His anger eased. “It’s not that simple.”
“Nothing in life worth having is.”
“I made a commitment to my people and getting involved with you adds to the problems we have.” He took a deep breath and his anger faded to be replaced by sadness as he stared into her eyes. “I can think of a thousand reasons why it’s a bad idea to be with you but I’m still here. You’re my one weakness, Jessie. I want you and it seems logic doesn’t help me stay away.”
It made her melt a little inside for him to admit that. “What kind of problems do you think being with me is going to cause? Talk to me.”
“As soon as it comes out that we’re dating, it’s just going to drive those hate groups into another frenzy about how we’re animals and how wrong it is that we’re allowed to live. The religious fanatics are going to scream about the sins of animals ha**ng s*x with humans.” A small smile curved his lips. “It felt sinful, it was that great, but you get the point.”
She chuckled. “Yeah. The up side is that most people think those groups are full of idiots and don’t listen to them.”
“They terrorize the gates, make death threats, and I have other things to consider as well.” His humor vanished. “They’ll target you. We’ve learned this firsthand. They don’t just come after us but the women we are with. You wouldn’t be able to leave Homeland without being in danger.”
“I’m good at taking care of myself and I happen to work and live here now. I’m not real worried about that.” She ran her hands to his shoulders, massaging the tension there and shrugged her own. “I hate shopping so I sure won’t miss the malls and I can buy anything as long as I have the internet. What’s next?”
He hesitated and his attention shifted to her hair, spread out over the bed. She knew he was avoiding something and wiggled under him to pull his focus back to her eyes. He met her gaze and she arched her eyebrows.
“What else? Talk to me, damn it. You can totally be honest. Just spill.”
“Your father.”
The two words had a chilly effect on her. “Right. My dad. Yeah, that could be a problem.”
“He might pull his support from our cause and he represents New Species in Washington. We count on him and it would get sticky if he found out about us. Messy.
Ugly. It could hurt my people.”
“He’ll take us being together well. I’m not worried about that at all. He’s a public figure though, Mr. Reputation, and there might be a shit storm about his job if his daughter—me—is with you. Some might call for him to resign because he’s too emotionally invested, considering.” She chewed on her bottom lip.
“He won’t accept you being with me.”
She relaxed. “He’ll be thrilled as long as I’m happy. Trust me on that. I’m more worried about his job than anything else. Representing New Species has become his p—
” She halted that line of talk, cut off saying “pet project” since that probably wasn’t the best term to use considering Justice might take offense. She cleared her throat. “Passion in life,” she substituted.
Justice sighed. “Exactly. Us being together might cause a lot of trouble for everyone and…”
“And what?”
“We’re not sure where this is heading.”
“Right.” She agreed. “We barely know each other.”
“That’s why I wanted to avoid seeing you,” he admitted. “We should really consider this, Jessie.”
“I want to be with you and this is where you want to be too. Am I wrong?”
“No.”
“Okay.” She sighed. “So there’re only two reasonable things we can do. It’s either stop seeing each other, which we don’t want to do, or we could just not mention we’re seeing each other to anyone until we’re sure there’s something to tell them.”
He studied her. “You wouldn’t be hurt if we kept our relationship a secret? I’m not ashamed to be with you. You accused me of that and it’s not true.”
“It’s just kind of smart right now if we keep things between us, right? I think we both agree it’s for the best considering all that’s at stake. I really don’t want to cause trouble for my dad or get those lunatics at the gates stirred up. Your poor officers already put up with so much harassment from them. I’d hate to add to it.”
He frowned. “I don’t believe in lying.”
“Not telling isn’t lying.” She smiled. “At least I’ve been assured of that from my father but he’s in politics. Just pretend you’re dealing with the press. You’ve had to learn how to handle them. As long as we’re totally honest with each other that is all that should matter.” She cupped his face. “So how about it, Justice? Do you want to secretly date? Minus the dating part because that would mean someone would see us together.”
She chuckled. “I’m not big on going out to dinner or a movie anyway. I like quiet evenings at home.”
“You’re perfect.”
“Oh, I wish that were true. You’re staying the night, right? I’ve yet to get to sleep with you and they say the third time is a charm.”
“Try to get me out of your bed.” He put more weight down to pin her securely under him.
“I’m too tired and I have no motivation to move you since I like you exactly where you are. I didn’t get a lot of sleep last night and I know it’s early but I’m tired.”
“Nothing in life worth having is.”
“I made a commitment to my people and getting involved with you adds to the problems we have.” He took a deep breath and his anger faded to be replaced by sadness as he stared into her eyes. “I can think of a thousand reasons why it’s a bad idea to be with you but I’m still here. You’re my one weakness, Jessie. I want you and it seems logic doesn’t help me stay away.”
It made her melt a little inside for him to admit that. “What kind of problems do you think being with me is going to cause? Talk to me.”
“As soon as it comes out that we’re dating, it’s just going to drive those hate groups into another frenzy about how we’re animals and how wrong it is that we’re allowed to live. The religious fanatics are going to scream about the sins of animals ha**ng s*x with humans.” A small smile curved his lips. “It felt sinful, it was that great, but you get the point.”
She chuckled. “Yeah. The up side is that most people think those groups are full of idiots and don’t listen to them.”
“They terrorize the gates, make death threats, and I have other things to consider as well.” His humor vanished. “They’ll target you. We’ve learned this firsthand. They don’t just come after us but the women we are with. You wouldn’t be able to leave Homeland without being in danger.”
“I’m good at taking care of myself and I happen to work and live here now. I’m not real worried about that.” She ran her hands to his shoulders, massaging the tension there and shrugged her own. “I hate shopping so I sure won’t miss the malls and I can buy anything as long as I have the internet. What’s next?”
He hesitated and his attention shifted to her hair, spread out over the bed. She knew he was avoiding something and wiggled under him to pull his focus back to her eyes. He met her gaze and she arched her eyebrows.
“What else? Talk to me, damn it. You can totally be honest. Just spill.”
“Your father.”
The two words had a chilly effect on her. “Right. My dad. Yeah, that could be a problem.”
“He might pull his support from our cause and he represents New Species in Washington. We count on him and it would get sticky if he found out about us. Messy.
Ugly. It could hurt my people.”
“He’ll take us being together well. I’m not worried about that at all. He’s a public figure though, Mr. Reputation, and there might be a shit storm about his job if his daughter—me—is with you. Some might call for him to resign because he’s too emotionally invested, considering.” She chewed on her bottom lip.
“He won’t accept you being with me.”
She relaxed. “He’ll be thrilled as long as I’m happy. Trust me on that. I’m more worried about his job than anything else. Representing New Species has become his p—
” She halted that line of talk, cut off saying “pet project” since that probably wasn’t the best term to use considering Justice might take offense. She cleared her throat. “Passion in life,” she substituted.
Justice sighed. “Exactly. Us being together might cause a lot of trouble for everyone and…”
“And what?”
“We’re not sure where this is heading.”
“Right.” She agreed. “We barely know each other.”
“That’s why I wanted to avoid seeing you,” he admitted. “We should really consider this, Jessie.”
“I want to be with you and this is where you want to be too. Am I wrong?”
“No.”
“Okay.” She sighed. “So there’re only two reasonable things we can do. It’s either stop seeing each other, which we don’t want to do, or we could just not mention we’re seeing each other to anyone until we’re sure there’s something to tell them.”
He studied her. “You wouldn’t be hurt if we kept our relationship a secret? I’m not ashamed to be with you. You accused me of that and it’s not true.”
“It’s just kind of smart right now if we keep things between us, right? I think we both agree it’s for the best considering all that’s at stake. I really don’t want to cause trouble for my dad or get those lunatics at the gates stirred up. Your poor officers already put up with so much harassment from them. I’d hate to add to it.”
He frowned. “I don’t believe in lying.”
“Not telling isn’t lying.” She smiled. “At least I’ve been assured of that from my father but he’s in politics. Just pretend you’re dealing with the press. You’ve had to learn how to handle them. As long as we’re totally honest with each other that is all that should matter.” She cupped his face. “So how about it, Justice? Do you want to secretly date? Minus the dating part because that would mean someone would see us together.”
She chuckled. “I’m not big on going out to dinner or a movie anyway. I like quiet evenings at home.”
“You’re perfect.”
“Oh, I wish that were true. You’re staying the night, right? I’ve yet to get to sleep with you and they say the third time is a charm.”
“Try to get me out of your bed.” He put more weight down to pin her securely under him.
“I’m too tired and I have no motivation to move you since I like you exactly where you are. I didn’t get a lot of sleep last night and I know it’s early but I’m tired.”
