Page 7 of Curvy Dirty Omega

Wait.

Exactly how long have we been standing like this?

“I’m sorry,” I pushed away from him harder than necessary, but he held on until I regained my footing.

God, this was embarrassing. Could I maybe just disappear?

“Are you all right?” Liam Valor asked, his deep voice making me jump in shock at the depth of it.

I nodded, staring up at him in surprise.

What the hell was wrong with me?

Alphas usually had deep voices, but I didn’t usually react like this to them. It was irritating enough I fucked up and went to glare at him, but all I could see were those pretty red eyes that managed to look like he didn’t give a shit if I was actually okay or not even if he was staring down at me with an intensity that took my breath away.

There was something familiar about this alpha’s face, but that was no doubt due to the fact that he was a celebrity.

It was rare for anyone’s face to look familiar to me, which meant it was most likely because of the thousands of pictures of this alpha I’d seen on the internet over the years had made him vaguely familiar.

“Are you sure?” he asked, tilting his head to the side like he didn’t believe me, making his hair fall into his eyes.

It was supremely unfair how beautiful he was.

And what the fuck was I supposed to say to that question? I hadn’t been hurt. I’d just stumbled into him like an idiot because I hadn’t been paying attention, and now I couldn’t stop staring at this ridiculously attractive alpha like I was breathing in the full weight of his pheromones.

But I could see the tiny shimmer over the side of his neck that told me he was wearing scent blockers too except they were transparent, unlike mine.

Frankie cleared her throat and I took another step back, feeling strangely cold when his warm hands left my arms. “I’m fine,” I told him, sliding to the side to be as unobtrusive as possible. “I apologize again.”

“Mr. Valor.” The receptionist sounded like he was trying not to have a meltdown about our current situation. “I didn’t realize you’d be back so soon. I can send them up in the next elevator after you.”

Shit. This was going really well already, wasn’t it?

I moved to get out, but that warm hand gently took my elbow to keep me inside. “It’s fine. They can ride with me.”

Frankie and I locked eyes, both of us wondering if this was going to become a problem.

“Ah, very good, sir.” The receptionist gave me a nod and then turned back to the vice president of Valor Enterprises. “These are the private detectives the chairwoman hired. They’re here to meet with you.”

Before Liam could ask any follow-up questions, the receptionist turned on his heel and left.

Frankie grabbed the doors before they could close, stepping inside like she planned to rip that hand right off of me if she had to.

To my relief, Liam released my arm as easily as he’d grabbed it.

Why the fuck was my heart pounding?

I tucked my hands into my coat pockets, leaned against the wall farthest away from Liam Valor, and tried to catch my breath while Frankie put herself between me and the corporate prince as he pressed the button for whichever floor we were supposed to go to.

Elevators make me nervous even on a good day, but this day had quickly turned into a shitshow thanks to…chaos.

No matter how well I could read patterns, how prepared I might be for a situation, or the possibility of things going awry…I could never quite prepare myself for the chaos factor that was a part of life no matter how much I fucking hated it.

If we’d been five minutes earlier, or five minutes later, this moment never would have happened. We would have been able to meet the newly minted heir to Valor the way we were supposed to – not with me literally tripping into his arms.

And this elevator was awful.

I rested my head on the cool metal to help me calm down, trying not to focus on the fact that there wasn’t a single sound outside the three of us breathing, and the whir of the mechanism that felt a little too smooth, almost like we weren’t moving at all.

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