Lola & the Millionaires: Part One (Sweet Omegaverse #2)(78)
“He did,” Lola said slowly, eyes sliding back to the floor.
She turned him down. I realized it with a surprising pang of disappointment. Maybe the others weren’t so far off with their feelings for Lola. Heats were pack-only events, and I hadn’t expected to be let down by the idea of Lola not being there. But it was there, a little sour note that told me our family wouldn’t be complete if Lola was staying in the city without us. I bit my tongue before I said as much.
“I should get back to them,” Lola murmured, a little shy pinkness in her cheeks. Her eyes glanced at my canvas and then up to me. “You should paint the city like you paint your love affairs. I’d like to see that.”
I stared at her, the cryptic suggestion teasing my thoughts as Lola retreated from my studio. My eyes slid down to my palette, and I picked up my brush.
Twenty-Five
Lola
“Are you sure you wouldn’t rather I stay?” Leo murmured.
Rake had moved to his alphas in one of the nests for the night, and in the morning the whole pack was set to leave for their country home—I was still wrapping my head around that—to spend a long weekend together for his heat. A heat I had been invited to, leaving me speechless for a good five minutes while I caught my breath from the offer.
“I’m gonna be fine, Leo,” I whispered back, grinning. It was dark out, but the city’s glow let ambient light in through the brick glass ceiling above, enough for me to see Leo in blurry blue and gold and shadow. “Isn’t a heat a big deal? Rake would miss you if you weren’t there.”
Leo sighed and nodded, his arm nudging against me. I sat up a little so he could slide it under my back and tug me against his chest. His skin was warm under my cheek, and I burrowed closer.
“I wish you were coming,” Leo said, so soft I wasn’t sure I was meant to hear it.
“I thought heats were for pack,” I said, trying to stay relaxed.
Leo snorted, breath puffing against my shoulder. “That…wouldn’t matter in this case. To Rake or anyone else. But…”
“I’m not ready for that,” I said, more gently, and sighed when Leo nodded. “Anyway, I’ve got that dinner meeting thing with Wendy tomorrow night. I can hardly miss it and tell her I’m going to Rake’s heat, right?”
“Are you sure you wanna get into that pool of sharks? I mean I love Matt and Cyrus, and I know this is important to them, but you don’t deserve to be a rope in a tug of war,” Leo said.
“I think I want to hear from Wendy herself though. Like, are Betty and Zane putting a poisonous spin on things, or does Wendy really want to rake Designate and Matthieu over the coals?”
Leo hummed, head turning and lips pressing to my forehead. “I was gonna say they’re lucky they hired you, but to be honest I’m lucky they hired you, otherwise I might not have found you again.”
I gasped and pressed my face firmly into Leo’s throat, trying to hold a tight grip on my emotions. No waterworks tonight, not even for happy reasons.
“I’m having a hard time knowing I’m gonna be out of town again and this stuff with…you know, isn’t really taken care of yet.”
Indy.
I soothed my hand over Leo’s chest. “Wes tracked the phone to pretty far west of here, didn’t he?”
Leo nodded. “Still. Any chance I could talk you into staying here while we’re gone? Matt will be home, but he’ll stay out of your way if you want him to.”
“I don’t mind Matthieu. I don’t mind any of you,” I said. “But Wendy’s sending a car to my apartment and—”
Leo let out a heavy sigh and I laughed, wiggling up against his chest to hover my face over his. “Tell you what. You guys get back Monday, right? I will be here then. Maybe even sooner. I’ll keep in touch with you and with Matthieu if it makes you feel better.”
“It makes me feel much better,” Leo said, smile stretching. His arm tightened around my waist, pulling me over his hips, my legs falling open to either side. “Having you on top of me like this makes me feel great.”
I grinned and dipped down, sucking on Leo’s lips and rolling my hips, catching his moan on my tongue.
It was weird to overthink what you wore to a dinner meeting with your boss. It wasn’t a date, but there was an aspect of trying to impress involved. I wanted to look professional, but not stuffy, and at Designate professional kind of ran the gamut of styles. I settled on a long, black, jersey t-shirt dress and a red leather jacket, pairing it with sharp makeup and dressy accessories just in case we were going somewhere a little nicer.
I didn’t need to worry though. Wendy had chosen a trendy but informal fusion restaurant, and she was sitting in the booth dressed in a t-shirt and jeans. Granted, they were obviously tailored to fit her perfectly, but that was probably a given with fashion people.
“Lola, nice to see you out of the office like this,” Wendy said, rising from the booth just long enough to shake my hand.
“I’m happy to be here,” I said, and tried to make sure I looked it.
Any sensible brand new assistant editor at Designate should be ecstatic to be asked to dinner with Wendy, and I needed to remember that. It was just a little more difficult after my conversation with Cyrus the other night, seeing the pained expression on his face as he talked about her. I would be in some kind of serious shit if Wendy realized I was here to dig up information for Matthieu or Cyrus, and not because I was genuinely interested in her plans.