Page 1 of Believe it or Knot

Track 1: Hello

It’s my luck that the one day I have off this week—Tuesday, because it’s the slowest day at the Snack Shack—coincides with my period. I suppose I should be grateful, since I can just curl up on my couch in my rattiest lounge clothes and have a Liam Cordova movie marathon, rather than standing in front of a hot grill and serving burgers and fries to the good people of Kilrose Lake.

Still, it’s not quite the same without Sylvie Kinsella and Sadie Pierce, my best friends who have been MIA for the last week or two. Who knows where Sadie disappeared to. Last I heard, she was meeting Vee for drinks and a night out on the town, and she hasn’t exactly made it back yet. That’s not uncommon for her. She used to be gone all the time for her work. Now I suppose she’s just gone for a vacation without telling me. It wouldn’t be the first time. Or maybe she stayed in Granton to offer moral support to Sylvie, who definitely needs it more than I do.

Sylvie is in Granton dealing with her awful grandmother’s last wishes and avoiding the pack that rejected her when she was seventeen. I wish I could be with her, support her, but the restaurant takes precedence over everything.

It’s my whole life, even though more often than not I wish it wasn’t. But that’s the burden I agreed to carry, the promise I made to my parents.

I push the thought side and adjust the heating pad over my hips. I like to alternate between putting it on my lower back and my stomach, since both sections are stupidly achy and crampy.

I had planned on filming a video today, like I normally do on my days off, then I was going to run into town and get groceries for the week. My little cabin desperately needs a deep clean, and my recording studio outback is in a similar state of disarray. I like to spend at least an hour working on songs each day. If I’m not consistent about it, I get out of practice and then I hate everything I try to do when I pick it back up again.

But my body has other plans. A painful cramp in my uterus has me groaning and reaching for my phone. If I’m not going to make it to the grocery store, I’ll need to order something to tide me over until I can make an early morning run into town tomorrow before I open the Snack Shack.

It might be telling that I have the local pizzeria on speed dial.

They don’t normally deliver up here twenty minutes outside of our little town, but Sylvie, Sadie, and I make a point of tipping at least two hundred percent, so they’re willing to make an exception for us. Plus, Sadie can sweet talk anyone into anything, and if that fails, she bullies them into it.

After I order far too much food and leave a huge tip so they know I appreciate them, I curl up on the couch and start a Liam Cordova rom-com, one that I’ve seen a million times but still love.

It’s only been on for about thirty minutes, just to the part where he meets a lone alpha and the sparks fly, when there’s a knock on my door. Surprising, considering Julia told me it would be over an hour before my pizza would be delivered into my greedy little hands.

Not wanting to miss any of the movie, I pause it and then hurry to answer when another knock sounds.

I yank open the door and the smile on my face freezes. Standing on the other side is the most handsome man I’ve ever seen before. I’m not even joking. He’s the most handsome male I’ve ever seen. I’m intimately familiar with his face, with those warm green eyes, that soft chestnut curl draped over his smooth forehead, the freckle high on his cheekbone that I’ve thought about kissing far too many times. Not as many times as I’ve imagined kissing those plush lips that are currently curled into a grin that is directed at me.

“You aren’t my pizza,” I say, nonsensically, dazed beyond compare and not comprehending what he’s doing here.

He drags his eyes over me and I just stand there, letting him, because this is Liam Cordova. The Liam Cordova. The world’s most famous omega. The omega that everyone mourned when he joined his pack. The triple threat actor/model/singer. The male I’ve been halfway in love with since I was twelve and he starred in a kids’ TV show about witches.

He’s the male I imagined when I gave myself my first ever orgasm, and I’ve come to the image of him in my head far too many times to count. My cheeks flush as all of this flickers through my head, while he examines the black toenail polish, the skull painted on my big toes.

“I’m not,” he says in a voice that I would recognize anywhere, his faint Scottish accent making the toes he’s staring at curl into the floor. “But I’d be happy to give you something to put in your mouth.”

The mouth in question falls open and I choke on air, because there is no way he just said that to me. No way that Liam Cordova just suggested a blow job to me, Sorrel Forbes.

“Shit, sorry.” He winces and drags his gaze back up to my face. “Sometimes it’s hard to shut off.” He smiles at me, softer, gentler, friendlier. “Cool shirt.”

“I-uh-,” I look down to see what shirt I’m wearing. Horror hits hard and fast. Not that I don’t like my shirt—it’s one of my favorites, a white scoop neck t-shirt with dinosaurs dressed in eighties clothes and the words ‘The Bodacious Period’ in neon font. I love the shirt so much I’ve worn the crap out of it and it’s definitely seen better days. My horror stems from the realization that I’m not wearing a bra. It’s at this point that I also realize I haven’t brushed my hair today, I have no makeup on, there’s a zit on my chin from period hormones and I’m in my rattiest pair of sweatpants. The ones where the elastic has stretched out at the waist so they’re sagging on my hips, held up only by my butt. Oh, and let’s not forget there’s a hole in the crotch, flashing my super sexy black cotton panties.

I drag my gaze from my chest up to meet his amused gaze. His teeth are sunk into his lower lip like he’s trying to bite away a laugh. At me. At my expense, because I look like a hot mess and we both fucking know it.

“Dammit, Liam!” A rumbling voice comes from behind the omega in front of me. “I told you to wait!”

The alpha who storms up on my front porch, positively radiating menace and enough dominant pheromones to make my insides shrivel, glares at me before turning his attention to Liam Cordova.

I recognize him too. Rafe Cordova, a member of Liam’s pack, and his full-time security detail. My brain flickers through all the things I know about him. Which isn’t a lot, because he’s a much more private person than the omega standing between us. I do know that he’s foiled more attempts to kidnap Liam than I care to count. One time taking on four alphas and three betas at once by himself.

And here he is, glaring at me, looking damn sexy while he does it.

“Fuck!” I squeak and slam the door closed.

Track 2: Bad Ideas

I blink at the door just inches from my face, trying to understand what just happened.

Behind me, Rafe laughs. Apparently, the frustration he’d been feeling has evaporated at the sudden turn of events. “Well, that’s a first,” he chuckles, propping his chin on my shoulder as his arms circle my waist. “I’m not sure I’ve ever seen someone look so terrified of you.”

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