Page 28 of Hired for Research
Leaning back, he tossed an arm across the top of the booth and gestured to his torso.
“I represent the Controllers. I have an image to maintain.”
She scoffed, rolling her eyes, though they lingered on his chest longer than necessary before doing so. His grin grew wider, and the whiff of arousal he caught only confirmed she at least found him physically appealing.
And she’d already admitted to enjoying his scent.
For a moment he was tempted. It wouldn’t be too hard to build on the attraction between them. Bonding wasn’t allowed without paperwork filed beforehand, but nothing stopped an alpha and omega from sharing a bed in Eden. Maybe fucking her would soothe the itch driving him crazy.
Or maybe it would make it worse. Drive his instincts higher and make it even harder when she left. He hadn’t forgotten her visit had an end date. It might be negotiable, but she had a life outside of Eden.
They both placed their orders on the virtual menu, a little sylph of a woman coming over to deliver Evelyn’s pink and blue swirled, frozen cocktail, and Jett’s water. Eyes locked on plush lips as they wrapped around the black straw, his cock gave a sad twitch, though he couldn’t stop his laugh a few swallows later when Evelyn’s face scrunched, and she pressed a palm to her forehead.
“Oww.”
Chuckling, he raised his glass to take a drink of water.
“Water wouldn’t give you a brain freeze, or a sugar rush.”
She muttered something under her breath before peeling her lids open and glaring at him.
“Sometimes we want the sugar rush. Otherwise, what do we have to be guilty about?”
“Besides the alcohol and the bad decisions?”
The twinkling lights glinted off those narrowed chocolate orbs as he grinned at her. Her pale hair reflected the multicolored glow from the bar, making her look like some fairy from a child’s story, but this was no fantasy. The urge to lean over and kiss that look away had him swaying toward her.
Evelyn’s eyes widened, her chest heaving as her lips parted. All it would take was to drop his head a little further, lean a little closer, and he’d be able to taste her.
“Half pound bacon cheeseburger, and crispy chicken salad?”
He jerked back as if burned, head whipping to face the waitress as an instinctive growl spilled from his throat. Evelyn’s squeak told him she’d been just as mesmerized as he until the interruption, and a part of him hated the bubbly woman smiling at them as she held two plates.
Clearing his throat and swallowing the growl he hoped she hadn’t heard over the music, he forced his lips into a smile, nodding in acknowledgment. She slid the plates in front of them and asked if they needed anything else before slipping away into the growing crowd.
Jett kept his head down, pretending to check his burger as he tried to think of something to say. There was no way Evelyn hadn’t known what he was thinking, what he was planning to do if they hadn’t been interrupted, and he didn’t know how she’d react since the moment had passed.
“Are you hungry?”
He lifted his gaze to her cocked brow, her eyes dipping pointedly to his plate before coming back to rest on his face. Thankful that she still seemed at ease with him, he let out a laugh as he hefted the burger. Grease dripped from it to the plate, soaking the pile of fries, the crispy bacon crackling as he squeezed it into a manageable size.
“I’m a growing boy. It takes a lot of protein to fuel these muscles.”
Winking, he took a bite as she laughed. She’d admitted to not going out much, being too focused on her work, and he was glad she was relaxing and enjoying herself. He’d been worried about asking her to come to Twinkle, thinking she’d refuse when he said it was a bar, but she clearly liked its design.
That inner need to provide for an omega pulsed, satisfied for the moment. Many people simplified the need alphas felt, thinking it was only food, safety, and orgasms they wanted to give an omega, but it went deeper than that. The drive was to give everything that was needed, including happiness. It was a broken alpha that only thought of the basics, and a pair would never find fulfillment that way, but the knowledge was being lost as less and less alphas were able to help raise their children. When an alpha presented and needed guidance the most was when they were ripped from their family, forced to endure with only the help of the few engaged by the schools they were sent to.
And then society wondered why so many alphas were unbalanced and prone to violence. What chance did they have when they were denied the steady love of their mother and the firm hand of their father when they were at their most vulnerable and unlovable.
Jett’s mood dipped so he forced those thoughts away, focusing on the woman beside him. If she was successful, hopefully those times would end, and more boys would have the support they needed to grow into healthy adults without a gaping void inside them.
They were quiet as they ate their meals, Evelyn finishing her drink as he shoved his plate away.
“Another?”
“Eh, I shouldn’t.”
The look on her face said she wanted to though, so he pulled the menu back up on the table and put on his most official voice.
