Marilyn is the only person with the Scented Scorpions who met Luke and me together. I just have to pretend to be him with her, and then I can dress how I want when I move in with Timber.
“Come in.” Marilyn’s voice flows through her office door.
The only things that could give me away are the empty piercings on my bottom lip and right nostril. My hair covers my ears, with piercing holes along the top shell, and the gaps in my lobes I usually have plugged.
Luke and I are used to swapping places and acting like each other since growing up, so I’m not too nervous.
Until I open the door.
And I buckle.
The scent of rich coffee and alpha smashes into me, and I slip on the door handle, stumbling forward. I gasp as I slam my other hand over my mouth. Coughing loudly, I drop my chin to hide my eyes rolling as need floods my body.
Pure heat soars from my toes to my throat, filling me up from the inside.
My suppressants are meant to stop my perfume, but as I stand there, trembling, I can feel the pressure of it building. I don’t know if I can be in the room when the scent of coffee is so thick.
“Sorry, I have a cold,” I croak, dropping my hand from my mouth as I force myself to straighten up and step inside.
Marilyn sits behind her desk, neatly dressed in a sharp champagne suit, subtle make-up, and her hair perfectly styled. She looks immaculate and in control, and it’s a huge boost being in the same room as an alpha like her.
Then there’s Timber, his broad body crushed into a huge chair, his buzz cut showing off the hard muscles of his neck, and his plain white T-shirt struggling over his wide shoulders. As his back straightens, more luscious coffee rolls off him, and I haveto clench my hand into a fist to stop the moan that’s bubbling inside me.
Marilyn narrows her eyes at me, and my nerves hop around. But she quickly eases into a smile before waving me over.
“Please, Luke, take a seat. Timber, I want you to meet your new housemate.”
He doesn’t acknowledge me as I lower into the chair beside him, staring at the profile of his face. I close my mouth so it isn’t obvious I’m gaping at him. I’ll pass it off as being a fan instead of my horny levels rising like a tsunami.
“Timber, Luke will take over your health plan until the end of the season.”
Timber’s shoulders hunch, but he still doesn’t turn to look at me. His hard stare goes a thousand yards as he keeps it fixed on the wall behind Marilyn.
Even just looking at him sends a tremor through me, and I try hard not to squeeze my thighs together, because dearLord, he’s handsome. It’s not only the chiseled jaw and wide lips, or the dark blue eyes shadowed by long lashes. That magazine spread was hot, but it did nothing to show just howbighe is in person. The chairs are made for hockey players, but he still swamps his, while I barely touch the sides.
I must be half his size, and my omega side is already telling me I need to mount him and scent mark him and announce he’smine.
“Are you joking? Why the hell do I need that?” he huffs.
“Because it doesn’t matter how much weight training you do when you pump absolute garbage into your body every day.”
She closes the sentence like she’s snapping a book. There’s no room for argument, and he can tell it, too.
“A better diet will improve your mood, and hopefully help with the other problems we’ve discussed.”
He presses his thick and definitely tasty lips together. Seeing a forty-two-year-old alpha pout does bad things to me. Who cares if he’s nearly twice my age when I bet his kisses would leave me breathless?
“Luke? Is everything alright?” Marilyn asks as Timber shifts in his chair again. If he looks at me with his stormy glare, I’m sure I’m going to draw in the biggest breath they’ve ever seen. Betas aren’t able to scent other people, so the jig will be up quicker than it started.
My gaze sweeps to hers as she smiles patiently, and I catch myself like a business pro.
I hope there isn’t a single trace on my face of how my body is going into nuclear meltdown over the mountain of an alpha next to me.
I stuff my fist in my suit pocket, like I can hide all the need that flares up inside me. The angry energy that beats off him makes him a hundred times hotter. If Marilyn weren’t here, I would have flung myself into his arms to soothe him like his mate should.
My omega side is rising, and I send a quick prayer of thanks to the God of Suppressants that I’m not blasting perfume like a smoke machine.
“This isn’t going to work.” Timber glowers. “I spend half my time at away games. I’m not dragging someone around the country with me.”
