Laurann Dohner: Justice

He laughed. “I wish you did.”

“Does your phone always ring nonstop?”

“Only when it’s on and that’s always.”

“You should get someone to help you. One man can’t possibly do everything.”

He shrugged. “I don’t know who would do everything that I do.”

“I’d train a dozen of them and disappear for a month of vacation. I bet you dream of hiding from cell phones and other people.”

“Don’t tempt me.” A look of longing crossed his features. “Do you think they’d hire me if I ran away to the circus?”

Jessie laughed. “I’m sure they would. I don’t think you’d enjoy that job any better though. You wouldn’t have calls to deal with but the people factor would be a hell of a lot worse.”

He adjusted his big body on the couch, bringing up his foot to rest on the edge of the coffee table. “What did you want to talk about? I would really be interested in hearing your ideas.”

Jessie hesitated. “You get this all the time, don’t you? People wanting your attention for something?” She felt bad for him. “I’ll tell you what. I’ll write you a letter, send it to your office and you can look it over when you find some free time. You shouldn’t have to deal with work right now. You really need some time to relax.”

“You want to leave?” He tensed. “I understand. I’m sorry about dinner getting interrupted. It was rude of me but I really had to take those calls. I swear I will read them if you want to send your ideas by mail. Just put your name in bold black print on the back of the envelope and I’ll tell my secretary to bring it to me as soon as it comes in. It will get my full attention.”

Jessie stood. “I don’t want to leave. You’re so stressed out.” She peered down at him. “You work more than anyone I’ve ever met. My father is a workaholic but you make him pale in comparison. Don’t worry about dinner or the calls. Do you know what you need?”

He shook his head but curiosity sparked his pretty eyes. Jessie hesitated. Oh hell, who cares if it is unprofessional? He’s stressed out, I want to help him and I’m doing it. It’s such a bad, horrible idea but screw it.

“You need a massage.”

His eyebrows lifted. “What?”

His baffled expression was adorable and drew a chuckle from her as she repeated her words. “You need a massage. I can rub your shoulders if you have some lotion around here. I used to do it for my father when he got stressed out. It made him feel better and it will feel nice on top of it.”

Justice swallowed hard. “There’s some in the bathroom. All the rooms come with those things.”

“That way?” She pointed at the hallway.

“Yes.”

“I’ll go. You relax. Put both of your feet up, get comfortable and don’t you dare touch that phone. Let it ring.”

Jessie realized she’d lost her mind. Justice could order her boss to fire her ass and Tim would. Justice was the leader of the NSO and she planned to rub the tension out of his thick, broad shoulders. Oh hell , she thought as she looked around the bedroom and walked into the bathroom. Justice was a stress case and he needed to unwind. A massage would do him a world of good. She located the lotion and returned to the living room.

Justice had followed her orders by resting his big feet on top of the coffee table.

Jessie smiled as she bent, took off her own shoes and met his unsure gaze. He watched her cautiously as if he had no idea what she’d do. She fought back a laugh over his bewilderment. She figured he was probably wondering if she was insane or not.

“I’m going to climb on the back of the couch and sit behind you. Can you take off your shirt?”

He only hesitated for a second before reaching for his waist, leaned forward a little and tugged the tank top higher up his chest to reveal those amazing muscles on his flat stomach again. Jessie stepped onto the couch, sat behind him and planted her feet next to his hips. She flipped open the lotion cap, studying his massive shoulders, understanding how much responsibility rested on them. They were impressive enough that she guessed he was the one man who could handle being the face of Species before the world.

His hair fell in the way and she set the lotion down and reached to her ponytail, pulling out the thong holding it in place. Her fingers dangled it out in front of Justice’s face.

“Could you put your hair up on the top of your head to get it out of the way, please?”

He hesitated before accepting it, pulled all his hair up on top and secured the strands. She figured she’d laugh if she saw him from the front. She concentrated on his tempting back instead, longed to touch him and poured lotion into one palm. She set the bottle down and warmed the creamy substance between her hands.

“The trick to relaxing is closing your eyes and letting everything go.” She spread the lotion over his shoulders, her fingers gripping the muscle. The tension in him couldn’t be denied. His shoulders felt like stone under her fingers and palms. She let her hands glide over his heated skin until the lotion coated the area she intended to massage. “Do you think you can do that?”

“I’ll try.” His voice came out deep and raspy.

“Good. You just close your eyes and relax.”

Jessie dug her fingers into tense muscle. She used her palms to push into his skin to massage deep, knowing she wouldn’t hurt him. Her hands weren’t strong enough to do that. Enjoyment filled her at touching him, her gaze locked on the tan skin she manipulated and hoped it would work. Justice needed to unwind. He worked way too hard.

He groaned, drawing a grin from Jessie—she hadn’t lost her touch. Her hands worked up his neck to knead his muscles before slowly lowering to the tops of his shoulders then back. He groaned and made soft sounds occasionally.

The phone rang a few times but he ignored it. He didn’t tense at the disruptions or move under her hands. Jessie’s hands started to hurt eventually from the strength she’d used. She stopped.

“Is that better?”

He groaned. “Yes.”

“Are you feeling stress free?”

“Yes.”

“My mission of relaxation is now complete.”

She released his shoulders with regret. It had been a pleasure to have her hands on the tall Species leader. She tried not to allow her thoughts to linger there and knew it was a really bad thing that she was so attracted to him. Her fingers slid the thong free from his hair and she shoved it into her pocket. Talk about barking up the wrong tree. He’s way out of my reach and Tim would kick my ass if he knew I was here.

Jessie climbed off the back of the couch and studied Justice’s handsome features.

His dark, sexy gaze met hers. She had to swallow hard over the intense look he concentrated on her, not sure what it meant with him so serious. He was really good at keeping her off balance.

“Is anything wrong? You’re staring at me as though you might want to say something.”

He slowly rose to his feet and he was so tall her chin had to lift to keep her gaze on his. She held still. He stood nearly a foot taller than her and he was really impressive in size. Too big . She let that thought slide. It didn’t matter because she didn’t feel threatened by him. He continued to watch her intently until he finally spoke.

“Thank you,” he rasped.

“You’re welcome.”

He blinked. “You should probably leave before I do something I’ll regret. Thank you for sharing dinner with me and…feeding me the dessert. I especially want to thank you for the massage. It was wonderful and needed.”

Jessie’s heart rate accelerated a little and curiosity wouldn’t be denied. “What are you thinking about doing that you’ll regret?”