Page 16 of Tanner


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Shrugging, Shane cleared his throat. “He’s trying to do what he thinks is right.”

I scoffed. “He’s definitely missing the mark.”

Shane’s neutral smile, doing his best to be professional, seemed to have an edge of teasing that wasn’t usually there. It made it hard to stay focused on the conversation we were having. It actually pushed my thoughts back to the club and the construction companies I’d been looking at before he’d come in.

What would he think about that if he knew what was going through my mind? Would he understand what I was looking for in an alpha?

Shane watched me quietly for a handful of seconds. I’d seen the expression before numerous times when he’d first started working for me and he hadn’t been able to decide how much of an opinion to give. But like before, he quickly came to a decision. This time, however, instead of telling me what he thought of a new venture, he gave me a wicked smile.

“That wouldn’t surprise me at all. You are clearly a bit more outside the box than he’s giving you credit for.” Then he schooled his expression and nodded. “I’ll go call the bank, Mr. Wright, and get them working on reversing the charges.”

I swallowed past the hard lump in my throat. “Thank you.”

As Shane walked out, carefully closing the door, my brain kept misfiring like nothing made sense. Had he been flirting with me? Did he know how sexy I found him? Did he figure out what I was looking for?

I’d thought I’d kept things carefully under wraps so far, but that look…

I did the only thing I could.

I called Wade.

I probably sounded more like Austin than myself, but I couldn’t hold back. As soon as the phone connected, I charged right in. “I think he knows or he was flirting with me or he might have been joking because it’s weird and slightly funny, but I really think he just knows.”

“Deep breath, Tanner.” Nothing fazed Wade. He was ultimate calm omega who could handle anything.

Including all of his crazy friends.

“Who knows?” There was a slight pause. “I’m assuming you mean someone knows about the club?”

“Yes.” I looked toward the closed door. Had he known I’d need privacy? It’d been open when he’d come in and that wasn’t a detail he would miss. “Shane. He knows something.”

Wade let out a slow breath. “I was thinking you meant your father or someone like that.”

“That would be frightening. Don’t even put that out into the universe. I’ve got enough to deal with already.” Like Russian alphas being mailed to me.

Wade chuckled. “I’m not even going to ask. But you know everyone will want a full report this weekend at dinner.”

Groaning, I managed to smile and felt some of the stress easing away. “Oh, it’s a good one, alright.”

“It always is with your family.” There was just a hint of jealousy in his voice that I knew he would have hated for me to hear, so I ignored it.

“We were talking about my father’s threats to fix me up and I made an offhand comment about my father not understanding what I was looking for in a partner. Not quite work appropriate, but it was slightly relevant to the conversation.” Standing, I started moving around the room, trying to burn off some of the energy that just seemed to be building.

“He gave me this grin I’ve never seen before and said it didn’t surprise him that my father didn’t understand what I was looking for and then made this comment about me looking for something outside the box.” There had been a hint of something in his expression that said he knew more than he was saying.

It was like he’d given me a peek into another side of him before tucking it all away behind the professional exterior again.

“Was he teasing or did it come across threatening or mean?” I could almost hear Wade’s brain whirling. “It sounds like a comment one of us would have made.”

“That’s how it felt.” Shane’s face flashed before my eyes. “He’s a nice guy.”

And sexy.

And smart.

And stood his ground without being overbearing or overly apologetic.

“Then why are you worrying?” Wade chuckled. “If he figured out you’re a bit different and made a teasing remark, I’m surprised you didn’t just play it off like it was nothing. You always told everyone else that ignoring things like that was the best way to handle it because then people questioned themselves and stopped thinking of you.”