“Okay, I can do this,” I whispered to myself, my breath curling into the cold air.
A few steps later and the jarring ring of my cell phone nearly buckled my knees and had me running back to my car. Did someone know what I was doing? Had I been found out? Were the society papers going to be splashed with headlines of one of Barrington’s best and brightest philanthropists slumming with some kink club’s erotic activities?
“Don’t be ridiculous,” I told myself, reaching for my phone and jogging to get into the warmth of the lodge before answering the call.
I shouldn’t have been surprised that it was Walt.
“Hey,” I answered with pretend cheer. “What’s up?”
“I’ve been thinking about the venue for the Christmas supper,” Walt said without a greeting or any sort of small talk.
“Yeah?” I asked, still cheerful as I ducked into an out of the way corner at the front of the lobby. I was willing to give Walt the benefit of the doubt because for whatever reason, he didn’t sound particularly happy.
“The Grand Hotel is all wrong for this sort of thing,” Walt said. I heard movement and clatter in the background, like he was cooking or something. “For one thing, even the grand ballroom is too small for the amount of people we should be hosting. The event just keeps growing every year. For another,it’s way too hoity-toity for people who just want a hot meal and a little cheer on Christmas Eve.”
“I agree,” I said, peeking around at the other alphas entering the lodge and checking in at a table on the other side of the lobby. “But could we maybe talk about this at the office on Monday? Or, no, Tuesday. I might be out on Monday.”
When Caden had called me to say they’d found the perfect omega to pair me with for the auction, he’d informed me I should clear my schedule for Monday, just in case the omega went into heat. According to the form the omega filled out, his heat wasn’t due for several more weeks, but sometimes intense play brought it on early. Either way, Caden had said I would want that extra day to recover, like from a sex hangover.
“You’re taking a day off?” Walt asked, curiosity in his voice that he was trying to make sound like indignation. What I really heard was concern.
“I do that now and then,” I said, trying to keep things conversational. “But, hey, look, I need to go. I’m at a…a thing tonight, and it’s about to start.”
“Fine,” Walt said in a huff. “I make an effort to call you and talk about things, but you can’t be bothered to talk to me for five minutes.”
“No! That’s not it at all.” Bless his heart, but sometimes my little brother made me want to wring his neck for his sullenness, even though I knew the chip on his shoulder was well-deserved. “I want to talk to you. I’ve missed seeing you lately. Why haven’t you been in the office lately anyhow?”
“None of your business,” Walt snapped, defensive in a way that felt suspicious to me. Something was up with my little brother. “I wouldn’t want to keep you from yourimportant event,” he said sarcastically. “You always have better things to do.”
“It’s not that,” I sighed. “If you must know, I sort of, kind of have a date.”
Walt hung up before I was halfway through the sentence.
I pulled my phone away from my ear with an irritated huff. I loved Walt. He was my brother, my only sibling. He was the person I was closest to in the world, though I’m sure he didn’t think so or see things that way. I knew damn well that our dad didn’t treat him fairly because he was an omega, but that only made me want to protect him with everything I had.
But he could be a total shit sometimes.
I rubbed my face to clear those thoughts and pack them away at the back of my head. The last thing I wanted when I was about to pretend to purchase an omega and then spend the weekend banging him into next Tuesday was to think about my brother.
I approached the registration desk and managed an awkward smile as I greeted Denny, who was as bright-eyed and bushy-tailed at nine PM as he’d been at the DFC offices in the middle of the morning.
“Mr. W, you’re here,” Denny greeted me with a wide smile.
“Er, yeah, I am,” I said, face flushing hot enough to rival the fire crackling in the large hearth in the center of the lobby’s lounge area.
Denny glanced over the pile of large envelopes in front of him and pulled one out, handing it to me. “Here’s the dossier for your omega. I think you’re going to be super pleasantly surprised by him. Caden and Hamish knew the second you both applied that you would be perfect together.” As I took the envelope, heart racing, Denny leaned forward and whispered, “You didn’t hear this from me, but they kind of consider this a set-up.”
“A set-up?” Everything felt instantly wrong. Who was setting me up and for what?
“As in setting two friends up on a date,” Denny clarified with a laugh. “You should see the look on your face.”
I felt myself flush harder. “All of this is just so new to me,” I explained.
“Which is why Caden and Hamish think this omega will be perfect for you,” Denny went on. “He’s an experienced player, but he’s also a sweetheart and, well, you’ll see.”
“Thanks?” I said, because I didn’t know what else to say.
“You’re very welcome,” Denny said, then nodded toward the corridor that stretched away from the lobby into the heart of the lodge. “Just follow the signs to the conference—I mean auction room.”
