Page 20 of Heat Hesitation

It takes Herculean effort not to keep searching the room for Asher, but when I finally stack my tray with drink orders and glance up, there he is, and I nearly melt on the spot.

He notices my reaction and lights up with unadulterated joy, and it supersedes all the hurt and resentment from last night. Hurrying toward me, he ignores my flattened palms on the bar between us, ducking underneath like he belongs here, and wraps me up in his arms. It's futile to resist, I melt against him, and we breathe each other in before he starts coughing.

"Damn, that scent-blocker is strong. You smell terrible," he laughs, and it's so sweet, it makes me giggle like a damn school girl.

"That's the point."

He smirks. "Are you almost done?"

"Oh. Umm…" I look up and find Roxy's eyes dancing in delight, watching us. "I uh… I'm still working. I'll be here pretty late, actually."

Asher smiles tightly. His voice is thick when he asks, "So… do you dance, or…?"

"Or. Definitely or. Not that there's anything wrong with stripping!" I rush to say.

"No, not at all," he agrees, a little too pleased with my answer.

"But I can't dance. I can barely carry drinks."

He chuckles like I'm adorable, and I love it. Every warm touch, the glint in his eyes. His thick chocolate brown hair curls around his ears, and though he's nearly as tall and stacked as Sully, there's something really disarming about Asher. He's a teddy bear. Damn, he's making this hard. I clear my throat, trying to shake out of whatever hypnotized state the Constantine men have got me in. Yesterday, literally just yesterday, I was running away from them.

Chandra leans against the bar, "Ophelia, I've got a private dance request at table ten in the booth. Can you bring a bottle of Black Label and three glasses?" She eyes us bitterly, and I nod, pushing Asher back.

I tell him to move to the other side of the bar. Reluctantly, he goes, but not far. Asher orders a beer, then attempts to relax in his button-up work shirt, tailored gray slacks, and shiny black shoes; he's the epitome of a good catch in a place like this.

I load up the tray with drinks and make the rounds, feeling Asher's eyes on me the entire way. The club's lighting is dim, and the crowd starts to fill in as it gets later into the night. The music gets louder, and the vibe slowly changes. It's not subtle, either. The dancers, who take advantage of slow afternoons to practice, begin their real routines, something decidedly more erotic.

I suddenly appreciate Roxy's alphas for a whole new reason. I try to catch Asher's eyes wandering, but they never do. Each time I look up, he's burning heat and desire into me, not acknowledging he's surrounded by beautiful, mostly naked women and men.

When I finish a few rounds of deliveries, I find a smiling Asher waiting patiently, eyes lighting up the moment he realizes I'm heading toward him. I slow, taking him in. Asher's kind eyes, so warm and inviting, and wide, soft lips unabashedly spreading into a big smile, make him look less like a boardroom billionaire and more like the boy next door. He's gorgeous, but his confidence and the look of utter devotion on his face blooms a kernel of excitement deep inside me.

His kind, sweet demeanor takes my breath away, and at this moment, I can't for the life of me remember why I ran off that first time we met. Why didn't I chase him down?

Oh, I remember now. Because he barked at me and nearly killed me. Because his pack continued courting omegas even after he found his scent-match. They were pictured in the newspaper almost immediately after that night on the bridge, so he couldn't have been pining for me that hard or for that long. Maybe he didn't feel the pull the same way I did. Maybe he didn't ache and burn and cry for days afterward at the loss of us.

I've been through exactly one full heat and went through it with only a toy for company. It had a battery-operated inflatable knot and barely scratched the surface of my need. It was the worst kind of pain. I was hollow inside, lonely, burning with a need I couldn't sate. I've never experienced anything so physically painful in my life. Not until that night on the bridge. Knowing my scent-match was out there and denying it, watching them court other omegas. That was a pain nothing could compare to.

And besides, I could never trust a high-society alpha after what the Olcenes did to Alma. I'll never be anyone's obedient little omega.

That puts a little more fire in my step as I reach him. His light dims when I ask him to leave so I can work without him distracting me, but he assures me he'll be back at closing to walk me home.

I'm sad to see him go, but I can breathe again. Eventually, when the bar slows, I cash out, change out of my server outfit, grab my purse, and head out back. Since he's waiting patiently in the alleyway, I lead Asher Constantine into South Loop, a place he really doesn't belong.

Chapter 9

Asher

If I didn't know any better, I'd say she's trying to get rid of me.

But I do know better. Nothing could have hidden the way she clung to me when I arrived at the club. The strong, sickly sweet perfume smell and the weird plastic coming from her cheap scent-blockers and from some of the strippers working the club—none of it touched her ethereal beauty, and I fucking lost any cool factor I may have pretended to hold onto the moment I saw her.

She smiled, genuinely, and it wasn't until she let herself think, talk herself out of wanting this, for whatever reason, that she stiffened and distanced herself. But her initial, most honest reaction was to lean into me, and I cling to that thought every time she shrugs out of my hold or walks a little faster.

I parked in front of her building and walked to Queenie's, wanting to get a feel for what her life was like. Sully barely contained his fury at the drugs, needles, and trash that littered her walk, let alone his clamorous rage when he found out she worked at a strip club, but Ophelia walked with grace through everything like a benevolent queen.

We didn't make any specific arrangement over who'd be at her place when, only agreeing that one of us would be in front of her building at all times until we figured out why she hid from us for so long and convinced her to move into our estate.

Sully and I argued over who'd pick her up from work, but he got to walk with her this morning, and I've spent the last year pining for her, so in the end, he gave in, but I had no doubt he'd be here tonight whether she was aware of it or not. It was probably for the best anyway, he was in a shit mood, and I worried he'd piss her off when he shared his feelings on her employment.

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