Page 26 of Rejected Bullied Mate

I nodded, but groaned internally. Were all the men around here flirts? At least there was no way he could be worse than Scott. "I'll keep that in mind. Thank you so much for giving me a chance, Debbie."

She waved a hand, dismissing my thanks. "Not a problem. I'll see you tomorrow."

I left the store feeling hopeful. Maybe my luck was finally starting to turn around.

***

The next day came quickly, even if I spent most of the previous evening hiding from Samson and stuffing my face, hoping beyond hope that I might be able to briefly satisfy the heat with calories instead of sex.

Of course, it didn't work. I still felt miserable, hot, bothered, and cranky, but at least I had the interview today to keep me busy. I didn't want to tell Samson that I was going to work somewhere else, but I knew he'd be apoplectic if he went to find me at the coffee shop and I wasn't there. That went beyond keeping my personal life to myself, and teetered on the edge of lying to him just to be hurtful.

Still, there was no way in hell I was about to have a full-blown conversation about how he'd won, and I'd quit the coffee shop. So, instead, I sent him a text right before I walked into Emerald Blooms, letting him know that I'd hopefully secured employment elsewhere.

It would be easier to swallow his gloating over text messages, at least.

Debbie was there at the counter waiting on me, with a tall man beside her. He was older than Samson, but I was only able to guess that from the few streaks of silver in his short, rusty brown hair right at the temples. The man looked like he worked out every bit of his free time, with huge arms and deeply tanned skin. Despite how much I wanted to deny it, Samson was still the hottest man I'd ever met, but I could see why Debbie had warned me about this guy.

Then his scent drifted over to me, and I wanted to bash my head into the wall of the shop. I'd missed it with Scott because I hadn't been looking for it—as far as I'd known, Samson was the only local Alpha—but now that my guard was up, I immediately sensed that the man behind the counter wasn't just another big flirt.

He was another fucking Alpha.

Before I could commence with my head bashing, he came out from behind the counter and offered me his hand, "You must be Kiera. My name is Joe Longwood, and this is my store. Debbie said you were interested in working here."

Reluctantly, I took his hand, but kept the handshake as brief as possible. Samson might burn the entire city down if I came home smelling like another Alpha had touched me.

"I am," I said, hoping that my voice didn't sound as shaky as I felt. I glanced back at Debbie, who smiled encouragingly. "I think it would be a great fit."

"Wonderful," Joe said, smiling. His smile was bright and charismatic, but I wasn't about to let my guard down, not when he was an Alpha wolf, just like the others. "I'll just ask you a few questions, and then we'll see how we can work around your schedule."

I nodded, "Yes, but I understand my schedule is a little restrictive."

"So, you have a son?" Joe asked, taking my application from Debbie and looking it over. "Deb mentioned it, don't worry. I wasn't stalking your social media or anything. You're a single parent, huh?"

The question threw me off. "Uh...no."

When Joe looked up from the paper, he had that stupid, sharp Alpha smile on his face that made me want to run for the hills. "Who's the lucky man, then?"

I looked over at Debbie, who looked just as flummoxed as I felt. "What exactly does this have to do with working here?"

"Nothing at all. I just wanted to know why exactly Samson Jones' Omega was in my shop looking for work. Isn't he taking good care of you, darlin'?"

All sorts of warning bells were going off in my head, but before I could make an excuse to leave the shop and say to hell with the possible job, the door opened. I groaned, burying my face in my hands as soon as his scent and his power rolled over me—black pepper, cedar, and trouble.

"Why," I whined into my own palms. "Why in the hell does this keep happening to me? Was being kidnapped not enough? Am I cursed to be in the middle of Alpha pissing contest for the rest of my life?"

Joe and Debbie were both silent, but I wasn't looking at them. I didn't need to see their faces to know that Joe probably had that cocky Alpha smile still on his face while Debbie looked like she was trying to figure out a way to escape through the back door.

I could smell Samson coming up behind me, and I felt the heat of his body as he stepped in front of me, putting himself between me and Joe. "You quit the coffee shop."

It wasn't what I expected, so I lowered my hands and looked up at him. "I did. Look, I know this looks crazy, but I swear I didn't know another Alpha owned this place. I just figured plants don’t flirt, so it seemed like a safe bet. But why are you here?"

"I came to see what kind of mess you'd gotten yourself into this time."

I bristled, trying not to get lost in the ocean of his blue eyes. It was a constant effort to remind myself that I hated him when his presence and scent made every cell in my body sing. "I planned on working, not getting into trouble."

Joe snorted. "That's debatable."

After the confrontation with Scott, I fully expected Samson to shift on the spot and attack Joe, but the energy between them was...different.

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