Page 22 of Priceless
Sitting back, I frowned. With what Ocean said on Entendre’s site, there was no way this was an accident. And though I didn’t know her well, Laura didn’t strike me as someone who handled the details of a gala like that. More likely they’d gone to Ocean with a color scheme, and she’d done what they’d asked.
This is what she’d given them.
Interesting.
We hadn’t known who she was when we saw her across the room. Now I wanted to know everything about her. From the second we saw her on the balcony she was captivating, and inhaling her scent was taking a match and tossing it on gasoline that had already been poured, making that draw and interest catch fucking fire.
This design choice only made me more curious, if that were possible.
I needed to see her again.
How in the hell had we never encountered her before? The number of galas and Frank popping up everywhere…
“Careful,” Cameron said, leaning against the door.
“What?”
He nodded to my hand, where it was gripping my desk so hard I was about to break it. I released the wood and shook my head. “I’m going out of my mind.”
“Tell me about it. I just sat at my desk and tried to work, but I couldn’t. Nothing came to mind for any of the projects I’m working on. I just kept thinking about her. The way she laughed when we danced. Her by the windows with the sun in her hair.”
“Look at this.”
His breath went short when he saw that picture of her on the beach. “That—” Cam shook his head. “She looks so free. It barely seems like the same person. Fuck, she’s beautiful.”
“I have an idea about why she feels different.”
“Oh?”
“Come on.” I stood and led the way out, seeing the gym empty before finally finding Everett in the kitchen biting into a pear. He still looked out of breath. “How long did you run?”
He looked at me, exhausted, leaning on the kitchen island, and blinked slowly. “I don’t know. Would still be going, but I can’t. I think I’m losing my mind.”
“Join the club,” Cam said with a chuckle.
I told them about her business and what I’d found. Everett glared out the windows. Our kitchen looked out over a grove of the magnolia trees that loved to grow here in Clarity. “If they’ve hurt her?—”
“If they have, then we’ll deal with it,” I said. “And she’ll be with us.”
“Should have made the deadline today,” Cameron breathed with a sigh. “Then we wouldn’t be in the limbo from hell.”
“With how badly Frank wants this, I hope it will be sooner.”
If Ocean said no, we’d find a different way to court her. And if she said no, I didn’t need to ask to confirm with the others to know we’d tell the Board to go fuck themselves. We weren’t marrying anyone other than our Omega, no matter what they tried to throw at us or our company.
“I’m hungry,” I said. “But no matter what Marcella left in the fridge, I already know I don’t want it.” Because anything that wasn’t the sweet taste of flowers—I desperately needed to know which one her scent was now—and sugar would be like ash on my tongue.
“Do we know anyone who can render us unconscious for the next three days?” Everett muttered, throwing the core of his pear away.
“I wish.”
“Hey,” Cameron said, his tone drawing my attention. He stared down at his phone, and the growing smile on his face had my gut tightening with hope and fear. “Check your email.”
I couldn’t get my hands on my phone fast enough.
There it was. An email from Frank McCabe to the three of us.
It’s done. Come over Saturday evening to meet with Ocean. We’ll sign the rest of the papers on Monday.
