Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
Tatum
Six days. I’ve been working here six days, when everything gets so fucked.
I walk in, head for the lockers, and then stop short. I blink… Blink again. There’s no way. There’s no fucking way!
“Wh-who’s that?”
Dream looks up at the man I’m staring at like if I look away, he’ll disappear. She smirks. “Oh, that’s Hayden.”
I watch the tall, imposing man in a black T-shirt and slacks. His hair is different now. But those eyes. Those startling blue eyes are the same. He hasn’t spotted me, and I should be running for the locker room, but I’m stuck to this spot.
My voice is a broken whisper, as my chest constricts. “Well, fuck.”
“Working VIP, huh?” one of the male Omegas asks him, as he passes Hayden, and the Alpha nods, an easy smirk tugging his lips up.
And then he’s turning. Facing me. Our eyes lock. My breath catches in my lungs, and my head spins. Not Hayden Miles. Not here…
“Tatum…” he whispers, the smirk blooming into a dazzling smile that threatens to rip a choked sob from me. I know it’s him. There’s no denying it, but a part of me is holding onto this hope that maybe I’m hallucinating this entire moment.
“No…” I’m shaking my head, trying to find my feet. Trying to flee. But I’m trapped in place. He takes this as an invitation to approach me. He stops just a few inches away from me and smiles down at me as I shake like a fucking leaf in a hurricane.
“How are you? You look good, Tatum. Man, it’s really good to see you.” It’s one of those moments in the movies where time slows down… Only time doesn’t slow for me. There’s no time to think, I react before Hayden can touch me.
The slap echoes in the room without the music on, and the second my palm stings, I gasp. I stare from my hand to his cheek, eyes wide, mouth popped open. How very un-Omega of me.
He smirks, lifting his brow, but he drops the outstretched arms.
“Feisty as ever, I see.”
I hate the knowing way he looks at me. As if he didn’t lose the right to know shit about me when he abandoned me. Every wound I thought I’d sealed shut splits open right in the middle of my work place.
I shake my head, shake off the effects of his handsome face, and the memories that are bombarding me. I will not be weak. I will not fall so easily for his kind smile and flirty words. He can eat my ass, for all I care.
Oh jeez, Tatum. Wrong mental image to give yourself right now!
I snap at him, my rage and anger flaring to protect me from the all consuming sadness that’s trying to creep in. “Why are you here?”
He shrugs, not at all bothered by the glare I’m shooting him. “I work here.”
“Since when!”
“A little bit.”
I don’t respond. I stare up at him. My heart, the floozy, wants to lean into him. To ask how he’s been, what he’s been up to. Demand answers. My nose, the great betrayer, sniffs the air for his familiar scent.
Why did you fucking leave me?! My mind is screaming.
I mentally build up my walls and meet his stare. I will not cave.
“Just stay away from me.” I push past him and stomp further into the locker room so aggressively that Madison startles when I throw my locker door open with way too much force. “Sorry.”
Mads nods at my murmured words, but I ignore the way she watches me. Like she can tell I’m on the brink of crying.
“Whenever I’m upset and someone is nice to me, I cry. So I’m gonna be a bitch, but it’s for your own good.” Her voice is sweeter than pie, and I snort at her words.
“Same.”
“Great. So suck it the fuck up, you delicate little flower. Woman up, and get out there to hustle Alphas out of their money. But if you want to talk about it, spit it out. Tell me what your problem is, princess!”
I look over at her slowly. She’s like five feet tall, with long black hair. She weighs maybe one hundred pounds, tops. I started calling her a little pocket pixie in my mind, and right now… I cackle.
Mads is sweet. Like, give you a toothache sweet. She’s sparkly and kind, just a tiny little lover girl, and ever since orientation, I’ve been spending a lot of time with her. The demanding, aggressive way she just snapped at me is so at odds with her usual personality that I can’t contain my laugh. I double over and gasp for air.
I manage to rasp out a few words as tears stream down my cheeks from laughing so hard. “What the fuck was that?”
“It worked though. You’re laughing. If I had patted your back, or offered a hug, you’d have burst into tears!”
The way she defends herself makes me giggle. Fair enough. I turn back to my locker and start getting ready for the night. I arrived early because Dream offered to show me how to do my hair and makeup to make the most money. “I ran into someone from my past, and it brought back a lot of really shitty feelings. I was blindsided, and it rocked my shit.” I try to keep the explanation simple, and not filled with too much of the way I’m feeling right now.
Dream walks in and cringes. She meets my eye in the mirror, and I shake my head, just enough that I hope she won’t mention my interaction with Hayden. She starts setting everything up for my hair and makeup, and I glance down at my baby blue nails.
“Doesn’t matter.” I do not want to get into the details right now. It’s bad enough that he’s going to be working here. “I’ll be fine.”
Madison shrugs. “This one time, my ex came in here drunk off his ass. Declan himself came out of his office and dragged him out.” She sighs, this dreamy look in her eyes. “It was the hottest thing I’ve ever seen. Anyway, if someone here bothers you, he won’t let anything happen to you.”
I snort. I doubt Declan will throw an employee out just because he’s my sort-of-but-not-really, ex. I pull on the light pink lace lingerie uniform for the night. Dream directs me into a chair, chatting my ear off for the next forty minutes as she curls and styles my hair, then does my makeup. By the time she’s done, I look hot as fuck. I’ll give her that.
The pink bows she tied into my hair are cute, and my makeup is smokey, enhancing my natural features.
“Thank you.”
“Get out there and make money, boo!” With a smack to my ass, Dream prances off.
I just need to avoid Hayden, and everything will be fine.
I’m upstairs serving drinks in VIP, considering my chances of successfully shoving Hayden off the balcony, when Declan scares the fuck out of me.
“Baby?” he asks, using the name I picked at orientation. I whirl around, yelping loudly. My fear must trigger his instincts because he’s pulling me against him and spinning us, so his back is facing the rest of the room.
I haven’t even caught my breath when he’s pulling me further down the hall and into his office. He locks the door before backing me up against the wall.
He wears scent blockers when he’s here, so I can’t even get a calming sniff right now, which sucks, but I don’t say that to him.
“I’m fine, jeez,” I grumble, pushing him back, but he doesn’t budge. “I just wasn’t expecting you to pop up behind me like that. You can let me go, Alpha ,” I huff.
His pupils are blown, and he’s breathing heavily. I do a sniff test, assessing my own scent, and finding it a little too filled with fear. Not great.
“Hey, I’m fine.” I place my hand against his chest, now trying to soothe him. After he scared me…right.
“Fuck, sorry. I just… I noticed you were glaring at someone. Are you okay?”
“Yep. Just, not the biggest fan of your new bouncer,” I grunt.
“Oh?” His eyebrow raises as he scents how I’m feeling.
“It’s nothing. I should get back out there. Got dances to dance and all that,” I joke, but he just watches me for a long moment, before nodding, and finally releasing me from the warmth of his body pressing me into the wall.
“If he becomes an issue, tell me.”
After that show of Alpha possession? I think not.
“Alright.” I nod, as he takes his place behind his desk. The sight is something else. My scent spikes then, as I admire the attractive Alpha, and I gracefully go into panic mode. “Do you sell heat suppressants?” I yell out, before I can stop the words, and Declan stares at me for a long, long moment. I’m ringing my hands together behind my back, my anxiety flooding the room with a sour blueberry scent.
“I have access to them.”
Relief at his words flood me, at the same time that I worry I might get fired for asking my boss to sell me illegal drugs.
“Can I…uh…” I trail off, now that we’re staring at each other, the burst of bravery is gone. Perhaps it was stupidity.
“They’re dangerous.”
“I’m aware. I have my reasons for needing them.” I sound slightly snotty, and I have to concentrate on not sounding bitchy. “Please,” I whisper. I’m begging. But I need them. I’ve had no luck over the last six days, and I’m reaching the end of my packet.
“Twenty-two.”
“Hundred!” I gasp, jaw dropping. “What, you can tell I’m desperate, so you thought you’d rip me off! That's insane–”
“Twenty two dollars, Tatum,” Declan cuts me off mid-rant, and I wince, biting my lip.
“Oops,” I chuckle, pulling the money out of the thigh strap I wear to collect tips. I hand him enough cash for two, and he opens the locked top drawer of his desk. “That's actually really cheap. You must have access to a fuck ton of drugs to charge that price…” And then I catch myself. Shouldn’t have said that. He hands me the packets slowly, and I snatch it from his grip like he might change his mind and stuff them into my bra. Each of these has enough to get me through two weeks without the effects of my Omega going wild in this club full of Alphas.
“One more thing,” Declan says as I turn to flee.
“Yes?”
“One kiss.” His words are husky, and I gasp. My breathing picks up as my heart races, my body flushes with heat. A kiss? I can’t kiss Declan. He’s my boss! He’s an Alpha.
“On the cheek,” he adds, and I blink. My heart rate slowly returns to normal, and I nibble my lip, unsure. “One kiss on the cheek. I’ll never know what it feels like to be your Alpha, but… I want to know what your lips feel like against my skin.” The look of yearning I see in his eyes makes butterflies flutter in my stomach. His confession has my knees turning to jello as I fight to stay standing. I can’t kiss him, right?
“Okay,” I say instead, and move around to the other side of his desk, stepping between his parted legs when he turns to face me. My heart is pounding erratically now, the sound of blood rushes in my ears as my core fills with my slick.
My breath hitches as I lean in, my lips parted, and kiss him. I keep my eyes open, watching how he responds to my lips on his cheek. He’s warm and soft. My eyes fall shut as I let myself linger for just a moment.
I could almost imagine what it would be like, if he wrapped his arms around me right now. The faintest hint of his scent fills my lungs, and I let out a whisper of a whine before I catch myself.
“Thank you,” I say, when I pull away and step back. “Thank you, Declan. It means a lot.” And then I run for the hills like the brave Omega that I’m not. Heart still trying to break free of my rib cage.