Page 17 of Hired for Research
He didn’t like the idea of leaving her alone if she wasn’t feeling well, but he couldn’t exactly invite himself up to her room. He also didn’t want to leave her to walk to the hospital alone in the morning, but he had a solution to that. It wouldn’t be hard to wait down the block and run into her once she left the hotel to make her way to the hospital.
Sighing, he rolled his neck, trying to release the tension in his shoulders. For having a relatively easy day, he was tense, and it had everything to do with the little omega doctor and the way she made him feel.
Taking the stairs when he entered his apartment building instead of waiting for the elevator with the two other alphas standing in the lobby, he decided maybe a bit of physical exertion would help settle him. He ran as fast as he could, the sound of his boots hitting the concrete of the steps echoing around him as he thundered up the five floors toward his apartment, but even though he was breathing deeper when he passed through the door into his hall, it wasn’t enough.
He tossed his keys on the counter when he entered his apartment, peeling off his vest and hanging it beside the door where he could grab it on the way out. His boots were kicked off just below it before he headed for the shower.
His apartment wasn’t as nice as some of the ones available in Eden, but it was far better than anywhere he’d lived before. The space washis,and while it was small, it was more than enough when his entire life he’d been forced to share a room. Even before presenting as an alpha, he and his brothers all slept in a single room, his parents too poor to afford anything large enough for their three boys to have their own space.
He peeled off the rest of his clothing as he passed through his bedroom, throwing it into the corner where the rest of his dirty things lay piled before stepping into the bathroom. Eden had been built with alphas in mind, and where the Alpha-Camps had to skimp to stay in budget, there had been no such restraints here. The walk-in shower was more than large enough for his bulky frame, no risk of bumping his elbows on the walls as he had in the past. For that alone he'd been willing to pay the extra amount for the apartment instead of staying with most of the other Controllers in the barracks.
It was tempting to skip the shower so he could keep the lingering traces of Evelyn’s scent on his skin, but he had a feeling that would be a bad idea. With the way he was already feeling about her, sleeping with even the faint touches of her cupcake sweetness would make things worse. The alpha part of him wanted to stake his claim on the female that called to him so strongly, but he needed to keep that part under tight control.
Jett was in and out of the shower in a matter of minutes, toweling himself off as he headed for his bed. If he was going to be up and ready to intercept the doctor on her way, he didn’t have the time to linger. He could only hope a solid night’s sleep would help him maintain his resolve to stop acting like a territorial alpha around the pretty omega.
***
He thought he would be too early the next morning, but as he came around the corner onto the street that would take him by the hotel, he saw Evelyn already striding down the sidewalk a few blocks ahead. It was early enough there weren’t many people walking around yet and she was bundled up in a coat against the early morning chill, but the blonde hair tied in a knot on top of her head was as obvious as a flashing light in the dark.
Debating whether to rush and catch up or continue following at a distance, the choice was taken from him when she suddenly stopped. As she reached for the door of the coffee shop she stood in front of, her head turned. Jett was the only person on the sidewalk behind her, his size and black uniform impossible to miss.
Releasing the door, she crossed her arms over her chest, his smile as he closed the distance between them met with narrowed eyes.
“I told you to meet me at the hospital. I don’t need an escort any time I leave my room.”
He loved that she didn’t hesitate to chastise him. Too many of the omegas he’d met in Eden were quiet creatures, their nature making them wary of standing up to an alpha. While many eventually overcame the instinct, it usually took time, but the doctor had arrived with her claws ready.
Raising one brow, he embraced the fact that she didn’t know where he lived. It made his lie less obvious.
“I know. This is just the fastest path to the hospital from my apartment. I didn’t want to be late.”
The suspicion on her face made him think he was more transparent than he’d thought, but after a moment it melted away to something more sheepish.
“Sorry. The mud they called coffee at the hotel was undrinkable, so I haven’t had my caffeine yet.”
A chuckle rolled from his chest as he reached for the door. She looked as perfect as she had the day before, her cheeks rosy from the cold air, though her dark eyes were a bit unfocused behind her glasses.
“Let’s take care of that then. My treat since you got dinner.”
It still rankled a bit that she’d covered their dinner when he’d been the one to ask her out, and he was the alpha, but he knew that was just his dynamic resisting the idea that the omega didn’t need him. Sometimes it was hard not to act like a barbarian and beat his chest like some beast putting on a display to impress a female. Humans may have evolved, but their DNA still remembered those days.
Her lips twitched like she was going to argue before she sighed and gave a small nod, entering the shop ahead of him. She scanned the menu overhead, but his attention was locked on her, still trying to figure out what it was that drew him so much. Mere seconds in her presence and the urge to drag her back to his apartment was already beating at him. He completely missed what she ordered, only realizing they were waiting for him when she turned with a questioning look on her face.
“Vanilla macchiato, extra vanilla.”
Evelyn’s nose scrunch, her lip curling as she stared at him.
“What?”
He looked at the woman behind the counter to be sure he hadn’t said or done anything he didn’t realize, but she’d already turned to make their order.
“That’s just blasphemous. It’s pure sugar.”
Lips stretching in a grin, he almost told her he chose it because it was the first thing he could think of that would taste like her scent.
“I like sweet things.”
Her eyes narrowed again but he just kept grinning.
