Page 85 of Tangled in Knots

“Hi,” I say, leaning forward to make sure I can hear her. My long-sleeved crop top has a scooped neck, and it shows a hint of my breasts. Men and women are equally dangerous. I learned this at the auction house.

Ophelia is one of the worst omegas that exists.

“What can I get for you?” I ask.

“You’re not on the menu, so I’ll take an Irish cider,” she says with another smile. The voice reminds me of pure sex, and I find myself blushing as I nod.

“Flirting with the new girl, Sera?” Caleb asks, making me flinch. The man seems to melt into the damn shadows.

I am hyper fixated on my task, not on playing ‘Where’s my Boss?’

“She’s pretty, Caleb,” she says with a shrug.

My bite is healed, but I know she can see it by the way her eyes keep moving to my neck. It almost appears translucent, but it’s glowing slightly in the light of the bar. You can see it less in the sunlight, funny enough.

This entire shift, I’ve been wishing that I was a normal girl, an omega without a shitload of unresolved trauma. Instead, I wonder what her angle is. What does she want me for?

There’s no way anyone could want me without also wanting to hurt me in my eyes. I’m distrustful of every alpha that glances at me outside of my boss. The only reason I’m slightly willing to believe he doesn’t have any ill intentions is because of how half heartedly he hired me.

Nothing says, ‘I don’t have the will to sell you or mess with you,’ like a half assed agreement to hire a girl.

I don’t know, it makes sense in my mind, so I’m going with it. I need this job.

“You can look but not touch,” Caleb grunts. “You can see the mate bond mark as clearly as anyone else.”

I hand her the drink with a friendly nod, and Sera sighs before pushing a fifty dollar bill my way.

“Keep the change, beautiful. I’ll see you around,” she murmurs before walking off.

Caleb frowns as he watches her, shaking his head.

“Some of our clients are a little forceful,” he grunts. “Want to tell me about the bite mark?”

“Nope,” I answer, looking for anything else to be doing right now.

Blowing out a breath, he hands me a clean rag and cleaning solution.

“Wipe down some of the high tops out there, please. I’ll handle the bar,” he says. “They’ll keep their hands to themselves or knowingly lose them.”

Eyes wide, I grab the items from him and hurry off. I don’t know if he’s serious or not, but I don’t want to find out. For the most part, everyone leaves me alone, though a couple of people ask for my number. I answer them honestly that I don’t have one.

I’ll let them interpret that however they’d like. I don’t want to tell people that I don’t have a phone, since I’ll be walking back alone tonight and every night. I’ll have enough in tips to be able to get a burner phone with paid minutes that’ll allow me to have a way to communicate for emergencies.

This isn’t the safest city, after all.

Done with my task, I head back to the bar as everyone finishes their last alcoholic beverages and settles up their open tabs. The bar empties out quickly, and then Orla shows me how to close.

I’m ready to fall over after cleaning, mopping, and washing glasses with her.

“You good?” she asks, concerned as I lean against the wall with a nod.

“I’ll get there,” I tell her. “Stamina is earned.”

Gazing at me for a moment, she hums in agreement. “It sure as hell is,” she says. “Good night, Adira.”

“Night,” I say, going to the back room with her to get my coat, hat, and mittens.

“Are you walking?” Caleb asks, popping his head out his office as he jiggles his keys. Orla is already out the back door, eager to go home.

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