Janaya (8 page)

Luke strode up the steps in front of the square building. A lopsided sign fronted the façade. The faded words proclaimed the building a police station. Two men and a woman stood on the footpath outside the hardware store next door. Spirited chat complete with hand gestures ensued. When they spotted Luke, they fell silent.

“Fascinating, isn’t it?” Hinekiri whispered in her ear, immediately making Janaya frown. She hoped her aunt didn’t do anything stupid and attract attention.

“Are you coming inside?” Luke demanded, holding the door open for them.

Janaya decided to pick her fights. She’d go along with the grumpy, arrogant male for now. “Hurry,” she said, grabbing hold of Hinekiri’s forearm and dragging her through the open door. At the last moment, she remembered to temper her strength but Hinekiri still winced. “Sorry,” Janaya whispered. “I keep forgetting.”

Janaya and Hinekiri trailed Luke through the crowded room.

A tall, slim woman with long blonde hair and glasses pushed in front of Janaya. “Luke, about time. I want your comments for the paper.”

“Slept in, no doubt,” a large woman in an ugly orange floral dress said. “I told you there were aliens but you refused to listen.”

“There are no aliens,” Luke snapped.

“Oh, dear,” Hinekiri whispered. “What are we going to do? We have to help Luke. That large woman looks meaner than a Torgon.”

“I think Luke would prefer us to stay out of the way,” Janaya countered.

Several men and women leapt up off wooden benches and converged on Luke. Janaya heard aliens mentioned several times. A frown creased Luke’s face, tugging at her inner guilt. She should have listened to her gut and kept away from Luke and his father.

Luke seemed to sense her gaze and glanced across the crowded room, his gaze zeroing in on her. Instantly, a dizzying current raced through her followed by an intense longing to service him despite the crowd. A shiver of awareness shot to her pleasure points as she imagined them naked. Alone. Janaya sighed, quashing the inclination. They couldn’t join again. The consequences were too dire—for both of them.

“Constable, do you know the location of the spaceship?” a thin, bald man demanded.

Luke brushed past the determined throng, tight-lipped with tense shoulders. “I’ll talk to you soon and answer any questions you have.”

“What’s wrong with now?” Marcie Montgomery said with an arch grin.

The reporter, Janaya thought. Irritation kicked her in the gut when she noticed the drift of the blonde woman’s eyes to Luke’s masculine attributes. Had the woman no shame? She felt the subtle build of heat behind her eyes. Holy St. Francis! She couldn’t put holes in any of these people. What should she do? Panic made the heat intensify. A faint tinge of purple blurred her eyesight.

“What’s wrong?” Hinekiri whispered.

“I think— Holes.”

“Don’t you dare,” Hinekiri snapped, taking in the threat of danger in one swift glance. She grasped Janaya’s forearm and dug in her fingernails until they bit into her flesh. A dire warning. “If you get us in trouble, I will take you to the nearest cliff and toss you off. Don’t think I won’t. You might be my favorite niece but that won’t stop me.”

The anger bled from Janaya as soon as she visualized the scene her aunt described. “I’m your only niece.”

She slumped against the painted wall, breathing deep and slow. Gradually the purple tinge in her eyes receded. The fight for control had zapped her energy, and she hoped like hell a Torgon didn’t make an appearance. Even though she felt as weak as a newborn, Janaya tried to focus on their surroundings, unwilling to commit another bodyguard sin—that of being taken unawares.

“Thank God you’re here!” The young man behind the desk looked as if he wanted to hug Luke. His Adam’s apple bobbed up and down. “Can you help Mrs. Bates? Please.”

Janaya propelled her aunt past the crowd of people and pushed her after Luke, following the path he’d cleared. She kept a close eye on her aunt. It would be just like Hinekiri to wander off the minute she found an opportunity. Mingling with the natives was her special thing. But somehow, Janaya didn’t think the Earth natives were ready for her aunt.

“Do you want me to process these two?” Tony asked. “I’ll do it while you deal with Mrs. Bates.”

“They’re not under arrest,” Luke said tersely.

Although Janaya couldn’t read his thoughts this time, his body language told the story. He didn’t want them here. The minute they were alone she’d insist he let them go to source parts. They were both highly qualified and able to take care of themselves. Once they’d repaired the ship, they could move on and leave this planet. Then maybe Luke would find the peace he desired.

“I insist you talk to me now,” Mrs. Bates said, her chins wobbling in emphasis. “Or else I’ll ring the Holmes television show. They’ll talk to me.”

“Wait in the interview office,” Luke said, struggling for patience. No mistaking the threat from Mrs. Bates. Her face glowed with righteous indignation as she marched past him into the small interview room. She’d relish the spotlight if Mr. Holmes came to interview her for the
Holmes Show
. God, what a mess. The last thing he wanted was the television media ferreting around in Sloan. “Mrs. Bates, please take a seat. I won’t be long.”

A roar of protest filled the room. The crowd surged forward, waving fists and shouting over the top of each other. Despite the vehement objections, Luke herded Hinekiri and Janaya past the reception desk into his office. He shut the door and leaned against it as if to keep the protesters at bay.

“What parts do you need? Have you got a list?” Luke avoided looking at Janaya but temptation clawed at him anyway. A deep breath didn’t ease the ache in his balls. Hell. He had to get a grip. This whole situation would escalate way out of control if he wasn’t careful. Luke pushed away the Technicolor scenes of Janaya that played through his head, replacing them with the worst passion-killer he could think of—Mrs. Bates and Marcie Montgomery with him in a threesome. His gut bucked in horror as invisible cold fingers had his cock in full retreat.

“Luke? What’s wrong?” Janaya tugged on his shirtsleeve. “You’ve gone quite green.”

“A threesome with Mrs. Bates and Marcie Montgomery will do that to a man,” he said.

“Huh?”

In the interest of self-preservation, Luke edged away. He tried. He really tried but his gaze became entangled with Janaya’s breasts. He knew her skin was silky soft and her coral nipples tasted of exotic spices. “Breasts,” he said, his eyes lingering on her cleavage. “We were talking about bre—” Luke’s face heated while a distinct pain seared through his chest.
Brain. Kick-start.
“Ah…parts for your ship.”

Hinekiri’s brows arched and her lips twitched. “I can give you a verbal list. Now let me see.” A grin quivered across her lips. “We need a breastplate,” she chirped.

Janaya scowled at her aunt. “He means parts for the ship.”

“Did you?” Hinekiri asked. “I could have sworn—”

“Just give me a list of parts.” Luke glared at Hinekiri too. He liked a sense of humor as much as the next guy but not at his expense. And not when he needed to deal with the press. “I don’t have time for this.”

He stomped over to his desk and yanked open the top right drawer. Damn, his head throbbed. His whole body ached, come to that. Felt like he’d fallen down a mountain backward. Feeling the weight of a stare, he looked up from his search for a painkiller. Janaya gave him a tentative smile and the ache changed. It dived south, straight to his dick.

The door burst open. Luke’s father strode into the office. The roar of the crowd in the outer office followed and only receded when he slammed the door.

“Bad out there,” his father said, shaking his grizzled head. “There were so many people out at the crop circles that the Sloan Woman’s Division has set up a cake stall. And Ted Morrison is selling entrance tickets at his gate.”

“That’s the least of our problems.” Luke rummaged for the painkillers again. When he found a sheet of tabs, he popped two and swallowed them down dry. “Okay. Dad, can you take Janaya and Hinekiri to Robbie’s car parts? I have to see Mrs. Bates.”

“Janaya will stay with you,” Hinekiri said in a firm tone. She grasped his father’s arm and looked up at him through a flutter of eyelashes. “Richard and I can handle the shopping.”

Luke groaned inwardly. He didn’t even have to think about this to know it was a bad idea to let Hinekiri go off with his father. He opened his mouth to protest but Janaya beat him to a protest.

“No. Absolutely not. I am coming with you. What if something happens to you? What if the Torgon arrive?”

A tense silence ensued while Janaya and Hinekiri fought it out in a duel of glares.

Luke froze sure he saw a flash of purple in Janaya’s eyes. “Quit that. Hinekiri, are you sure you won’t change your mind?”

Evidently, Hinekiri caught the same warning signals he did. “All right,” she said in a snippy voice. “I’d like to point out that I’ve been managing on my own for some time. You sure know how to rain on a girl’s parade!”

“Huh?” Janaya said.

“Never mind,” Luke said. He did not want to think about his father and sex in the same sentence. “Just go. Out the back way. And take this.” He handed Janaya a gun and she tucked it out of sight. Luke opened a second door that led to a corridor and the rear entrance to the police station.

“Told ya they’d try and sneak out the back,” a short, skinny man crowed. He shoved a fluffy black microphone in Luke’s face. “Can I have a comment about the aliens? What do they look like? Is there any truth that they have green suction caps all over their faces?”

His father groaned. “For God’s sake. Will you people get a life?” He shoved past, using his superior height to shoulder the reporter out of the way.

“Don’t I know you?” the reporter asked, frowning at Luke.

“I don’t think so. Dad, I’ll see you back at the house.” His father escorted Hinekiri past the waiting reporters while Luke grabbed Janaya by the arm for a quiet word. “Please, sweetheart. Be careful. Try and keep a lid on that temper of yours. I can’t afford any more attention. We have enough to cope with now.”

“I’ll be careful. I promise.”

And Luke knew she meant it. Sincerity blazed from her violet eyes.

“I do know him!” the reporter shouted. He grabbed his photographer by the shoulder. “Turn the camera on and keep filming until I tell you to stop.”

“You’re Luke Morgan. Married to Victoria, daughter of Sir Robert Paykel.”

Aw, shit. Was his past going to follow him round for the rest of his life? Hadn’t he paid enough?

“No comment?” the reporter said, his manner arch and a trifle sly. “Detective Luke Morgan was recently acquitted of heading a drug cartel in Auckland,” he said for the camera.

“Luke?” Janaya stepped up beside him jerking his thoughts from the past and the hell he’d gone through trying to clear his name. “Should I help clear the area?”

Alarm exploded through Luke. “No.” Hell, no! “I’m fine. Just keep an eye on Dad and Hinekiri. Keep them out of trouble. I’ll be fine.”

Janaya nodded and strode off without looking back. Luke couldn’t have stopped his appreciation of the view to save himself. Sex appeal oozed from her with each gentle sway of her hips. The smooth stride and sensual flex of her butt tied his gut in knots. Man, he had it bad.

“Nice ass,” the photographer said. “Can we get back to the subject at hand?”

Luke bit back his instinctive protest. If he didn’t make a big deal then the reporter wouldn’t pay any attention to her.

“Who’s the broad? Does Victoria know you’ve replaced her already? Is it payback because Victoria played around with your best mate?”

The reporter’s raised voice attracted the attention of others. Soon there was a pack of the bloody reporters baying for his blood. Uneasiness hit him square in the gut. Luke felt the old dread, the sense of out of control and helplessness pressing against his chest. His past was about to bite him on the arse. Knowing there was nothing he could do in the way of damage control, he decided to head back into the station to face Mrs. Bates.

He’d take one knotty problem at the time and suck in the rest. Pretend he didn’t give a damn about the false drugs charges, his best friend’s betrayal and the worst thing of all—his ex-wife’s lack of loyalty when things got tough, her weird take on fidelity.

He moved purposefully inside and shut the door with a quiet click even though he wanted to slam it in frustration. At least Hinekiri and Janaya were with his father. Between the three of them, they’d keep out of trouble.

Then Luke thought about Hinekiri’s propensity for mischief, Janaya’s trigger-happy fingers and his innocent Dad. Holy shit! Luke glanced out the nearest window to check the sky for flying pigs.

“Luke!” Tony shouted. “Please, I need help. There’s so many people in the station we need crowd control.”

Luke sighed and strode into the reception area to face the fray. The first person he saw was Mrs. Bates. She chatted to a reporter, waving her hands with great animation. Of course, she hadn’t paid a blind bit of notice to his instructions to wait in the office. Too busy being nosy.

“Who are those women?” Mrs. Bates demanded when he stopped beside her.

“No one important,” Luke said. He paused waiting for a bolt of lightning to strike him down. When it didn’t happen, he gestured for Mrs. Bates to follow him to his office.

“I’ll settle Mrs. Bates and then come back to get rid of the crowd,” he told Tony. “Mrs. Bates, I promise I won’t be much longer.”

“About time! I’m a taxpayer, not a homeless dosser to brush off.” Each of her chins wobbled with indignation.

Oh, yeah. He was in for a telling off. Luke resisted the urge to fidget. He hadn’t suffered through many stern lectures recently. Last he recalled was when he and his best friend, James, had chopped off Melissa Hill’s ponytail.

His second-in-command looked distraught. His dark curls stuck up as though he’d raked his hands repeatedly through his hair while he tried to deal with the large number of complaints and UFO sightings. Six people squeezed together at the reception desk, all talking at the same time. The loudest seemed to capture Tony’s attention, a fact they’d cottoned on to since they were hollering loud enough to wake the dead in the cemetery down the road.