Page 42 of Lilacs and Leather
“You want me to act like a bitch, I will, asshole,” I shout back, seeing red.
He turns on his heel two paces outside the door, teeth bared in a snarl. He starts to advance back toward me when a voice catches his attention.
“Is there a problem here?”
I turn and see a man strolling down the sidewalk toward us. His torso tapers from broad shoulders to a trim waist, and long runner’s legs. He’s dressed in black slacks and a pale gray button down with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, revealing a colorful patchwork of tattoos on each arm. He pushes a pair of sunglasses up into his tousled sandy-brown hair, allowing me to see his warm brown eyes as he moves between me and the alpha. His scent overpowers the aggressive pheromones rolling off the worker, filling my nose with notes of lemonade and freshly cut grass, and a hint of sharp bergamot.
“No, no problem here, Mr. Hutchenson.”
“Yes, the fuck there is.”
The alpha worker glares at me as the newcomer turns to regard me. He looks me up and down once, and his nostrils flare. His face remains impassive, but I see a spark of recognition in his eyes. He turns back to the worker, sliding a hand into a front pocket.
“Shouldn’t you be down the street with the rest of your crew, Davis?” the unfamiliar man says, and I shiver at the alpha growl that fills the words.
There’s another tense moment between them, and Davis’s eyes flick to me once more before he relents and takes off at a jog down the sidewalk.
Mr. Hutchenson turns to me once Davis is well on his way, a small apologetic smile on his face. “Do you mind if I come in? I’d like to ask you exactly what happened, so I know what I’m going to write on his pink slip.”
I blink at him for a moment before moving aside to let him pass me. He stops a few paces into the store, looking around with his hands in his pockets. I hear him take a sharp breath in as I move around him and behind the counter. I tell him about the encounter, all the while something nagging at the back of my mind. His face is so familiar, but I can’t place it for the life of me. I’m drawn in by the jovial light in his eyes and the way he doesn’t shield his emotions as he listens to me. His jaw is set in a firm line as I describe what Davis said, and I see a flash of respect in his eyes. When I finish, he lets out a disappointed sigh.
“I’m really sorry for all of that. You’d think that the people you hire for a job could behave better than this, but alas…” He sighs, rubbing his eyes.
“I don’t care if they stay on the job, by the way. I just don’t want them hanging around here anymore,” I push, feeling a little guilty. Even assholes needed to make a living.
“Trust me. It’s better for us to kick him and his crew off the job. That way, if he or any of his little friends try to come back while we’re doing the repairs, they’ll be trespassing,” he says, waving a hand.
I shrug, not convinced but deciding to let it go. I didn’t think it’d be that big of a problem, as long as it was made clear that they couldn’t harass us. But I guess it’s better to play it safe.
“Can I ask you a weird question?” he asks suddenly.
“If you’re going to ask me if I want to go out for drinks, I’m going to have to pass. I’m at my proposition limit for the week,” I reply flatly, leveling an exhausted look at him.
He throws his head back and laughs, holding his stomach. I can’t help but join in, his energy infectious. He looks back at me after a moment, still smiling.
“No, I wasn’t going to ask you out. At least, not right now. I was actually going to ask you if you’ve met an alpha named Rhett Cooper?”
I blink at him, too stunned to answer for a moment.
“I only ask, because I can smell him on you,” he continues.
I cough a little before laughing. “Yeah. We’re… dating, I guess is the word I’m going to use. Why?” I shoot back.
“Then you must be the mysterious Lydia. I’m Mateo,” he says, holding out his hand.
That’swhy he looks familiar. Mateo Hutchenson, Rhett’s best friend and pack mate, takes my hand when I extend it and turns it over to kiss the back. I blush, and he laughs.
“That’s a very cute look, Lydia. I can see why he’s so infatuated with you,” Mateo comments, releasing my hand before leaning on the counter.
I laugh and pick up the clipboard to work on the front-of-store inventory. If alphas were so determined to be in my space today, I wouldn’t let them stop me from doing my job. He watches me for a few minutes, but it doesn’t feel uncomfortable. I can hear him tapping on his phone screen a few times, but he doesn’t make any remarks.
“Are you going to tell him about what happened today?” Mateo asks into the silence.
I look back toward the counter, and I find him lounging against it, legs stretched out and crossed at the ankles with his hands in his pockets again. He’s moved his sunglasses to hang from the front of his shirt. I consider his casual posture, how he’s let me have my space and not pushed me into a conversation. A fan blows a burst of his effervescent citrus scent toward me, making me stand a little straighter.
“It feels like it’s been handled, don’t you think?” I say, shrugging before turning back to the shelf I’d been working on.
“I suppose it has. But is there a reason you aren’t going to tell him, even to tell him it’s been handled?” he continues, dropping his voice conspiratorially.