Page 15 of Empty Heat
“Right. You live your life among them.”
I nodded. “I do.”
“But you have stated you don’t normally have alpha friends.”
I made friends easily at work with other omegas. The alphas sometimes went to lunch with us in big groups, but I never ate alone with an alpha. I hadn’t even tried for a date in over a year. The encounters I’d had in college had been exactly two hand jobs and two blow jobs. When it was over, I left and never got another call.
“That’s true,” I conceded. “I don’t really have any alpha friends.”
“But Lev doesn’t bother you? The fact that he’ll be sitting here at this table having breakfast with us is okay for you?”
“Uh. Yeah. It’s just that I feel perfectly safe. I mean, you’re here. And he’s not my therapist. He’s the gardener. So it’s not about anything beyond that.”
“Maybe it’s more the roles alphas play in society that bother you.”
I thought about that. “Or maybe it’s what I think their role is. And it stops me.”
“And what you think and what is real—do they match?”
I grabbed my water and took a sip. “It’s confusing for me.”
Just then, the waiter walked up, an omega who looked no more than nineteen. “Can I get you some drinks to start? We have all the juices: orange, apple, cranberry, grape. And coffee and tea. Or you can look at the list on the menus beside your plates.”
“I’d like orange juice and coffee.” I enjoyed the staples and usually stayed the course for breakfast.
Just as Rhodes ordered, Lev returned and gave his drink order. We all grabbed our menus to see what the special was for today.
I couldn’t help but look at Lev out of the corner of my eye. He’d straightened the fly-away hair on his head. There was a shine to his tanned face as if he’d just washed it. For about three seconds, I felt my heart beating in my throat.
Here I had been seconds ago talking to Rhodes about my confusion concerning alphas, and now I was looking at Lev in ways that I usually shied from. But he was safe. He wasn’t going to do anything. He wasn’t here for me. He was here to do a job and he was kind and polite and very knowledgeable about the area.
He interested me. I didn’t have to consider that he would be thinking about how he could turn me over at the end of the day and have his way with me.
“Well,” Lev said, his lovely voice almost startling me. “I’m going to have to go for the veggie omelet and hash browns.” He turned to me. “The hash browns here are to die for. If I know I’m having them, I try to remember to swim extra laps or go to the gym because I could eat them by the bucketful.”
Rhodes chuckled. “They are good.”
“I’ll have some with scrambled eggs, I think,” I said, putting my menu down.
“Good choice.” Lev’s dark eyes had reflections of light in them that made me want to look deeper. Move closer.
Had I told Rhodes alphas were confusing to me? That was an understatement. Because Lev was just—well—wonderful.
Like someone smitten, I turned all my attention to Lev. “I thought I saw dolphins in the lagoon yesterday. Do they swim there often?”
“There is a pod that comes and goes. I will admit some of the staff feed them. They enjoy basking in the lagoon waters. And if they think they are getting treats, they stick around.”
Rhodes added, “Don’t Con and Tauro feed them in the mornings?”
“Yep.” Lev smiled.
“Who are Con and Tauro? What do the dolphins eat?” I asked.
“Con and Tauro are a married couple who live here and work in the kitchens,” Lev said. “They feed them extra fish. The dolphins will eat anything smaller than they are from the sea. All fish. Squid. Shrimp. Octopus.”
Our breakfast came, and I kept Lev talking. I checked to see that Rhodes didn’t mind. He was enjoying his breakfast and interjecting comments now and again and did not look at all concerned for me. He appeared to be happy I was happy.
And, well, I was talking to an alpha. It was sort of a big step for me. Yet I didn’t want to let up. I liked having Lev around. I liked that he worked in the area around my cabin. It gave me a safe feeling. Like maybe if I knew he was within shouting distance I might be able to accomplish anything here. I might be brave.
