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Cadence
Icouldn’t catch a break.
It had been a shitty night at work. Our extra waitress had called in, leaving me and Sharon to handle the Friday night rush by ourselves.
Not only had we been slammed, but we seemed to get every asshole customer in the county at once. The new assistant cook screwed up at least one plate for each table, and no one had tipped well the entire night.
It felt like it had been a complete waste of my time, and I was drained.
And just when I thought I could escape to my nest and be done with the day, a bang and a rattle under the hood left me coasting to the shoulder of the road with no power.
I squeezed my eyes shut as I leaned my forehead against the steering wheel and sucked in a shaky breath. I wouldnotstart sobbing on the side of the road like some pathetic, helpless omega who couldn’t handle a simple problem by myself.
If I started crying, I might not stop.
Pulling the lever to pop the hood, I climbed out of the car and made my way to the front. Hot smoke hit me in the face when I lifted the heavy metal, making me flinch back. Coughing so hard I lost my grip on the hood, it slammed back into place with a finality I felt in my gut.
I wasn’t going to be able to fix this.
I returned to the driver’s seat, shutting the door behind me to keep the smoke from blowing in, and leaned over the center console to dig a napkin out of the glovebox. My eyes and nose burned, and I assured myself the tears wetting my cheeks were just from the smoke.
Not the gaping maw of helplessness trying to swallow me whole.
Headlights flashed through the windows as another car turned onto the old road I was sitting on. I fought with the choice over letting them pass or try to flag them down, but as the lights aimed right at me and stopped behind my car, the decision was taken from my hands. I hoped it was one of my neighbors who recognized my car, but it was later than any of them were usually out.
Opening the door again, I shielded my eyes as I stepped out, squinting against the brightness. In lieu of a neighbor, I’d have settled for an officer, or a friendly, older stranger, but the figure that stepped into the light between our cars was the last person I’d expected to see.
Leo.
My mouth went dry as my core clenched at the rush of memories his cocky smirk inspired. I knew exactly what that wicked mouth could do now, and by body was all for having a repeat. Luckily, it was too dark for me to see if he was looking at me the same way, and the smoke prevented me from scenting him.
I jerked to a stop and dropped my arm, jaw snapping shut as I tried to figure out what he could be doing on this road, at this time of night. I didn’t live anywhere near his club, penthouse, or his father’s compound, and his presence here had suspicion warring with the lust.
“Hello, Cadence. I missed you last night.”
The purr in his voice sent a shiver straight through me, my nipples pebbling under my shirt. That alpha could read a children’s story out loud and make it sound sinful.
“Leo.”
I couldn’t think of anything more to say. My tongue was glued to the top of my mouth, words refusing to form as my eyes drank him in. The casual tousle of his dark hair. The shadow of a beard I could see coming in along his jaw.
The headlights behind him silhouetted his form, his suit molded to his lean body in a way the big merchandisers could never accomplish with their bargain suits. The reflection of the light off the back of my car lit him enough to be able to see his smile, but still left enough shadows to lend a menacing air.
The wind shifted, blowing the smoke away and pushing his scent to me, tangling my thoughts with the instincts driving me toward the alpha I was trying to resist.
“What are you doing here?”
My tongue finally remembered how to work, the question blurting from me far breathier than I’d have liked. It felt like the air around me was too thin and I was gasping to pull in enough to keep my head from spinning.
It wasn’t so I could take in as much of his scent as possible.
“I had hoped to catch you at work so we could talk. Looks like you’re having car trouble.”
“No.”
His brows rose at my abrupt response.
“You’re not having car trouble?”
