Lawe frowned before jerking his gaze back to Jonas. “Where did we learn manners?”
Jonas sighed.
“You don’t curse in front of women, Agent Justice,” Jess snapped. “Doesn’t matter who she is, where she comes from, how she talks or your opinion of her. Pretend she’s a child. Would you speak like that in front of a child?”
Lawe frowned, his gaze suddenly flickering in indecision. Jonas held back his smile. He knew damned good and well that the only child Lawe allowed himself to interact with was David Lyons. And David’s vocabulary at nine years old was impressive.
“My God,” Jess muttered, turning to make a note on a legal pad. “We’re going to have to work on this. ”
“Boss, I’m going to find that office now. ” Lawe cleared his throat. “I’ll uh, let you deal with this. ”
Jonas watched as Lawe turned and hurried from the office, casting Jess one last suspicious gaze.
“This isn’t going to work, Jonas. ”
“Not now, Jess. ” He wiped his hands over his face as he blew out roughly. “First things first. ”
“And when one of your Breeds makes the mistake of speaking to the wrong person at the wrong time in that manner? Visiting dignitaries? Allies? What then?”
“Not now, Jess. ”
One mess at a time. Yeah, that was going to happen. He was presently juggling close to a dozen messes. This one just happened to be his pet project.
She rose to her feet, sophisticated perfection dressed in a short, navy silk skirt and jacket with a creamy-colored silk blouse beneath. She was buttoned up, composed and disapproving.
“You’re going to have to get your men into social training. ” She paced over to his desk, her regal expression a challenge.
“Jess, not right now,” he growled.
Her lips lifted into a condescending smile. “Yes, your plots and schemes are so much more important at the moment. ” She braced her hands on his desk and leaned forward. “Tell me, Jonas, what are you going to do when everything and everyone you’ve manipulated backfires on you?”
His brow quirked. That was an interesting scenario.
“Enjoy the battle?” he queried with faint amusement.
A frown snapped between her brows. “This isn’t a laughing matter. ”
“Jess, I’ll tell you what, you do your job, the legal mumbo jumbo you enjoy so well, and let me do mine. I won’t tell you how to argue a case and you don’t tell me how to conduct my missions. Agreed?”
Her eyes narrowed. “I can’t wait until you fall. ”
“Join the club,” he snorted. “I’m going to start charging for that particular membership. Now, why don’t you get back to covering our ass on that latest strike against the purist camp and I’ll get back to my job. ”
“Manipulating people?” She straightened, staring down her aristocratic little nose with haughty disapproval.
“I do it so well. ” He grinned. “Can I get back to it now?”
“You do that, Jonas. ” Her shark’s smile would have made a lesser man wince. “And I’ll consider your defense in case you get caught. Of course, you could always plead insanity. ”
He growled warningly. Not that the rumbling of danger affected Jess in the least. She smiled back at him complacently, turned and sauntered back to the sofa.
Damn woman. Thank God she hadn’t turned out to be his mate; they would have killed each other.
CHAPTER 9
She couldn’t allow him to ever touch her again. She wasn’t going to allow him to touch her again.
What the hell had happened? Since when did Scheme Tallant allow her hormones to drown out her common sense?