Page 9

“So, what did you want to talk about? Thinking of starting your own account? Attractive Alphas, it has a ring to it?”

I’m a terrible flirt.Chase always said I looked better with my mouth closed.

I resisted the urge to smack some sense into myself. This was a transaction. I had to play a part and earn money. He didn’t care if my faux flirtation was dismal.

“I don’t think anyone would pay to see this,” he scoffed and panned the phone down his body with a grimace.

I swallowed hard, trying to untie the knot in my tongue. Did he not understand what he looked like? Surfer curls, sharp jaw, and rock-hard muscles bulged under his formal outfit.

“There’s a market for anything.” I shrugged, attempting to appear unaffected. “How do you feel about wearing tiny scraps of nothing?”

My joke fell flat. The furrow in his brows deepened. Had I said something wrong? I enjoyed taking sexy photos. It felt like someone else’s body was on the screen. Someone with flawless, unmarred skin.

It didn’t feel as good to be in my body as it did to look at it. Not with my constant barrage of negative thoughts.

Tahlia was everything I wasn’t. Beautiful, confident, and powerful. She wouldn’t buckle under the weight of the Hartlock name.

Could Lloyd see the scars I was trying so hard to hide? Sweat trickled down my spine.

“Are you safe? You’re not being forced to be on Only Omegas, right?” he narrowed his gaze, and I jerked the phone in surprise, fumbling at the last second to keep my face hidden.

That was all I needed right now, to blow my anonymity within five minutes of talking.

“Oh—oh no,” I assured him. “I’m saving money to move into a new home. My roommate and I don’t exactly get along.”

Saving up to run far enough to escape the legacy of my blood and the man who it wasn’t enough for.

“You don’t have anyone you can stay with? Family?” he rubbed his chest.

It was on the tip of my tongue, the reason I was alone. I’d been hoarding everything deep down inside me and it bubbled up, coating my throat with raw truth.

“No, I’m all alone,” I admitted. “You know, I didn’t expect the phone call to go like this.”

That was better, steer the conversation surface level. To seedy compliments and innuendos. Somewhere my heart didn’t hurt so much.

“What did you think it would be like?” Lloyd asked, his voice deepened.

He watched my body like a hawk, only relaxing when the tension eased from my limbs. He assumed, correctly, this wasn’t what I wanted to talk about. Ask me what size my bra was, or what my sexual fantasies were. Those were the questions I expected. That was worth money, not sob stories about what a washed-up omega I was.

It was easier to separate myself from who I was when I pretended to be Tahlia.

“I thought you’d want to see my face, or you’d ask me naughty questions,” I teased as his eyes widened in startled surprise.

“Naughty questions?” he wondered.

Dangerous, dangerous thoughts coursed through my body and my scent thickened as he hung in silence. The power in my hands. A lick of lust unfurled in my stomach. That was new. I hadn’t felt desire in so long. The drunk, dangerous alpha from The Barracks didn’t count.

I leaned forward and my cleavage spilled over the lacy bra.

“You know—” I taunted, and his throat bobbed.

Lloyd’s messages had always been respectful, which is why I noticed him. The explicit ones became like white noise after a while.

Lloyd froze for a moment, licked his lips, and his chest expanded in a deep breath.

“Can I tell you a secret?”

“Sure.”