Chapter 17
Chapter Seventeen
STELLA
Despite West’s assurances, I was still nervous as hell as I walked through the glass doors and into the sleek, modern reception area of Alpha Omega, hand-in-hand with West. I hadn’t thought anything of it at first, aside from acknowledging that it felt really nice, until the woman sitting behind the front desk glanced down at our interlaced fingers and raised her penciled brows, a curious expression on her heavily made-up face.
“Rox, this is Stella,” West introduced, leading me closer to the reception area. “Stella, this is Roxanne, our receptionist and the wrangler of the office. She basically keeps our shit together.”
“Hi. It’s nice to meet you.” I gave her a smile, hoping that the earlier concealer job I’d done on my face before West had all but dragged me out of the house was covering a majority of the bruising.
Roxanne returned my smile, her lips nearly the same bright red as her teased and fluffed hair.
She looked to be in her late fifties, and if I had to describe her look, from the big hair to the body-hugging clothes that showed off an impressive chest and the bit of extra weight she carried that managed to work really well on her, I’d say Biker Babe with Attitude.
There was a hardness to her that didn’t age her at all, but it made her eyes shrewder than most people’s.
This woman had been around, she’d lived, probably partied hard in her earlier years, and took absolutely zero shit from anyone.
In other words, she could easily be a Ryan, once or twice removed.
“So you’re the girl who has everyone all in a tizzy,” she stated plainly.
“Um . . .” I glanced at West, widening my eyes just a bit to silently convey, I am? All he did was smile—unhelpfully—in response. “I guess?”
She let out a hum, giving me a scrutinizing top-to-toe scan. “Hmm. I can see why. You’re a looker, darlin’. Even behind all those bruises.”
Well, there was my answer on my makeup job. Damn it.
“Uh, thanks. You aren’t so bad yourself.”
She blew out a raspberry and sat back in her chair. “Girly, don’t I know it.” I had a feeling I was going to like this woman.
“Scott,” a deep voice called out, and when I turned, I nearly swallowed my tongue. Four men stepped out of an office to the left of the reception desk, and there was no way to describe their combined hotness other than WOW.
Time seemed to slow as they crossed the lobby toward us, like something you’d see in a movie. The only thing missing was the low, thumping, sexy music that always accompanied scenes like that.
Serenity was going to be green with jealousy when I told her that the rumors about what these Alpha Omega men looked like didn’t actually do them justice.
And I wasn’t just going to tell her, I’d rub it in her face so smugly she’d hate me forever.
Damn, I wished my phone was functioning, because I’d snap pics as proof.
“Hey.” West’s voice pulled me back to reality before I had a chance to start drooling.
“Guys, this is Stella Ryan,” he introduced as the group stopped feet away.
He pointed at each man as he gave me their names, and I hadn’t thought it was possible, but each name was as hot as the man it belonged to.
“This is Marco,” he pointed to the tall, built, dark-haired man with light hazel eyes and a caramel complexion.
He moved next to another tall, well-built dude with black hair and eyes that looked like the purest jade.
“That’s Bryce.” The third man, just as tall and well-built as the other two, but with chocolate brown locks was Hunter, and the last, again, tall and well-built, but with blond, overly long hair, looked like a freaking Viking.
“And this is Lincoln. He’s the owner of this place. ”
“Nice to meet you,” Lincoln said in a rich, husky voice as he extended his hand. His words were pleasant, but there was a hardness in his features that grew darker as he took in my face. Same with the other men standing behind him. “Call me Linc. Everyone else does.”
I didn’t think I’d ever feel thankful for the bruises mottling my face, but they were currently covering my furious blush, which was a serious silver lining. “Nice to meet you too.”
“Is she here?” I heard someone yell from down a hallway, and a second later, a drop-dead gorgeous woman with long, wavy chestnut hair came running into view.
Where Roxanne was old-school biker babe, this woman was part of the newer generation of biker babes, from the biker boots on her feet, to the faded, well-worn vintage concert tee she wore knotted at her waist.
Trailing a few feet behind her was a real-life giant—I shit you not.
Was the dude hot like the others? Hell yes.
But he was even taller and built like a freaking mountain.
He was the kind of big that would make men piss themselves if he challenged you to a fight.
I knew that for a fact, because when his dark, fathomless eyes landed on my face and his nostrils flared, I might have peed a little.
Clearly, these were the kinds of dudes who took it personal when a woman was hurt by a member of their brotherhood. Good to know.
“Stella,” West said, pulling my attention from the gorgeous, bubbly woman. “This is Sage Caine. Don’t mind her, she’s crazy. Best to ignore pretty much everything that comes out of her mouth.”
The woman in question reached out and frogged West right in the arm.
“And this is her husband, Xander Caine.” The man’s version of a greeting was a grunt and lift of his chin before disregarding me and turning to West. “You got that phone?”
West handed him the box that contained my new phone, and the giant took it before leaning down to place a kiss to his wife’s temple, the action surprisingly tender for such a scary dude, and walking back down the hall he’d just come from.
Okay, wow. Talk about an unexpected couple, not that they weren’t both disgustingly good-looking.
“Don’t mind him. He’s not much of a talker,” Sage said on her husband’s behalf like it was second nature.
“Not a problem,” I said on a laugh.
We shook hands, then I moved to do the same with Hunter and Marco as well, but when I got to Bryce, he held my hand longer than necessary, narrowing his eyes as he took me in, like he was studying a specimen beneath a microscope.
I didn’t understand why he was examining me so closely until he spoke, my hand still in his as he cast a look to West.
“So this is her, huh? The best pickpocket you’ve ever seen?” His gaze returned to me, the doubt radiated in his eyes clear as day, raising my hackles. “This little slip of a thing?”
Oh no he did not.
Smiling sweetly, I gave him a shrug and pulled my hand back. “I guess West likes to exaggerate when it comes to my skills.”
He arched a brow and crossed his arms, and I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing. “Must be it. No offense or anything”—and there it was again, the offensive ‘no offense’—“you just don’t seem the type.”
“You’re probably right. Question”—I held up my wrist that was now adorned with his watch—“is this waterproof? I’d hate to get it wet if it’s not supposed to be.” I pulled my lips into a fake cringe. “It looks expensive.”
Bryce’s eyes went big and bounced between my wrist and his for a few astonished beats. “How did you— That’s my watch.”
“I’m aware of that.” Sliding the thick metal band off my wrist, I twirled it around my index finger, giving him an innocent doe-eyed smile. “Feel like retracting your earlier statement?” I asked saucily.
“Oh, damn,” Sage said as she burst into giggles. “Okay, I officially love this woman.”
“One of these days you’re gonna learn to stop talking shit,” the big man that had been introduced as Hunter said with humor in his voice before clapping Bryce on the shoulder.
“Don’t take it personally,” Sage told me. “Bryce might be going through man-opause or something. He’s been a little bitch since his pregnant wife told him to back the hell off and stop hovering.”
I let out a small laugh. “So he’s peen-MS-ing?”
“Oh, I love that!” Sage clapped.
“Fuck me,” Marco grunted under his breath, his alarmed gaze darting between me and Sage. “And now there are two of them.”
Sage’s grin grew even wider as she looked at me and winked. “Something tells me we’re going to have a lot of fun.”
“Did we ever get this building tornado proofed?” Bryce asked Linc. “Something tells me we’re gonna need it.”
Roxanne rubbed her palms together, a mischievous gleam in her eye as she declared, “It’s been a while since one of these boys has gone ass-over-elbow for a woman. Things are about to get really interesting.”
My gaze shifted to West, confusion crinkling my brow. “But we aren’t—”
West spoke over me, like his friends’ misconceptions of what we really were didn’t bother him in the slightest. “Linc, need a meeting if you’ve got the time,” he told his boss.
Linc’s eyes darted to me for just a second before returning to his man. He inclined his chin. “You need a team?”
“A team for what?” I asked, my curiosity piqued.
“That’s their call. I can handle this on my own.”
“Handle what?” Something was happening that I didn’t understand, but I had a sneaking suspicion it was about me.
“Oh, we’re definitely in,” Marco said with a rumble.
“Hell yeah,” Bryce agreed.
Yep. Something was definitely happening.
Linc gave a single nod of his head. “All right. I’ll call in Dalton and Cord. Meeting in ten in the conference room.”
With that, he turned and walked off, the others following after him.
“What the hell just happened?” I asked to no one in particular.
West turned to me, placing his large hands on my shoulders and twisting me around to face him. “I have to meet with the guys, but it shouldn’t take long,” he said, like I hadn’t just heard them make plans to do that very thing. “I want you to stay here with Rox until I get back.”
What the hell?
“West, if this involves me—”
“Don’t worry about her,” Sage asserted, swinging her arm over my shoulders and forcing me a step back.
“She and I are going to do a little lady’s lunch.
” Her attention came to me. “You been to Evergreen diner yet?” I hadn’t been anywhere but West’s house, and now here, for the past three days so I shook my head in silent reply. “Perfect. You’re going to love it.”
West’s features twisted up with uncertainty, and I found myself suddenly wanting to put him at ease. Reaching out, I placed my hand on his forearm and gave it a reassuring squeeze. “It’ll be fine,” I said softly.
It took a few seconds, but he finally relented on a nod. “All right. But stay close to Sage the whole time. Got it?”
“But what if I have to pee?” I didn’t actually foresee that being any kind of issue, but I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to mess with him.
“Then you both need to pee,” he stated firmly, his expression telling me he wasn’t fucking around.
I gave him a jaunty salute. “Sir, yes sir. She pees, I pee. And vice versa.”
He shook his head, muttering, “Pain in my ass,” under his breath, but I knew he didn’t really mean it, because it was obvious right then that he was trying his hardest not to smile. “I’ll see you in a little while, yeah?”
“Yeah, okay.”
He paused for a moment and I could have sworn he was about to kiss me.
My heart began to giddy-up in my chest, excited flutters filling my belly.
My brain was trying to set off a warning siren, but my body was in the process of hog-tying it and slapping duct tape over its mouth to keep it quiet.
I wanted him to kiss me, I realized with growing trepidation.
I wanted it so damn badly, I wouldn’t have done a single thing to stop it if he’d leaned in and pressed those full lips to mine.
But . . . he didn’t. Instead, he turned and headed in the direction the other men had just gone, and I tried to tell myself it was for the best. That it had just been a momentary lapse in judgement.
But I was full of shit.