Lola & the Millionaires: Part One (Sweet Omegaverse #2)(81)

“Ehnnn, yeah, I mean, I’m a little excited,” I said laughing. “I’m always a little excited when it’s the three of us. Just now it’s the three of us plus two and those two are—”

“Try not to think of them as alphas. They’re nice guys, right, and they won’t play grabby hands with you? So they’ll be like…sexy air fresheners. Mood enhancers. Sound effect machines. Spare dicks if it comes down to it.”

I was wheezing with laughter, yanking on the zipper with one hand and holding my phone with the other. “I was planning on saving it for when he got back, but I got Rake a surprise and I figured now is probably a good time to gift it to him.”

“Ooo a naughty courting present? I love it!” Baby sighed. “My little Lola’s first heat. Gosh, how they grow up.”

I scoffed and shook my head, pulling the phone away and then seeing the time. Shit. I ran to the window and looked down to the street. There, in the no parking zone, a long, sleek black car waited, red tail lights still on.

“Baby? Car’s here, I gotta go.”

“Okayiloveyoubaiiiiiiii,” Baby rushed out.

I slung my bag over my shoulder, patting the bottom to make sure my recent purchase hadn’t been forgotten, and then ran out the door, locking it behind me. Matthieu was halfway up the stairs, a long brown wool coat on over a cozy looking sweater and jeans. He smiled as I nearly ran into him and then he pointed down to the door.

“Why isn’t that locked?”

“It was supposed to be, but the landlord hasn’t done anything yet,” I said with a shrug. “I think he’s pretty absent.”

“Wes will take care of it when we get back in town.”

“Wes isn’t my landlord,” I said, frowning.

“He will speak with him,” Matthieu bit out as we reached the landing. “Do you need your bag? I can put it in the trunk for you.”

I shook my head and Matthieu was there, slipping his hand under the strap and sliding it off my shoulder before I needed to say anything. Standing at the backseat door, a tall beta in a black suit waited for me to slide in.

We were taking a driver to the country house? The car wasn’t quite a limo, but there was more than usual amounts of legroom in the back seat, as well as a small fridge and a privacy window up to screen off the front seat.

I caught a glimpse out of the window on my left as I slid in, my stare freezing on a figure in the dark. Across the street, leaning against a light post, someone was standing under the glow, wearing a dark hoodie. Even with the shadow of the hood and the head lowered, the body was facing me directly.

“Would you like me to sit up front?”

I whipped my head around to see Matthew ducked and looking at me through the car door.

“What? No, you don’t have to do that.”

“You’re sure?” Matthieu asked.

It seemed strange to insist on him sitting in the back with me, and there was something vulnerable and nerve-wracking about the privacy window and the knowledge that we would be entirely alone in the small space. Still, I nodded, and Matthieu slid into the backseat.

“I think Leo’s waiting until the last moment to give Rake the news,” Matthieu said with a soft smile. “Otherwise, he might try to make Wes meet us on the road or…” Matthieu cleared his throat and shook his head, the slow blush rising to his cheeks just barely visible in the dim light of the backseat.

Through the partition, the car twitched with the driver’s door shutting, and a moment later we were moving away from the curb. I glanced back out my nearby window and startled. The figure was still there, but now the face was turned up, revealing a cheesy Halloween skull mask. A moment later, we were out of sight, and I tried to settle the nerves the eerie image had left in me. Maybe my neighborhood was getting a little sketchier, or maybe it had just been a teenager playing to scare.

If Wes did talk my landlord into finally fixing the lock on the front door, that would be a relief.

“Leo said the drive was long?”

Matthieu hummed and nodded, eyes fixed on our reflection in the partition glass. “A few hours. I made sure there was food in the fridge, but if you’d like to stop, we certainly can. I thought…this way, you could relax,” he said, words fumbling as he went, voice gaining a rasp. He cleared his throat and ducked his head.

Right. Just relax. In the backseat of a not-quite-limo with an alpha that made me forget why I avoided alphas, and instead left me wanting to climb on his lap and—

“Thanks. And thanks again for picking me up,” I said, pressing my thighs together and trying to get my brain under control.

“My pleasure,” Matthieu said, nodding and looking out his window.

I mirrored him, watching the city streets pass. A few hours in the car with Matthieu, and then I’d be at the house for Rake’s heat. Nothing to worry about.





The ride was torture. We hit bumper to bumper traffic on the freeway out of the city, and an hour had already passed without us hitting the suburbs. With every passing minute, Matthieu’s scent grew stronger, silky edges showing a bitter frayed edge with nerves. Neither of us had so much as twitched over into the middle seat, but even so, I was fairly certain I was coated in his scent. This wasn’t a normal amount of alpha pheromone either, it was flooding the confined space, which meant whatever Matthieu was feeling that triggered the response was strong.