Page 85 of On a Rogue Planet
Because I’m not with you, jerk.He was still handsome, dammit, blond hair falling over a chiseled face. He was dressed in fashionable tight trousers of deep green with a paler green billowy shirt. He looked…well, ridiculous.
Shock rushed through her. Seeing him didn’t sting. If anything, she felt faint annoyance.
She’d always thought of Aston as a flashy starliner. Sleek, expensive, built for pleasure. She still thought of a starliner—just one that had been refurbished one too many times and was a little seedy around the edges.
She searched around for some neutral subject. “How’s business?”
“Good. Just got a retired cruisership into the docks. She’s a beauty, you’d love her.”
Mal deliberately looked away from him. “Hmm.”
She felt him shift closer. “Maybe you might want to swing past and take a look.”
Yeah, and engineless starships might fly. “I’m pretty busy at the moment.”
When she felt a finger trace over her shoulder, she tensed, and shrugged his touch away. “What the hell are you doing?”
“I just realized how much I miss you, Mal.”
“Look, Aston, I’m here with someone.”
“But he can’t give you what I can.”
No, thank the stars. “The past is the past. Let’s leave it there.”
“Mal—” He grabbed her arm.
Suddenly, a black blur was between them, wrenching Aston away and pushing him back three steps. Aston stumbled, spilling his pink drink over his shirt.
Mal took one glance at the frigid look on Xander’s face and quickly slipped under his arm and pressed up against his front. “He’s not worth it, Xander.” She dropped her voice. “Not worth risking our mission.”
“He touched you.”
Stars, she felt the fury pumping off him. And she liked it.
She smoothed her hands inside his jacket, over the pale, ice-blue shirt she looked forward to ripping off him later. “Forget him. I only want to be touched by you.” She pressed her cheek to his chest.
She felt him draw a few quick breaths.
Aston strode closer, face contorted with anger. “Hey, I don’t know who the hell you are?—”
With his face twisted with overdramatic emotion, Mal decided Aston looked downright unattractive.
Xander slammed a hand around Aston’s throat and lifted him two inches off the floor. “I’m Malin’s. That’s all you need to know.”
Aston’s face was turning an interesting shade of scarlet. His wild gaze skimmed over Xander’s implant.
“Leave her alone. Nod if you understand me.” Xander’s voice was a forbidding murmur. “If you don’t, I’ll take great pleasure in making you understand.”
Holy stars, Mal was sure Aston was going to wet his stylish trousers.
The salvage dealer gave a jerky nod, and Xander set him down.
Aston rubbed his neck and put several meters between him and Xander. The distance obviously gave him courage. “I knew you liked machines, Mal, but fucking one, that’s bottom of the barrel. Even for a salvage rat like you.”
Her eyes widened and she quickly wrapped her arms around Xander’s waist. Felt the coiled tension. “Not worth it, tough guy. Keep your cool.” She looked back at Aston ‘son of a bitch’ Granger. “Actually Aston, I scraped the bottom of the barrel with you. Xander’s so good, I’m not even in the barrel anymore.”
Aston’s face flushed before he spun and stomped away.
