Page 1 of Omega's Tempting Fate
Chapter 1 - Cody
Igroaned as tray after tray of coffee drinks passed through the drive-thru window.
“Come on, go inside if you’re ordering drinks for the entire office,” I grumbled, eyeing the dash clock. “Or at least call it in.”
Finally the person pulled forward and for a moment I thought I might make it to work on time. Then the next car also seemed to have a huge order.
I dropped my forehead to the steering wheel and whined. At least I’d had the foresight to order my boss, Donna, a coffee too. It would serve well as a bribe, so that hopefully I only got the stink-eye for being late, rather than chided.
I lifted my head and moved a blond curl away from where it had fallen behind my glasses. Then I ran my fingers through my hair, trying to tame it for a few seconds.
I breathed a sigh of relief as the car in front of me pulled up, was handed a single coffee, and drove off.
Then the harried barista handed me two cups—one hot, one iced—and I was on my way.
I pulled into the small parking lot outside my office a few minutes later, glanced at the expensive car taking the guest spot, and shook it off. I had work to do. I grabbed the coffees, then headed towards the building.
I was shuffling the drinks so that I could open the door, when it opened from inside and knocked into one of the cups, spilling my hot coffee all over me.
“Whoops. You ok?” asked a surprised alpha.
I sighed and shook my dripping sleeve. At least Donna’s iced-coffee had survived. “Fine.”
“Really sorry about that,” he said, holding the door for me.
I looked down at my drenched cardigan and trousers. Thankfully my clothes were thick enough that the coffee had cooled somewhat by the time it started to seep through. It was probably the first time I’d been grateful for Donna always keeping the office roughly the temperature of a refrigerator.
A phone alarm sounded, and he jumped.
“Oh, shit, I gotta go!” He pulled out his wallet, rummaged through it, and shoved a fifty-dollar bill into my hand. “For your dry cleaning and a new coffee!” Then he sprinted towards the car in the guest space.
I sighed again and made my way into the office, doing my best not to drip on the floor.
“Cody? Is that you?” Donna called from her office.
“Yeah,” I yelled back. “Sorry I’m late. There was a line at the drive-thru this morning. I got you a coffee.”
“You’re a saint,” she said, voice coming closer. “I had an early meeting and…” She rounded the door to her office and got a good look at me. “What happened to you?”
I reached out to hand over her coffee, then grabbed a handful of tissues to set what was left of mine on a desk. “The guy who just left bumped into me.”
She frowned. “Did he at least apologize?”
I pulled off my cardigan, hoping that the coffee hadn’t seeped through to my shirt, but was immediately disappointed. “Yeah. He gave me fifty for dry cleaning too. But he seemed to be in a hurry and rushed off.”
“Well at least there’s that. I’d have to rethink my association with them if they didn’t have the courtesy to treat you right.”
“Huh? Them?” I asked as I continued to survey the damage. “Them who?”
“That new app that kept calling, reserved it, or whatever it was.”
I grabbed more tissues and dabbed at my shirt. “I thought you told them to fuck off.”
She sighed. “I did. But they came back with an offer I couldn’t refuse.”
I glanced up at her. “What was it?”
She shrugged. “We’re in their beta program for now, and won’t be charged at all until it goes wide. After that we get the first two years at fifty percent off. They said they really need companies that list on multiple platforms and have higher end properties that require more than a regular cleaning crew. If it really does all they claim, it could streamline our process.”
