Page 86 of On a Rogue Planet
“That man hurt you,” Xander said quietly. “Made you think less of yourself.”
“Seems silly now.” Since she’d met a sexy cyborg who thought she was pretty damn awesome just as she was, she’d changed her thinking. “Okay, tough guy, I really need that drink, and we have an ancient artifact to find.”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Mal wandered, waiting for Xander to return with her drink.
She was stuck thinking about her little epiphany.
She was over Aston.
Completely. One hundred percent. And she’d never really been in love with him. She’d been in love with the idea of being in love.
What she felt for Xander far outweighed anything she’d felt for Aston Granger. She pressed her fingers to her eyes, and her heart plummeted to her feet. Stars, she was an idiot.
She was hopelessly in love with a CenSec.
“He must have been a fool.”
The resonant voice had her turning. Her stomach clenched. Forge leaned against a table, watching her.
“Who?”Keep it cool, Mal.
“Aston Granger.” Forge straightened and walked closer, his gaze dropping down her body. Not in a smarmy way, but there was a malicious sort of edge to it. “A really big fool to walk away from you.”
“You make a habit of eavesdropping?”
A flash of a blinding-white smile. “Every day. This is my planet and I know everything that happens on it.”
He wasn’t handsome. Not in any kind of conventional way. His long body was a little too lean and his features a little too bland. But he had a force of presence that sort of blasted out of him. His eyes were a pale brown, an amber-gold that glowed.
She looked away.Where the hell was Xander?“You have a great place here. These robots are amazing.”
“You like to work with machines?”
“Yes. I’m a salvage mechanic.”
Those amber eyes brightened even more. “My perfect woman.” His gaze bored into her. He stepped closer, into her space. “If you were mine, I’d never, never let you go.”
If Xander had said those words, she’d be delirious. Coming from this man, they made her skin crawl.
“Well, my companion mightn’t be too happy about that.”
“I hope he’s better than Aston Granger.”
“I am.”
Xander’s deep voice came from behind Mal. A second later she felt his warmth as he pressed up against her back. He leaned an arm over her and passed her a tall glass full of a pale green liquid. She grabbed it and took a hasty sip. It wasn’t alcoholic, but it was cold and refreshing.
“Allow me to introduce myself properly. I am Forge…master of this domain. ” He gave a small bow.
“I’m Malin, and this is Xander.”
Forge studied Xander’s face, his attention zeroing in on Xander’s disguised implant. “A cyborg. Fascinating. As you know, I am a creator of machines.”
“I’m not a machine.”
Forge tilted his head. “Really?”
