Page 37 of Breaking the Alpha
Except he didn’t want to play.
His skin crawled every time one of them touched him.It didn’t matter if it was the innocuous brushing of a hand against his hip or a more forward trailing of a finger along his collarbone.Every graze churned his stomach and darkened his mood because he knew damn well what he was to them, and also what he never would be.
Jodie’s texts came like clockwork for two days: reminders for him to post teasers of where he was, comments on the stills the photographers forwarded, and suggestions for his Friday exposure tour.
He hadn’t spoken to Angelina since Sunday.Their only communication consisted of a few rushed texts he managed to send when he had a rare moment to read her cheerful messages about her newest acquisitions.And the next few days weren’t going to be much better.His meetings and appointments were booked from one end of the greater area to the other.
The second to last thing he wanted to see after a long day was Windy Leigh’s name on his phone screen.
The very last thing he wanted to see was her message.
Saw you’re back home.Why don’t you meet me at The Suds tomorrow after eight.Reconciliation costs nothing but the payoff would be huge.Miss you, babe.
Scrubbing the day’s work from his skin and hair, he worked over possible response after response in his head, bouncing between anger and annoyance until he made his choice.Turning the shower off, he wrapped a towel around his hips, picked up his phone, erased Windy Leigh’s message, and tapped on Angelina’s number.
She answered after two rings and her voice settled him immediately, the rustling of her blankets letting him know she was already in bed.
“Hey, Angel,” he greeted her as he towel-dried his hair.“Did I wake you up?”
“Of course not.”He heard her stifle a yawn.“I was just in deep meditation.With my eyes closed.In bed.For the last hour.”
He glanced at the time and winced.“Aw, hell.I didn’t realize it was so late.Why don’t I call you tomorrow?”
“Why don’t you talk to me tonight?”she countered, sounding more alert.“How did the photo shoot go?”
Hiking a pair of boxers over his hips, he flopped onto the bed.“It was long, but the coordinator is already talking with Jodie about another campaign in a few months, so he must be happy with the pre-touchup results.”Scratching at his chest absently, he reached over and turned off the bedside lamp.“Hopefully the next one will be something nice and body-covering, like sweaters or suits, because whatever brand of makeup they used on my scars is irritating as shit and took two hours to do.”
She was quiet for a moment, her voice holding a faint growl of possessiveness when she finally spoke.“This is going to sound incredibly selfish, but I’m glad they covered them.They have no right to those markings.I do.”
“Damn.”He laughed, shocked by the bite his gentle little bohemian suddenly had.“Did you just get territorial on me?”
“Yes.”
“I like Territorial Angelina as much as I like Bossy Airport Angelina,” he said with a grin as he added up the hours until he would land in Omaha Sunday.
*
River rolled outof bed with a groan, checking the time as he opened his hotel room door.“Come on in,” he grumbled, backing up as Jodie marched past him with her phone pressed to her ear and two bags in her hand.“And good morning to you, too.”
Barking a command for the poor soul on the other line to forward a contract immediately, she set the bags down and looked him over.“Hook your left thumb in your boxers and cross your right arm over to your shoulder.Just like that.”She snapped a picture, her fingers flying across her screen before she shoved her phone into her purse.“Friday’s pictures from the coffeehouse are garnering a lot of buzz, but this will give that ‘just woke up, come on over’ vibe.”
He walked into the bathroom to brush his teeth and splash water on his face.“I did just wake up.And you did just come over.At seven on a Saturday morning.”Grabbing a shirt from his suitcase, he pulled it on and started the tiny coffee maker.“Why are you here at seven on a Saturday morning?”
Jodie ignored his unimpressed tone and spread the contents of her bags onto the bed.“We’re going with the blue board shorts today.And this white button-down.”Tossing the shirt at him, she returned her attention to the pile.“If I see one button done up, I’ll personally remove them all.Go.You have ten minutes to show me why you’re my boy.”
*
Angelina walked Zoeto her car and gave her a long hug.“Be safe tonight, and sleep in tomorrow.You deserve a day to yourself.”
“Will do.”Her friend waggled her manicured brows.“Give that thoroughbred of yours a good riding when he gets back to town and call me when you can walk again.”
“Enough of that.He’s my tenant.”She tried to give Zoe a stern look but broke into a smile when Zoe rolled her eyes and snorted so loudly a couple across the street looked over at them.
With a smile and a wave, she began her walk, with the full moon illuminating the streets.Although she’d had every intention of heading straight home after work for her Indulgence Night, it wasn’t calling to her like it usually did.So when Zoe had asked her to meet up for dinner, she’d jumped at the invitation.And between the good food and good company, the loneliness of the day had all been washed away.Her mood brightened even more when she patted the head of the purple giraffe and walked inside, her phone ringing as she locked up behind her.
“Hey,” she said with a smile while she set her purse down in the kitchen.“How’s your night going?”
“I keep reminding myself that I’ll be back in Epson in fifteen hours,” River huffed over the din of crowds in the background.“Are you home?All locked up?How was dinner with Zoe?”
