Read Online The Pearl (Galactic Jewels Book 1) by Jen Greyson - Free Book Online

taking his sweet time appraising my features and the embroidery. I would have expected it from the Samarian—it had been done the same way by every other representative—but from him it was so… callous. Disrespect clung to his appraisal, like he was imagining me naked beneath for all the wrong reasons. Which was weird because there were no  wrong reasons for naked. Still, his attention made me squirm... and not in a desirable way. Whatever galaxy he hailed from, their physicality mismatched mine in a way that took normal reactions and twisted them unrecognizable. On top of that, my thoughts were a scattered mess. I didn’t like it.
    “Yeah,” he said slowly, then held my gaze intently before glancing over his shoulder toward the dash and its blinking colored indicator switches. “When I got here, warning lights had the console lit up. I figured I had a few minutes before you got here, so I ran a few tests, fixed the oxygen sensors and the heater. Looked like a system update failed to reboot.”
    I frowned, still unsure about his presence. At least he’d been productive during his sightseeing. “What manuals did you use?” Not a single training aide lay on the floor, making me question his story.
    He laughed and wiped the handle of his wrench on the leg of his stained overalls. “Manuals… Good one.”
    “I—” I snapped my mouth shut. I’d been serious about the manuals. I didn’t want him tampering with the ship with his careless mechanicking. Specific ways existed for fixing things and those details were in manuals. No point in wasting time explaining either. I wanted him gone. Hopefully he hadn’t messed up anything that would misfire during the presentation.
    I glanced at the dais, wishfully picturing the Samarian's arrival. They were startlingly punctual and typically early, so it should be any minute now. Maybe Dirk would get the hint once she showed up. I should hail M to find out if they’d called or sent word about a delay. “I need to make a call.”
    He blinked. “Go ahead.” He pointed his wrench at the console. “I didn’t mess with any of that. Works fine.”
    “A private call.” Thankfully, this wasn’t the only intercommunicator on the ship.
    “No problem. I’ll escort you and find the bar. I wouldn’t mind a drink.”
    I looked away and rolled my eyes. Figured that he wasn’t listening. He incited my humanness, which made me frustrated, heightening my anger in a violent cycle. It annoyed me. “No need for you to stay. I’m fine. Thanks for fixing the controls.” No way was he hanging around and drinking while I found out how long I’d be alone.
    “Hold on.” He opened a small drawer and set the wrench inside, then grabbed the top of his zipper and pulled it down.
    I jumped back, the train of the dress tangling around my legs. I didn’t need to see anything on the other side of that zipper. Plenty of other females in the galaxy had checked out his junk. “You should go.” I hated that I’d compared the magnificence of the male body to castoff trash; he’d managed to strip me of years of training within two minutes of meeting him.
    He didn’t bother to respond, but unzipped his overalls and stepped out of them, a crisp navy suit beneath, an oddly vintage getup with its gray shirt and navy necktie. How weird. There was no explaining mechanics.
    Glad I’d never need to, I walked out, leaving him to whatever prep he completed before departing and hoping he'd be gone by the time I finished and had the Samarian’s ETA. Outside the transporter, I took a left toward the dining area, eyes peeled for an intercommunicator. Too bad these older ships didn’t have the all-ship access to hail M from comm sensors in the hallway  and I needed an actual unit.
    The hall dumped into a glass-walled round room with a matching circular table in the center, remodeled and perfectly designed to accommodate all the candidates from the large Hemperklu to the delicate Pia. Tonight’s