Chapter Three
Diesel shouldn’t have put his hand on Juliana’s for the fortune. He really shouldn’t have continually read her mind as they stood together. And he was truly walking on the edge of catastrophe by projecting his feelings into the fortune she got.
He studied her again, like he’d been doing pretty much since meeting her in front of Nova’s desk. He mentally walked down the list of all the things he liked about her so far. Her hair was a beautiful blonde color.
A strand had brushed his cheek when he’d helped her with the fortune, proving it was as silky and soft as it looked. She was taller than the average human female. Perhaps six or seven inches shorter than his six foot four height.
Her body was slender, but not too skinny. She was absolutely curvy in all the right places. Her smile was captivating and flashed instantly when she was amused. Plus, she wasn’t afraid to laugh at herself. He liked talking to her, even though he’d have to watch what he said.
She turned toward him, a really adorable blush staining her cheeks. “You think I’m pretty?” No. I think you’re exquisite.
He forced a strong shake of his head to keep from admitting the truth out loud. Pointing to the glass box, he said, “Maxwell does.”
“But aren’t you the Fearless Leader?”
Yes. “Sometimes. Not always.”
“Maybe I need to speak to someone else then.”
He almost shouted the denial, but managed to speak in a civil tone. “No. You can talk to me.” He focused, trying to clearly read her specific intent and ensure it wasn’t nefarious. He held his breath as he waited to confirm the vague impression he’d registered earlier when he took a quick look into her very pretty head to ensure she wasn’t a true threat.
For some reason he couldn’t get a good read on her particular motives. He typically got strong initial impressions when he peeked inside human minds and could usually figure out anyone’s primary intent.
Juliana was different. She was harder to read in some ways, easier in others. He clearly understood she thought he was attractive, but the part about her general motives for asking questions at the truck stop was cloudy. Could be for her Finder’s article, as she said. If not, what was her primary motive?
Looking into the human mind to assess threats was often an imprecise practice, especially for his limited abilities. Usually he could only clearly read extremes at an initial meeting.
Like any ability of this nature, there was a wide range of talent. His youngest brothers Gage and Jack were like Diesel—they got feelings of extremes, such as love or hate, harmless or dangerous. His brother Cam could get actual words and sentences before someone spoke. So could Cam’s twin, Wheeler. It was a useful skill, because often people didn’t say what they were thinking. They’d thwarted a couple of robberies by being forewarned.
Axel only got images, which he said was fairly useless in the art of mind reading. During one of the robberies, he’d only seen sky and clouds in the mind of the guy holding the weapon.
Diesel suddenly realized he’d stopped talking and had simply been staring at Juliana.
She stared back with a winsome smile. He’d been woolgathering and she’d not only caught him at it, she’d remained silent and let him go off on his lengthy journey of introspection.
“What are you thinking about?” she asked.
“Nothing important. What other questions do you have for me?”
“Besides the lazy bureaucrat forefather who carelessly shortened the name Alienne to Alienn by dropping the last E, is there any other event you know of that makes people think aliens roam wild around here?” She’d mimicked his pronunciation of Alienne. Her tone of voice had some strange, goofy impact on his system and made him feel…well, a little stupid.
He pushed out a sigh. Now he needed to spout the company line about Roswell and hopefully dissuade her from following this aliens-roaming-loose track. “Back in 1947 when the incident in Roswell happened, we got a lot of attention simply because of our name. Lots of folks got all wound up, coming to Alienn from the surrounding areas to kick up a ruckus. Ultimately, nothing came of it.
“We don’t have any aliens with death-ray eyes that smoke humans where they stand or a diabolical agenda to take over the planet. We just sell gas, supplies and snacks to truckers and travelers and the space theme seems to be popular with our vast and varied customers.”
“So it’s as simple as that. There are no aliens, the name was a typo from its inception and Maxwell the Martian is a convenient marketing mascot to sell fuel, snacks and sundries.”
“Exactly.”
She nodded. Her expression said she believed him, but in her mind he got a vague impression of very strong determination. But he didn’t know what direction that resolve was going.
Was she satisfied with his company line or not? Had she determined that no visible hint of aliens besides Maxwell resided here, or would she be back? He hoped vigorously this wasn’t the last time he’d see her. If she came back, he was fine with that. He just didn’t want to fend off a publicity attack or deal with a horde of paparazzi that might accidentally discover what went on in the truck stop’s basement.
“What about the cellular signal?”
“What about it?”
“Rumor has it there is not a single bar of service for nearly a ten-mile radius around Alienn and this truck stop.”
“Is that a question? Sounds more like gossip.”
Her eyes narrowed as if she suspected he wasn’t going to cooperate with her dangerous queries.
“Okay. Why isn’t there a signal for a ten-mile radius around this place?”
He shrugged. “Ask all those phone people who put up cellular towers every five feet across the land except around here. We’re lucky we have hard lines so we can communicate with the outside world at all.”
If Juliana ever dug deep enough, she’d find that all the strategic places where a tower could be erected to provide service in this area were owned by someone uninterested in allowing a tower to be erected at any price, ever. So far the law was on the landowner’s side. If that changed, the people of Alienn would have to adapt and overcome that obstacle when the time came.
Diesel was particularly proud of the plan to keep towers out, as he was the one who came up with it several years ago when cellular phone use was growing exponentially. He always figured it had helped him with his goal of becoming Fearless Leader. Being the oldest in his family didn’t guarantee him the position. He’d had to earn it. He’d worked his butt off to get this job, truth be told. Axel had suggested there’d been a vote, but Diesel didn’t think there had been. None of his brothers had wanted to be in charge. And they knew he’d wanted it more than anything else.
Juliana stared at him for several seconds before making a note on her pad. He hoped if she was able to find out why no towers had ever been allowed she’d return and ask him about it.
Juliana Masters was hands down the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen, human or Alpha.
She flipped a page, kept writing and then turned the pad over and shuffled backward through her notes. She put her pen point in the center of a random page and said, “One last thing…”
“Sure.”
Her gaze lifted to his. She was gorgeous, especially her eyes. “What can you tell me about the Boogieman Affair?” she asked in a quiet voice, rocking his soul with surprise. Whoa. He hadn’t seen that coming.
“What?” Diesel’s mind raced to conjure a reasonable explanation for something that had nearly undone them, an event that until this moment he hadn’t realized any earthlings had any inkling of whatsoever.
“Do I really need to repeat the question or is this a stall tactic?” Her beautiful eyebrows rose higher in challenge.
“Stall tactic,” he admitted. “I hate to answer your question with a question, but—”
“I doubt that,” she said under her breath.
“—where did you come by this information?”
“Is this the part where I tell you I never reveal a source?”
“I thought you were a humble writer working on an article for a book, not an investigative reporter.”
“True, but I still don’t have to reveal anything.”
Diesel grinned. “Cool. Then neither do I.”
“Oh, come on. Tell me about the Boogieman Affair.”
“There’s nothing to tell.” Boy howdy there was a lot to tell, but not to any humans.
“Give me your spiel then. What’s the company line?”
Diesel pushed out a sigh and recited their standard response. “It was a gas leak.”
She laughed out loud. “Is that so? Does anyone still fall for that?”
He shrugged. “No comment.”
“I see.” She looked disappointed in him.
He felt the need to explain. “You asked for the company line and I gave it to you.”
Juliana’s eyes livened with unanswered questions. She was likely very dangerous, but also completely stunning. “So you admit there is more to the story?”
“No.”
“You just said it was the company line.”
“That doesn’t mean it isn’t true.” Liar, liar, pants on fire.
“Of course it does. That’s what company line means. It is the lie the public is told to keep them in the dark about what really goes on to protect our delicate sensibilities.”
“Or it’s the truth and nothing important happened.” He threw his hands up, feigning exasperation to help sell his point. “We just sell fuel and snacks. How does that translate into some dark conspiracy?”
“What made you say the words ‘dark conspiracy’? Is there a dark conspiracy here in Alienn? Is that what the Boogieman Affair was?”
“No.” There is a light conspiracy gently cascading over all the area and there has been for several decades, with a singular dark incident in the recent past that I choose not to explain.
“Really?” Her tone dripped with sarcasm.
“There is no dark conspiracy,” he insisted. It’s totally a conspiracy and a very dark incident I can never share with you, no matter how pretty you are.
“So you say the ‘Boogieman Affair’ was nothing, but you also said the company line stated it was a gas leak.”
“Yes. So what?”
“Well, isn’t gas leaking a rather important incident?”
“What are you really asking me?”
“There were rumors of a dark entity skulking through town and part of the truck stop, causing mischief and mayhem to anyone or anything it encountered. First of all, it doesn’t sound like a gas leak kind of incident. Second of all, a gas leak? Really? It’s kind of cliché as an explanation, if you ask me.”
“Luckily, I didn’t ask you.” Diesel frowned. He didn’t mean to be so terse, but only the extraterrestrial residents of Alienn had been privy to the events of that dark night and, truthfully, not all of them were fully apprised of every detail in that matter. And absolutely no humans had been told anything. “Who have you been talking to about this…incident?”
She put her fingers up to her lips, made the universal tick-a-lock gesture and threw away an imaginary key.
He focused on her face, specifically, her beautiful eyes. He stared deeply, trying to search her mind for the information he sought. The only message he received was the seemingly very strong and growing attraction she felt for him.
Diesel wasn’t certain if he’d projected it or if she was projecting it or if they were trading projections of wild attraction, though he suddenly rooted for option number three. Mutual wild attraction with a beautiful human was certainly an unexpected part of his day. It had never happened before.
He didn’t see anything else in her mind. No hint of where she’d come by this privy information about a dark incident in Alienn’s recent past, simply her interest in him and her appreciation for his appearance, which had surprised her, too.
“What do you see in my mind?” she asked quietly.
“You like me,” he said without thinking how odd the question was coming from a human, then added, “And you also think I’m very attractive.” In for a penny, in for a pound, he always said.
The blush that bloomed in her cheeks was fast and furious. It was then he noticed how close they stood together. He bent his head nearer to her face and her lips, breathing in her luscious scent. Their mouths were mere inches apart.
Were they about to kiss? He paused, not moving forward to connect.
She whispered, “Do you truly believe that you can romance me and get me to stop asking questions? You are very handsome, which I suspect you already know, but I have an article to complete so I can earn a rather large bonus for my future. It is very important to me. Therefore, I won’t be put off so easily.”
Diesel straightened to his full height, breaking any magical connection they’d shared and ignoring the implication that he was conceited about his looks. He was being ridiculous. She was here for a specific purpose, one he needed to subdue. He was projecting his personal feelings in her direction, because he’d read in her mind that she thought he was attractive and he felt the same way about her. Merely shaking hands with her had created a spark. Sure. It could merely be static in the air, but what if it was more?
As Diesel stared into her eyes, vague impressions started flowing into his mind to the point he was certain she was thinking the words, Kiss me. Kiss me. Kiss me.
No good could come of any further connection—romantic, spark-filled or otherwise—with this beautiful earthling. Especially not kissing her.
It took all the willpower he possessed not to lower his mouth to hers—it would be so easy—and discover what she tasted like, but the mental image of doing just that wouldn’t fade. He bent forward again, against his better judgement, losing the already weak willpower battle.
He needed to stop.
He needed to get a grip.
He needed to send her on her way.
He stared at her mouth.
He needed to kiss her.
Diesel pressed his lips to hers before rational thought could stop him. He justified the move with the idea he was merely diverting her from questions he didn’t want to answer to checking out their physical compatibility with a kiss.
Juliana’s lips were soft and pliable and she didn’t discourage him as he half expected. In fact, she kissed him right back rather ardently. They seemed very compatible. She was the most compatible female he’d ever touched. And truthfully, this was the first fully involved romantic kiss he’d ever shared with a human, and it was awesome.
Diesel needed to stop kissing her, but knew he didn’t have the desire, the willpower or the fortitude to break from this most alluring connection.
<^> <^> <^>
Juliana wanted Diesel to kiss her so desperately; she figured if he was reading her mind, he’d see her seductive longing and possibly fulfill her avid wishes. Kiss me, kiss me, kiss me.
And he had.
And the kiss was so amazingly good.
And she wanted it to last forever.
If it hadn’t been for someone nearby clearing their throat very loudly—several moments after their mouths connected—who knows how long they would have kept up the delicious lip lock? Would he have dragged her into a janitor’s closet to have his wicked, possibly alien, way with her? She hadn’t noticed one in this hallway, only the two bathrooms.
Maybe he would have pulled her toward his office, pushed her down on his receptionist’s perfectly ordered desk to enact his wild, alien plan to seduce her? Would she have let him? That was unclear, but it was very likely given her very un-Juliana-like actions up to this point.
“Sorry to interrupt,” said a male voice to her left after the throat-clearing didn’t separate them. “But I need to have a word with you.”
Diesel lifted his head. “What is it, Axel?” he asked curtly.
“Come back into your office, O Fearless Leader, and I’ll tell you everything.”
Diesel rolled his eyes and then met Julian’s gaze. He smiled, winked and whispered, “My brother, whom I will yell at for the interruption, apparently needs a word. I’ll be right back to walk you out to your car. Okay?”
Juliana couldn’t speak yet so she nodded, trying to remember how to breathe after that amazing kiss. She wanted to stay and ask more questions; maybe other scandalous queries might cause him to kiss her again in an effort to keep her quiet. A strangely giddy feeling rose up inside her the moment Diesel was out of sight. She couldn’t wait until he got back. Was this what love at first sight felt like?
Juliana hadn’t ever had much of a romantic life to speak of. Not like the girls she’d gone to school with who never went more than a few days between boyfriends, as if being alone was the more hideous choice than being in a loud, caustic shouting match of a relationship, continually spiraling down an emotional drain.
Sure, she’d dated on occasion. She’d even had a boyfriend for a short time, but if she was honest, many of her dates in the last year or two had been blind dates thrust on her by well-meaning friends who felt sorry for her lack of day-to-day male companionship.
As far as men she’d personally shown any interested in, there were very few of them. They all had ended up being a disappointment in one way or another.
Maybe she was too picky. Maybe she was afraid of getting hurt. Maybe she didn’t want the drama that so many relationships eventually devolved into, a sight she’d witnessed too many times to count.
Then again, if any man had ever kissed her like Diesel had, she might have reconsidered. No kiss before today had ever lit her up inside and radiated outward as it progressed. That kiss had definitely been worthy of her time and attention.
As she waited for Diesel to come back, Juliana contemplated the walk to her car. Would he kiss her again? Maybe she would kiss him this time. Maybe she wanted to ensure the delicious sensation wasn’t unique to the first kiss. Maybe a second kiss would yield nothing, no spark whatsoever. But she seriously doubted it.
Or maybe this was the start of something wonderful. Finally and at long last she’d have a boyfriend she selected, one who made her happy and alive with a mere brush of his lips on hers. Not to mention that he had some family or at least a brother named Axel, prompting her next thought about the Grey brothers’ interesting names. Diesel and Axel? Well, they did work at a truck stop.
Juliana was all alone in the world, a nameless orphan left on a church doorstep when she was less than a year old. Named for a 4th century saint by the nuns at the church, well, the feminized version, anyway. Juliana’s last name, Masters, was also invented, possibly from a lock manufacturer in Milwaukee, and altered slightly, but that hadn’t ever been verified. She couldn’t even investigate where she’d come from since no one had a clue as to her true origin. No parents. No grandparents. No aunts, uncles or cousins. No one. Nothing special left with her to indicate where on earth she’d come from. Not a single, solitary clue.
The seeming hopelessness of discovering her origins didn’t thwart her desire to try, though. She planned to travel to the city she’d been found in just as soon as she had enough money to do so. She wanted to make an effort to discover why she’d been left at a church.
She’d been abandoned in a port city in the Northwest. At eighteen, a full-ride scholarship to a college in Missouri brought her to the center of the country. After graduating with honors, she accepted a second scholarship to graduate school in Arkansas. The life she carved out for herself had been achieved with hard work and the fortitude to never settle for less than her very best effort.
Her goals were simple. She wanted to travel. She wanted to work hard at a job she enjoyed. She wanted to find someone she loved to share her life with and, most important of all, she wanted to have a big family with lots of kids.
One guy she’d dated for a very short time during her first year of college had mentioned in passing his distaste for children. She’d broken up with him soon after. He’d been stunned. He even tried to persuade her to stay in the relationship by telling her there were already too many children in the world and they could travel so much easier without “curtain climbers” sucking the resources out of their lives.
She never spoke to him again.
A rogue thought intruded. What if Diesel doesn’t want kids? Please want kids. Please want kids. She’d have to ask as soon as he returned. Regardless of his ability to bestow amazing kisses, he had to want kids someday or she’d immediately stop fantasizing about a romantic life with him.
Diesel appeared in the hallway as if conjured by her saddened feelings about possibly putting a stop to whatever was happening between them before any further kissing took place.
“Something wrong?” he asked as he approached. He put a hand on her shoulder as if to comfort her. Even his platonic touch warmed her all the way to her bones.
Juliana perked up the moment she felt his warmth. “No. I guess not.” All isn’t lost, at least not yet.
“Are you sure?” His brows furrowed as if he truly worried about her. Do I look that forlorn? Abruptly he asked, “Do you have more questions?”
“Yes. Do you ever want to have children?”
“I beg your pardon?” Perhaps he’d been expecting more questions about the Boogieman Affair. Or the strange goings on in and around Alienn. It didn’t matter. More than anything else in the moment, she wanted to know if there was any kind of future to their relationship.
“It’s a simple question. Kids. Do you want them? Yes or no.” Juliana didn’t mean to sound so belligerent, but she suddenly and truly needed to know his exact feelings on a future family.
He nodded. “Someday…with the right person.” He looked deeply into her eyes. “Sure. I do want children. I have a large family so—”
“Really,” she broke in. “How many kids in your family?”
“Seven.”
“Seven! That’s awesome.” Juliana was delighted. This was the best news ever. Diesel was perfect. He warmed her from head to toe with a mere look. He kissed like a dream. He came from a large family and, best of all, he wanted kids. Did he want seven kids? She’d always wanted four, but she could certainly be persuaded to have more.
“I’m so glad you appreciate my large family. Here, let me walk you to your car,” he said, his tone conveyed uncertainty. Understandable, given that she was acting like an infatuated idiot and they’d met less than thirty minutes ago. He gestured toward the hallway and a door that said, “Employees Only.”
“Am I allowed through here?”
“Well, I am the Fearless Leader, after all. Seems like I should be able to go out any door I want to with any guest I choose. Right?”
“Sure. Let’s go with that.” She smiled and walked forward, her mind swirling at the possibility of a huge family in her future with Diesel. She’d never believed in love at first sight, but felt like she was experiencing it firsthand. She fairly floated down the hallway to the outside door.
They remained silent as they exited the building. He’d promised to walk her to her vehicle. Perhaps she could convince him to kiss her again. A dreamy goodbye kiss she could think about on her way home.
Her attention was drawn to movement on her right. She looked and saw something unexpected. She stared at something she couldn’t quite understand. Something she couldn’t explain. Something…not of this world. It wasn’t slimy or three-eyed, but it was also definitely not human. It was like a man on the bottom and a sea creature on top, complete with eight tentacles floating around his body. Was she dreaming? Was she crazy?
She turned toward Diesel and heard him curse under his breath. Oh no.
Was this a horrifying reboot of the Boogieman Affair? Was she about to become another victim of a disavowed dark conspiracy?