Free Cutlass: Motor City Alien Mail Order Brides: Intergalactic Dating Agency by Ellis Leigh

phone?”
    “Phone?” His head cocked.
    “Yeah. Your cell phone.”
    I swear, the man shook his head as if he didn’t have one. Ridiculous. With a shrug, I grabbed a pen from inside my bag and scribbled my phone number on his hand. Nineteen-ninety-two style.
    “Call me later, and we’ll set it up.”
    He nodded, diving in for one more kiss. Pressing me against the side of my junker in his fervor. Not that I was complaining. I was too busy trying my hardest not to drag him into the car and have a little high school style make-out session on the backseat.
    “Okay,” I gasped when he finally released my lips. My God, I needed to change my panties after that one. “I’m going.”
    He gave me a look of pure want, as if he hated letting me out of his sight. A turn-on for sure. “If you must.”
    “I must,” I whispered almost to myself. Because I had a long day of slinging hot dogs and making myself sick with worry over what would happen when I finally told him. I gave him one more kiss, a final good-bye, and hurriedly escaped his roaming hands.
    But when I slid into the car and turned the key, nothing happened. Not a rev, not a whine, not a thunderous backfire. Nada. Fuck.
    “What’s wrong?” Cutlass asked as I swore at the old beast.
    “My battery’s dead.” I left off the again on that statement. The damn thing had given me trouble for months, but I’d been putting off buying a new one because…well, money. Hopefully, Cutlass would give my car a jump so I could get back to my side of the city. If not, I’d have to hunt down someone who could help. And I hated asking strangers for anything.
    “Let me see.” Cutlass, looking more than just mildly concerned, walked to the front of the car and pressed a hand against the hood.
    I leaned out the window. “Actually, if your car is close—”
    But my brain went completely blank as the scent of ozone overtook me. Staring, my eyes wide, I watched him raise the hood. The locked hood. The damn thing popped up without me having to pull the unlock lever. That was next to impossible on my old beater. I knew; I’d tried it a few times when I was alone and in a hurry. That lock was almost older than I was and wasn’t easy to release, so there was no way he managed to unlatch it without me releasing it from inside the car. A fact that reminded me of other instances where things worked for Cutlass as they wouldn’t for me. The door to the room, the thermostat. How was he doing these things?
    Cutlass bent into the engine compartment, almost completely hidden behind the raised hood. Almost. There was a gap at the bottom where the hood met the actual car. I slouched in my seat so I could see him through that thin opening. Trying to be sneaky so he didn’t notice I was spying.
    But he wasn’t looking at me; he was staring at the engine with a frown on his face. When he seemed to zero in on something—what, I had no idea—he glanced around as if someone could be watching him. An odd thing to do for sure, and something that made my blood run a little cold. Then he placed his hand on some part in the mass of mechanical things I’d tinkered with myself to keep the car running when I had no money. Parts that needed replacing and cleaning. Parts that he couldn’t fix with just the flat of his palm. And he waited.
    The air grew thick and hot, the smell of ozone heavy. Just like when he fixed the thermostat. Just like when he opened the hotel room door. Just like when he popped the locked hood.
    And then the car started all on its own.

Cutlass
    The components making up Klow-ee’s vehicle engine needed to be sent for scrap. I wasn’t even sure my Reithhkoneccs could save the decrepit thing. But I had to try.
    I glanced over both shoulders to verify I was not watched, just in case. Ampetheia would be angry if I was caught using my powers by a human, but I had to help Klow-ee. I didn’t want her stranded or worrying over things I could easily solve. Usually solve, really,