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 wantsevenkids? 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, Iamthe 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.
