Lola & the Millionaires: Part One (Sweet Omegaverse #2)(17)

“I may have made an order while you were sleeping,” Leo said, shrugging his shoulder. “But I had a craving.”

A craving that couldn’t wait for takeout?

He closed the waffle maker and turned to face me, leaning against the fridge. “So, first I should explain,” he said.

My eyebrows bounced in surprise. I was pretty sure, of the two of us, I was the one who needed to do some explaining.

“When you and I…met, at the club,” he started. “I meant what I said, that I don’t usually, um…rush into situations like that.”

“Because you have a pack,” I said.

Leo’s eyes flicked up to the ceiling, head shaking back and forth. “Yes. Well, yes and no. I am bonded to an alpha. I have a pack. We just aren’t…most of us aren’t really exclusive to the pack. I, personally, just tend not to be in much of a rush. But you…you are very compelling.” He gave me a sheepish smile with those perfect deep dimples, his five o’clock shadow now firmly entering the denser territory.

I frowned and stepped forward into the kitchen as Leo turned back to the waffle maker, spinning it on it’s stand to grill evenly.

“I think I knew that there are packmates that maybe aren’t bonded, but I’ve never heard of bonded mates being…”

“Open? Yeah, I suppose it’s not common, but it works for us at the moment. We’re very devoted to one another, bonds or not. But for some of us, our sexual affairs extend outside of the pack. Caleb, my alpha, would never question me if you and I had had sex that night. I love him, he loves me, but his bondmark is just a visible part of our connection. It isn’t a warning to others or a leash to keep me in line.” With that, Leo’s eyes found mine, trying to read something from my still expression.

“Okay,” I said.

That doesn’t mean he doesn’t own you. It doesn’t mean he wouldn’t be angry with me for sleeping with you, I thought. Maybe he wouldn’t show it right away. Buzz had seemed…not affectionate, but not cruel at first either.

Leo sighed, even though I hadn’t said another word. “The sausages are probably done. Do you like sausage? These are chicken.”

I rarely ate breakfast anymore, and if I did it was usually just something carb-y from wherever I stopped to get coffee, but I wasn’t turning down this feast. I divided the sausages in the skillet between two plates as Leo pulled the golden waffle from the iron and cut it in half before starting a second.

“I…” I hesitated over my plate, a smile flickering as Leo loaded my half of the waffle with strawberry slices and a thick spoonful of whipped cream. Huh. I didn’t own a hand-mixer either, but there was one in my sink now. I shook my head to clear it and looked up at Leo. “Yesterday, it caught me off guard to see you. But I also…I have a hard time being in close quarters with alphas.”

Leo’s gaze was steady on mine, flicking down briefly to watch me bring a bite of waffle up to my lips. His lips stretched as I let out an involuntary hum of pleasure as caramelized sugar and fresh fruit and dense cream sang together in harmony on my tongue.

“And the power fritz didn’t help,” Leo said, and I nodded. “How’s it been working with Cyrus? He’s so used to being infectious and impressive, I guarantee he hadn’t noticed you were uncomfortable until last night.”

“It was all right, though,” I said, lifting my chin, my tongue flicking out to catch cream at the corner of my mouth. Leo’s stare tracked the movement, and I marveled at the slight widening of his pupils. “He hasn’t been aggressive or anything.”

Shock flashed over Leo’s face, eyes widening, before vanishing quickly. “He wouldn’t,” he said. “Cyrus isn’t…well, let’s just say if he wanted to be aggressive, he’d get your permission first. They’re…my pack’s not like that, Lola, I promise.”

I shrugged and turned away, crossing to my small counter that separated my minuscule kitchen from my marginally larger living room. “It makes sense, if they already have their omega,” I said.

I pushed myself up onto the counter with one hand and had another bite of food as Leo studied my bare legs with an absent interest.

“I understand why you’d be wary,” Leo said. “I’ve had my own negative experiences with alphas. It was part of why I opened Philia.”

I was sitting on my counter, a bite of waffle dripping cream hovering halfway to my open mouth, when his words sank in. “You opened Philia? Oh my god, that’s why you asked if I was looking for you specifically?”

Leo blushed and crossed the open space between us, his hip pressing to my knee. He set his plate down and pushed it aside, his hands coming down slowly over my thighs. “I own the club and…I’m a partner in a real-estate firm. I thought for a second maybe you knew who I was. Rake and I have had issues in the past with people kind of tracking us down…wanting a way into our pack.”

I coughed at the thought and then pushed my own plate aside. I looked at Leo and raised an eyebrow.

“I’m guessing you’d believe me now if I said that was definitely not the case?”

Leo smirked, and I watched the shift of his mouth with growing interest. “I believed you before. But yes, I can see now how unlikely that would be. I do have a question for you though,” he said.