Page 24 of The Omega's Surprise Baby
But I only needed tonight.
9
Kade
One of Dean's guests, a brother, I think, played DJ after I left the stage so there was still music to dance to when Shane and I re-entered the hall. So far so good. I felt eyes on me as I dragged Shane along with me to the dance floor. People were probably looking at our linked hands. Looking and speculating. Reaching the dance floor, I was determined togivethem something to speculate about. Damn gossips weren't going to keep me from enjoying this dance.
It had been far too long since I'd danced with an alpha I actually liked. Grinding against an unknown body in a club didnotcount. This was different, though. Shane smiled at me as I let him take the lead, one of his hands on my shoulder, the other in mine. As luck would have it, the DJ put on a slow song. Shane drew me toward him as if it was natural. As if we were a couple. I didn't stop him. In reality, I knew we were only lonely people drawn to each other at a celebration of love that made us feel uncomfortable. But I didn't let that knowledge stop me from enjoying the moment.
Shane was a gorgeous alpha. When he drew me to him, I could feel the lines of his muscles through the fabric of his suit—and damn did I ever have a thing for ginger men in suits. He looked amazing tonight, and not so sad now. It was hard to watch him struggle with the emotions this wedding brought up in him, but he seemed a bit better now. More at peace. Perhaps he only needed to hold someone. I was glad to be that someone.
Our bodies swayed together to the music, and I felt myself relax into him. I wasn't lying when I told him that weddings were difficult for me too. Mine hadn't been nearly this beautiful, and the man I'd danced with that night...
I didn't want to think of him. Didn't want to think of any of it.
I'd been a piece of meat, offered up to the highest bidder.
Not anymore.
Never again.
Giving in to temptation, I dipped my head to the juncture of Shane's neck and shoulder and inhaled. His smell was strong there. Pure alpha.
It made my thoughts grow fuzzy and my cock stiffen.
How disastrous would it be if I visited this alpha in his bedroom tonight? Felt his body against mine without all the fabric between us. I knew I shouldn’t be entertaining that idea, but it was getting increasingly hard not to. Nick was right, this could get complicated really quickly, but I was leaving the next day so...
How much harm could I really cause in one night?
I caught Shane's gaze to try and guess what was going through his mind. Was he even thinking of taking this any further than a dance or was I the only one? I thought I saw interest in his eyes. It was in the way they lingered on my lips.
I had to smile. The alpha wanted a kiss from me.
But the song came to an end before I could give him one, and then suddenly, there was Conner, tugging at Shane's arm. I hadn't seen him coming. I'd been too absorbed in his father. And the way Conner dragged his father away from me told me that maybe the boy had an issue with that.
Shane shot me a look that was almost apologetic. I chuckled, even though I was disappointed.
Maybe it was better this way. We shouldn't have danced like that in front of all these people. Much less kissed.
A few minutes later, I was up on the stage again to play a couple more songs. This was what I was paid to do after all. And I was pleasantly surprised that there hadn't been too many stupid comments from the guests so far. I'd overhead two or three gossips when I'd walked through the crowd earlier, but no one was being actively aggressive. It was nice to able to sing for a live audience, for people who enjoyed my music enough to want to dance to it. I’d missed that more than I liked to admit.
But it was painful as well, to be singing love songs at a wedding. If I hadn’t needed the money so badly, I would never have agreed to bleeding my heart out on stage at an event like this. And that was what performing really was for me—bleeding my heart out and channeling my emotions into my voice. I could have phoned it in, but I wasn’t going to let my client down. Not when he was the first person who’d wanted me to perform inmonths. And really, how could my songs touch anyone when my heart wasn’t in them?
I’d written all of my songs myself. Every one of them contained a piece of me. I was never going to phone them in.
And so I sang and I thought of my ex-husband. Of the men I’d been with since. I thought of my parents and I thought of the people who’d forced me to marry when I was sixteen. And, because I couldn’t stop myself, I thought of the time I got pregnant and miscarried and wondered forever about what could have been.
By the end of the last song, tears stung my eyes. I blinked them away, struggling to come back to reality. My eyes searched the crowd in front of me. I spotted Nick, standing to the side and watching one of the alphas on the dance floor. A small smile formed on my lips. Was my friend,Mr. I’m-never-going-to-marry, interested in someone here too?
Too?Ugh, I shouldn't be thinking like that.
And the moment I stepped off the stage, I was distracted from my desire for ginger-haired alphas. A few of the guests came up to me. At first, I took a step back, growing apprehensive. I didn't know what they wanted. That is, until one of them asked for my autograph.
Nervous tension bubbled out of me in the form of laughter. It had been a while since I'd had a crowd come at me because they wanted autographs. Someone handed me a pen, and I gladly signed anything that was put in front of me. By the time I got through everyone, I felt tired and strangely energized at the same time. I longed for a shower and a soft bed.
That is, until I tried to escape the party by leaving the building again. Shane stood outside, same as earlier. Only this time, it looked like he'd been waiting for me.
“I hoped you'd come out here for a break when you were done,” he offered as explanation.
