11. Ember
Ember
I fought not to look forward to Alejandro’s daily text.
The day after we exchanged phone numbers, he’d texted and asked if it was too soon to ask for lunch requests.
I replied that I was craving something with pasta, and the next day I received shrimp scampi.
From there, I peppered him with questions about his favorite TV shows, food, and music preferences.
It was almost a week of texting each other, and I started sending him music playlists in addition to random questions.
I was focused on the Cosmic Bonds software, trying to find the bugs, when my phone pinged:
Sexy Alpha Chef:
What does mi carina crave this week? There’s a bunch of strawberries at work right now. Also thanks for the playlist. I really enjoyed “The Quiet Between Us” and the entire “Iron Lung” album.
I grinned. I had a wide taste in music and it was nice he was at least pretending to like it.
Ember:
crepes? Uhhh strawberry shortcake. Idk what else gets made with strawberries, I’m not the chef, you are.
Sexy Alpha Chef:
that is true, but as you say, you like food. Crepes sound nice, maybe with some beignets and a dipping sauce.
Ember:
you had me at “sauce”
Sexy Alpha:
this is what I’m currently working on
He sent me a picture of his current creation. They were apparently ramping up for Valentine’s Day even though it was a month away. The picture came through and it was a dark chocolate three-layer cake.
Ember:
omg I would commit arson for a taste
He sent me laughing emojis.
Sexy Alpha Chef:
I’ve packed you some this evening, no arson necessary
I considered a joke about a five-alarm fire in my panties, but decided against the innuendo. I went back to work, wrangling more bugs out of the program.
I cleared some appointments off my plate and tried to dig into the code to see why the software was doing stupid things like matching up people who clearly had opposite preferences.
I also went back in and checked Ben and Rian’s profiles since they asked to meet so they could tweak some things.
My stomach did not swoop at the idea of seeing the two of them. Nope, it did not. I was not actively craving their scents like a junkie waiting for her next fix.
Dating them would be a beautiful disaster, a train wreck of epic proportions. Ben was sweet and sexy, Rian was the right amount of brooding and intense, and it wouldn’t end well.
I could sniff them all I wanted, but I told my omega instincts to calm down. We did not hump our clients. I needed that embroidered on a pillow. It would become my new mantra.
I fiddled with the software all morning, working myself into a fugue state where time had no meaning. I blasted my favorite work playlist and pulled out lines of code that had warped some of our algorithms.
Someone knocked on the door and scared the life out of me. “Come in.”
Maybe it was Sunshine coming to take pity on me and deliver lunch.
Stella poked her head inside instead. “Ben and Rian O’Shea are waiting for you?”
I cursed and looked at the clock. I’d hoped to meet them looking less like a feral goblin, but that ship had sailed.
My office was presentable, and my omega instincts wouldn’t be denied.
Having the meeting in my office meant they would sit on my couch.
Afterward, I could huff their scent all afternoon.
Not that I was planning that far ahead, of course.
“Can you show them to my office?”
“Sure.” Stella smirked as I straightened up random papers on my desk. I wasn’t anywhere near as messy as Sunshine, but my desk had seen better days.
I kept the door open and scanned the floor for any tripping hazards. I pulled the two chairs opposite my desk closer and shifted the coffee table away from the couch a little bit.
Rian entered first, looking like he was going to his own execution, and Ben followed behind him, looking pleased with the world by contrast. Rian’s left arm was behind his back, like he was a fancy waiter, and Ben had his left hand on the omega’s elbow.
I may or may not have done a massive deep dive on YouTube about visually impaired people. I didn’t want to ask stupid questions, and knowing my squirelly brain, I probably would if I didn’t get some basic answers. Also, I wanted to be able to prep their dates beyond the basics Ben had given me.
Three videos I’d watched suggested Rian was acting as a sighted guide when leading a visually impaired person down a narrow space.
“Hello,” I said, unable to contain my joy. My utterly unfounded joy, I reminded myself. “Good afternoon.”
“Fancy meeting you here.” Ben shook his cane out and did small swings in front of him.
“There’s a couch to your left,” I said. “We could sit there if you two would like?”
“’To your left’ isn’t actually helpful,” Rian said, sounding annoyed already. “Directly to Ben’s left? Fourteen feet? In another state?”
“Sorry,” I said, not annoyed with Rian’s tone at all. “Precise would be better.”
“That was helpful,” Ben said, his cane lightly hitting the leg of the coffee table and then the couch a moment later. “Rian’s in a cranky mood.”
I cocked my head at the other omega. “Are you hungry? Thirsty? We have some catering in the lodge on the grounds. We could get a decent lunch.”
“The grounds?” Rian perked up but then shook his head and sat next to his alpha. “I’m okay.”
Their scents filled the room, and I debated sitting in the small armchair next to the couch. Most of our offices were big enough for a desk and a small sitting area to the side, since more than half of us saw clients.
I took the armchair, needing more of their heady scents.
Rian’s smoky oak and amber had a small hint of greenery, like moss.
Ben’s spicy woodsy scent with the sharp berry scent I still couldn’t place hit me like my next addiction fix.
They mingled together, and I felt like a heroine in a gothic novel, standing on a desolate moor with the wind whipping through my hair.
I leaned forward to get more of that scent.
“Cindy was a total bust,” Rian said, sounding like I’d personally set him up for failure. Despite his grumpy attitude, I didn’t take it personally. A lifetime around West had inoculated me against omegas whose default personality was “cranky” around outsiders.
“How did she not like you two? You’re sexy and smart, and smell amazing.”
Ben looked pleased. “You think so?”
“Focus.” Rian nudged Ben but also sort of looked pleased. At least, less sullen. “Cindy seemed okay, but before we could really get to know her, she asked a bunch of dumb questions about Ben being blind.”
“Oh, damn.” I sighed. “I’m so sorry. I’d hoped talking to Cindy directly would have been enough.”
“It was like she was reading off a top ten list of what not to ask a blind person. The only thing she didn’t do was offer to pray for Ben, or suggest he see her optometrist.” Rian crossed his arms over his chest. His very nicely toned forearms, which I was definitely not supposed to be noticing.
“She might have.” Ben snickered. “It’s fine, seriously.” He looked delicious, his blonde hair still tousled, and he wore a light blue Henley that brought the blue of his eyes out along with khakis.
I wanted to curl up next to him and shove my face directly over his scent gland.
Even Rian’s scowl didn’t deter my libido.
His curly brown hair was in a man bun again, and he had a frayed T-shirt on over a pair of jeans with a hole in the knee.
I got a glimpse of pale skin with dark brown hair poking through, and I had to resist the urge to touch his bare skin.
“I would have hoped she went down the YouTube rabbit hole. At least done a quick Google.” I tucked my feet under me.
“It’s not okay. No one likes to be grilled on a date, especially about that.
” I touched my forearm, remembering the endless barrage of questions I’d gotten about my scars when they were fresh.
Rian gave me a quizzical look.
“If you’re comfortable with me stepping in, when I match you up…” It was harder to get those words out than it should have been. “I’ll go over a basic list of information so they can ask me their questions.”
Ben frowned. “I don’t mind but it’s not really your job.”
“It actually is my job. And it’s not definitely not yours.” I shook my head. “YouTube and Google are free. It took me five minutes to answer most of my own stupid questions.”
“Really?” Ben perked up. “And what did you find out?”
It was impossible to hide my blush. “I’m of course not an expert, and if there’s something you want me to specifically answer, I can.
But I started with, like, the listicle Top Ten Things Not to Ask, and then from there I went down the rabbit hole of guide dog versus cane, different accessibility devices for the home, and O&M training. ”
Rian looked impressed. “You looked that up?”
“I figured you were sick of the same five questions over and over.” I made it sound like I was trying to be polite, but I was sure Ben was tired of it. I certainly would be.
“Were there any questions you couldn’t find an answer to? I don’t mind teaching you.” Ben cocked his head and my stomach swooped. It sounded a lot dirtier than he probably meant.
“I can’t think of anything.” My brain went immediately blank. All of my questions were more specific to Ben’s life, like how did he get used to being in a strange place?
I got lost in San Francisco and I could see.
How did he go grocery shopping? I was curious about Ben’s specific diagnosis because apparently people could lose their sight in many different ways, but I wasn’t about to pry for private medical information.
I wouldn’t ask him that any more than I wanted a stranger to ask me about my years of physical therapy.
“You’re free to ask,” Ben said. “Especially since you did your research, so you’ve got a leg up on most people who offer to let me use their glasses.”
I snorted. “So other than her questions, is there anything else I should look out for?”