Free Silas: Imperial Warrior (A Sci-Fi Alien Warrior Romance) by Ashley West

alien.
    People had been debating the existence of life on other planets for years now, and the amount of strange sightings and unexplainable events had nearly doubled over the last couple of years, but she hadn’t expected this.
    This was confirmation in a big way, and it was sleeping on her couch at night.
    Or attempting to, anyway. Silas was so tall that his feet hung over the edge when he laid down. He insisted that it wasn't a problem, that he was just happy to have a place to sleep at all, but he didn't look comfortable.
    Her entire house was too small for him, really, but there wasn't anywhere else for him to go. She wasn't going to just pawn him off on someone else, and after hearing that his ship had crashed and he'd had to pull himself from the rubble before she'd found him near her home, she knew he didn't have anywhere else.
    So it was either her house or...or The Lily, she supposed, and turning a seven foot tall alien man with blue skin loose on the guests of her inn seemed...like a really bad idea.
    So he was staying with her.
    Katia would have been more concerned about leaving him in her house alone during the day while she was working, but he honestly seemed more preoccupied with how he was going to get back to where he belonged than stealing from her, so she wasn't that worried about it.
    "Hey."
    Katia jumped as Ava came up behind her and snapped her fingers. She'd been staring off into space, trying to think of something she could do to make Silas more comfortable or just to help him at all.
    "Ava, you scared me," she said, turning to glare at her. "What?"
    "You've been out of it all day," Ava said, and if Katia didn't know better, she would have thought that she was concerned. "What's up with you?"
    "Nothing," Katia replied. If she just came out and told Ava the truth, she was pretty sure her friend would try to have her committed.
    "Oh, please. There is something going on, and I know it. You didn't do your little happy wiggle thing before you poured the tea earlier, and you do that every Sunday because you just love pouring tea."
    Ava was right on both counts, and Katia made a face at her. "Stop watching me when I pour tea."
    "Stop trying to change the subject."
    She knew good and well that there was no way she was going to put Ava off. The woman was like a bloodhound when it came to gossip or trying to get information, and the minute she even scented that there was something to know, she wouldn't stop until she found out. So she had to tell her something.
    "I just...I have a house guest for a while, that's all. I've been going over the stuff I need."
    "A house guest." Ava arched an eyebrow and then searched her face. Katia fought to keep her look neutral, passive. "A male house guest?"
    "What?"
    Ava grinned. "You heard me. If it was just your mother or something you would have just told me when I asked the first time. But you didn't, and you tried to pretend like there was nothing happening. Meaning you're embarrassed."
    "Oh, and because I'm embarrassed that automatically means it's a guy?"
    "Yes," Ava confirmed. "Yes, it does."
    "That's crap, and you know it." Katia rolled her eyes and moved to help take the tea trays back into the kitchen.
    "You say that, but you haven't denied it," Ava said as she followed.
    "Okay, fine. It's a male house guest. But it isn't what you think."
    "No?"
    "No. He's not...we're not..." Katia sighed. "There's nothing going on between us. He's just crashing at my place for a while."
    "Who is he?" Ava wanted to know.
    "Just. Just a friend. Someone I know from college," she lied. "He's in town for a while, and his travel plans got messed up, so I'm offering him my couch for a bit until he figures things out."
    She could tell that Ava was starting to believe her, but she braced herself for more questions all the same.
    "Why can't he stay in a hotel?" asked Ava. "Or, you know, an inn? Considering you run one."
    "It was late when he got in," Katia said, and she wasn't even lying. Not