“Yes. So?”
“So, she was probably looking for a wedding or mating band, and even if she didn’t see it, you and Jasmine are so close, maybe she misinterpreted the situation?”
My jaw dropped. “But why…oh, man I paid for her stuff too. I don’t know what to do. But maybe if I go back, I can clear it up.”
“You seem very determined,” Elias put in. “Do you think she’s…”
“The one?” I closed my eyes and pictured her standing there before she got mad or whatever. “I was drawn to her. But she shut down so fast.”
“Then do it. Go back and tell her the truth.” Carter smiled. “And good luck.”
Chapter Five
Anathea
I’d taken one bite out of my sandwich when that blasted chime rang out. A customer.
After chewing at rapid speed, I popped out from the back and noticed a man looking very out of place.
I let him squirm a little bit.
He wore some kind of uniform, and my first thought was firefighter. My gaze darted to the candle section, thinking I’d missed some kind of fire.
One customer thought it would be fun to light a few with his personal lighter. It wasn’t.
“Can I help you?” I asked more for me than him.
“Hi, are you the owner?”
Morgana had stepped out for a bit. “She’s not in. Should I call her? Is something wrong?”
A man in uniform carrying a clipboard and asking for the owner didn’t seem like a friendly visit. “Nothing wrong at all. Just a fire inspection. As long as you can give her the report, it should be fine. You can do that, can’t you, darlin’?”
Goddesses, all of them, the way he said darlin’…that word weaved its way up my spine and settled somewhere between my core and my thighs, throbbing there for entirely too long.
I choked on my next words, making him smile. “Yes. I can give it to her.”
“I’m so glad.” He shook his head. “I’m getting ahead of myself. I’m Carter Neal. I’m with the fire department. We do these surprise inspections from time to time.”
He even flashed his badge. Sweat broke out along my brow.
Were my heat suppressants not working? Because it seemed like every alpha who came in here had me hot and bothered and all kinds of needy.
The one the other day with the girl who bought the opal, and now this one. Carter. That name would sound nice in the throes of…
“Miss? I asked what your name is.”
“Oh. Me name. My name. Shit. Anathea. I’m sorry. I’m not usually so flustered.”
He winked at me. Winked. I almost gushed slick. “That’s okay. Why don’t you give me a tour of the place, and we can go over any infractions. That way, you can tell the owner and explain things.”
My brow furrowed. That didn’t seem like the routine way to handle a surprise inspection, but then again, I’d never been involved with one. Only saw them on TV.
Getting near this alpha was equally intriguing and terrifying. I didn’t like the effect alphas were having on me lately.
“Sure,” I answered before my brain caught up to the danger.
We started in the back and stayed there quite a while. He took pictures of some things and wrote notes. He explained everything, and I was happy when he told me there weren’t many infractions.
