16. Grace
“Just come,” Harlow begs me again. We’re in a restaurant after a day of shopping in the city.
“No, I’m going home after this. I only came to New York to shop.” I pick up the bags beside me and smile at my haul.
Her boyfriend Colton sighs as he digs his fork into the last piece of his steak.
I can’t stomach meat right now and take a mouthful of my salad.
Yummy!
“Colton!” a deep voice yells from the other end of the restaurant.
“It’s Stanton,” Colton says before he waves at the man who is walking to our table. “He looks happier than he has for ages.”
“Who’s Stanton?” I ask Harlow as she sips on a glass of wine. I raise my water to my lips.
Harlow bursts out laughing. “You don’t know? He’s the captain of the New York Bears hockey team. Do you ever listen to me?”
“No.” I chuckle at her shocked face and flick my hand in the air. “You know I’m not into jocks and sporty stuff.”
“My boyfriend is an athlete. You should support his team.”
“I don’t live in New York. Why would I support them?”
“They are the nearest professional hockey team to home, so they should be your team.” Harlow shakes her head before she turns to her boyfriend, who is talking to the guy as they walk back to our table. “Be nice.”
I press my hand on my chest and whisper, “Are you talking to me? I am the nicest sister.”
She tilts her head to one side as she considers me for a moment. But it’s the way her teeth chew on the inside of her cheek that tells me she wants to say something else.
“Go on,” I push. “Get it out.”
She turns and glances at her boyfriend again before quickly turning back to me. “You’re not as nice as you used to be. You know before—”
“Don’t.”
I don’t want to talk about my life. It’s turned into a shitshow the past two months. The day I awakened as an omega was the start, and my life has turned from glory to ruinous within a matter of months.
I’m still not over how Henry left me.
I turn back and look up at the man as he slows his walk to the table as he looks at me.
He’s tall, his chest and shoulders are wide, definitely an athlete. And definitely an alpha by the way he’s staring at me.
Like he’s taking me in.
Like he’s about to pounce.
God, I hate being an omega.
But I agree with Harlow. He is very nice looking, with chiseled features and an angled jaw. Everything is softened by his sea-green eyes, and dark blond hair. Hair that I expect will reach his shoulders if it wasn’t tied up in a man bun.
He is an alpha—but with a bun in his hair.
Definitely an alpha with loads of confidence.
I don’t mess with alphas anymore. Not since my heat. So regardless if I’m attracted to him or not, I will not react to his alpha charm.
I won’t respond to the way he is looking at my mouth, or the way his gaze drifts upward and stares into my eyes. It’s slow, deliberate, and the way he looks over my features is strange.
His gaze meets mine again.
He hasn’t reached the table yet but alphas scents are powerful. I turn away and inhale lightly, not wanting him to notice.
There’s one smell that overpowers all others and it’s beautiful, but I still want to forget about scents. Especially as the last time I smelled someone so delicious he left me broken-hearted and...
“We thought...” Harlow interrupts my musing. “We thought it’s time for you to have a little fun. You know before...”
Fun?
“I don’t need any fun. My life is fine as it is.”
“Grace, please listen to me,” Harlow begs. “I don’t want to go to the stuffy charity gala dinner by myself.” She turns to look at her boyfriend. “Colton will be expected to network for most of the evening. You know, shaking hands, talking to the right people and having his picture taken. All you have to do is turn up on Stanton’s arm and smile. It’s just for the cameras. He doesn’t have a plus one and Colton thought you and him... Anyway, he will do his thing with the team for the rest of the evening, and we can have some fun and have a dance.”
“You brought me to New York under false pretenses.”
Harlow smiles, then nods. “What harm is there in a couple of nights in the best suite in a fancy hotel, nice food, a handsome date, and none of it costs you a cent? Or would you prefer to ask for some overtime in the café you can’t afford to buy?”
My heart drops, and I can’t stop my lips from doing the same. I love that café. Harlow doesn’t understand how much it hurts that I’ll never be able to afford it. Why would she when she’s an alpha and alphas in this world seem to get anything they want?
Not sure, she’ll get that in her personal life. I don’t believe she and Colton will be a forever couple. Two alphas together. No way.
“And Carver is taking Bardot, so you’ll have people to talk to there if he turns into an ogre.”
“Wow. I thought Colton and Carver had fallen out forever,” I say.
Harlow rolls her eyes to the ceiling, and I choose not to go further into the conversation even though I want to bring up the car accident that hurt her and nearly ruined his brother’s future.
There’s no point because Harlow always protects her boyfriend and never thinks about herself.
“They’re trying. Carver is lovely to me, but then he always was, and it’ll be fabulous if they become the best of friends again. Hopefully Bardot will soften his hard heart.”
I chuckle. “I think they fell out well before the car accident.”
Her eyes turn to Colton, who closes in on the table with Stanton by his side. “Shush. Don’t mention the accident around Colton.”
I salute her.
“Grace...” I spin when I hear my name. “This is Stanton. He’s the...”
As Stanton pulls out the seat next to me and slides himself onto the chair, I interrupt. “Captain of the New York Bears hockey team.” Then smile sweetly at my sister before holding out my hand to Stanton.
“I am.” He takes my hand, holding the fingers gently as he lifts and presses a tender kiss on the top. His eyes don’t leave mine the whole time. “You look like a Grace,” he muses.
“Well, that’s a good thing,” I say with a chuckle in my tone.
There’s something about him.
I don’t know what it is.
I inhale again, wondering if he’ll smell different close up. His alpha scent is stronger this time. And it’s gorgeous. He smells fruity but sweet, maybe a hint of chocolate with an undercurrent of something else that I can’t quite put my finger on.
Pregnancy has affected my omega senses. They don’t seem to work at identifying scents correctly at the moment.
One side of his mouth quirks up as though he expected my omega checking if he’s her mate.
“So Grace,” Colton waits for my attention. I turn my head until my eyes are on his. “Are you going to give Stanton a date for this evening? He’s desperate.”
“Really!” Harlow hisses to her boyfriend. “That’s hardly the way to win her over. Like she’s his last choice.”
“I’m not offended, though Stanton might be. Why have you left it so late?” I ask, turning to Stanton. “You must have loads of girls on speed dial.”
He grins. “Not anymore. Not since…” He stares at me for a moment before clearing his throat. “I’m trying to concentrate on my career.”
“Oh, I see.” The words come out quietly. I’ve heard that expression before today.
“So Grace, will you do me the honor? As team captain, I must bring a date. As Colton told you, ‘I’m desperate.’”
“Charming. Everyone is really making me feel wanted.” I fake a smile. I know I’m not his type. He’s way out of my league. But then he’s so confident. I don’t think he’s my type, either.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to sound rude.” His voice is throaty.
I brush away his response with a wave of my hand. “It’s fine. If you want me to go with you, I’ll go.”
His hand slams against his heart. “Now it’s my turn to be hurt.”
I chuckle. “I doubt anyone has ever hurt you.”
His eyes lock on mine and there’s a moment between us. “I’m hurt more now than ever in my life.”
“What do you think he meant by ‘He’s hurt now more than ever in my life?’” Harlow asks as I struggle into my dress. “Do you think it was a weird thing to say?”
I shrug my shoulders. “He was just parroting me because I said something like it.”
Harlow shakes her head. “No, there was something there.”
“I feel too fat to get dressed up.” I moan, ignoring whatever she is trying to say. “I need something to wear that is looser.”
“You’re not fat, you’re pregnant, and you’re only seven weeks, you’re not even showing.” My sister chastises.
“I feel like a whale.”
Harlow shakes her head. “You’ll feel better after a night out with a nice man. And what could be better than a fancy hockey party where there’ll be lots of food,” Harlow says as we get ready in the hotel suite.
“I feel like I’m going to puke,” I say, splaying my palm over my stomach.
“Ugh! I still can’t believe you’re pregnant.” Bardot brushes her newly dyed platinum blonde hair. “Does he know yet?”
“You and me both,” I tell her, while wishing I could tell her more about the guy, but I respect his privacy. He was honest from the start. Adamant that my heat was what he wanted above all else. Never my heart.
“Have you told him about the baby?” Bardot pushes.
I shake my head. “He wanted nothing to do with me after the act.” I don’t tell her I deleted his details and I’ve got no way of letting him know. Not that I haven’t tried, but how do you find someone who doesn’t want to be found?
“He told you that?” Bardot hisses.
I nod. “We were fucking and nothing else. No feelings, nothing.” Tears brim my eyes as I tell her with brutal honesty of exactly what it was.
“It wasn’t what you wanted, though?” Bardot says, sadness coating her words.
I gesture with a shrug and run my hand across my belly. “I don’t know. Initially, I aspired to be a doctor, then a cafe owner, but now I want to be a mother. He doesn’t matter.”
“But are you going to tell him?” Harlow asks.
“He has a right to know,” Bardot presses.
“Once it’s born, I’ll do the right thing and tell him.” I don’t know how, but I’ll find a way.
Bardot purses her lips into a straight line. “But not before?”
“What’s the point? It’s not like he’ll be there and rub my aching feet.”
“He might,” Bardot says.
I shake my head before I swipe a layer of rose pink lipstick over my lips. “He won’t.”
“We’ll talk more about this later.” Harlow kisses my cheek and checks her watch for the time. “Stanton will be here soon. Finish getting ready. I need to make sure Bardot is looking half decent.”
“Excuse me,” Bardot hisses.
I chuckle, and I’m glad the conversation is over for another day.