Page 23 of Breaking the Alpha
Angelina was sitting on the floor in the back of the shop with a box cutter in hand and a pile of cardboard neatly stacked at her side.She smiled up at him and hopped to her feet, easing one of the cups from his grasp.“Please tell me this one is for me, because the monotony of cardboard recycling is numbing my brain.”
“I would never be so cruel as to flaunt a fresh caramel latte in front of you without sharing,” he replied as he rolled out the knots in his shoulders.“How has the morning been?”
“Busy for a Monday.Do you work today?”
“Yeah,” he replied.“I kind of forgot how much I like doing this stuff.How about you?Any more gemstone atrocities sell today?Those weird giraffe statues, maybe?”
“Don’t insult my hand-carved giraffes,” she admonished.“They’re unique.”
“They’re three feet tall and purple.You know why they’re unique?Because the person who made them woke up from their drunken haze and realized there was no market for big purple giraffes that look like eggplants.”
“I’m going to gift one to you and then you’ll have to like it.”
“I would reluctantly appreciate it, yes,” he huffed with a smile that had her heart fluttering.
“Did you do anything fun last night?”
“Just hung out on the porch.Grey went out with some friends and Birch and Jocelyn are at her parents’ place.”He chuckled.“You have no idea how weird it is for me to see Birch all excited to go hang out with his girlfriend’s dad.It’s like living in some alternate universe.”
She looked him over, the spark of desire in her eyes sending a small jolt through him.“Well, well, well.That’s a real smile I’m seeing, isn’t it?I think I get why some women might find you moderately cute.”
He grinned, knowing she was teasing him for the obvious effort he’d put into his appearance this morning after he’d snuck back into his old home after another long night on the Serpent’s Tongue love seat.“As long as you’re one of those women, I’ll take moderately cute any day.”
“You brought me coffee.I’ll raise my rating to adequately cute.”She set her coffee cup on the wrought iron table and crossed her arms.“How are you feeling about today?”
“Ready,” he stated, but his voice sounded as uncertain as he felt.“I better get over to the shop before Birch fires me and I ruin the whole spin my agent has in the works.”
She leaned in the doorway.“Give ’em hell.”
“That doesn’t sound very zen.”
“Go forth in mindfulness, peace, and compassion,” she corrected with a smile.“Better?”
“Much.”He glanced down the way toward his brother’s shop.“I don’t know how the next day or two is going to go, but can I call you as soon as I have a handle on this?I have a feeling I’ll need a friendly voice once this explodes.”
Her smile softened.“Of course.Good luck.”
The urge to kiss her rose so fast he barely managed to tamp it down.But kissing her wasn’t on the table.Not now.Probably not ever.Angelina was naturally sexy and innately sultry, but there was something different about it, something he hadn’t found in other women.She put no effort into it.It was just who she was.Everything from her voice to her walk to her hair screamed sex, yet it was the furthest thing from his mind when she’d soaked in a bubble bath two nights ago.They’d crashed together on her sofa in the early hours of that Sunday morning, but he was under no illusion that they were anything more than friends.
His friend just happened to be fucking stunning.
He gave her a wave as he pulled his buzzing phone from his back pocket.“Hey Jodie,” he greeted his agent as he walked toward Serpent’s Tongue with his backpack slung over his shoulder.“I just uploaded the pictures and captions you sent over.”
“Oh, I’m well aware,” she replied, her voice bordering on gleeful.“Have you been monitoring the responses?River, honey.Windy Leigh would be wise to take her little victim narrative and go silent for a few months, because your shots have been fired and they are hitting the mark.”
Uneasy with the whole operation, he slowed his pace to ensure the conversation would end before he arrived at Birch’s shop.“But she isn’t being attacked, right?I mean, this is just about setting the record straight on that cheater accusation and the AI photos, not about siccing anyone on her.”
Jodie went silent, a move she often used to drive home her point before she made it.“Honey, let me explain what will happen if it gets out that she was hunting for your replacement before you came to your senses and filed for divorce.Sure, she’ll have the wholecheatermoniker, but why, River?Why would any woman cheat on a guy like you?”
His mind blasted through a dozen reasons, but before he could reply, she continued.
“It won’t be long before people wonder what’s wrong withyou.Windy Leigh has marketed herself as the most adoring, blissful young wife in North America.Why would she look elsewhere if she had a man taking care of her needs?”
He caught what she was saying and stopped cold.“You’re protecting my dick.”
“I’m protecting your career, which, yes, includes your dick,” she said with an exaggerated sighed.“You sell promise, River.Women see you and want everything those bedroom eyes, bad boy tattoos, and v-cut promise.Men see you and they want whatever you’re selling if it’ll make women look at them the way they look at you.As long as people want you, companies will pay for you.And as long as everyone believes you deliver on what you promise, everyone is happy.And I promise you, Windy Leigh has another round of fake photos of you sitting in a folder on her computer just itching to be put online to try to ruin you.And whatever she attacks with next won’t be as innocent as an orgy.”
Running his hand through his hair, he forced his feet to keep walking.“I don’t want this to get ugly.It’s one thing for me to be dealing with it, it’s another to drag my brother’s shop into it.”
