Page 53 of Knot Their Girl
His hand lets go of mine, only to curl around my lower back. He leans his forehead down against mine—he’s a good eight or so inches taller than me, not as tall as Pax or Gideon, but tall enough. His nose brushes against mine, and I feel the transfer ofpaint almost immediately. I shiver against him, and in doing so he only holds me tighter.
What is wrong with me? Why am I okay with this? This shouldn’t feel so… so damn good. So right.
Ugh. I blame the alphas in the house. They got my mind all twisted up, had my hormones working on overdrive. This isn’t me. This is some other omega who wants all the D she can get.
And yet, even when I try to reason with myself, to force myself to pull away from him, I can’t move a muscle. I’m frozen right where I am, curled into him, with his hand on my lower back and his face leaning against mine, his hot breath blooming across my skin.
I sigh out his name, “Colter.” And I’m seconds from saying more when I hear someone else enter the room.
Colter and I both snap out of it, both of us instantly letting go of the other and taking a good step away from each other as we turn to face the third person in the room: Gideon.
To his credit, Gideon doesn’t appear upset at what he saw at all. Which is good, because he shouldn’t be; let’s not forget he brought me here for Colter to begin with, not for himself. Even if he is mad, he has no right to be.
“Sorry to interrupt, but I was hoping to speak with Raeka,” Gideon says.
A moment passes, and out of the corner of my eye, I can see Colter nod once. Just as well. Whatever was about to happen between us is over now.
I wipe the paint off my nose and say, “Sure.”
I follow Gideon out of Colter’s studio. We go to his office downstairs. He doesn’t instruct me to close the door, so I don’t. It’s only once we’ve both taken a seat that Gideon speaks, “You and Colter looked… close.”
“Um, yeah. I guess we were.” Why does this feel so awkward? And somebody please tell me why, even though I can’t smellhim, I want to crawl over his desk, plop myself on his lap, and feel those arms of his completely encase me?
Fuck. I’m losing my mind here.
“Good,” he says, although there’s an underlying sentiment I detect, perhaps a bit of envy? Maybe he wishes he would’ve been in Colter’s place. “I’m sorry to have had to interrupt, but I’ve just been made aware that the board of Chase Jewels is throwing a dinner party for all the higher-ups. I don’t normally entertain the idea of going to these things, but I’ve heard whispers of the board thinking about running a no confidence vote.”
I don’t really know what that is, but it doesn’t sound good. “Why would they do that?”
“I’m almost as much of a recluse as Colter. They accepted it for a while, but lately, they’ve been pushing for things to return to the norm, for me to go back into the office. They’re unhappy with sales figures lately—and I can’t blame them.” He rubs the side of his face, appearing perturbed, like the idea of this dinner party really does bother him. “I need to start making appearances. Need to start going back to the office, too. Pax will still be here, of course, so you and Colter won’t be alone when I’m gone.”
“It’s no big deal,” I tell him, wanting to make him feel better, for whatever stupid reason.
“No, I suppose it isn’t, in the grand scheme of things. Still, the dinner party will be the test.”
I blink. “Test? Test for what?”
The look he gives me right then tells me I’m not quite fully grasping it, yet. “Test for us. The board knows I moved an omega in. They believe I’m courting you. I won’t be going to this thing alone—you’re coming with me, as my omega.”
Where’s a glass of water when you need to take a huge sip and spit it out all dramatically? I really should’ve known that’s where this was going; why else would Gideon bring me here?This talk isn’t about him returning to the office. It’s about us making our first public appearance together.
“Oh,” I say. “Right. That makes sense.”
“It’s Saturday night,” he informs me, which means the dinner party is only a few nights away. Crap. Less time to overthink things, at least. “Do you think you’re ready?”
“Totally. Are you?”
He chuckles softly. “I hope so. To be honest, I’ve put this off for years now. I wanted to stay home with Colter as long as I could, since…” The way he trails off makes me think there’s something about Colter he doesn’t want to talk about. The details of the accident, maybe? “I hope you and I can handle it.”
“I’m sure we can.”
“We have to sell it, make it believable. I want to show the board members that I’m moving on to the next phase of my life—” He swallows hard. “—with you.”
Oh, so that’s what he’s worried about. Making it believable. Acting like we’re actually a couple. I’m less concerned about it looking real and more worried about it beingtooreal.
“It’s a black-tie event,” he goes on.
“I have a few dresses that’ll work.” Heck, it’s my first excuse to dress up since the Omega Garden. I love getting all dolled up. I used to hit up the omega-friendly nightlife all the time, but lately… well, obviously my life has changed up a bit.
