I suck in a breath and straighten, then carefully turn myattention to the view outside the window again, fully expecting to see the normal, overgrown yard with no alpha standing in it.
My expectations are bowled over when it turns out I was not hallucinating, and Brooks is, in fact, standing a few feet outside the front window trimming the ragged hedges beside the driveway.
I blink in shock, then scramble to the kitchen to hide.
What is he doing here?
I mean, obviously Steve or Josh hired him to clean up the yard. But why? Do they know? How could they? Did they follow me the other day?
If they knew, what would they do?
I actually have no idea what the answer to that might be, and that alone slows my wild thoughts. Surely, if they knew he was my scent-match, they wouldn’t have hired him. They wouldn’t let me near him, or him near me.
That settles my nerves somewhat, and my hands only tremble a little as I go about my usual routine of making breakfast and a pot of fresh coffee.
I knock on their office door a short while later, a platter of steaming bacon and eggs in my hand. My mind has been half outside the whole time, but luckily I’m used to this routine after following it for years.
“Enter,” Josh calls, his voice arrogant.
Steve waves with impatience, indicating I should put down the meal and leave, so I gladly do so before either of them get a chance to harass me.
Then my omega perks up. If they’re busy, that means I have an opening. I bite my lip, trying to decide what to do as I walk back into the kitchen to finish cleaning up, and my eyes land on the fresh pot of coffee.
Does Brooks like coffee? I’m not allowed to have any, but it would be rude of me not to offer him some, right? Aproper omega would offer a hired worker something to drink.
I nod, having decided that’s the correct course of action, and surely Steve and Josh can’t fault me for following my omega instincts of being a gracious host.
With that, I hurry over to the cupboard and carefully pick through the mugs, settling on the biggest one I can find. It’ll look the least ridiculous in his hands. Then I fill it as much as I dare, and creep over to the front door.
I open it slowly, not entirely confident in this decision despite my inner bravado, but the sight of the man outside takes the choice out of my hands. I’m pulled forward, my omega rolling in my chest, anxious to be closer to him.
And next thing I know, I’m reaching up with a shaking hand to tap lightly on his muscled shoulder.
Chapter Four
Brooks
A soft tap on my shoulder startles me from the zoned-out headspace I was in and I jump, nearly dropping the electric trimmer. I look down into the biggest brown eyes I’ve ever seen, and my alpha thumps a mighty beat in my chest.
It’s the omega I glimpsed the other day.
I rush to turn off the trimmer and shove down my noise cancelling headphones so they’re around my neck, then turn to face her.
Andholy shit.
She’s… my scent-match?
I suck in a breath and my entire body bows toward her, curving over her petite form as I inhale her floral essence.
“Omega,” I whisper, my hand reaching for her before I realize what I’m doing.
She takes a startled step back, dropping her eyes to the ground and ripping me out of whatever hypnosis she had put on me. I blink to clear my head, then notice she’s holding out a mug of coffee.
Her hands are shaking so badly that it’s spilling over theedges, and I throw my trimmer down so I can take the hot mug from her. Is she burned?
“Are you hurt?” I ask, taking one of her hands in mine.
She flinches at my touch, and I pull back, alarmed. I try to hunch down, dropping to one knee before her, but there’s no getting around how much bigger than her I am. Her eyes dart around, and her scent keep spiking. It fluctuates between overpowering lavender and the bitter, soapy floral I noticed last time. I can’t figure out what it means; I haven’t had much experience with omegas.
