Page 110 of Heat & Deceit
For you? Always.
I send a heart emoji and tuck my phone away, looking up when the bells to the front door jingle. Randal breezes in but does a double take, eyes widening on me.
“Carmine,” he hisses, scurrying over to me. “Where have you been?”
“Family emergency,” I say, telling the lie we came up with last night. Confessing the truth to the guys was necessary. There’s a chance my old pack will get out of jail, and with the way it would look to the other employees, we all agreed that, for now, we’d keep my identity a secret. “I had to go for a funeral, and I forgot to call.”
“Oh, god. I’m so sorry. We were all so worried.” He leans closer. “The alphas were pissed when you didn’t come in. I thought for sure they’d fire you.” Squinting, he evaluates me. “Did they give you a hard time?”
Shaking my head, I drop my gaze. “No. I apologized and told them what happened. They were really nice about it.”
Randal squeezes my arm. “Good. I missed you while you were gone. Amara isn’t nearly as fun.”
The door to the shop opens, the bells jingling. Seconds later, the store floods with their scents. I force myself to look at Randal and continue the conversation.
I roll my eyes. “Amara is nice.”
“Yeah, but she doesn’t laugh at my jokes, and that’s a serious offense.”
“Morning,” Javier says to us.
Waiting for Randal to look first, I take a slow breath and compose myself, trying not to react as much as I want to.
“Morning! Wow, all three of you today? Are we in trouble?” Randal chuckles nervously.
“No one’s in trouble,” Rome says.
“Not unless they want to be.” Lycus, cheeky as always.
Finally, I allow myself to look. My gaze collides with Javier’s first, and those cornflower starbursts seem to expand when our eyes meet. His lips quirk into a rueful grin, like he’s reminding me of our little secret. Rome’s steady, unaffected stare pierces through me. Unlike Javier, he’s better at pretending like nothing’s changed. I want nothing more than to crawl over the counter and beg him to react. I want him to wrap his arms around me like he did in his home studio.
“It’s rude not to greet someone when they’ve said hello,” Lycus says.
My attention jumps to him. He’s wearing a full-blown smile, and his eyes dance with delight. The one good thing about Lycus being soLycusis that he doesn’t really have to pretend. This banter is expected, and it’s the only thing that anchors me.
“Hello, Javier,” I say with a little grin, side-eyeing the only alpha who actually said good morning.
“Good to see you, Carmine.”
“I’m starting to think you don’t like me,” Lycus says.
“Morning, Rome.”
His cool mask breaks, and he gives me a real smile. “Good morning.”
“Saving the best for last, eh? Can’t say I blame you.” Lycus drops his elbows on the counter.
I consider him for a moment before turning to Randal, purposefully not greeting him to be a brat. “Do you mind working the register today?”
A low, throaty hum comes from Lycus. “I do love a cold shoulder.”
“Lycus,” Javier growls.
“What? She started it.”
“You’re impossible,” Rome mutters.
Eyebrows hitting his hairline, Randal glances between me and Lycus before finally nodding.
