Jenna’s afternoon went on like that as she read articles about various doctors. When night came, she drank her dinner shake with Excelyn in the Stone Palace courtyard.

“Not eating dinner with your staff tonight? Seems a little negligent after hiring someone new. Shouldn’t you be there to welcome Ryatt?”

“Honestly,” Jenna said with a sigh. “Until he gets some real clothes, I can’t stand to look at him.”

Excelyn laughed. “He wasn’t wearing real clothes? I guess that makes sense. His race is closer to an Octavian genetically than yours or mine. Clothes are probably a nuisance for him. I wanted to ask you. How did you feel comfortable enough to hire him? You’ve been on edge since the AAMC kerfuffle.”

Jenna agreed. “Oh… A big fat collection of reasons. Sardius recommended him. Crimp needed someone to alternate with. I find him unspeakably attractive.”

“What? You’re just going to tack that on at the end?” Excelyn laughed.

“I hate it. I hate that feeling like a worm is flopping around in my belly. That feeling has never led to anything good,” Jenna admitted huskily.

Excelyn looked Jenna up and down as if to compare her words to everything else the doctor knew about her. “You don’t seem like the type of woman who’s ever been broken-hearted. I’d peg you as the type who has had your romantic conquests but never found any one man who was enough to keep up with you. Have there been men in your past?”

Jenna shook her head. “Not anything serious, even though I have an ex-husband and a current fiance. I guess for the most part, you’re right. I just don’t know where the lines are between workplace sexual misconduct and what is perfectly all right.”

“If you marry him, there’s no conflict. Your marriage to Sardius never went through. You could take Ryatt as your third husband.”

“I could take him?” Jenna responded incredulously. Then she huffed out a laugh. “On my planet, women don’t take men. We have to wait for them to decide something about us. Ask us to dance, ask us for our phone number, and finally, ask us to marry them.”

Excelyn yawned. “Your planet sounds stupid. I asked both my husbands to marry me. Not at the same time, because I only had one at a time. Most Adamis still do it that way—one at a time. It works better, but they’re not diplomats that can end up in strange places for years on end. When you’re separated by oceans of stars for eons, you live like an Octavian, in the arms of whoever you end up in the arms of.” 

“Would you ever get remarried?” Jenna asked curiously.

“No. I don’t need a husband in the same way I don’t need one of my hands cut off. I’ve already been married twice and I feel good about not doing it again, but if I’d never done it, I’d find someone to pair up with.”

“What do you think of Ryatt? Your expression earlier was quite guarded.”

“I had Ivy give me all the information Ixy had on him and I agree that he’s a fine hire. We had to hire somebody and you hate the AAMC guys and exAAMC guys are almost all there is when it comes to bodyguards. Ryatt’s a prizefighter. It should be fine. Although I was thinking you should send him out to a firing range to see what his aim is like.”

“That sounds like a fun day,” Jenna agreed. “I’d like to shoot something too.”

“You should absolutely shoot something if that helps you relieve some tension. I hate seeing you like this. You were much calmer when Sardius was doing whatever he did to calm you down,” Excelyn said like a true friend.

“Sardius isn’t dead,” she finally worked up the nerve to say. “I spoke to him.”

“That’s great news,” Excelyn congratulated her. When she saw Jenna’s face, she recalculated and changed her tone to one of condolence. “I see. He couldn’t come with you.”

“I don’t even know why. He arranged for me to hear his voice, for him to tell me that he was alright, and that was it. He cut the comm and… I don’t know what he’s doing or why he can’t come back. I know he wants to work with me, I just don’t know why he can’t.”

“Just let it sit,” Excelyn advised sagely. “I’m sure it will all make sense, eventually.”

Jenna finished her drink and her talk with Excelyn before returning her cup to the kitchen, thanking Smoothie for the meal, and retiring to her room.