“Is he still behind me?” she asked cautiously, a thread of nervousness in her voice now.
With a glance over my shoulder, I scanned the nearby area, pleased to find no one. “No,” I confirmed.
A sigh of relief escaped the omega, and she leaned into me ever so slightly. “Thank you so much for this. I’m sorry, I just grabbed you.”
“It’s all right. You needed help. Do you live nearby? I won’t leave until I know you’re safe.”
We were in a pretty rundown area outside of campus. Budget-friendly was one way of describing it, I was sure, but I was thinking more along the lines of “slum” or “hellhole.”
That blush filled her cheeks again, and this time it was definitely embarrassment. The omega was clearly not at ease with her living situation; her discomfort reflected in her averted gaze.
“Yeah”—she gestured with her head, chewing on her lip—“we actually just walked past my building.”
“Oh. Well, then…” I turned around, pulling her with me gently. “Lead the way. I’ll see you to the door.”
“Y-you don’t have to,” she stammered, shaking her head.
Only, I did. I’d made a promise, but I wasn’t going to tell her Spencer would have my hide if I didn’t make sure she got home safely. Spencer wasn’t my only reason for hanging around, though. I wasn’t going to let her out of my sight until I knew she was inside her apartment, where some guy couldn’t watch her every move. The sweet omega had picked me to keep her safe—Florahad pickedme—and I was taking that job very seriously.
“Thank you.”
It didn’t take us long to return to the door of her building, and I escorted the omega in, holding the door open for her. As I did, I surveyed the area outside. I didn’t want to see any sign of the figure who’d been following her. If I did, the guy was going to find himself facing a very intense encounter with my fist. With nothing to see, I followed Flora inside. She strolled confidently through the lobby, coming to a stop in front of one of the doors down the left hallway.
“This is me,” Flora said sweetly, pulling her keys from her bag and turning toward the door. Several large keychains jingled together, making her keys look enormous and cumbersome. The mini strawberry plushie made me bite back a smile as she grabbed the handle.
What was she doing with all of them? Hell, she could use them as a weapon.
Actually, that wasn’t a bad idea. Maybe I could find a way to add something sharp and spikey to that keychain.
“Oh!” The smallomega took a step back as the door opened despite her never placing the key in the lock.
“Did you leave it unlocked?” I shifted forward, every muscle in my body stiffening. She was an omega living alone; there was no reason for her door to be unlocked.
“I must have…” Flora trailed off, looking at the door handle in her hand, her brow furrowed. Her confusion only increased the tension that had my body in a chokehold. “I thought I locked it. I remember nearly dropping my keys. Oh, well—” She went to push the door open, but I threw out my arm to stop her.
“Not going to happen, little omega. Let me check the place out first.” My voice was firm, brooking no argument. I wasn’t going to sugarcoat anything when her safety was on the line, nor was I about to drop it so easily. If she thought she’d locked it and it was now open? That was not a good sign.
“I—”
“Stay here,” I ordered with more alpha authority than I intended, driven by concern for her safety. I reached into my back pocket and retrieved the small, compact weapon I carried.
“What isthat?” Flora reeled back, looking at the item suspiciously, her brows up high.
“Don’t worry. It’s a taser,” I explained.
“Why do you have a taser?!” she whisper-shouted at me, her eyes flaring wide.
Clenching my jaw, I held her back from the door around the corner. “My job. Security, remember?”
“Oh, yeah. Right,” she said. I held out the weapon, gesturing for her to take it. “What? Oh, no. I definitely can’t be trusted with one of those.”
“It's simple, just jab it at the person you want to electrocute and press this trigger,” I said, showing her the little button. If Ihad anything to say about it, she would never need to use the taser, but I would much rather she had it on her person, just in case. Better safe than sorry.
Everything in me insisted that she needed protection. If I had to go inside to check things out, she needed to have the weapon. I had a gun holstered on my back, under my T-shirt, but she didn’t need to know that.
“I…” She didn’t say more but accepted the taser, and I slipped inside her apartment. Looking around, the place didn’t seem immediately concerning. There were no papers flung about or missing TVs. I took the hallway at the back of the apartment and up the stairs toward what I assumed was her bedroom. Sure enough, I found her nest carefully crafted on her bed, decorated with more strawberry plushies, along with a myriad of other fruits and soft pillows.
Apparently, our non-client client was a fan of squishy-fruit-themed paraphernalia. I wanted to hate it, the impracticality of sleeping like that, but it was on par with how cute everything else was about her.
