Page 15 of Hired for Research
Swallowing the reaction, she followed the pair around the separating wall before stopping in her tracks once again. She was hit with confusion at the sight before her, the idea so odd it didn’t make sense to someone who’d grown up mostly on her own.
“What is this place?”
The room was a large rectangle with dark brown walls and a giant stone fireplace in the center of the back wall. Instead of individual two and four person tables scattered through the space or booths arranged along the edges, there were six long tables that looked like a single split log, three on each side of the room, with benches shared by the people gathered around them. The lighting was dim and intimate, though it was clear enough to see across the room, and the whole place reminded Evelyn of a cabin in the mountains.
Jett grinned, dimples flashing, but he didn’t get to answer before the hostess spoke again.
“Tonight’s meals options are either brisket with grilled corn, mashed potatoes, and coleslaw, or grilled chicken breast with asparagus, squash, and baked sweet potatoes.”
The woman looked at Jett expectantly, but he kept his eyes on Evelyn.
“I’m good with either. What do you prefer?”
She was still trying to wrap her mind around what she was seeing. The closest table held eight alphas and two men who were clearly smaller seated on the benches, passing bowls and plates of rolls between them. Another table held a mix of males and females, some of which were obviously alphas and omegas, while a few appeared to be betas. She couldn’t tell if any of the people had come together or were simply sharing a meal.
“Uhhh…”
Evelyn sook her head, trying to focus. While the restaurant was a shock, she had to admit it was perfect for observing interactions, especially if different groups were seated together the way it seemed.
The smoky scent of the brisket teased her nose, so she went with it.
“The brisket, please.”
The hostess nodded with a smile that was decidedly more forced after Jett’s hand moved to rest lightly in Evelyn’s back. The urge to preen and show her teeth to the other female was hard to resist, but somehow Evelyn managed as they were shown to the back table on the left.
The group of four alphas at the end of the table had just arrived as well. They settled two on each side while Jett directed her to the last seat with her back to the wall. He took the place between her and the strangers, but the position gave her a perfect view of most of the room.
Clean plates already sat on the table, empty glasses waiting to be filled from one of the pitchers resting at the far end. A server quickly appeared with a platter covered in meat which he sat it in the middle before heading off for their sides, and a trio of women joined them, taking the seats across from Jett and Evelyn.
Everything was served family-style, passed from one person to the next to take as much or little as they wanted. Some started at the far end, while others were handed to Evelyn first, with the platter of meat remaining in the middle where everyone could reach.
As awkward as it had seemed at first, Evelyn found herself relaxing and enjoying the experience, realizing why the restaurant was named Community. Everyone chatted together, the alphas at the end of the table flirting with the women Evelyn realized were betas, and despite Jett’s hulking figure separating them, they even tried to turn their charm on her.
She was full long before the giant man beside her, but it gave her a chance to sit back and look around the room, watching others come and go from the collection of tables. While the alphas sometimes jockeyed for position on the benches, it was all good natured, even between separate groups who possibly had never met before.
“Is this what you needed?”
She pulled her attention back to the alpha beside her, that intense dark gold seeming to penetrate beyond her flesh.
“Yes, thank you.”
Her cheeks heated with the knowledge that she’d almost denied him when he asked to take her to dinner. Only the fact that he would know where people gathered had made her agree, and she was glad she had. She’d never have chosen this place on her own, though plenty of individuals had come in and filled open spaces at other tables.
“I’ve never seen a place like this before,” she offered when he continued to watch her.
“I don’t think there is another one, though it’s similar to the cafeteria in the Alpha-Camps. We’re used to having to share tables even if we never had to pass food to each other before.”
She hummed, realizing she had no idea what the Alpha-Camps were like. If she’d ever thought about it before, she’d pictured it like a mini city inside the walls that separated them from everyone else, though what he described seemed more like what she remembered from school.
“So you lived in an Alpha-Camp before coming to Eden? I mean, obviously, but…”
She sputtered, realizing the question sounded stupid considering all alphas lived in the Camps at some point, and she had no idea how to save herself. Jett just chuckled, leaning back and stretching his arms over his head.
The sight mesmerized her, the fabric of his shirt pulling tight beneath his vest, showing off hard muscle. Her mouth watered, but it wasn’t for more food. Her belly was stuffed, but her core reminded her it decidedly wasn’t, and hadn’t been in so long she’d forgotten what it felt like to have a body pressed against hers. She’d been too buried in working to date or even find the occasional release.
“I’ve been a Controller for fifteen years, so I’ve mostly lived in the barracks, though some of the offices I worked for were too small to have them, so we lived in the main Camps then. It’s usually too much trouble for them to have to come get us from the Camp when they need us, so they have a special barracks area attached to the jails where we’re close by if anything happens on a job site or at a tending facility.”
Evelyn nodded. That made sense. She hadn’t realized how much she didn’t know about alpha’s living conditions before taking on the project. Spending the day with Jett and then watching the other alphas in the restaurant had shown her they definitely weren’t the violent beasts some wanted the populace to believe, and she had a suspicion that she would find exactly the opposite of what the FBPL wanted.
