Page 12 of Knot Happening

I smile at Chef, but I shake my head. I still need money. “No, that’s okay. I need to work.”

I still only have twenty bucks. Hopefully some of the customers tonight pay cash.

“Okay, Tater-bug. Take a moment, and clock in when you’re ready.” Bernie nods, patting my cheek.

I don’t know what I’d do without these women in my life.

It’s nearly midnight, and it’s slowed way down, but I’ve got another table. I don’t mind the quiet on late nights. Usually on Saturdays, we get busy again around two in the morning forwhatever reason. Chef, Mac, and the shift lead are still here, but Bernie went home.

Once I told them my hours needed to go down to accommodate a second potential job, Bernie said she’d enlist her daughter, Cathay, to take over. Something she’s been trying to do for a while, I assume.

There’s a strong Alpha scent in the air, and I find I don’t mind it. It’s almost familiar in a way, reminding me of an Alpha I would rather not think about.

Bernie actually banned Hayden two years ago. My mood takes a turn for the worse, and I shove down the memory of Hayden, even if the mental image of Chef chasing him with a shotgun lives rent-free in my mind.

I offer my customer service smile as I approach the table. “Welcome to Mom’s, what can I start you with?” I sound grumpier than I intended, but it is what it is now.

I look up, curious about the Alpha who smells so good. Declan! I end up staring at him for a little too long, as my brain processes what it’s seeing. “Coffee and some pancakes. Blueberry are my new favorite.” His grin is devilish, and I freeze. I have a strong blueberry scent. Is that why he said that?

The spike of fear has me snapping at him before I can think better of talking poorly to a customer. “Why are you here?” His knowing smirk is almost endearing, but mostly just infuriating.

“For coffee and blueberry pancakes.”

I scoff and narrow my eyes. “Here? At midnight, on a Saturday? How did you find me?”

His eyebrows shoot up. “Find you? Why, that’s a bit self-centered, don’t you think, Tatum? I am just here for some late night pancakes. I was hungry and stumbled upon this little diner by chance.” My glare deepens. He’s full of shit. But… What if he’s not? What if he just randomly picked this diner, right after I complained about working in a diner? “Of course, I stumbledupon three other diners before this one, but they were all missing something.”

“What’s happening right now?” I prop my fist on my hip and try to breathe through my mouth. Why does his scent of vetiver smell so good? The smoky notes are so much stronger than when we met a few hours ago. I sniff and frown. If he notices, he doesn’t comment. Now that's the scent of an Alpha.

“Coffee? And fluffy, delicious mouthfuls ofblueberrypancakes. Maybe some vanilla ice cream, if you have it.”

My knees threaten to fucking shake when he adds a little growl to the word blueberry. Being an Omega has its perks but weakness to an Alpha growl is not one of them. His bark could probably have me bent over this booth for him.

Maybe I need to up the dose of my meds. The fact that I am having a breakthrough reaction to this Alpha is alarming.

I huff and storm off to put his order in. I pour his coffee and lift the mug, licking the rim when my eyes catch on silver, and I realize that I never took his bracelet off! I undo the clasp, and shove it in my pocket. Shit, that was fucking close! When I return with his coffee, he nods to the seat across from him.

“Sit with me. There are no other customers.”

I hesitate, looking around as if I might find an excuse to reject him, but I don’t have any more customers right now. Suspicious. Did he scare them all away? No. That would becrazy.

“Are you stalking me?” I ask as I throw myself down into the booth across from him, and he chuckles again, before mixing six sugar packets into his coffee.

“Obviously. Because you’re the only Omega in this city, and I’m starved for attention.” He mixes in a crap ton of creamer next, and then slides the mug to me. “For you.”

“For me? Why?” I stare at the mug like I didn’t just watch him mix the cream and sugar, as if it’s now poisoned or something.

“You look like you need a little pick me up, and I doubt you’d let me finger you under this table, so coffee it is.”

My eyes go wide as my cheeks flush, and an embarrassing trickle of slick seeps into my underwear, but thankfully the suppressants I take will minimize his ability to scent the blueberry and vanilla ice cream. An Omega’s perfume, and arousal, can be more overpowering than an Alpha’s scent.

I manage to keep my jaw shut as I stare at him. The last time I was this close to him, he smelled like rain, but now an almost citrus like smell clings to it. He must use a neutralizing spray of some kind. Curious about his true scent, I lean in, keeping my voice pitched low, even though it’s a ghost town in here tonight. Saturday nights are usually much busier, but maybe there’s some event I missed.

“Do you have to talk like that? Jeez, Declan, I work here.”

“I’m aware. Why are you shy now? Where’s that bold vixen who sent me a picture of my next meal?” He looks me up and down, searching for something, and I take a sip of the coffee just for something to do as he assesses me. “Mmm. You’re normally shy, but texting with a stranger made you bold.” He nods his head like he’s solved some puzzle, and as badly as I wish I could deny it, he’s exactly right.

“Yeah, I am shy. But that hardly matters since you are a stranger, and you’re going to stay that way.”

---