42. West
West
M y omega instincts had never been happier. Which was good, because work was extra stressful. Between the unexpected heat and moving in, I couldn’t seem to catch up.
Something my boss kept reminding me of.
Despite knowing it was my house now, it was still weird staying home alone all day.
I’d spent most of my remote days at Cosmic Bonds, but I stopped early for the day and went for a drive.
I was getting annoyed at being in a random office, since spending my day in Ember’s office led to epic office sex, but neither of us got much work done.
I found myself at Talk of the Town without really planning on being there. Now I understood what Ember meant by the gravitational pull of the place.
But I shouldn’t bother Alejandro at work. I had my laptop; I could just go work in a coffee shop.
Or I could swing through and make sure the alpha didn’t need anything. I wasn’t curious about where he worked. Nope, not at all.
I sighed and got out of the car. Ember used the back door, but I wasn’t that comfortable. I walked into the double doors, thinking we should do a pack date here so Rian and Ben could ooh and ahh over Alejandro’s place of work.
The hostess was a pleasant beta girl barely out of her teens, and she looked at me brightly. “Hello, how many?”
“Uhhh…” I panicked. My mouth dried up like I had never spoken to another person ever. How stupid was it to show up and expect to just go into the kitchen, where Alejandro was busy working?
The girl had to have been trained well, because she waited pleasantly for me to get my shit together.
Cold sweat broke out and I was about two seconds away from turning on my heel and fleeing.
And then not telling anyone. I knew Alejandro wouldn’t mind me being here, but still, he had to be busy.
I didn’t have the right to barge in and expect him to drop everything.
The restaurant looked busy too. A couple of open tables scattered the floor, but most of them were taken.
“Do you want to wait for your party?” The beta gestured behind her. “I have some tables open if you’re the first here.”
“I’m not,” I said, looking around for a hole to open up in the earth and let me escape. What was I going to do? Order lunch and then sit there and eat it by myself?
Sunshine passed through the dining room. She stopped and then turned to me. “West?”
I couldn’t decide if this was a better or worse turn of events. “Yes,” I said. That was my name.
“You here for Alejandro?” Sunshine walked over. “You could have come through the back.”
Suddenly I saw why Ember used the back door.
I nodded, unable to make words come out of my mouth.
“This is West, Alejandro’s omega,” Sunshine told the girl at the hostess stand.
She turned pink. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know.”
“We’re not bonded,” I muttered. “I didn’t introduce myself.”
Sunshine beamed and linked her arm in mine. “It’s okay, Daisy. I’ll take him back.”
“Have a nice lunch,” the girl said. Christ, she looked young.
I nodded at her and allowed Sunshine to lead me into the kitchen.
“You’re always welcome to use the back door, but the front is fine too,” she said briskly. “I know you, and you’re thinking that you’re going to bother them, but you’re not. He’ll be happy to see you, and if he’s in the middle of cooking, we get to sit at a side table and eat.”
I let myself relax a fraction. That matched Ember’s description of what happened when she came.
“You didn’t feel nervous before you were bonded into the pack?” I asked. Damn it, my mouth decided to work and here was a question I wasn’t sure I wanted to say out loud.
Not that I wasn’t happy for Sunshine, but it said too much about my own mental state.
“All the time.” She laughed. Her soft scent of linen and blue skies relaxed me. “I kept making up work reasons to come and help ‘plan the menus.’” She made air quotes. “It’s so much easier now that I can just wander in.”
A large door swung open into the kitchen. Logan, Alejandro, and three other chefs were cooking in front of a massive row of stoves and countertops. To the side was a smaller kitchen setup.
“Look who I found,” Sunshine said brightly.
Alejandro’s entire face lit up when he saw me. My nerves settled and gave a little twitch of happiness.
Of course he looked happy to see me. I’m good in bed and we’re dating.
My instincts settled, even though it was too noisy and busy to get a good whiff of him. Stupid omega hormones. I should not be relaxed just because I saw the alpha. I’d see him when I got back to the house. I didn’t have a good reason to be overjoyed to see Alejandro in the middle of the day.
Mine, mine, mine , my instincts said.
Sunshine showed me to the side table and brought me a drink. Alejandro waved. I nodded and opened my laptop. Sunshine thankfully had a pile of paperwork, so I wasn’t forced to make small talk with my omega’s cousin. She knew me well enough to know I sucked at it, and took pity on me.
It was on the tip of my tongue to ask her how bonding her pack had been, but I squelched that urge quickly. Definitely not in front of Alejandro.
Bonding was down the line. A long time from now. If I felt like it. Ever. I didn’t need to bond alphas to want them, and they didn’t seem to require me to bond them to show how much I cared about them.
The lunch rush slowed down, and Logan came over to Sunshine. He nodded at me before chatting with his beta.
Alejandro beamed at me, leaning his forearms on the countertop. “Is there anything special to which I owe the pleasure of your company, mi amor, or just because?”
“I got tired of working in a random space at Cosmic Bonds.” I sounded grumpier than I actually felt, but I didn’t see how Ember stood the noise and lights of the kitchen. “I also wanted to see where you worked,” I added. That cost me nothing to say.
“We have a room that’s not booked out.” This close, he smelled heavenly, like sweaty delicious alpha. He gestured at my laptop. “I could make you something to eat, get you away from these bright lights.”
“Oh, I’m sorry.” Sunshine frowned. “I could have taken you somewhere else.”
“It’s fine,” I said. “Alejandro is just being all…alpha-y.” I waved my hand.
And right, but he already knew that.
Alejandro looked smug but didn’t say anything.
He showed me a small conference room to the side of the kitchen and came back ten minutes later with two plates.
They were burgers and fries, Talk of the Town–style, of course.
The fries were thick steak fries, and the burger was ground sirloin, with a toasted bun, lettuce, sautéed onion, and garlic aioli.
I raised an eyebrow. “What, no three-course meal with pasta you lovingly rolled yourself?”
Alejandro took off his white apron and sat down next to me. “Nope. Something good and simple. I can make you pasta from scratch later, when you’re in the mood for it.”
The alpha had my cravings pegged, because the cheeseburger hit the spot. Some of my cranky mood dissipated after I’d eaten the entire plate of food.
Maybe I was also hungry.
Alejandro looked tired but pleased.
“Okay, you were right,” I said, swirling the last fry through ketchup. “That was good.”
“Sometimes you just need a good cheeseburger.” Alejandro grinned, his brown eyes warm. “How’s work?”
“My project’s coming along. Boring.” I gestured at the kitchen. “Don’t let me keep you.”
“You won’t,” he said, brushing his hand over my wrist before eating some of his own fries. “I am allowed to take breaks. Logan isn’t running a sweatshop.” He tilted his head, and then grinned. “Forgot no one can hear me. Usually I get the peanut gallery’s witty commentary.”
“Are you working late tonight?” I asked.
“Nope. I worked late the last three nights. It’s Brianna’s turn.”
“Good.” I wasn’t sure what else to say. I was terrible at small talk, and I couldn’t get him to fuck me in the conference room, so I was at a loss.
“Am I working too much?” He cocked his head. “I’m working on cutting back, but the schedule is still pretty crazy.”
“You’re not neglecting us,” I said. “Restaurants are busy.”
“I want to be there more,” he said, looking at me. His tropical guanabana scent was easier to smell here, and it relaxed me more.
“So work it out in the future,” I replied. “I’m not going to say no to more time with you. But don’t feel guilty in the meantime.”
He nodded, seeming lighter.
“Having regrets?” I arched an eyebrow. “You didn’t think you were getting three other people when you started sending Ember lunch last year.”
Sweet god, what was wrong with me? My mouth was writing checks I could not cash today. I was just tired and cranky from too many changes.
“Regrets?” Alejandro took my hand and rubbed his cheek on the sensitive skin. “Hell no.”
I quietly prayed he’d turn it into a suave way to flirt.
Instead, the asshole went with sincerity. “I was more than happy to pack you a lunch too.”
“Without ever meeting me.”
“I scented both of you on Sunshine,” he said, watching me like I was a horse that was about to spook. He wasn’t wrong.
I let out a breath, reminding my instincts to calm the fuck down. We weren’t in any danger.
“After I saw you and Ember, got to know you…” He shook his head. “I was a goner. So no, no regrets.”
“It’s only been two months.” Give or take. I watched our fingers entwined together. His skin was darker than mine, a soft brown against the olive undertones of my own skin.
“It has been,” he agreed. His dimple flashed, and my cock twitched.
No , I told my hormones. We are not in a position to get laid .
“Ember’s worried that we’re all going to leave her,” I said. “After her parents died…”
He nodded. “I can’t promise her I’m not going to die. I can only give her space to process her grief.”
“And accept that she’s already in love,” I said. She’d said it before but repeating it felt bigger somehow. Like it was all just implied, easier to not think too much about.