A good night’s sleep would be most welcome,” he agreed.
Tonya nodded, finished her beer, walked over to the sink, and rinsed the bottle before placing it in the recycling container. She turned to see if he had finished his when she caught him staring at her bare legs. She longed to wrap her fingers around the handle of the mop and glared at him. He must have sensed the impending danger because he hastily drank the rest of his beer and held out the empty bottle along with the bag of defrosting peas.
“Come on, I’ll show you where the bathroom and bedroom are,” she said.
Tonya tossed the bag of peas back into the freezer and placed the empty bottle in the recycling bin before she walked out of the kitchen, through the living room, and down the hall. It had been a week since she had returned to Earth, and her life was just beginning to feel almost normal again.
So much for that lasting! she drolly thought.
The new police officer who had taken over Mike’s position had come out to ask her some questions. Thanks to her years of dealing with the police, it had been easy to make up a somewhat believable story, especially since the guy was young and relatively inexperienced—or at least he seemed like it. She wondered what Deputy Dan Bradley would have said if she had told him the truth. She laughed softly at the thought.
“Have I amused you in some way?” Ashure asked from behind her.
Tonya shook her head and looked over her shoulder at him. “No, I was thinking of a recent story I made up for the local Popo—I mean, police. Sorry, old habits die hard,” she absently explained.
“Police—this is what Mike was here in your world, wasn’t it?” Ashure asked.
“Yeah. A newbie took his place. Dan wanted to know what happened to me a few weeks ago, and I didn’t feel like telling him,” she replied with an amused smile.
“What did he do?” Ashure asked with a raised eyebrow.
“He hemmed and hawed,” she replied. “Here is the bathroom—I think you can figure it out. There are extra toiletries in the drawer; towels are in the cabinet. You can sleep in the bedroom across the hall. I’ll see you in the morning—unless you disappear. In that case, good luck, and I hope you have a safe trip home.”
She turned away from him, needing to put some distance between them so she could think. She had already spent the last week coming to terms with the fact that the universe was a lot more complicated than she had originally thought. Still, there was no way it was a coincidence that soon after she left the Seven Kingdoms, a resident of the Seven Kingdoms came to her.
She softly gasped when Ashure gently touched her arm, and she received an unexpected electrical shock. Their eyes connected again, and she got a better look at the unusual dark swirling shapes in his irises. He lowered his lashes and looked away.
“Thank you and goodnight,” he said.
“Goodnight, Ashure,” she murmured.
She walked to the door next to the bathroom. Stepping inside the master bedroom, she shut the door and leaned against it. She looked at the small nightstand. It was made of oak. Facing the door, she locked it and dragged the nightstand in front of it. She smiled in satisfaction and wiped her hands together.
“This probably won’t work if he can do magic, but at least it’s better than nothing,” she murmured.
She climbed back into bed and pulled the covers up to her chin. Staring up at the ceiling, she thought about her unexpected visitor. She winced at her loud sigh and rolled onto her side, facing the door, and curled her hands under her cheek.
Okay, he’s cute, so what. You’ve met a lot of cute guys over the years. Don’t forget that he’s a pirate. Pirates are like bad-boys, fun to look at, but dangerous to touch. He is definitely not the kind of guy I would take home to meet Max, she thought.