Laurann Dohner: Justice

“I can skip that one. It’s one of the news stations trying to get an early comment from me.”

“Do you ever get days off?”

“Never.” He shrugged one shoulder. “I knew it would be a tough responsibility when I was asked to take the lead.”

“Take the lead?”

“My people asked me to lead them. I was calmer than most and reasonable. I was the best fighter too and I had the quickest response time adjusting to where they took us after we were freed. I did not try to kill any humans who annoyed us with their way of criticizing everything we did. I was always the cushion between my people and yours. I became the negotiator when there were disagreements between us. The Species were asked to elect a spokesperson to represent them and I was asked by my people to lead. I accepted.”

She took a sip of her drink. “You’ve done an amazing job. My father is Senator Jacob Hills and he always tells me that your job originally was supposed to be limited but you stood up for Species and argued to get them where they are today. He says you are a force of nature that no one should be stupid enough to mess with.”

Justice chuckled. “I like him. I didn’t realize you were his daughter.” His gaze skimmed her. “You look nothing like him.”

“I resemble my mother but I barely remember her. She died when I was five years old after a drunk driver hit her car on her way home from the gym. I have a lot of pictures of her though and I definitely take after my mom.”

“I’m sorry for your loss. Your father is well liked.”

“He likes you too. Not many people realize I’m his daughter and he tries to keep that off the radar. I’m kind of wild.” She touched her hair. “He hates the hair.”

Justice studied it. “You were not born with that bright hair, correct? I like it but I have never seen that color before and I have seen a lot of people since we were freed.”

“It’s straight from a bottle. It’s not the color he objects to but he does miss seeing it a lot less colorful. It’s the length he hates the most. I refused to cut it after an especially bad haircut when I was sixteen that made me look like a boy and it was days before my big sweet-sixteen birthday. That’s a big party event and I hated it short. I stopped cutting it after that fiasco. Then my ex-husband demanded I keep it short after our wedding. He said it was too long, always annoying him, and he and my father tried to gang up on me to cut it to my shoulders. ‘Responsible people don’t have hair to their asses.’ That’s a quote.” Jessie laughed. “I won’t cut the hair and Dad gives me some grief about it whenever I see him.” She shrugged.

His pretty gaze softened. “It’s beautiful. Anyone is foolish who wants you to cut it. I don’t know how anyone could find it annoying. I have long hair. It’s not nearly as long as yours but long hair for a man isn’t fashionable it seems, from what I’ve been told by our media consultants. I also refused to cut my hair short but I do allow them to keep it at this length. I am responsible and hope humans see me as such. I hope you leave yours flowing down.”

He likes long hair . Jessie felt her heart twist. Sexy hot, nice ass, a body that didn’t end and he liked her hair. He was nearly perfect. His phone suddenly rang and he reached for it. Scratch that . A perfect guy wouldn’t have an annoying cell phone that kept ringing all the time. He wouldn’t be a workaholic . Justice North lived and breathed work.

“I’m sorry but I have to take this.” He flipped open his phone. “Justice here.”

Jessie finished her dinner. Justice had finished with his too. Halfway through the conversation he’d shot her an apologetic look and rose to his feet. He walked to his briefcase on a desk by the front door and opened it to leaf through some folders as he spoke quietly. He remained on the phone.

Jessie cleaned up their dinner dishes and put them on the bottom empty shelf of the cart. She lifted the lids on the four smaller dishes to identify the desserts when she pulled them out and set them on top. She knew a lot of the Species weren’t fond of chocolate and ignored the fudge cake to study the other dishes. One was a mixed-fruit concoction piled on what appeared to be angel food cake. The other two were pieces of apple and pumpkin pie. She glanced at Justice for a moment, trying to decide which one he’d enjoy more. She picked up the fruit and the apple pie and grabbed a spoon before approaching him.

He must have sensed her behind him. He turned and cupped the bottom of the phone to mute his voice. “I’m sorry.”

“Which one?” She held them out.

He smiled and accepted the fruit. She had guessed right. She held out the spoon but he didn’t have a hand free to take it. She grinned as she dipped it into the dish he held and lifted it toward his lips. He grinned in response and opened his mouth.

She took notice of his fangs as she gently slipped the spoon against his tongue, avoiding the sharp points of his teeth. He sealed his mouth around the spoon and Jessie suddenly became as jealous as hell of that bit of silver with his lips wrapped around it.

She pulled it slowly out.

He closed his eyes as he savored the taste, his expression showed the pure pleasure he experienced and he softly groaned. Jessie put the other dish on the table far from his papers and took the dish he held. His eyes opened to stare at her and she kept her smile in place despite the attraction she felt toward him. She dipped the spoon again to offer him another bite.

“You need both hands,” she explained softly.

“Thank you,” he whispered.

He took another bite, just as seductively as the last, only the second time he kept his gaze on her face. The blue of his eyes showed more and it fascinated her how the color seemed to change with his emotions. The oval-shaped pupils had shrunk a bit, narrowed and more blue spread through his exotically patterned irises. Justice suddenly broke eye contact to search for something. He grabbed a paper and read it.

She felt the loss of his attention and disappointment filled her for some odd reason.

She’d enjoyed being the sole focus of his attention for those brief moments.

“I see that. It’s right in front of me. Tell them that’s fine but make them go lower on the price. Just because we won that lawsuit doesn’t mean we’re stupid enough to spend all of it on high bids.” Justice cleared his throat. “Tell them you are calling others to acquire bids on the job. That should make them lower their price. Go with the number we spoke of and if they don’t accept it, call others and reopen the bidding. We’re set on a budget.”

Jessie fed him another bite when the other person on the phone kept talking. She hadn’t fed a man…ever. She enjoyed it. He flashed another grateful look, smiling at her.

She wondered if a woman had ever fed him, hoped not and wanted him to remember her. She fed him all of the fruit and cake until the plate was empty. She returned the dish to the tray and picked up a few sodas for them to drink. He pointed at the table next to him, grinned his thanks and reached for something in his briefcase. Jessie opened the soda for him and set it down. She went to the couch and ate the apple pie.

“I’m so sorry about that.” Justice collapsed on the couch next to her a few minutes later after ending the conversation. Three feet separated them. “Thanks for the fruit. It was really good.”

She turned to face him. “I understand.”

His phone rang again and his smile faded to a grimace. “I’m not going to look. For a dime I’d toss that thing into a wall and break it.”

She touched her front pockets. “Sorry but I don’t have any change.”