Chapter 5
Crawford
Still feeling guilty for trashing the beautiful woman’s phone, I hold the passenger door open for her, offering her the best seat in my silver Audi. She flashes a brief smile, and I catch a hint of her scent as she passes, a familiarity to the creamy banana aroma that I’m convinced I’ve been smelling for months now.
As soon as she’s inside, I shut the door and fish out my phone, my mind running a mile a minute trying to place the scent. There’s no doubt that I recognize it, because it’s been haunting my pack and me for weeks on end.
Dialing my brother’s phone, even though he’s only down the road, I wait for him to pick up. When he does, he answers with, “You didn’t chase her off before we could get her a new phone, did you?”
“Har har. No, dummy,” I retort, rolling my eyes as I round the car. Then, lowering my voice, I ask, “What’s that smell that’s been faintly lingering around the house for the past few weeks? The one Barnes always smells like?”
Mac pauses for a moment before he answers, “The banana-split scent? The one that belongs to Barnes’s mysterious friend he won’t talk about?”
“Oh, shit. That’s the one,” I breathe, peering into the car and finding the beautiful woman with flames for hair and pools of mint for eyes already watching me with a blank expression. She’s stunning, truly breathtaking, and my mind works overtime to coincide the fact that this woman and the one Barnes has been hiding for fucking weeks is one and the same. What are the damned chances I hit her with a door and break her phone?
Flashing her a brief smile, stunned for a moment while I absorb the realization that I have Barnes’s mystery woman in my fucking car, I turn and mutter, “Banana split, right? Like, creamy and sweet and sugary? Very distinctively omega?”
“Uh, yeah. Why? What’s gotten into you?” my brother asks, sounding concerned. Not that it’s a surprise, because I’m sure my twin’s default setting is stuck on ‘worried.’
Smiling again to try and hide my moving lips, I mutter, “She’s in my car.”
“Zira? I should think so, if we’re giving her a ride to see her mom. Are you okay?” he pushes, the concern doubling.
“No. I mean, she’s in my car,” I try again, my words coming out a little strained in my effort not to reveal what I’m saying to the woman sitting patiently in the passenger side of my vehicle.
“Ford, what is your deal right now?” my brother pushes, just as I see him down the road, striding toward me with two bouquets of flowers clutched in his hand.
Hanging up, I wait for him to come closer before whispering, “The girl in the car is the one that smells like banana split. It’s Barnes’s mystery woman, Mac.”
Sure enough, his face morphs into one of pure shock, and I nod rapidly in solidarity. Keeping his voice just as low, he says, “You’re sure it’s the same one?”
“Brother, I have been haunted by that smell since the first day Barnes came home smelling like a dessert I forgot I loved. Trust me, that’s her in there. What the hell do we do? Should we call Barnes? Should we tell her we know him? What’s the protocol here?” I rush to say, feeling weird having a conversation out here with my brother while the object of too many fantasies sits in the car waiting. Of course, I didn’t know what she looked like, only that she smelled fucking delectable and obsessively sweet. It was enough to get my alpha side perking up every single time Barnes came home with her scent clinging to his clothes, though. And now that I’ve seen the breathtaking beauty with freckles for days, pale skin that looks soft to the touch, and a sparkle in those pale-green eyes? Hell, I’m pretty sure she’s a dream come true. Every fantasy and vision I’ve had of this stranger pales in comparison to the real thing. My imagination could never have conjured something so gorgeous.
And I slammed a fucking door into her.
And broke her phone.
And now I’m being weird and talking about her while she patiently waits for the ride we offered.
Fucking A.
Mac shakes his head, wide-eyed and panicked, echoing the same sentiments I’m currently feeling, before he says, “I don’t know. This is a first for me, too, dumbass.”
“Okay. Okay, fine,” I nod, acknowledging that we’re in uncharted territory and deciding to make the executive decision for us both. “This is how we’re going to handle it. We’ll make small talk, get to know her on the drive, and drop some hints about Barnes. Maybe she’ll realize we’re all related in some way, and we don’t have to have the awkward conversation about how we know who she is based on her scent alone.”
Mac nods, peers into the car, winces, and tries to smile. “Fine. But we better get moving, or else we’ll be having a different awkward conversation about why we’re yapping out here while she watches with that adorable frown that has me worried.”
I pull a face and nod, clapping my brother on the shoulder before turning and opening the door to the driver’s side the same time Mac opens his. As soon as I’m seated, I flash Zira a smile I hope soothes the worry etched between her brows, and ask, “All buckled in?”
“Mhm,” she answers, her voice soft and lyrical and just as sweet as she smells. Her scent fills the entire car, and I inhale deeply but subtly, taking a heady hit of it like a greedy bastard who hasn’t eaten in years. Then Zira distracts me by asking, “Is everything okay? You both looked a little stressed.”
I shake my head, flashing a gentler smile and tell her, “Other than needing to replace your ruined phone, everything is okay.”
“Okay, if you say so,” she smiles softly and I’ll be damned if it isn’t like those movies where it takes one look for a man to fall. Hell, another smile like that and I could see myself easily offering her my bank account, my last name, and the house my pack and I live in.
What the hell is wrong with me?
“Anyway, thank you for driving me. You really didn’t have to, but I appreciate it,” she adds, saving me from the embarrassment of offering her everything I own after knowing her for less than twenty minutes.
“It’s the least we can do,” Mac assures, and I spot him watching Zira from the middle seat in the back.
Lips twitching, I turn my focus back on the road, and decide to ask, “So, you’re visiting your mom?”
Zira nods, patting the bouquet of sunflowers on her lap. “Yeah. I try to visit as much as I can, especially since she’s not living with me anymore.”
“No? How come, if you don’t mind me asking?” Mac asks, stealing my question before I can pose it myself.
Zira sighs and shakes her head, crossing her legs delicately, and I force myself to focus on the road and not the creamy expanse of thigh that suddenly appears from beneath the pretty floral dress she wears. “How much time do you have?”
“Sat nav says fifteen minutes,” I note, flashing her a smile when she huffs a laugh. “I think that’s enough time to unload your woes on two strangers.”
She shrugs, looking completely at ease, and it loosens something in my chest at the sight. After all, my brother and I aren’t exactly small. At six foot five each and built with muscle thanks to the use of our home gym Alek insisted we needed, we’ve been known to be a bit intimidating. Moreso because of our businesses. Being a CEO of several companies across the world offers one the title of ‘hard-ass’ even when we’re anything but. So, knowing Zira is comfortable enough to relax into her seat despite us being total strangers… I don’t know, it’s nice. I like it.
“I guess it can’t hurt. What’s that saying, a trouble shared is a trouble lessened?” she snorts, a cute sound that has my smile growing. “Where do I even start?”
“Anywhere you’d like. We’re all ears,” I tease, grinning at my brother through the mirror when she laughs.
“Alright, so, Mom has a dodgy heart. We didn’t realize it was bad until a couple of months ago, when she was struggling to catch her breath just walking from her room to the kitchen. We took her to the doctors and they told us she had a deteriorating valve in her heart that needed replacing. Unfortunately, her insurance wouldn’t cover it, so she held off from having the surgery. Six weeks ago, the crazy woman collapsed and was rushed into emergency surgery despite our insurance refusing to pay out for such an expensive procedure,” Zira sighs, biting her lip as she peers out of the window. “Turns out, it was more than the heart valve that needed fixing. When mom collapsed, she fell hard enough onto the coffee table that she shattered her hip and broke her leg in the process. So, it was surgery on top of surgery and the cost mounted up. Anyway, when she came to recovery, her doctor instructed that she’d need a lot of physiotherapy and around the clock care, something I can’t provide while trying to work and make sure the bills are paid. She made the executive decision to move there while she recovers. I’ve only been able to see her on weekends when I’m not teaching my girls.”
“Your girls?” I ask before Mac, hearing his inhale a second before the words slip past my lips.
A beautiful smile blooms over her face, and she answers, “A rowdy bunch of girls aged five to thirteen who have a passion for gymnastics. I teach on the weekends. Gymnastics was the only thing that kept my energy levels stable when I was growing up. I’m prone to hyperactivity, moreso since I came into my designation.”
“Let me guess. Omega?” I tease, causing Mac to snort and Zira to snicker. I’m pretty sure she perfumes a little when I beam at her before focusing on the road once more, a sweeter plume of creamy banana split with faint hints of caramel seeping through the car.
“You’d be guessing right,” she laughs, a faint blush painting the apples of her cheeks an alluring shade of pink.
“So, how long is your mom in the care facility?” Mac wonders, sending me a look that I read like a book. I’m pretty sure, if memory serves, that it’s the same facility Lazarus offered to pay for. The night they came home after Zira asked them to leave, Barnes explained it all to us and what happened, so I know Zira isn’t too happy with two of the alphas in my pack.
The omega shrugs. “I don’t know. However long it takes for her to get well again, I suppose. Mom seems pretty happy there. Probably moreso since she knows I’m not paying for it.”
Mac and I share another look before he opts to play dumb and says, “I don’t follow. I thought you said your insurance wouldn’t cover it.”
Zira groans and drops her head back, turning to look at Mac over her shoulder. “They won’t. They’re not paying for it. My coworker and his packmate are. That’s a whole other story.”
“Seems connected to me,” I joke, and she huffs another laugh.
“It is, but it’s a whole thing right now. I’m realizing I might have been acting like an idiot toward them both and now I’m regretting it and feeling guilty. I have issues with copious amounts of money, and it seems I took it out on them,” she confesses, that blush deepening with embarrassment.
Me? Hell, I’m ecstatic, because if she’s feeling bad, that means not all is lost like Barnes seems to think. There’s a chance for them to talk it out, forgive and forget, and Barnes can finally stop hiding her from us. I mean, there isn’t a chance in hell that he’s hiding her anyway, not now that I’ve finally put a face to the scent that has followed me around for weeks.
If the look Mac sends me is anything to go by, I’m pretty sure his thoughts mirror mine.
“I’m sure they’ll forgive you,” I confidently assure, turning down a street when the sat nav instructs me to do so.
“I like your confidence. I’ve been a little bratty about the whole situation, so I’m not so sure,” she counters, that blush spreading over her cheeks and down her neck. If she didn’t look so sheepish, I would have teased her for it. She flashes me a look, and I can’t really tell what the emotion in them is, but there’s a spark there that I’m enjoying. “Truthfully, they should cut me off for it.”
I’m so distracted by that gleam in her gaze that I shake my head, my words slipping free before I think.
“Barnes and Lazarus are pretty understanding guys,” I ease, shrugging my shoulders. “Trust me, they’ll forgive you.”
Silence answers me, and I assume she’s lost in thought for a little while. That is, until I lift my eyes to the mirror and find Mac face palming in the back seat with a shake of his head. Turning my head slightly, I find Zira watching me with a knowing smirk, and I give her a look. “What? Why are you looking at me like that?”
She shakes her head and, instead of answering me, she mutters, “He said there were five of you. I didn’t think to question it this morning, because I was already mortified and pissed enough that it escaped my notice that there were only three of them. But now it makes sense. I could smell the two of you there. Oud, patchouli, and musk. I thought I recognized it.”
I frown, having no clue what she’s talking about, until it dawns on me with horror what I’ve done. She never mentioned Champ or Laz, and I just blew our cover because she distracted me with that cheeky little sparkle in her eyes. Damn it.
I’m cringing for a whole new reason, and I mutter, “Surprise?”
Zira, to her credit, laughs, and she says, “How do you even know who I am? I thought, according to the conversation I overheard, that Barnes didn’t talk about me with any of you.”
Mac groans from the back, and I wince. “Your scent. Barnes has been smelling of you every day for weeks.”
There’s a pause, and I know how it sounds. It’s not great, but it’s the truth, and that’s all I can offer.
“That’s weird, I hope you know that,” she admonishes, though there’s no real bite to it, and I flash her a chagrined smile.
“In our defense, we didn’t have a clue who you were until you walked past me to get into the car,” I defend.
“Oh, I know,” she snickers. “You have your window rolled down a little. I heard you outside.”
Oh my fucking god.
“You’re an idiot,” Mac snickers into his hand, shaking his head like he can’t believe we’re related let alone having shared the womb at the same time.
Groaning as I take another turn, I grumble, “Okay, so this is quickly unravelling into a disaster. How about we start again?”
“Sure,” Zira laughs and turns in her seat to better face me and see Mac in the back. “My name is Zira Favero, I work with Barnes, who until my phone call with Mom has been in my bad books. As was Lazarus, though I only met him six weeks ago and have put a lot of effort into ignoring his texts and calls. Not that it’s an issue any longer, since I’m now without a phone. Now your turn.”
Biting my lip to hide my amusement, her sassiness appealing in far too many ways, I gesture to Mac for him to share. He does, smiling shyly at Zira as he says, “Crawford and Cormac Hart, though we prefer to go by Ford and Mac to family and friends. Packmates of the aforementioned doghouse dwellers and one other who resembles a Viking.”
“Oh, Alek. Yeah. I braided his hair this morning,” she quips, shaking her head as if she can’t believe the words that just slipped from her lips.
And, honestly, same .
“Wait, what?” I blurt, chuckling with confusion.
“Hmm, yeah,” Zira distractedly answers. “That was after I woke up this morning in a strange bed in a house I didn’t know after I was abducted in only a towel yesterday.”
Just as we pull up to the facility, I press the brakes a little harder and snap my head in Zira’s direction, gaping at the pretty, little thing while she sits casually in her seat after dropping that particular bomb.
“You were abducted?” Mac asks, all amusement and shyness evaporating as he leans in to stare at Zira.
She winces and shakes her head to and fro before finally saying, “Well, Lazarus kept telling me it wasn’t an abduction, but I don’t recall agreeing to my home being entered by a six foot six beast of a man who picked me off the ground and carried me to his car. I fell asleep before I was deposited into the bed, so the jury is still out on that.”
My body turns to liquid when I realize she wasn’t actually abducted, though I still have more questions than answers at her explanation.
“You were at our house this morning?” I wonder, eyeing the girl like the enigma she is when she pulls a face and her cheeks grow pink again.
Clearing her throat, she looks away and mutters, “Uh, about that. You might want to call Barnes, Lazarus, or Alek and tell them I’m fine. There’s a good chance I might have pulled an Irish exit while they were discussing something about having their work cut out for them on the back porch. I’ve been dodging their calls since, though I was going to call and apologize after my visit with Mom.”
Mac snorts before whispering, “Who even are you?”
“Just another omega with issues, I guess.” She snickers, blushing from head to toe now. “Anyway, thank you very much for the ride and the enlightening conversation. I should go see Mom before she calls the police on me, claiming me as a missing person.”
“Wait, before you go,” I say, reaching over to the glove compartment and pulling out the notebook and pen I keep stashed there, inhaling the banana-split aroma that hits stronger the closer I get to Zira.
Pulling back, I make quick work of scribbling my number down and tear the piece of paper from the notebook, handing it over to her with a smile. “We still owe you a phone, so give me a call and I’ll pick you up when you’re done with your visit. I’ll bring your new phone with me.”
She takes the paper slowly, eyes darting from the paper to my eyes before she nods. “Only if it’s not any trouble.”
“Not at all,” I promise, winking at her and loving the way her blush deepens. I’m positive she perfumes that time, her scent thickening and sweetening, and I swallow hard as my mouth waters with the need to take a bite of the delectable scent. I’ve never had such a visceral reaction to anyone before, certainly not omegas, and I can’t explain why my body is waking up at the mere scent or look of the omega seated in my car.
Waving the paper at me, Zira nods and smiles a little softer then says, “Then I’ll call when I’m done.”
Just as she reaches for the door handle, Mac chirps up, “Before you go, is there a specific phone you’d like?”
Zira blanches and shakes her head. “Uh, no? I mean, I have an older model, so the same one will be fine. You don’t need to spend more than necessary.”
Mac frowns. “How old is the older model?”
Zira looks embarrassed again, but not in the way I’ve quickly started to enjoy. Her blush is one more of shame than anything, and I decide there and then that I don’t like that look. She swallows hard and mutters, “I think I’m about seven models behind the newest phone, but it’s fine. It does what I need it to.”
Then she flashes a smile and shakes herself out of her embarrassment as though she’s had plenty of practice doing just that.
“Anyway, I should get going. I don’t have a face for milk cartons. Thanks again,” she mutters quickly, leaving the car before I have a chance to stop her again.
The moment the door closes and she hurries away with her flowers tucked in the crook of her arm and her small but slender legs swiftly walking up the long drive of the facility her mom is currently residing in, I turn to Mac. “We’re getting her something better than that, right?”
“Obviously,” he answers instantly. “But we’ll have to be careful about it. If she iced Barnes and Laz out for paying medical bills in a misguided attempt to help, then it’s safe to say those money issues she mentioned before run deep.”
“You’re right. Jump in the front and let’s go buy a new phone. We’ll go home and ask Laz to set it up for us while we catch an hour of sleep before Zira calls,” I agree, making a plan of action that Mac agrees with instantly.
As soon as he’s seated beside me again, he’s pulled his phone out and is looking into cellphones we can get Zira. There isn’t even an ounce of hesitation in him, and I find myself grinning as I drive us to the nearest store. Oh yeah, he’s a goner, too.