Alpha Ever After (Midnight Liaisons Book 5) (14 page)

I’m doing my best not to laugh in Lir’s Joker face, but he just looks pitiful. I’d guessed he was up to no good when he disappeared into the bathroom, but I had been tied to the phone and couldn’t get up to check on him. The Primordials are fascinated by cosmetics and can’t seem to grasp that they’re only for women, especially when they see otherwise on television. The Pirates of the Caribbean movie? Big mistake. Now apparently the superhero movies are off limits.

I wince inwardly as I think about trying to explain to Bathsheba why her office lipsticks are now destroyed. “You have to ask about things, Lir. You can’t take things and use them if they belong to other people.”

He grunts. ‘Permission’ is another big thing that the Primordials have trouble with. In their old reality, they’d simply take and stake a claim. Trying to teach them otherwise has been challenging.

When his face is mostly clean, I send him back to the Dora The Explorer game with Anrai and Shea. I have six Primordials right now because Ryder’s running the weekly Speed Mating sessions, and can’t bring them with her. To say it’s been hectic is an understatement. I was actually relived to see Connor show up. One more person helps, even a little.

I turn to face Connor and notice he’s off the phone. “Did you help Ms. Stephens?”

He nods and gets up from the desk. “She’s going to call back if she can’t get on again, but she should be good.”

“You’re a lifesaver,” I tell him gratefully, and watch as he goes to the bag full of food he brought in. The smells wafting up are heavenly, and my stomach growls, reminding me that I didn’t bring my lunch and I turned away Tony earlier because I was still mad.

I’m
still
mad, I remind myself. Connor can’t shove his way in and tell me what to eat and drink, and control me. I won’t stand for it.

But he pulls out a container of what smells like broccoli cheese soup and a sandwich that I’m pretty sure is a melty grilled cheese, and my stomach growls even louder. “What’s all this?” I ask, just because I feel I need to stick to my guns.

He adds a brownie and a cookie to the pile on the desk and I get weak. My sweet tooth has been out of control today and those look like heaven. “I just wanted to come by and apologize.”

That…wasn’t what I’d expected to hear. “Apologize?”

“For sending Tony over here. I shouldn’t be pushing food onto you.”

“You came to apologize for sending food…with more food?”

Connor gives me a sheepish look. “Well, I thought you might be hungry anyhow, and I thought maybe if I brought enough for the office you wouldn’t hold it against me.”

My mouth waters and my pride wavers. This isn’t the normal pushy, you’ll-do-what-I-say-and-you’ll-like-it Connor. The fact that he came to apologize? I find myself relaxing, soothed by the thought. Maybe he realizes how high-handed he’s been.

“Besides, I’d feel terrible if you didn’t eat because of me.” He picks up a container of soup and holds it out to me, a puppy-dog look on his face. “Am I forgiven?”

I pretend to consider for a moment, then take the soup. “Just try and remember that I’m not in your pack, okay? You can’t order me around.”

“I’ll remember,” he promises, and offers me the sandwich, too.

I snag the brownie, just because it’s calling to me. Then I peer in the bag. “You did buy a lot of food.”

“I wanted to make sure there was something you’d want.”

Aww, that’s sweet. I can’t help but smile at him a little. “I appreciate the help with the phones, by the way.”

“You want me to stick around and keep helping while you eat?”

Another surge of gratitude shoots through me. “Could you? That’d be wonderful.” The thought of relaxing for five minutes - impossible with the phones and six Primordials in the office - sounds like heaven. When he pulls out Ryder’s chair, I sink into it gratefully and dig into my sandwich.

Connor turns to the others in the office. “You guys want something to eat?”

Lir recoils. “Are you trying to feed us?”

The others look horrified. Connor just looks confused.

I snort between bites. “He’s not trying to mate you guys. He’s just being polite.”

“In that case, I want food.” Shea is the first one to the bag. No surprise there. As one of the cave bears, he’s always hungry. They eat more than anyone I’ve ever seen, even Ramsey.

Connor hands out sandwiches, and when the men return to their seats, he comes over to the desk I’m sitting at and perches on the edge. His own soup and sandwich are untouched. He’s got a puzzled look on his face, and I know he’s dying to ask what the situation is. Why the Primordials would think he wants to mate them.

“I’ll tell you later,” I whisper, and then lick the cheese off my soup spoon, because oh my god, this soup is amazing.

He grins and my heart pitter-pats at how handsome he is. It pitter-pats again when he slides his container of soup toward me. As I pry the lid off, he glances around. “Where’s Ryder?”

“Speed Mating night,” I tell him. I lick my spoon again and notice that his gaze flicks there, and my body gets all hot and squirmy, remembering last night. Oh. A visual of him between my thighs stirs, and I remember just how good that had felt. And I remember he’d made it all about me and took nothing for himself.

My face feels flushed. “Could you get me a soda, Connor?”

“Of course.” He practically jumps to his feet and saunters to the mini-fridge, and I watch his ass flex in his jeans. God, he’s sexy. God, I can’t stop thinking about last night.

God, I’m pretty sure I’m going to tackle him the moment we’re alone again. And I’m pretty sure I should be upset about that, but I’m not.

Truth is? I’m kind of…excited.

I
feel like such an ass
. Savannah’s so clearly overworked - and so clearly grateful for any help - that it shames me. She rushes around the dating agency, trying to help the big guys (who seem to need a lot of help) and answering the phones. When a vampire comes in for a dating consult, I swear she looks as if she’s going to cry, she’s so stressed.

That’s when I take over. “Can I help?” I ask her as she settles the vampire into the conference room. “Tell me what I can do to assist you.”

She wrings her hands and glances over at the men seated at her desk. One has picked up her phone and is punching buttons, and another is furtively licking her lip gloss. The others in the front waiting area are fighting over the book she left for them. “I’d ask you to get them out of here, but I can’t leave the phones.”

“I’ll watch the phones and handle them.” I gently scoot her toward the conference room. “Take care of your client. I have things handled.”

“Are you sure?” She looks torn.

“Absolutely sure. I’m here to help you.”

The brilliant smile she beams at me is worth every moment of frustration in the last week, and she grabs a folder and heads into the conference room. I move to Ryder’s phone and punch in a few buttons, forwarding any calls to my cell phone. Then, I grab the keys to my truck. “You guys come with me.”

They look up. One frowns - the one that had the makeup on himself earlier. “Where are we going?” he asks.

If being alpha for the last six months has taught me anything, it’s how to handle a bunch of chuckleheads. I don’t know if these guys qualify, but they’re definitely…not exactly normal. Since they’re reading children’s books and playing kid games on the computer, I’m going to offer them a typical kiddo treat. “We’re going for ice cream.”

Five enormous men jump to their feet. “Can we have sprinkles?” asks one.

“Sure. But you guys need to settle down and behave. You’re stressing Savannah out and she’s got enough on her plate.”

One of the men looks at me shrewdly. “Is this an attempt to feed us or her?”

“Her.” I’m not sure why they’re obsessed with who is feeding who, but Savannah seems like the safest answer.

They nod approval, and it seems I’ve passed whatever test was set.

It’s not easy to pile five seven-foot tall muscular bruisers into a truck, but we somehow manage to squeeze three of the five in the cab. The remaining two ride in the bed. It’s illegal and not all that safe, but we aren’t going far. The ice cream shop is around the corner, and I drive slowly and carefully, watching my passengers.

They smell strange. Like my sister said, they smell like shifter, but also like fresh earth and something I can’t quite put a finger on. Something different and inhuman. They stare at everything as we drive. Every time I press a button on the dash, someone watches my hands. It’s like they’re not familiar with cars or something. But that can’t be true. Most likely it’s just a special needs group. They’re probably on the spectrum or something. I don’t know much about that kind of thing. Savannah has a big heart and it wouldn’t surprise me to find out that she’s taken on watching a class of developmentally delayed shifters. Heck, I don’t even know if that’s the right term. These guys seem smart, just…clueless.

When we get to the ice cream store, they ask a million questions to the poor teenager behind the counter. They want to taste everything. I have to shut down the idea of all five men tasting each of the thirty-one flavors (plus all toppings) and we eventually settle on cones that are loaded with toppings. I get a pint of special mix double chocolate with extra fudge for Savannah.

I also get extra napkins. Lir and Eoghan have ice cream running all over their hands, and Galen keeps licking drips off of his arm. I hand out napkins and watch them eat. Sav said she’d tell me later what’s going on, but I’m rather curious. And a snooper, like she said. “So how long have you guys been working with Savannah?”

“Since we arrived through the portal,” Shea announces, and Lir quickly smacks him on the back of the head. I recognize that gesture. It’s one I’ve done to the idiots in my pack many times when they’ve been fucking around. I decide to watch Lir a little more closely.

They get quiet.

“Portal?” I prompt.

“We are not to speak of these things.” Anrai’s look is openly challenging. Either that or he just wants my ice cream. When he eyes the container I’ve got for Savannah, I’m guessing it’s the latter.

I offer him my half eaten cone. If I have to give up a few bites of Rocky Road for a bit of information, I’ll gladly do so.

He takes it from me and scarfs it down. A moment later, his eyes bulge and he presses a hand between his eyes. Ice cream headache.

“We won’t talk about the portal. What can you guys talk about?”

Lir looks less skeptical. When he shrugs, Anrai picks a sprinkle off the table and pops it into his mouth. “We can talk about food. I like food.”

“I can buy you more, if you want.” I lean forward on the small table. “Should we buy ice cream for everyone? Are there more of you?”

“Four and twenty,” Anrai says, and launches himself out of his chair, heading back to the counter. “Including Hugh. Can I have a new flavor?”

“Sure.” I get up and hand the girl at the counter my credit card, and when I turn around, all the men have their faces pressed to the glass, picking out what they want for their second round.

A call rings through on my cell, and I answer it. It’s an agency client, and I take a message, writing down the man’s number and assuring him someone will call him back shortly. By the time I’m done, Anrai has one of the enormous gallon tubs instead of a cone, and is seated on the floor with it. The others each have double cones, and Shea’s encouraging the poor, harried counter girl to put even more sprinkles on his ice cream mountain.

Jesus. No wonder Savannah’s stressed. You can’t turn around for two seconds on these guys.

I stuff a couple of twenties in the tip jar for the poor employee, round up the guys and drag them out to the parking lot. I want more answers, but more than anything, I want them to stop stressing Savannah out.

“For all that ice cream,” I tell them, “I’m going to need help from you guys. You’ve probably noticed that Savannah is having a hard time.”

“Because she is going to have a litter,” Eoghan offers, chocolate at the corners of his mouth.

“Because she’s pregnant and tired and you guys are a handful.” I eye them sternly. It’s like my pack plus a bunch of toddlers rolled into one, except they’re the size of football players on steroids. I think for a minute, then cross my arms. “So what do we need to do to help Savannah out?”

“Leave her alone?” Anrai asks, bucket in hands.

Actually, that’s not a terrible idea. “You guys ever been to a movie?”

I’m finishing up with Philippe’s undead dating profile when I notice how quiet the office is. I escort the vampire out with a polite smile, and then return to my desk.

It’s utterly quiet.

Oh my god, it’s so nice. There’s no one dismantling the copier, no one running a computer game, no movie on in the background. No one shoving week-old pizza onto my desk and peering from around the corner to see if I’ll eat it. For the first time that day since getting to work, I can relax. I’m a little worried, though. There’s no Connor and no Primordials.

I text Connor.
I don’t suppose you ran off with six beefy men, did you?

Oh boy. Primordials with a sugar rush. I’m terrified.
Brave man.

I make a note of it.
I’ll remove the call forward. Are you coming back soon? I know they’re a handful.

I feel an overwhelming surge of affection and gratitude for Connor.
You’d do that for me?

I find myself squirming with pleasure at his sweet text.
Just you taking them off my hands for a few hours is a treat enough.

I put down my phone and feel a curious flutter in my body. For a moment, I think one of the babies is moving, but it’s actually my heart. I feel…schoolgirl giddy. Connor is going to need a medal for sainthood if he makes it through the night with six Primordials in his care, but the fact that he’s even trying? Just to help me out? It’s the sweetest thing anyone’s ever done for me.

My phone dings.

Oops.
I’ll explain later.

* * *

T
he evening zips past pleasantly
. I get a pile of lingering work off my desk, tackle a bit of Ryder’s caseload, and even manage to clean up the break room, which is always a disaster post-Primordials. By the time the guys return from the theater, I feel relaxed and wonderful.

I also ate all the sandwiches Connor left behind, but I somehow doubt he’d mind.

They roll in, like a pack of sleepy giants, shortly after two in the morning. Connor points at the seats in the waiting area and they file in like obedient soldiers. Anrai stifles a yawn, and Shea looks asleep on his feet. They’re quiet and relaxed, and I watch as Lir rests his head on Eoghan’s shoulder, eyes closed.

Connor moves toward me, predatory and silent. He nods in my direction. “You need anything?”

“I’m wonderful,” I tell him, and mean it. I’m tired, it’s late, but I’ve gotten so much done and with him taking on the Primordials, I don’t feel the urge to tear my hair out. “I’m surprised you’re still standing.”

“We saw two movies,” he says to me. “Some Disney shit and then a superhero movie. Hope that’s okay. There weren’t a lot of options super late at night.”

“Perfectly fine. I appreciate it.” I peer over his shoulder again. “I’m surprised they’re so…quiet.”

Connor’s mouth curls into a satisfied grin that sends that flutter through me again. “Post-sugar crash. They’re wiped out.”

He’s a genius. I grin at him. “I need to lock up and drive them home. Ryder went ahead and left for the evening, so I just need to stop by the bank and drop off this envelope, then take them home.”

Connor instantly goes on the alert. “Can I help?”

No “let me help” or “let me do this” but “
can
I help”. I get all flustered again. “I’m good. Really. It’s not stuff I can hand off to anyone else.”

He nods slowly, as if it’s going to take him a moment to accept this answer. “All right. Can I meet you at home?”

“Sure.” I smile again, and feel weirdly girlish when he returns it and then leaves the office. I’m sure he’ll want to talk when we get home, and it’s late, but…I’m looking forward to it.