Page 5 of Malibu Heat

“Hi,” is the best thing my brain manages to come up with, leaving my cheeks prickling with heat as I try to find more words. “Are you guys in town to surf this weekend?”

Kenneth nods. “My flight was delayed, so I just got in this evening. Didn’t even know there was a party until a couple of minutes ago.”

“He’d still be back at the hotel if it wasn’t for me,” Denzel laughs.

“Where are you all from?” Kristie asks, casually scooting closer to Denzel and batting her eyelashes in his direction.

She didn’t come to play any games. I applaud her for that.

I, on the other hand, can barely look in Ken’s direction for more than a few seconds without blushing.

They take turns telling us where they’re from. Denzel and Ryan are from Hawaii, and their other pack mate is laid up in their hotel room with an injury, otherwise he’d be here too.

Ken is from Florida, which fills me with relief and sadness at the same time.

On one hand, he’s a lone alpha, so it doesn’t look like I’ll be having to fight Kristie for attention. Not that I wanted to do that in the first place. Chicks before dicks has always been my motto, and Kristie is too good of a friend for me to lose over some random knot.

He also doesn’t live anywhere close, so I don’t have to worry about seeing him again after a hookup.

On the other hand, it seems like such a shame to never see him again.

Especially when I can’t keep my eyes off him to begin with.

The guys fall into conversation about flight delays and the difficulties of checking surfboards on planes, and I look at Kristie, who’s drifted even closer to Denzel. Any closer, and she could grab him by the shirt and kiss him on the mouth.That might very well be her plan.

She glares at me, jerking her head in Ken’s direction, demanding that I do something.

What the hell am I supposed to do?

I take a nervous step toward him, shooting her a ‘are you happy now’ look, and the crisp, citrus smell of lime and coconut slaps me in the face. I take a deep breath, reveling in the delicious smell as my mouth begins to water, and my eyes drag toward Ken’s profile.

He’s definitely an alpha. There’s no denying it as his powerful scent overwhelms me, threatening to strangle me, and I almost wish it would. To be smothered to death by this delicious alpha’s scent as it seeps into my cells and fills me entirely sounds like a dream.

What the hell is wrong with you, Bailey?

Pretty sure that’s not a reaction a beta should have to an alpha’s scent. An omega, yeah, but I’m seven years past any chance of an awakening.

Still, I can’t help it.

I also can’t stop myself from stepping closer to breathe him in, my eyes fluttering as the citrus kicks up, my heart stuttering.

“Bailey, right?” Ken turns toward me suddenly, his voice slicing through the spell his scent has on me.

I manage to nod.

“I like your outfit,” he says, his eyes falling slowly down my body before climbing back up and locking with mine.

Butterflies erupt in my stomach before taking a quick dive south between my thighs. God, what I wouldn’t give to climb this statue of a man like a fucking tree.

“Very…pink,” he adds.

“Thanks–” I start to say, but Kristie pipes up and cuts me off.

“If you like the outfit, you should definitely see her car.”

“Is it pink too?” he asks with a smirk, his pale eyebrows hiking up toward his hairline.

“The pinkest.” I grin.

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