“Lucy dropped off cookies as a thank-you for your help. She specifically told me to make sure there were some left for you.”
A surge of possessiveness rocked through me. I picked up the whole box and stalked away.
“Hey! You have to share!”
Ezra’s voice was cut off as I slammed my office door. There was no fucking way I was going to share a gift given to me by my omega.
I opened the box and spotted the card, carefully tucked into the side. My fingers shook as I pulled it out. It was a shockingly accurate drawing of a large, flannel-wearing man holding a blond woman in a storm. A speech bubble from her mouth read, “Thanks for the rescue!”
I flipped the card over to find a handwritten coupon for “Unlimited tailoring services for life at Spring in Your Stitch.”
I opened my desk drawer and was about to place it on my stackof thank-you notes, but the thought of hiding it away, of shutting the drawer on this gift from the omega I could never have, was unbearable.
I left it propped up on my desk, and my eyes stayed fixed on it as I ate every last cookie.
14
Leo
I leaned out the frontdoor of my shop.Don’t mind me. Nothing suspicious happening here.
My heart skipped a beat when I saw the sign on Lucy’s door was finally flipped toOpen. Her shop had been closed for several days, and it had been torture to go so long without seeing her. I’d been tempted to text her, but I didn’t feel I had the right to after I’d pushed her away. All I could do now was cling to the hope that she’d be willing to give me another chance to…to what? Be friends? I could barely admit it to myself, but what I really wanted was to court her.
I wouldn’t delude myself into thinking I would be enough for her. Omegas needed alphas. But maybe I would be lucky enough to find some sort of place by her side, even as a beta…even with the cane currently in my hand as I crossed the street to Beans ’n Bliss.
Ella hooked me up with Lucy’s latest favorite drink, which just so happened to be a strawberry cardamom latte with sweet cream. I tried not to let it go to my head that her favorite was a mix of both of our scents, but I couldn’t deny the extra lightness in my steps as I carefully crossed the street, drink carrier clutched in my free hand.
I awkwardly pushed her shop door open with my shoulder. My beta sense of smell couldn’t pick up scents like an alpha or omega could, but Lucy’s floral strawberry was thick enough in the air for it to fill my lungs, soothing and arousing in equal measure.
Lucy was leaning over her checkout counter, a small frown creasing her forehead as she flipped through a stack of papers. At the gentle chime of the door, she looked up and smiled, causing a burst of butterflies to flutter through my stomach. She looked as beautiful asever, maybe even more so because my eyeballs had been deprived of her beauty the past few days.
“Hey, Leo.” She glanced down at the coffee carrier and chewed her lip. “Would it be presumptuous of me to assume one of those might be for me?”
I grinned. “Maybe I just really need caffeine this morning.”
She jutted her lip out in the saddest little pout I’d ever seen and sighed. “I guess I’ll just have to get my own…”
I shook my head and held out her latte—size large, because I wasn’t about to skimp on courting gifts. “You know you have me wrapped around your little finger.”
Her parted lips and wide eyes told me she, in fact, didnotknow. She reached out to take the drink and her fingers brushed against mine, the movement slow enough to be purposeful.
She took a sip. “I feel very spoiled this morning. I was waiting for Ella’s shift to start before heading over.”
“She had just arrived. She said she’d be in tomorrow for her fitting.”
“I’m making her graduation outfit.” She gestured over to a mannequin that currently held black suit pants and a vest with a subtle gray stripe.
“A suit?”
“Yeah. Ella’s a badass.”
“I didn’t realize how much of your work was sewing custom clothes. I thought you mostly did tailoring.”
An emotion I couldn’t identify flashed across Lucy’s face. “I mostly just make outfits for fun. I’m not a real designer.”
I frowned. It was obvious how talented she was. She sewed most of her own clothes, which were always beautiful, and she’d made pieces for tons of people in town—which I knew because anytime someone wore one of her designs, they couldn’t help but brag about it.
“Your stuff is amazing. My dad is excited for his upcoming appointment with you.”
