Wait.
Why did their first kiss seem so…familiar?
Chapter Five
Diesel couldn’t believe she’d kissed him. But he intended to enjoy it. He relaxed into her open arms, sliding his hands around her waist, pressing his fingertips into the muscle along either side of her spine as the sultry lip lock continued and then deepened.
After a long and invigorating kiss, Juliana broke away. Diesel released her waist. She sucked in a breath, put the tips of her fingers to her lips as if they’d been burned and stared at him in wonder. Her mouth opened and closed as if she didn’t know what to say. The kiss had been as amazing as their first one. But from this day forward, he’d have to rememberthishad been their first kiss from her current perspective.
“Noware you satisfied?” he asked. He grinned so she’d understand he wasn’t upset about the kiss.
“Yes. Quite.” She didn’t smile back. She looked a bit dazed. For him, the kiss had been even better than their first.
Juliana took a step back and looked toward her car. Her cheeks blazed bright with color. Without looking at him, she said, “I’m sorry to have been so forward. I don’t know what came over me.” Her expression wasn’t contrite, since she was basically grinning. She seemed happy she’d done it, but confused.
“That’s okay. It wasn’t a trial, trust me.”
She turned toward him and pulled out her steno pad. He panicked for a moment. Hadn’t she taken notes earlier? Using the Defender was difficult in some circumstances. Diesel’s mind traipsed back over the thirty minutes she’d lost—or rather, the twenty-six minutes with her he’d never get back. It was a crime of nature as far as he was concerned. But often he didn’t get to decide his own best interests.
She seemed distracted, but apparently her notebook wasn’t a concern.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
Juliana’s sultry, intense gaze came up, shooting a look directly into his eyes. He was mesmerized.
“That kiss…” she said quietly, not finishing the thought. Her eyes narrowed. “It felt comfortable. No. That’s not right.” She stared at him again. “It felt familiar. Have we ever met before?”
Diesel felt his eyes widen. She couldn’t possibly remember. “That’s not what you mean, is it? You’re asking if we’ve ever kissed before.”Space potatoes! What am I saying?
She brightened all of a sudden and a beautiful smile surfaced. She shook her head again. “I know. It’s crazy. Never mind. I’m a little off my game for some reason.” She glanced back at her car for a minute and he wondered if she remembered her “nap.”
He felt the need to distract her. He put a hand on her soft shoulder briefly to gain her attention. “I’m certain that I’d recollect if we had ever kissed before.”It was amazing that first time. I regret only that it was erased from your memory.
Juliana nodded. “I agree. Hard to forget something like that.” Her expression softened and her gaze moved over his shoulder as if her memory went off into the distance trying to recapture a dream.
The Defender removed all human memories for the selected time period as if they’d never occurred. No remembering as if it were a dream. No déjà vu moments where the human thought they’d been here before or experienced something before. The Defender eliminated the memory completely within the prescribed time frame. Always. Without fail.
Luckily it only worked on humans and had no effect on the alien population on Earth. She couldn’t possibly remember anything. So why did it seem like she was remembering their first kiss?
He didn’t know exactly where Cam had placed each and every camera he monitored, just that he was somewhere watching, likely waiting to argue with Diesel over the second kiss. But Diesel didn’t regret it. Besides, he hadn’t instigated it. She had. What did Cam expect him to do? Push her away in disgust? Not a chance.
“Do you have any more questions?” he asked abruptly, thinking about the coming difficult conversation with Cam. There would be a lecture from his security-minded brother to annoy him, even as on some remote level he knew Cam was right about this.
Juliana startled, looked down at her steno pad, flipped a page up, studied it and then looked at him. She glanced back down at her page again, as if contemplating what she wanted to say. Her mouth quirked up on one side. She was obviously wrestling with something. Then he remembered the conversation they’d been having about something a human shouldn’t have known about. Had Cam heard her mention the Boogieman Affair earlier? Since his brother hadn’t castigated him for that yet, Diesel could probably look forward to it next time.
She lowered the page. “I guess that’s all I have for now, but I wonder if we could meet again.”
“Meet? Again?” he said stupidly, as part of his mind warred with how seeing her again was probably not a good idea at the same time he wanted to make a date with her more than anything. Diesel would meet with her anywhere, anytime.
Juliana tapped her notebook with the end of her pen once. “Yes. Maybe when you aren’t working.”I’m always working.
“Sure,” he said. “When did you have in mind?”
“When is your next day off?”I don’t get days off.
“I’m the boss. I can take off whenever I like.”I’m so funny.
She smiled. “Okay. How about next Friday then? I’m free that day.”
