She finally released his hand and looked down at her steno pad as if holding her own version of an alien artifact, trying to remember why she was here. Juliana took a deep breath and pulled the pen from the spiral wire of the well-used notebook to stall for time. Her embarrassingly girly notions of attraction refused to fade.
Unsure of the level of professionalism she’d exhibit at the moment, she pressed forward anyway.
“Yes. That’s right. Juliana Masters.” She cleared her throat and chanced a look into his face again. “I’m a writer working on an article for Finder’s for a special book project,” she managed to say without her voice hitting a high tenor, squeaking or going out altogether. It was a miracle.
His eyes narrowed slightly, as if he couldn’t possibly figure out why she was here to see him, but his engaging smile remained undiminished. She hoped he wouldn’t kick her out when she told him what she wanted.
“And how can I help you with that?”
“I’d like to ask you about the rumors surrounding Alienn, Arkansas.”
“Rumors?” His voice had a deep timbre. It was sexy, very easy to listen to and…what had she asked?
His smile widened to a grin, the expression giving his already handsome features a whole new beautiful visage. Words dried up in her throat. Her head was no help—nothing at all in there—as she stared at him for way, way too long again.
“What rumors are you talking about?” he clarified. His tone was amused, as if he knew exactly what she was going to ask and was planning on making her say the words out loud.
Touché.
She cleared her throat again but lowered her gaze and said, “The rumors that, one, aliens already live among us and they have for quite some time without being discovered and that, two, you and your entire extended family living in Alienn are from another planet.” Her gaze lifted to his face as she completed her volatile sentence.
His smile faded to zero humor. His brows furrowed sternly. Even his frown was attractive. “Sorry, puny earthling. I can’t allow you to reveal our secret plan to infiltrate and take over this planet.” He put two fingers to his temple. “Now I’ll have to use my mind control ability to make you forget why you’re here and send you on your way none the wiser.”
Juliana sucked in an audible breath. He stared into her eyes, unblinking and serious for three solid seconds.
Did he really think he could control her mind? She closed her eyes, bracing to fight off an alien mind probe, ready to concentrate on keeping her thoughts alive and all hers. When nothing out of the ordinary happened, she squeezed her eyelids tighter and waited some more.
After a few more seconds, he whispered, “Is it working? Do you remember your name or why you’ve come here, puny earthling?”
Juliana’s eyes popped open to see his reacquired and very amused expression. She resisted the urge to sigh out loud as she realized she was being made fun of.
She understood why. It was foolish to have started out the way she did. “Very funny.”
“I don’t mean to hurt your feelings, but I couldn’t seem to resist.” He lowered his fingers from his temple and crossed his arms. Somehow this made him look even taller and more masculine and more handsome.
Shake it off, girl. He’s only a man.
As she thought it, another half-smile formed on his lips and his eyes seemed to liven with interest.Stop it. He can’t read your mind.
She shook off her paranoia. “No. That’s okay. I had that coming.”
“Are you really writing an article for a special Finder’s book project?”
“Yes. Of course. It’s in conjunction with the university I just graduated from. That’s how I got the job.”
“Can you prove it?”
“Prove I’m with the university or Finder’s?”
“Either one.”
Juliana let out a single bark of laughter, but reached for her purse when his inquisitive expression didn’t change. She’d just accused him of being an alien from another planet with an alarming agenda. The least she could do was prove she was legit and not some irrational, persecuted crazy person on a journey of insanity.
Pushing aside her useless cell phone, she grabbed her wallet and pulled out the ID part. On one side was a business card from Finder’s. On the other, behind the clear plastic holder, was her recent student ID. She held that out for his perusal.
He leaned forward and studied it for quite a long time. There wasn’t much on there, just a bad picture that looked like she’d arrived at the registration desk after a drunken lost weekend for a photo that would haunt her for her entire college career. It also featured her date of birth, major field of study, the official school logo, and a student number next to a bar code that gave her access to campus facilities. It wasn’t technically valid, since it was fall and she’d graduated at the end of the spring semester. Either way, Diesel seemed to be memorizing it. Was he about to say something disparaging about her awful picture? She yanked her hand back, breaking his concentration.
