Page 115 of Heat & Deceit
“Are you going to listen to him?” he asks, not missing a beat.
Am I going to climb the trees? Absolutely, but I plan to be a little more graceful about it than a spider monkey might. Though, I’m not about to tell them that right now.
“There are customers here.”
“So?” he challenges, glancing at his friends with a devious smirk. Heat pools in my core, my body attuned to how close they are and how much I want them and how much they want me in return.
“Stop avoiding the question,” Rome whispers into my ear, making me shiver.
It’s like they’re purposefully trying to make me horny.
“Can we talk about this later?” I ask, turning to look at him. We’re so close, we trade breaths. He brushes his lips over mine, gently biting my lip before quickly pulling away. It happens so fast, I wonder if I imagined the entire thing.
“Can we make you dinner on Friday?” Javier asks. “I’ll cook.”
The billionaire alpha wants to cook me dinner?
“Um. Sure.”
He gives me a devastating smile. “Good.”
“You should go before I decide I’d rather play with you than let you work.” Lycus runs his tongue over his lips.
“Fine, but you have to stop touching me when you pass.”
“Absolutely not.” Javier takes a sip of his coffee.
“It’s torture.”
“Exactly,” he says with a knowing grin.
Thirty-One
JAVI
Would Nova be mad if she knew I’m following her home? Maybe. But the three of us agreed that we would make sure she gets home safely. It’s the only way we’ll be able to function somewhat normally without being in her presence. Ever since I saved her from getting hit by a car, she’s been in my head. Working with her, her being unfazed by me or my position, her sassing at me, the way she squints at me in warning, all of it has snared my interest for weeks.
Learning she’s an omega is simply a bonus.
Our pack wants an omega, true, but more than anything, I’m relieved I get to act on all my crazy impulses. I can ask her questions, I can tease her, I can pursue her. As I follow her, I keep my distance, giving her plenty of space, but at one point, she turns and arches an eyebrow at me.
I lift a shoulder.
She rolls her eyes and continues walking. I smirk to myself, not caring that she knows how overbearing we’re being. The thing about my pack is, once we make up our minds, we’re dead set on seeing things through. Nova is going to be pack, and even if it takes years of giving her the time she needs to adjust, we’ll wait. In the meantime, I’ll do everything within my power to ensure she’s safe.
An intersection ahead has a countdown for the crosswalk, and she starts jogging to make it in time. I chuckle to myself and keep my steady pace, knowing exactly where she’s headed and that I’ll still be able to see her. The light changes, and I stop at the curb, letting my gaze slip down her body while she walks away. I’m almost certain she’s adding an extra sway just for me. A city bus pulls up in front of me, obstructing my view. I glare at the driver, but he’s too focused on talking to the people climbing off.
Drumming my fingers on my pants, I check the crosswalk sign next to me. It switches from a solid red to the stick figure. The bus is still in my way. I round the front and search for Nova, frowning when I can’t find her. She should be straight ahead. Her apartment building is only two blocks away. It wouldn’t make sense for her to detour.
Maybe she ran the rest of the way to avoid having to talk to me?
I hurry along the first block, chewing on the inside of my cheek and scanning the area. Is she playing me? Maybe she circled back somehow? I reach the same block as her apartment building.
A scream comes from an alley up ahead.
Dread drops into the pit of my stomach like a thousand-pound weight.
Sprinting, I race to the alley, tearing around the corner. Three things hit me all at once. There’s a man pinning Nova to the wall. She’s crying. He’s shoving something into her mouth. A vicious growl rips out of me, and I lunge for the asshole, yanking him off Nova and tossing him into the brick wall on the other side of the alley. His head hits the stone and he goes down. My fist follows him, knuckles cracking into his face over and over as Nova sobs behind me.
