Page 63 of Ellie 1

“Yes, my Alpha,” I purred, seeing the worry in his eyes. I ran my hands over his toned and muscular chest. Fuck, he was perfect. Every inch of his skin was pulled over glorious muscles and just—

“Ellie?” he asked, studying me when I met his gaze. Then he chuckled. “Wait, I want you too.” He gave me a quick kiss. “Tell me what’s going on so I can have you again. Yes, I’ll help you with anything.”

I cleared my throat and moved my hands to his chest to give us a bit of space, but then he angled his body and my hands slid down to his abs. His perfectly toned and amazing abs that I just wanted to lick.

It took me another moment to shake myself out of my lust, but then I let him go and met his gaze. “I know I got snippy about you bringing him up, but I have to.” I sighed when he flinched, pushing my hair out of my face. “I want to go to Tommy’s coven leader. I have the proof that he’s done that to my vehicle before and—it’s not getting better.”

“What happened yesterday, love?” he worried, rubbing his hand over my thigh.

“He was there waiting and it got ugly,” I muttered. “I threatened to pull the camera from the garage as proof and he gave me a look that I was stupid and he knew better than to leave evidence. He’s acting…” I sighed and shook my head. “I just don’t know what else to do. I can just fire him, but I’m pushing everyone to follow the HR rules and said—”

“He’s stalking you, Ellie,” Ha-joon whispered. “It’s to the point that he’s trying to make you seem crazy. This isn’t normal or okay. What do you need from me?”

“Just like that?” I searched his pretty blue eyes, hopeful when I saw determination.

“Just like that,” he promised me. Then he seemed to connect the dots. “You want me as a witness. He’s threatened me for going near you and—I get it.”

“Yes, I think I need a witness so this isn’t just he said, she said,” I said quietly. “It wasn’t like we were public, but you heard his blowup—I cannot believe he thought I would just mate him later and he knew I had money like that.”

He sighed. “He’s a fancy fucking surgeon. He’s not hurting for money either. I heard what the trauma surgeons make and—this is about his pride and narcissism. This is about the long game. He sees it as having put so much effort and investment into you, and instead of it paying out, it was denied him.”

I blinked at him. “You’re speaking from experience.”

He nodded. “Mandy basically told me I had no right to break up with her after all the time and effort she’d put in me. Like I was stock or property. I wasn’t a person. It was…”

“Yeah, painful,” I whispered. “I’m sorry you went through that. How long ago?”

“I was an intern,” he muttered, rubbing the back of his neck. “So like twenty—twenty-five years ago?”

I let out a whistle. “What a pup.” I chuckled when he tickled me. “I’m a dirty old woman.” I nodded that I wasn’t kidding. “Three hundred and forty-five a few months ago.”

“You hold up well for that age,” he teased. He threw back his head and laughed when I started smacking him. “Let’s go get whatever my present is before you toss it down the trash chute now.”

“I need pants for that and a bra,” I grumbled, sliding off the counter and going for my clothes in the foyer.

He wrapped his strong arms around me from behind. “I want the present, but I want you to not wear pants and a bra more. I’m torn. You sure we can’t do it naked?”

I laughed. What a damn goof.

Just to mess with him, I lifted my feet so he had to support my weight or we were falling—probably bad which was stupid. He managed it though, immediately standing and pulling me with him.

“Shit, that scared me,” he gasped after he got me settled back on my feet. “Got it. Never anticipate your next move. Okay, all caught up that you’re trouble.”

I mean… He wasn’t wrong. But that wasn’t the normal me. He brought out something in me that made me feel younger and not so jaded.

Maybe?

We headed up to my condo, and after a moment I realized it was silly to bring it all downstairs the way it was, so instead I had him sit at the counter and cover his eyes.

“But I wanna snoop and get to know you,” he grumbled, but obediently did as I said. He flinched when I set the first items down. “Okay, I’m dying of curiosity now that I’m hearing so much. How are multiple things one gift, love?”

I actually liked when he called me that.Normally, I didn’t like it when Brits did, but I’d never heard Ha-joon use it with anyone else. So it made me special.

Yes, I was in an abusive relationship for a decade and now any little thing was nice. I appreciated it. I didn’t think that was a bad thing.

“Well, it takes many parts for the one gift,” I explained.

He groaned. “Trail mix? I smell chocolate and nuts. Are we making more trail mix?”

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