My eyes fell closed when he pressed his mouth to mine, our lips separating only slightly so I got the ghost of his tongue. But right as I was starting to respond, I felt him draw away, the door opening and closing before I could open my eyes again.
I stared at him through the windshield, walking off, his hands shoved back into his pockets. I traced the line of his broad shoulders unconsciously while my brain fought to come back online. But when it did, I said the mantra I did so often now.Evie first, alphas later. I repeated that as I pulled out of the carpark and drove to Carmen’s.
Chapter 28
“When are we seeing Dad?” Evie asked, with a frown that caught my eye.
“Straight after the appointment.”
I watched the Crowe Corp lift floor numbers flick by, willing them to go faster.
“I don’t want to go to the appointment. I want to see my dad. I didn’t get to see him yesterday because you had to go to Aunt Sophie’s and do the agreement. I didn’t see him in the morning, like the other kids do. He wasn’t there waiting at the gate for me.”
“Evie, you’re doing a good job of communicating your needs,” I said in a very calm voice. “Do you want me to talk to your dad and see if he could take you to school or pick you up at the end of the day?”
She sucked a breath in, then turned to face me, some of the wind knocked out of her sails. Her keen eyes studied mine and then she visibly deflated.
“You could do that?”
Her tone was so different now and while I didn’t like the nervous edge to it, I took the olive branch offered to me.
“I can ask, Ev. I can’t promise, I can’t guarantee. Dad doesn’t even live in the city normally, so I’m not sure how long we’ll have him around.”
Oh god, no, abort! Step the fuck away from that topic, Lils,I thought furiously as her eyes went wide.
“But I’ll ask him about the school drop off and pick up and see what he says.”
“OK. Thank you.”
The lift doors opened on the foyer that was just outside Riley’s office.
“Hey kiddo!” Candy said, bustling over. “Ready to come and get your butt beat inSuper Smash Brosagain?”
But Evie’s eyes were on the large man beside her, and it was easy to tell why. He was the biggest damn alpha I’d ever seen. Six foot eight easily and big with it, he dropped down onto one knee, trying to make himself look smaller but only managing to do a fair imitation of a boulder instead.
“I’m Blake,” he said in a quiet voice, holding out his hand for my daughter to shake.
“You’re an alpha,” she said.
“I am. You are too.”
“Am I?” The wistful tone in her voice had me stepping forward, but Riley, who’d since appeared, shook her head slowly.
“I think so. You feel like one to me. What does it feel like you are?”
I watched her head drop then, her body language closing down and I wondered why the hell that was happening. But this was the flip side to Evmonster. If she wasn’t raging, she was collapsing in on herself. Personally, I preferred the angry version. But then her back straightened, her shoulders pulling back, her head lifting, just like Carmen was always prompting her to do. She looked Blake in the eye and took his hand, shaking it firmly.
“Yeah, I think I am. Where’s Colton? I beat him so bad at Smash Bros.”
“Colt is off doing something else today, so you’ll just have to try to beat me,” Blake said, and somehow that quiet confidence pricked at my daughter.
“I bet I can.”
“I bet you can try,” he said, taking her hand and leading her into the office.
“What’ll I get if I beat you? Do I get a triple chocolate shake?”
“Alphas don’t need shakes that rot their teeth and their brains.” Blake grinned down at her, flashing his sharp teeth. “What if you find your animal and she’s got no fangs because you ate too much chocolate? You’ll make her weaker than other wolves.” He got an answering growl from my daughter at that, something that had my fingers worrying the worn strap of my handbag. “Alphas don’t need chocolate, they need challenges.”