“You think I don’t want you anymore?” he asked, sounding truly puzzled. “Why?”
“I read the letters Adele sent to you.”
“What letters?” His brows furrowed. She’d never seen him look so fierce.
She swallowed hard again. “Well…the ones on your secret desk, in the secret place in your home office right behind the Maxwell the Martian picture.”
He leaned closer, but they still weren’t touching. He smelled great. She was still worried that the letters were accurate. He hadn’t kissed her yet.
“How did you find my hidey-hole anyway?”
“Your Maxwell picture wasn’t straight. So I leveled it and, voilà, the door released like I’d said abracadabra or open sesame or whatever magic alien phrase you use. Because youarean alien. Right?”
He pushed out a deep breath. “I am.”
“From a place called Alpha-Prime?”
“Yes.”
“I have to know something else.”
“What?”
Tears welled up in her eyes as she asked, “Do you want me anymore? Or is telling a girl you plan to fall madly in love with her just part of your smooth alien moves to lure women into bed?”
“You didn’t get my phone message this morning, did you?”
“No.” But she’d woken up to the sound of a phone ringing. He must have been the one who called this morning, but when she’d gotten home and saw the article missing, she ran out and hadn’t stopped to check her messages.
“I just found out less than ten minutes ago that the note on the flowers I sent you Monday also never made it.”
“Flowers? A note?” She shook her head. “I didn’t get them.”
Her gaze lifted to his eyes and she saw only love and desire in them. He leaned in close and kissed her like his alien life depended on it. His arms wrapped around her and he lifted her off her feet, kissing her deeply and thoroughly.
He broke the kiss only long enough to say, “I have fallen madly in love with you, Juliana.” His luscious mouth pressed to her lips, kissing her until she thought she might faint without any help from a Defender.
Her back was pressed to his office door, so when someone started pounding, it felt like it went all the way through her body.
“Who is it?” Diesel demanded.
The only response was further pounding. It made Juliana think about the day Axel had taken her to Diesel’s house. Someone had been pounding on his door that day, too.
“Do you think it’s the apple menace?” she whispered.
“No. That has been resolved.” Diesel lowered her feet to the ground, stepped in front of her to snatch the door open wide enough to peek out.
“What are you—” Diesel’s question was cut off when a Defender came through the opening. Juliana saw a female hand around it and a finger on the trigger, which was pulled just as Diesel grabbed it.
There was no noise. No pop. And no gunshot sound. Just silence. Diesel had tried to save her, but Juliana knew how the Defender worked now and how it impacted her in particular.
She waited for the weapon to render her unconscious. She’d hit the ground, and then not remember anything that just happened for several days. Not their exuberant kisses moments ago. Not that he’d told her he was already madly in love with her. Nothing.
Hopefully, the memories would show up in her dreams eventually and after that they’d become memories. Or perhaps she’d hit her limit of remembering things.
What if being Defender-blasted so many times finally made her lose her memories forever?
