I blushed and nodded, then remembered he wouldn’t see it. If I continued to meet with him, I’d have to be careful about my nonverbal mannerisms.
Continued to meet with him? What am I thinking? I only just met this guy and I’m already acting like we’re dating!
“Yeah, I did,” I said sheepishly. “I’m sorry.”
“Oh, he’s fine, don’t worry. They teach them in school about ignoring basic poking and prodding like that.”
“Really?” I asked.
River was proof enough of that as he continued to snooze beneath the table, completely unbothered by getting a sudden taste of my shoe.
“The dogs go through a lot of training,” Elijah explained. “Hell, he’s probably smarter than me.”
I giggled, then felt embarrassed. But Elijah didn’t stop smiling. If anything, he seemed happy that I laughed at his joke.
“When you seem different than everyone else, you have to deal with jerks like those alphas once in a while. It’s something you adapt to.” He shrugged. “But I suppose it wasn’t all that bad today.”
My heart sank. “You’ve had worse experiences than that?”
“No, that’s not what I meant. Those guys were dicks.” He tilted his head in my direction. “I meant because of them, I got to meet you. Therealyou.”
“The real me?” I asked.
My heart pounded again.What does he mean by that?
Elijah dipped his head in a half-nod. “You were afraid. I knew from the tone of your voice.”
“I was,” I confirmed in a mumble.
“Yet you didn’t back down. It can’t be easy, being an omega standing up to four obnoxious alphas. That’s an experience I’ll never understand, since I’m an alpha. But that didn’t stop you, Felix. You did it, even though you were scared. That’s what I mean by the real you.”
My cheeks burned. “I would have done it for any customer.”
Elijah chuckled. “That doesn’t change what I said. Just means you’re a kindhearted person.”
It felt like a butterfly was trapped inside my rib cage. My heart fluttered with every generous bit of praise.
I wasn’t new to customers complimenting me. Even in my short month of working at the Omega Angel Café, alphas would always comment on my cute outfit, or hair, or face--but Elijah wasn’t doing that. He had no idea what I looked like. His praise was raw and real. He was concerned with the soul beneath the surface of my appearance.
Elijah pretended to check his nonexistent watch, then grinned at me. “So, Felix. I feel like my five minutes are up. I don’t want to keep you longer, if you’re busy.”
Five minutes already?I thought.
I confirmed it by the clock. But I didn’t want to leave Elijah, not yet. I felt like we were only just scratching the surface ofsomethingI couldn’t quite describe with words. Something that I desperately craved more of.
Careful of River, I tucked my chair in closer to the table and said, “The rest of the time is on the house.”
