All Hallows Eve, Vol. 3

Chapter 7

Seven

The bottom of the beer bottle twirls on the high top as Dee stares me down.

“What do you mean you can't talk about it?” she demands, her own drink forgotten as she props her hands on her hips.

I take a sip of my quickly warming beer and grimace. “I told you already.”

I shrug and all it does is remind me of just how well-fucked I am. Can your whole body ache? Yes , yes, it can . If I thought the soft lovemaking ended my night of pure pleasure, I had been mistaken, and I'm pretty sure Ozwald will have the scars to prove it.

He did, after all, get his wish of having my nails dragged down his back.

“You haven’t told me squat.” She glares at me and then downs her beer. “Drink up, buttercup, you have some secrets to spill.”

“You didn't share your night—,” I say with an arched brow, “ And did you seriously let me go into that blind?”

She gives me a guilty look before glancing around at the people nearby. None of them are paying attention to us.

“You've been so absorbed in work. I swear those alphas you work for have forgotten how to have fun. They work you into the ground with their demands.” She waves down a waitress and points at her empty bottle while I process her words.

“I like my job, Dee.”

She gives me a droll stare. “You still need to let loose, Ally.”

I laugh. “What do you call this?”

“The weekend.” She snags my beer off the table and finishes it for me. “Now spill.”

I roll my eyes to the ceiling and shake my head with another laugh. “You first.”

She releases a deep sigh before doing just that and telling me her whole night. Unlike me, she almost made it to the end. But an alpha with a kink for nuns found her and made sure she didn't regret getting caught.

When she's finished, she lifts her eyebrows in a silent demand.

I inhale deeply and chew on my lower lip. Dee's my best friend. It isn't like she is gonna run away screaming out my secret for the entire world to hear.

“Oh, I'm gonna love this,” she says, leaning over the table.

“Three alpha’s caught me…”

Her eyes go comically wide, and I press my lips together.

“I knew who they were. And you know them too…”

The waitress sets the beer down in front of Dee, and she holds up a finger before taking a long swallow. “Holy shit. Who?”

I chew on my lip again, but as if my thoughts have conjured them, they walk in the door as if they own the place, and my confession evaporates on my tongue, stolen from me with my breath.

She twists to see what caught my attention. “They never come to town anymore. I thought they ordered omegas to serve their needs.” She laughs at her own joke, trailing off when I don’t laugh too.

I'm silent as they make their way to the bar. My fucking perfume doesn't get the memo, though, before it's filling the space and probably choking anyone within breathing distance.

Oh fuck. This isn't happening. Shit. My breaths are ragged as I look back at Dee. If I thought her eyes were wide before, it's nothing compared to the look of shock that paints her face now.

“Oh, my fucking biscuits!” She grabs my wrist. “Tell me you didn't fuck your bosses !”

“We have to go,” I reply, already gathering up my purse and tossing a ten to the table.

She follows suit, and I grab onto her arm like it’s a life saver. As we reach the door, I hazard a glance back at them, only to find Beckett watching me. A crease appears between his brows before he turns his attention away from me and leans over to say something to Wade.

I don’t stick around to see if he looks our way. Dragging Dee away from the bar as quickly as possible, I don’t stop my hasty retreat until we are halfway to my apartment. She puts on the brakes and pulls me to a stop in the middle of the sidewalk.

“How could you not share that little gem of information the second I arrived? Geez, Ally, we are best friends, right? Holy cow on the moon.” She gestures up at the waning moon, and I press my lips together as I watch her melt down, a reluctant smile starting to pull at my lips. “Was it amazing?”

I inhale and look back the way we came. NDA be damned. She knows. Without a word. The second they showed up. That’s what happens when your best friend has known you since first grade.

“It was life-changing,” I sigh. “But it doesn’t matter. They don’t know it was me.”

“How could they not possibly know it was you? They work with you every single day.”

I’ve thought the same thing, but I push it away now. “They wouldn’t have crossed those lines, Dee.”

“Mmmhhhmm, I guess you’ll know on Monday when they ravish you in the boardroom. Damn girl.” She shakes her head. “You need to share every little detail.”

Monday morning comes quickly. My Sunday was a wasted day of vegging on my couch and doing literally nothing but binge-watching Omega in Paradise . Which was entertaining and a little mind-numbing to escape in someone else's drama for a few hours. Not that I have much drama, just the made-up shit in my head, fueled by Dee and her crazy speculations.

Still, I take extra care with my appearance and make sure to take my blockers, as well as lather on lotion like I’m bathing in it. I leave twenty minutes earlier than normal and arrive twenty-five minutes before I need to be there. Can you say eager ?

I set my purse on the edge of my desk and unlock my drawers; the whole time, my body’s buzzing with awareness. It feels like I’m a teenager with my first crush. I wipe my sweaty palms down my skirt and settle behind my desk, attempting to act natural.

Wade strolls in, looking refreshed and so mouthwateringly sexy in his casual black slacks and black button-up that remind me of what he wore to the hunt, that it takes me a moment to realize he’s talking to me.

“Are you okay?” he asks with a tilt of his head.

“Yeah, absolutely,” I say, popping to my feet like a jack in the box. “Did you want me…err…need something?”

I can feel my cheeks heat as he studies me like I’ve grown another head. “Can you make a pot of coffee? We are going through the raw materials for this case all morning.” He turns away as if he’s going to leave without another word before facing me again and snapping his fingers like he forgot something. “Oh, and order lunch.”

I nod like an idiot as he smiles politely at me and heads back into the boardroom. My stomach sinks the second he’s out of sight. I can’t do this polite stuff now that I know what it feels like to have them inside of me.

Yet, I do for the full eight hours. None of them act even a tiny bit differently or even treat me like they know they’ve fucked me. Deflated, I lock my desk drawer and shut down my PC. I’m gonna need a new job. I can’t do this. Why didn’t I think about this at all? Because I wanted to live that fantasy for one fucking night. What a colossal mistake.

Throwing my crossbody over my shoulder, I head toward the exit. After a day like today, I need a drink.

“Ally, a word,” Beckett says as I pass his open office.

I pause, my shoulders going stiff with the urge to run instead. But I turn and face him, going so far as to step inside his office. “Mr. Sterling?”

He sits behind his large desk, his sleeves rolled up his massive forearms, and his hands gently clasped on the smooth surface. His gaze trails over me like a fire, and it takes everything in me not to squirm.

“Is everything okay? You weren’t yourself today,” he says.

I’m shaking my head and rapidly blinking in denial of his words before a word passes my lips. “Fine. Yeah. Just a big weekend.” I force a laugh. “Still recovering.”

He smiles slightly, something unreadable in the depths of his eyes. “Well, rest up, Sweetheart , we’ve got a big week.”

My knees go weak, and I grip the back of the chair in front of his desk. Sweetheart . Oh shit. Has he ever called me that at the office before? Is that new? My whole body wants to submit right this second, beg him to have his way with me. Even my pussy clenches around nothing at the idea. With only a simple nickname he probably calls all the omegas.

Yanking myself back from that very dangerous edge, I straighten and nod like a fucking bobblehead. “I’ll be as good as new tomorrow,” I lie.