Page 4

Cullen

N ormally when the restaurant was busy, I wouldn’t be so distracted. I wouldn’t even have a chance to think about what was going on at home. There were dishes everywhere, meals that needed to go out, tables that needed to be bussed, and staff members who needed to have breaks—it was never-ending.

For some reason, though, all I could think about was the fact that the pretty, petite blonde omega was in our home.

When she had insisted on taking the bus to our house, a visceral rage had overtaken me.

I knew it was best to keep my distance from her, but there was no way in hell I was going to allow her to put herself in danger, especially when she was doing something to help us.

She was pretty. Actually, she was beautiful.

It was almost painful to look at her, in a good way, and I don’t think she realized it.

Anytime I picked up Joey from skating lessons, Bethany would be sweaty from her workout, wearing that sweatshirt that clung to her like a second skin, her hair up in its perky ponytail.

The first time I’d met her, I struggled to find my words, which was unlike me.

None of my pack had dated seriously since Joey’s mother had left, but we all had our flings every now and again. I was pretty sufficient at wooing ladies for a night. Not to sound conceited, but I knew I was good-looking. Not to mention, I owned a successful business, and women liked that.

But when I’d met Bethany, she had smiled at me and my throat had closed up in a panic. It felt like the alpha inside me was bashing at the walls of my chest, desperate to get out. That first hit of that crisp apple scent, and I’d wanted to pull her into my arms.

There was no way I could actually do that. I was a great deal older than her, and she was my daughter’s ice-skating teacher.

At first, I’d said nothing, merely stood back and watched and ignored the feelings rolling around in my chest. But as I watched my pack mates near her, it became apparent that they also weren’t unaffected by her.

Once we realized that, a conversation happened, and we all agreed that it was a bad idea for a whole litany of reasons.

That didn’t change how we were drawn to her.

Just the knowledge that she was in my house had me itching to run back there.

Jensen:

The pizza just arrived. Saw it on the doorbell camera.

I paused, looking at our group chat. There hadn’t been any text notifications from my bank. How had she paid for pizza without my card?

She’d better not have paid for it herself.

If she had, I would be having a stern word with her. I would also have to restrain myself from spanking that ridiculously pert ass of hers.

Cullen:

I should be able to leave in a few hours.

Jensen:

Good. I think they’re having a good time. Bethany sent me this.

The screen filled with a selfie a second later of Bethany and Joey sitting in the theater room, cookies spread out between them, beaming widely at the camera.

Jensen:

Apparently, Joey ended up eating half of Beth’s pizza slices, even though there are peppers on them…

Gideon:

What? I thought it would be a cold day in hell when that girl ate peppers.

Jensen:

Seems Bethany has the magic touch.

Gideon:

We need to beg her to babysit more often.

Jensen:

She’s already working two jobs and studying. We can’t give her more work.

Gideon:

We could always replace one of those jobs and pay her a hell of a lot better. Hell, I would tell her to quit both her jobs, but I think Joey would revolt if Bethany wasn’t teaching her anymore.

I raised my brows; that actually wasn’t a terrible idea.

Having Bethany in our house constantly sounded like a special kind of torture, though.

Maybe I was a masochist because I liked the idea a little too much.

It was almost ten-thirty by the time I could pull myself away from the restaurant. Most of the guests had left, and there were only a few stragglers remaining, so my staff could take care of it.

“I’ve got to get going,” I explained to Sally, who had been practically running the joint whenever I wasn’t there.

She looked at me, surprised. “You’re leaving before midnight. Are you okay? Do you have a fever? Do I need to call an ambulance?”

I shook my head, biting back a smile.

I was a slight workaholic.

“I had to leave Joey with a babysitter, and I don’t want to make them wait up too late.”

Sally nodded. “Ahh, yeah, the little miss. Do you want some cheesecake to go? We’ve got that and a few slices of red velvet cake left.”

I wasn’t exactly wild about the idea of giving Joey cake so late at night, but Bethany would probably want to take a slice or two home.

“Can you pack two slices of each for me? Thank you. Between the child and the sitter, I’m sure they’ll get demolished. They had pizza for dinner.”

Sally narrowed her eyes. “Where from?”

“Frankie’s,” I said.

She nodded. “Okay, that place is decent, but it’s got nothing on our pizza.”

I chuckled. “I’ll bring them here for lunch one day. The sitter is actually Joey’s ice-skating teacher, who’s doing us a favor tonight because everything went to hell today.”

“In that case, there’s also a slice of the death-by-chocolate cake left. You’d better take that for her!” Sally said, disappearing into the back.

Ten minutes later, I was in my car with several boxes of cake sitting in the passenger seat as I sped, probably a little too fast, in my desperation to get home.

I loved the restaurant, but sometimes the late hours made me worry. Joey was young, and I wanted to be there for her. In some ways, I could—I was around during the day to take her to school and extracurriculars, but come dinnertime, I was usually pulled in to work.

Most of the lights were off when I pulled into the drive.

I was happy to find the front door was locked, so I quickly turned my key and crept in.

I didn’t want to disturb Joey if she was asleep.

I highly doubted she was, though, considering our daughter was somewhat of a terror when it came to sleeping.

Every time someone babysat her, she would stay up until one of us came home.

Thankfully, she didn’t need a babysitter often, so we let it slide.

Light and quiet noises emanated from the theater room, so I made my way over, cake in hand. The house had a faint smell of crisp apple to it. It was delicious and inviting.

Bethany.

God, I was obsessed with that smell.

I expected to find both the girls awake, watching TV, but the sight that met my eyes nearly caused my chest to explode.

They were curled up together on one of the sofas, blankets draped over them. Joey was leaning her head on Beth’s lap and was fast asleep. Bethany was watching the TV with rapt attention, her hand gently running through Joey’s hair.

The sight was so sweet, and Joey was obviously completely at ease, snoring lightly. Bethany had draped a blanket around her, and every now and again, she glanced down at Joey, a small, sweet smile gracing her features as she did so.

She hadn’t noticed me standing in the doorway like a complete creeper. I needed to announce my presence, but at the same time, I wanted to just stand there and watch.

Is this what it would be like for Joey to have a mother? I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t worried about that. Our daughter’s life was a whole lot better without her egg donor, but sometimes I thought a feminine influence wouldn’t be a bad thing.

Gently, I knocked on the doorframe, announcing my presence.

Bethany jumped slightly, her eyes darting to me. As she registered who was standing in the doorway, her body sagged in relief.

“Hey.” She smiled, looking down at Joey. “I know it’s late. She fell asleep hours ago, and I didn’t have the heart to move her.”

I nodded. “I’m just impressed by the fact she’s sleeping. Don’t worry. I’ll carry her to her bedroom.”

Bethany bit her lip. “Could you do that sooner rather than later? I desperately need to use the bathroom, and she’s been asleep on me for so long, I’m pretty sure my legs are dead!” She whispered a laugh.

“Of course.” I took a step forward, keeping my voice at a whisper. “You could have moved her.”

Bethany shook her head. “I didn’t want to disturb her rest.”

I carefully scooped up my child, chuckling lightly when she didn’t even stir. When Joey was asleep, she was dead to the world.

It had terrified the shit out of us a few times when she was a baby.

“Thank you!” Bethany whispered gratefully as she climbed out of the chair and scampered out of the room.

Smiling to myself, I took Joey back to her room and deposited her in bed.

She turned over with a small grunt, burying herself in the blankets.

I waited a moment to ensure she was asleep and then tiptoed out of the room, even though I probably could have thundered out of the room and she still wouldn’t have woken.

Bethany was standing in the kitchen when I made my way downstairs, rummaging through her bag. Spotting me, she smiled warmly. It was a casual look for her, but for me, it was a punch in the gut. Did she have any idea just how beautiful she was? She probably had young men knocking down her door.

Don’t think about Bethany and other men. You are going to get murderous.

She pulled her phone out and checked the time. “I need to get going. Honestly, you don’t need to drive me. I know you said you would, but I am more than happy to go catch a bus,” she said, the smile never slipping off her face.

“Nope,” I said simply, taking a step forward and plucking the purse off her shoulder, ignoring her shocked expression. It was probably a mistake getting so close to her because her scent was unavoidable.

God, I wanted to taste her.

How could an omega smell that good?

“Cullen!” Bethany said in an admonishing tone, giving me a startled look. “Give me my bag!”

“No,” I said, my voice firm and expression hard. If there was one thing I was not going to mess with, it was her safety. “Get in the car.”

She gave me an exasperated look. “Joey is asleep upstairs. You can’t leave her!”

I paused.

Shit.

I hadn’t even thought of that.

Fuck—a few minutes with this omega, and my mind was going blank.

“Jensen will be back soon.”

Bethany glowered at me for a moment before huffing. “I catch the bus all the time after I’ve been out late,” she grumbled, starting to walk past me.

Unable to stop myself, I gently grabbed her arm and pulled so she was looking at me. I wanted to meet her eyes as I spoke. “Any man that is letting you take public transportation or walk home is a piece of shit, and I hope you understand that. You are worth a lot more than that.”

Beth’s eyes were wide, her mouth opening and closing as she tried to find her words.

Internally, I cursed at myself. I shouldn’t have said anything. I just couldn’t resist. The idea that some young punk alpha would think it acceptable for her to walk home made my blood boil.

“Okay…” Bethany said softly.

We were close, too close. I could make out the little flecks of gold in her eyes, the way they complemented her hair. Those plump, inviting lips that looked freshly kissed, the slope of her nose. The pulse hammering through the veins in her neck.

Fuck me.

It took all my effort to step back, breaking the spell between us.

Thankfully, the sound of a car pulling into the driveway provided the perfect distraction.

I nodded. “Get in the car,” I said, letting go of her arm. “And I’m giving you the money for the pizza.”

Thankfully, this time, she did as she was told.

“Hi, Bethany!” Jensen beamed as he entered the house. “Bye!” He laughed as I lightly pushed Bethany toward the door.

“You’re being awfully bossy,” she grumbled as she opened the passenger door. “What’s that?” she asked, looking at the takeout bag on the passenger seat.

“Cake for you,” I replied simply. “I took some in for Joey, but this is all yours.”

She tried to hide her grin, but cake was always a winner.

When we pulled up outside her building, I pushed a handful of cash into her hand, ignoring her protests.

Thankfully, she didn’t check how much it was until she got out of the car.