Her eyes flick up to meet mine and she smiles sheepishly. “So… uh, how’s work going?”
The question is so unexpected a laugh bursts out of me. Her brow scrunches at my reaction and I shake my head. “Sorry, that wasn’t funny. It’s just that work is where you’ve seen me at my very worst. You get enough stressed out, assholeRiver, that I don’t need to add complaining about work to that list.”
A small smile curves across her lips. “You’re right. Should we pretend work River is someone else? That we’re new friends and not stern boss and underappreciated employee?”
“I appreciate you.” The denial comes out as a reflex, needing her to know that she’s wrong about that part of things.
“Ah right, I forgot. I’m your best employee.” The small bite of sarcasm in Camille’s voice makes my dick twitch. My alpha was already obsessed with her from minimal, terse interactions, but sassy Camille is even more dangerous.
I sip my water and nod. “Exactly. But yes, pretending sounds nice.” My smile is more like a grimace. “I don’t know if I deserve that grace from you, but I’ll take it.”
“Eh, there’s a strong possibility we’re going to be pack in the future. I’m still not entirely sure what all that entails, but I think it means we need to be at least on friendly terms. After all, it’s inevitable that you’ll see me naked and very vulnerable, so I’d rather be able to think of you as my cool friend and not my boss in those situations.”
I sputter at her casual mention of what I said before. It’s one thing to bring that up during a serious conversation with everyone involved, and another for her to talk about being naked when it’s just the two of us.
“Hey, you’re the one who said it would happen,” she says, chuckling at my reaction. “Maybe I should go ahead and get naked now. Get it over with.”
I know it’s a joke, but my alpha goes feral inside me, wanting to see this omega’s lush body bared for me more than anything. The cute floral top and tight jeans she has on tonight cling to her body in a way that’s far too tempting. It’s a battle to not let my eyes drop to look at her cleavage.
“I’m game if you are,” I reply with a shrug, hoping to hide my reaction by meeting her with the same level of nonchalance.
Her eyes widen ever so slightly, clearly not expecting that answer. A few seconds pass before she giggles and looks down at Dolly, who is asleep with the tip of her tongue poking out.
There’s something so perfect about seeing how comfortable Dahlia is with Camille. She fits here with such ease—minus any awkwardness my presence brings about. If we can find a way past that, and I can keep my horny, possessive alpha in check long enough for me to shove my need for Camille into the same box I placed my attraction to Jackson in, then this will work.
Camille shakes her head. “Hmm, maybe after dinner. I don’t want to disturb this sweet angel.”
You’re the angel, I think absently. This omega was sent from the heavens as a gift to our pack, even if she’s not meant to be mine. Fuck, even her scent is ambrosial. I wanted to shove my nose against her throat and lick the rich coffee taste from her skin.
“Alright.” I do my best to adjust myself surreptitiously so she won’t see the inconvenient and incredibly inappropriate boner I have from my alpha’s lascivious thoughts.
“So, where did you grow up?” Camille asks.
Another laugh bubbles out of me.
This time, she scowls at my reaction. “What? Is everything I say that ridiculous?”
“No! No, not at all. You’re just very good at picking topics that make me look awful.” I smile, one of the genuine ones she said she wanted to see more of, to make sure she understands that’s not a dig at her.
Her mouth flattens into a line. “Sorry, I thought family would be a safe subject.” She leans in a bit and I hold mybreath for whatever she’s going to say that necessitates her coming closer. “Did you kill them or something?” she whispers.
I glare at her. “What? No. My upbringing was just very weird.”
“Oh, okay. Whew. So normal childhood trauma, not that you’re a secret serial killer.” She considers me for a moment. “You’re handsome enough that I could totally see you as a killer that uses your looks to lure unsuspecting people to their doom.”
“Thanks,” I deadpan, even as my pulse spikes at her saying I’m handsome.
She grins back at me, and even if it’s at my expense, I like it. Camille is stunning when she smiles.
“To answer your question, I grew up in a commune.” I keep my tone bland to see how she’ll react.
Camille scoffs. “Yeah, and I grew up on a space station.”
When I continue to give her a humorless look, her mouth falls open. “No way. Really?”
I nod. “Really. And no, before you ask, it wasn’t a cult. Or maybe it was. I don’t know. I try not to think about it that much.” I cross my legs, hoping that will relieve some of the ache in my low back and hips from a week of sitting at my desk and being too distracted worrying about tonight to remember to do my PT. “What’s your family like?”
Her jaw drops even more. “No, no, we’re not moving on to me. You can’t say you maybe were part of a cult like you’re talking about the weather and not explain.”
