Page 35 of Lucky or Knot
Christ. The things we did for—lust, possessiveness, and a sense of responsibility. I’d go with that. Even alphas didn’t fall in…other things that weren’t lust…that quickly. Not even when every sense and instinct recognized the object of the not-other-things as the epitome of everything I didn’t even know I’d been looking for.
The way he’d looked at me when he’d practically begged me to leave him…
The faint scuff of footsteps had me turning toward the front of the alley a couple of seconds before a tall, lanky dude in a tacky purple-and-gold valet uniform slouched around the corner of the building.
For fuck’s sake, Cunningham really was a blight on the world. What kind of asshole made his employees dress like that?
“Hey, Tony?” he said as he approached—not too close, and sounding a little wary, and I didn’t really blame him. Jeans and a long-sleeved blue T-shirt were innocuous on most people, but when you came right down to it, my bulging-biceped, unshaven-red-stubbled picture was in the dictionary next to “guy you don’t want to approach in a seedy alley.”
“What’s up? Sean? Thanks for meeting me, man. Jake said I could trust you, so I appreciate it.” I put all the friendly harmlessness I could muster into my tone.
Sean relaxed a bit and came within arm’s reach at last, so apparently I hadn’t growled too much.
“Happy to help,” he said, and actually smiled at me, a surprisingly charming expression on his thin, plain face. Dirty blond hair flopped down into his eye, and he shoved it back. “You said something about taking a break…?”
Right. I pulled out my purchases from the dispensary, and his eyes lit up. “I don’t really smoke much pot,” I said,the understatement of the century, and he nodded, swooped the baggie of pre-rolled joints out of my hand, and produced a lighter from seemingly nowhere.
His happy little sounds as he took his first drag had me suppressing a laugh. Yeah, if I had to cosplay a gilded eggplant and park people’s cars all day, I might be eagerly ready to get baked out of my gourd on my break, too.
Sean quirked an eyebrow and held out the joint after a polite three hits, and I shook my head and propped up the wall again, biding my time as patiently as I could until he’d finished his smoke.
At last he dropped the smoldering end on the ground with a satisfiedaaah, and leaned back next to me, gazing out at the condom-decorated vista.
“So what’s up?” he said. “I checked in with Jake. He said you were looking for someone who works at Audacity? You need a job there or something? He told me you work at Lucky or Knot. I’ve never had the balls to like, go in there and check it out.”
Sean was into guys? Shit. Maybe his hesitation when he saw me had been based on more than just my intimidating size. Did he think I’d hit on him?
“Text me if you want to come by some night.” That sounded neutral, right? “I’ll make sure you get a drink on the house. No one’s going to come on too strong. We’re all cool, I promise.”
He laughed. “If they’re all like you, then I believe you. Thanks for the smoke. You want the rest of…”
“No, keep it for your next break. I have a favor to ask.”
He hummed thoughtfully, and when I glanced over at him, I found him eyeing me a lot more alertly than I’d have expected from someone who’d put down a joint in three minutes. Well, double shit. I’d seriously considered what to say to him, but no matter what story I gave, anyone with half a brainwould know I was leaving a lot out. I’d hoped the weed would get him down to more like a quarter of a brain, but it seemed not.
“The guy who owns Audacity, Arnold Cunningham. You ever meet him personally?”
I’d thought that would be a nicely oblique way to start the awkward conversation, but his face changed the instant Cunningham’s name came out of my mouth. Sean had pale skin to start with, but he went pasty.
“No, thank God,” he said. “No. He’s—you should stay away from him. I mean, don’t quote me. He’s fired and blacklisted people for talking shit about him on social media or whatever. But he’s not cool. He has this vibe, you know? Like you want to stay out of his line of sight. His own security deals with his vehicles, so I never have to get near him. But I’ve seen him coming in and out. That’s enough for me.”
Raven crying, Raven terrified that I might damage his clothes and bring Cunningham’s violent wrath down on him…
“Yeah, that’s what I’ve heard.” Sean jumped and edged away from me. “Fuck, sorry. I’m not angry with you. I’m—sorry. Don’t mind me. Seriously.”
“I haven’t spent much time around alphas, or shifters at all,” he said after a second, giving me a quick, shy, up-and-down glance. “I guess you guys are kind of, you know. More intense than some people? It’s okay.”
“Is that why you want to check out Lucky or Knot?” I asked him, trying to lighten the mood. “See what we’re like?”
He quirked a smile and gave me the once-over again through half-lowered lashes. “That and the, you know. Obvious reason to go. Um. I thought Jake maybe gave you my number because he knew I uh, you know.”
Okay. I’d never claimed to be the sharpest knife in the drawer, but the penny finally dropped. If I’d been alone, I’d have facepalmed. He hadn’t been afraid I’d hit on him, he’d beenexpecting it, probably assuming I’d wanted to get him high in an alley as the prelude to some kind of hook-up.
The thought came unbidden and unwelcome: Raven would’ve laughed his ass off if he’d been here—or maybe he wouldn’t have, and I’d have liked that even more. If Raven ever cared enough to be jealous…my chest hurt.
“Yeah,” I answered, forcing my mouth to form coherent words even though I wanted to roar and batter my fists and claws into the wall until I bled and the parking structure came down around my ears. “I know. Um, you’re really cute,” and that was only sort of a flattering lie, because I might’ve even gone for that hook-up if my interest in all non-Raven beings hadn’t vanished into the ether, “but I’m here because I’m having a problem with, okay, fuck.”
He watched me patiently, with a slightly disappointed downturn to his mouth, but mostly with sympathetic curiosity in his clear blue eyes. I wanted to trust him. If I had any chance of getting what I needed, I probably had to trust him. The risk to Raven…fuck. But I needed someone to help me, and I knew for sure Declan, my only other source of information, wouldn’t go any further for what he perceived as my own good.
