Page 149 of Altius
He pressed our foreheads together as if to punctuate his plea.
“Thatis what would make me happy.”
And against my better judgment, not only did I nod in agreement, but I kissed Alijah back.
He was so much more than a simple beta.
Alijah was the emotional core of Pack Redmond. A chef on par with my beloved Papa, with his own unique vision for photography and decorating. Trustworthy and genuine, even when playing his mate’s flirty games.
Speaking of…
“Did Joaquin help with this?”
“No. Just with the plane.” Alijah smiled in triumph as he stroked the side of my neck. “Tonight was just for us. Finally.”
“Mm. Finally.” Rising onto my tiptoes, I nipped at his bottom lip. “But you have to be honest with me. Talk to me. Tell me when I screw up.”
“Or else I’ll get the silent treatment?”
“If that’s what you think boys with smart mouths deserve—”
“No, no, sorry. I take it back.” Alijah’s panic made his kisses tarter, but no less delectable.
Pressing my back against the tree, Alijah’s hands ran down my sides, heading for spots where he knew I was weak.
As tempted as I was to let him have his way with me, not to mention revisit his trim pecs and tight ass, we were in a public park.
We also needed to return to our respective hotel rooms without a thick cloud of pheromones advertising a recent make-out to everyone in the lobby.
Deepening the kiss, I counted to ten—slowly, very slowly—before pulling away. “You’re going to smell like orchid potpourri if we do anything else.”
“Ugh.” Alijah buried his head in my shoulder. “Why do you always have to be so smart and sensible?”
“Surely that’s part of my appeal.”
“It is,” he said, nuzzling my neck. “It definitely is.”
Giving his shoulders a light shove, I ducked out of his embrace, reaching into my bag to retrieve my bottle of travel-sized scent-canceling spray.
Thank you, Wyatt.
I sprayed myself down first, and after Alijah confirmed I’d erased any hint of his scent, we repeated the process for him, too.
“Confess to my dream girl,” he muttered as we walked toward the edge of the park. “Kiss my dream girl. Get cut off by said dream girl. And now my dream girl is leaving me high and dry for the rest of the weekend. It’s not fair. You’re right there, within touching distance, and we can’t even hold hands. Absolute torture.”
“See,” I said, picking up my pace as I flashed a wicked smile over my shoulder. “I’m already delivering on your promised pain.”
He made a playful lunge forward, hands hovering above my shoulders. I dodged, letting out a happy little shriek as I booked it across the last stretch of grass. When I reached the sidewalk, I discovered we were a mere two blocks away from our hotel—and that I’d inadvertently left Alijah in the dust.
“Go,” he said, bracing a hand against a tree as he paused to catch his breath. “I’ll follow at a distance. Text me when you’re back in your room.”
“Goodnight, dream boy.”
He rolled his eyes but still blew a parting air kiss at me. “It’s babe to you,doc.”
It took five steps to swallow my laughter and another five for my expression to return to normal.
Nothing to see here, I kept repeating as I walked across the street and into the lobby. Not a well-loved woman or her preening omega.
