Page 25 of Wrong Number, Right Lion

I hadn’t set my alarm last night which was unusual when I had to get to the office. My mind trawled through the events of last night. Cooking and eating dinner with Kalen.

And sex!

My eyes snapped open. The heat wasn’t from a comforter. Or maybe it was but not of the inanimate kind. It was Kalen. I pressed a finger on his arm. Maybe I could cook an egg on his skin. I stifled a laugh but put the hand to his brow, expecting it to sear my skin. But he didn’t have a fever.

He just ran hot.

He did last night too.

There was no time to stay in bed and relive our bedroom antics. The amount of light in the room signaled I had to get up. But I didn’t want to wake Kalen. He’d expended more energy than me last night—whew, had he ever—and he didn’t have a meeting to prepare for.

I bounded out of bed, hoping the dip in the mattress would wake him up, but I was disappointed. Leaving the bathroom door ajar, I was certain the shower and me brushing my teeth would have him opening his eyes. No luck there either.

After getting dressed, I made breakfast—enough for both of us—of two omelets, toast, Greek yogurt, and fruit. He’d have to make his own coffee. With everything placed in the fridge, I left a note under the coffee maker.

Kalen was still asleep. He hadn’t moved since I snuck out of bed. By now I was getting desperate, needing him to wake up so we could kiss and maybe discuss last night. Was it a one-off or were we starting a relationship? If it was a one-night stand, my heart might shatter, but I tried to stay positive.

Jingling keys by the bed didn’t disturb Kalen. I added “deep sleeper” to my mental notes and blew him a kiss before slamming the front door. No movement, no tousled auburn head standing in the doorway saying he wanted to recreate last night again this evening.

The morning dragged on, and I dreaded having to attend the company dinner. Maybe everyone could come down with a stomach bug beforehand and it’d be canceled. But I couldn’t wish that on my colleagues or myself. Ewww!

But as I left a meeting and passed a co-worker, Anthony, with his manager, advocating for a company daycare facility, I closedmy office door and stood staring at the backed-up traffic on the street below. Like Anthony, I had to be brave and say what I wanted. Or maybe what I’d hoped would happen.

Kalen didn’t know what was in my heart, and I couldn’t expect him to guess. I had to omega up and tell him.

Tonight. I’d do it tonight. Shit! The damned dinner. Kalen would be long gone when I got home. Sitting at my desk, I tapped a pen on the surface, a habit that used to annoy my colleagues when I sat in a cubicle at the start of my career. I was lost in my thoughts when the phone dinged. Snatching it and hoping it wasn’t yet another useless meeting, I grinned as Kalen’s name appeared on the screen.

Wanna have lunch?There was a smiley face at the end of the question.

Will your boss allow you to take time out of your day?

Not sure. He's a hardass. He added a peach emoji.

Hard, huh? I happen to know it’s soft and oh so squeezable.

Well, I’ll have to experiment and get back to you. My skin smoldered at the thought of his hands, lips, or tongue on my butt.

I have lunch at 12 today.Usually it was one, but everything was topsy turvy with the big boss on the premises.

How about I bring the food and we eat in the park across the street?

Sounds good.

We arranged to meet out front of my building. My morning brightened, and I sped through my to-do list, wishing I couldspeed up time. But only until noon, then I wanted it to slow down.

“Want to eat with us, Arlo?” Anthony asked as we waited for the elevator.

“Raincheck. Meeting a friend.”

Kalen had his back toward me as I tore onto the sidewalk, but he must have sensed me because he turned, arms outstretched, and I walked into them.

“Not a friend,” Anthony mumbled as he strolled past.

“What was that about? Do I need to kick his ass?”

“No.” I took hold of Kalen’s arms and steered him between the traffic. “He’s a good guy. He’s just being silly.”

“Fine, but we could get a ticket for jaywalking.” He yanked me out of the way of an oncoming motorbike. “Do you like living life on the edge?”

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