Alien Knight Blind Date Disaster

inferno between her legs.
Lifting her napkin from her lap, she stood up like there was a fire under her backside. He stood as well and nodded, suddenly the gentleman. Odd behavior for a douchebag black market dealer. “If you’ll excuse me for a moment, I need to use the ladies’ room.”
She walked quickly to back hallway, knowing Jessica would meet her there, just as they’d arranged ahead of time. She was still fuming, pacing and tapping her small red handbag against the nearest sink when Jessica finally walked into the otherwise empty restroom.
“What the ever-loving hell is up with that guy?” The words exploded from Isabella’s mouth before Jessica had the chance to blink. “Were you listening to that?”
“Yes,” Jessica assured her, tapping the tiny earpiece.
“And did you hear him ask me if I was a virgin? Like it was any of his business?” she nearly shouted, completely outraged.
Jessica shrugged. “I don’t know. At first I thought he was just another jerk, like your ex. But after listening to the two of you, I think maybe he’s just an alien who is trying to impress you and has no clue how to do it. If you weren’t undercover and he wasn’t a criminal douchebag, I’d tell you to go for it. After you set him straight, of course. He is seriously hot.”
Isabella shook her head. “No. No way. He either has psychological issues or he’s purposely trying to throw me off. I’m telling you. No one is that weird.”
“He’s an alien. Don’t forget that. A.L.I.E.N.”
“No. My radar is going off at DEFCON 1. There is something else going on here.”
Jessica crossed her arms and tapped her own four-inch heels, in black. “Of course there is. Look in the mirror. You’re wearing a wig and glasses. And you think he’s the one playing games? This isn’t a real date, remember? So stop letting him get under your skin and wrap this up. Give him the key to the locker and tell him only half the merch is in there like we planned. Tell him he’ll get the rest after his payment goes through. Then leave. You’ll be one step closer to your goal. To finding Sevron and his brother. One step closer to getting paid for real. One step closer to information.”
Jessica had a point. And that game was the entire reason for this blind date. She was here to get information out of John and make an exchange. That was it. But that was proving to be incredibly difficult when one minute she wanted to smack him and the next she wanted to climb him and ride his hard body like a wild woman for hours. He was hot. Sexy. Virile. He even smelled too good to be true, clean and fresh, with hints of sandalwood and spice. Pure male. Her body was interfering with her head, and that was not good. And the ridiculous things he said? She didn’t know whether to laugh, cry, slap him or kiss him senseless.
“I better slow down on the Scotch.” Even now heat spread through her abdomen and moved into her veins, but to be perfectly honest, she didn’t know if the heat was from the alcohol or “John.” Either way, the languorous feeling would not help her resist the nearly perfect physical specimen sitting at the table waiting for her return. “Scratch that. Time to stop altogether. If I drink another drop, I won’t care if he’s an asshole. I’ll just want to jump on him and go for a ride.”
“You already want to do that.” Jessica was checking her lipstick in the mirror. She looked beautiful, as usual. “And who are the hotties in the booth? Backup? His wingmen?” She grinned.
“I don’t know.”
“Want me to find out?” Jessica waggled her eyebrows.
That made Isabella smile. “I think you want to find out. There are two of them. You do realize that?”
“And they are both fine specimens of man meat. I’d settle for either one.”
“Or both?”
That made Jessica laugh. “Maybe.”
“God, you haven’t changed at all.” They’d been friends since college, and they both knew Jessica had a bit of a wild side when it came to sexual play. The exact opposite of straitlaced Isabella, who had a small list of serious ex-boyfriends.
Jessica placed powder on her nose and sprayed her wrists with a spritz of perfume. “I’m young. I’m single. And they are drop-dead gorgeous. If I don’t go say hello, it’ll be a wasted opportunity to learn more about the Caldorians and their base. There are three aliens here, not just one. And you need information for your story. So I’ll sacrifice myself on the altar of friendship.”
“Some sacrifice.”
Jessica’s grin was infectious. “Exactly.” She dropped the perfume bottle into her small clutch and left Isabella alone with her thoughts, all of which revolved around the sexy alien sitting out there waiting to tell her more lies.
After Jessica left, Isabella stood in front of the mirror, her thoughts more about John than focused on her appearance. He was right about one thing; she didn’t know him and didn’t trust him. So far, she’d learned absolutely nothing about him. She’d only asked him one real question about his job, which he easily dodged. If the black market contact who’d set up this meeting for her was correct—and he usually was—then even of the Caldorians didn’t know the truth about what was going on outside the walls of their precious base.
Forbidden tech was everywhere, sold to the highest bidder. Sevron had supplied her with enough goods to keep up her farce as a dealer who could get alien tech for several more months, but tonight was supposed to be a breakthrough in her investigation. The man she was supposed to meet was reported to be one of the highest-ranking members of the criminal organization that ran Earth’s black market.
And he was supposed to have a soft spot for redheads.
Isabella ran her fingers through the false hair on her head and straightened her appearance. Time to