Page 3 of Craving Their Omega

The man leads me down the hall to a much more spacious office. It’s lighter in color, with a large desk dominating the center of the space. A comfortable chair sits behind it, and the ones on the other side for guests are plusher than the chairs in Sienna’s office. A large window overlooks the city behind the desk, sunlight streaming in and catching on the man’s beautiful hair, making it sparkle.

“Have a seat,” he says, gesturing me to one of the plush leather chairs.

I sink into it gratefully, heart still hammering in my chest. “Thank you,” I manage to say without stammering.

He smiles, and it makes his eyes even brighter somehow. He pulls out a tablet and interacts with the screen for a while before looking up at me. “So, you’re Penelope Dalton?”

“Yes, that’s right,” I say.

“Perfect. I’m Xavier Sterling.”

There’s a twinge of sadness to go with my nerves now because it’s clear from this interaction that he doesn’t remember me. It makes sense, I guess, that I wouldn’t be that memorable, and honestly, it’s probably for the best that he doesn’t remember. That would just complicate things.

I’m here to get a job anyway, and if there’s a chance that he might be more willing to take a chance on me than Sienna was, I have to take it.

“Nice to meet you,” I reply. “Um, not to be rude or anything, but are you the head of HR or something?”

He flashes me that smile again and then shakes his head. “No, I’m not in HR. I’m one of the owners of the company.”

It takes a lot of willpower for my mouth to not drop open on the spot, but I’m sure my eyes are wide enough to show my surprise. I’m sitting in an office with one of the company’s owners. One of the three Alphas who merged their firms together to form Vantage and become the biggest names in the tech world right now.

This is such a giant leap from sitting in that room with Sienna, especially considering the fact that she was definitely not going to give me the job. That doesn’t mean Xavier is any more likely to want to hire me, since he probably has even higher standards for who he lets into his company, but it’s a chance.

Don’t blow this, Penelope,I think to myself.You might not get another shot at it.

Chapter 2

Xavier

Wednesdays usually don’t go like this. If there’s one thing I’ve learned from the merger that brought three companies together into one, it’s that I have to expect the unexpected, but there’s also a surprising amount of dull downtime in there as well. Lots of board meetings and strategy planning and sitting around waiting for something to happen.

Maybe that’s why I stepped in when Sienna was interviewing this woman earlier. Maybe I just wanted to make something happen. It was pretty obvious that she wasn’t going to hire her. Sienna had that look on her face, the one that said ‘we’re done here’, and that would have been the end of it.

But something made me speak up and take over. Something I can’t really explain. Maybe something in her demeanor that sparked a protective instinct in me, like she was familiar and I wanted to keep her safe.

Penelope Dalton doesn’t look like the type to be able to hold her own with someone like Sienna. I’ve seen my assistant make more than one delivery person cry for bringing packages to the wrong spot, and I don’t think she would have gone easy on Penelope just because she’s cute.

And she is cute. With her soft, heart shaped face and bright, mismatched eyes. I’m enough of a professional not to stare, but the combination of her one warm blue eye and one deep green in that sweet face is fascinating to me. She looks soft, and not just because she’s a curvy, full figured woman. Even in her best business clothes with her auburn hair pulled back into a neat ponytail, she looks like there’s not a mean or harsh bone in her body. Like she would bake bread and have a cute laugh. The kind of person who usually quakes under Sienna’s bark.

It’s obvious she’s nervous, both from the way she’s trying not to fidget in her chair and from the way the nerves flood her scent while she sits in front of me, adding something sharp to the sweet smell of vanilla, lemon, and lavender that comes from her. I wonder if she can tell that she’s giving herself away to anyone with a good enough nose. Even with that though, there’s a spark of determination in her eyes, and she’s holding herself upright, meeting my gaze head on.

She might be nervous, but she’s not weak. There’s a strong spirit there, and I like that.

“I’m sorry,” she says, pulling herself together as she lifts her chin a little. “I didn’t realize I was meeting with one of the owners of the company.”

I offer her a smile, shaking my head. “Don’t worry about it. We don’t usually do this sort of thing, so there’s no reason for you to expect it. I’m not offended.”

Something cool and refreshing breezes through her scent, and I think it might be relief. My smile widens.

“So,” I say, going back to her resume. “Sienna didn’t seem too impressed with you when you were in there with her.”

Her face darkens a bit, a little frown pulling down at her eyebrows and twisting up her nose. “She seems hard to impress,” she replies.

“You’re not wrong there. Sometimes I think her standards are higher than the rest of ours when it comes to the company. The thing is, she’s not wrong about your resume being weak. Most of the people we hire have a lot more experience.”

Penelope arches a brow. “Did you bring me here just to say that?”

I laugh, surprised and a little pleased by her boldness. “No, that’s not it. I like to believe that there’s more to everyone than just what’s on their resume. Just because you don’t have a lot of relevant experience, doesn’t mean you don’t have anything to offer us. I want to see what else you bring to the table.” I fold my arms on the desk and lean a bit closer, waiting.

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