The Alien’s Pet (Earthly Mates #2)

Chapter 1

One

Karin Johansson was not a nice woman.

Lawyers seldom were. One of her professors at Harvard Law School had once told the class, "You can either be a nice person or you can be a lawyer. You cannot be both. Nice lawyers don't win cases, and they don't help their clients win."

Karin had taken her words to heart. As a result, at the age of thirty-three, she was a successful divorce attorney at the prestigious Cooper and Mellow, a family law firm. She had risen to the top by following her professor's advice and not being a nice person.

With every case she received, Karin would fight tooth and nail for her client even if her client wasn't a particularly nice person. What Karin cared about most of all was winning. She wasn't above using techniques such as blackmail and extortion, but she wasn't stupid enough to get caught, unlike some of her previous colleagues.

Then there was the money. Yes, the money was nice.

Karin had only been a lawyer for eight years, but she had already managed to purchase a three-bedroom penthouse overlooking Central Park, a luxury car, three highly sought-after designer bags, monthly spa trips, and exactly forty-eight pairs of designer heels. Best of all, she had paid the last of her student loans last year.

To someone who had grown up with money, her purchases might not have been seen as a big deal, but Karin Johansson, one of the most sought-after divorce attorneys, had grown up flat broke.

She and her single mother had lived in a dirty, ugly trailer in Illinois for eighteen years until Karin had managed to secure a scholarship to an out-of-state college. Her useless mother had died a year later, her body finally succumbing to all of the drugs she had been pumping into it since Karin was a toddler.

Karin had spent her childhood and college years eating pieces of stale bread, wearing clothes from thrift stores, and patching holes in her shoes, until she landed her first job out of law school.

Now, she was finally enjoying the fruits of her labor and it was glorious.

So, yes, she might not be a nice person, but she was successful. And to her, it was enough.

Most of the time.

It was eight-thirty in the evening on a Saturday night, but Karin was already freshly showered and dressed in only a comfy robe while sipping a glass of wine. Everyone else her age was probably hitting the newest restaurant or club or getting their children ready for bed.

Meanwhile, Karin was checking her email. She had read the email four times, but she could hardly believe it.

The email was from her bosses, the owners of Cooper and Mellow. It was an email stating they wanted to make her a partner at the firm. The offer letter included a generous salary, a bonus, and a corner office.

Karin sipped her wine. Being made partner before the age of forty, was a dream come true. Yes, her workload would be heavy, but she typically enjoyed the work. Karin would meet more important clientele. Who knew, maybe in a few years she would be able to transfer to another, higher up firm somewhere else. She'd always wanted to live in California.

This was excellent news. Then why wasn't she happy?

Karin was treating the announcement as if she had received a coupon in the mail. She realized for the first time in several years how lonely she felt. Especially, now that she had no one to share the news with.

Karin had never had any friends. People avoided her like the plague when she was in Illinois because she was the poor, trailer trash girl, and Karin was too competitive in college. So much so, it frankly made her unlikeable.

She knew it was lonely at the top. It usually didn't bother her, but sometimes on days like today, it did. Things weren't much better at the office or wherever she went. It seemed everyone around her age was getting married or popping out babies.

While Karin didn't mind following her vow of never getting married or having children, for fear they would meddle in her growing career, days like today made her question things. Would living in the suburbs really be such a terrible fate?

She hadn't dated seriously since her first year of law school, as she found most men dull, irritating, and lacking in conversation. Most men her age either found her too intimidating, came with too much baggage, or were more interested in having her as a Sugar Mommy rather than a wife.

"I have everything I've always dreamed of," she murmured as she served herself another glass of wine. "Then why do I feel like such a loser?"

She made a mental note to only have one more glass of wine and go to bed. Nobody liked a sad, weepy, pathetic mess. Karin decided to finish her wine while overlooking Central Park. There was always something interesting going on, even at night.

The blonde was too busy looking at a pair of dogs chasing each other, she didn't notice something large approaching her penthouse window. By the time she noticed, it was too late.

Something terribly bright was approaching her at top speed.

Then everything went dark.