3

COLE

No matter what time I go to bed at night, I always wake up at seven a.m. to start my day. I value discipline and routine, and no matter what happens in a given day, each morning is like a reset. I never hit the snooze button when my alarm sounds, even if an extra ten minutes of sleep may seem tempting. It isn’t worth throwing off my whole day. Regardless of how exhausted I am, I haul my ass out of bed at seven on the dot, hit the gym for my daily workout, shower, then head to the kitchen for coffee and breakfast.  

The snooze button was more tempting than usual this morning, but I still dragged myself out of bed and went about my routine as normal. By the time I’ve finished my workout and showered, many of the warriors that reside at the packhouse are already crowded in the kitchen for breakfast, their voices carrying down the hall as the scent of fresh coffee beckons me closer.

As always, Sam is seated at our usual table when I stride into the kitchen, a cup of coffee already poured and waiting for me upon it. There are three larger tables across the room that accommodate ten apiece, but this four-seater near the coffee pot is our spot in the mornings. I sink down into the chair across from Sam, eyeing the empty one between us. That was always Astrid’s seat, and the visit from her new friends at the six-pack has me missing her more than usual.

“Morning, Alpha,” Sam greets with a tip of his head, raising his coffee mug to his lips and taking a slow sip from it.

I grunt in response, unable to string words together until I’ve had my morning coffee fix. I reach for the cup in front of me eagerly, swallowing down a scalding gulp before relaxing back into my chair, breathing a contented sigh.

“Morning,” I finally reply.

Sam picks at a piece of bacon on his breakfast plate as he glances around, leaning in a little closer and dropping his voice low. “So what did Jax want to talk about at the end of the night?”

The corner of my mouth kicks up in amusement. Sam is too curious for his own good, and I saw the look on his face when Jax pulled me aside late last night for a private conversation. I’m sure it’s been killing Sam to be left in the dark, and he’s probably been impatiently waiting for me to come to breakfast this morning just so he could ask about it.

“It was nothing,” I shrug, swallowing down another gulp of coffee and pushing out my chair. I leave Sam hanging while I head over to the buffet table to load up a plate with bacon, eggs, and breakfast potatoes, and when I return to retake my seat a few minutes later, the guy is practically crawling out of his skin.

“C’mon, man,” Sam groans in exasperation. “Seriously?”

I chuckle to myself as I pick up a strip of bacon and bite off a piece, enjoying prolonging Sam’s agony over something so trivial. His eyes are fixated on me while I chew and swallow, and only then do I finally indulge him. “He just asked me to look after Juliet,” I say before shoving the rest of the piece of bacon into my mouth. “As if that’ll be hard,” I grumble around it as I chew, then roll my eyes as I swallow. “She’s as naïve and sheltered as they come. I doubt she’ll be any trouble.”

“Eh, I wouldn’t be too sure about that. She’s a good-looking girl, and the guys that live here aren’t blind. I’ll bet she has a fan club before lunch time.” Sam leans closer, a smirk creasing his lips. “Couldn’t help but notice that she’s also your type,” he remarks, helpfully pointing out the obvious.

“So?” I play it off. I’m still embarrassed about how I reacted when we met yesterday, so I just fucking deflect. “Plenty of girls are. I’m not gonna be an asshole and go for some guy’s little sister.” I shoot Sam a pointed look and from his expression, I know my barb landed. Sam dated Astrid once upon a time, and though I came around to being okay with it, I’ll still never let him live it down.

“Aw, c’mon, man,” he laments. “Isn’t that water under the bridge by now?”

I smirk as I lift my coffee mug, taking a sip. The chatter in the kitchen dies down suddenly, and I realize that all the guys congregated around the tables for breakfast on the other side of the room are looking my way for some reason. No, not at me… past me. I swivel in my seat, turning to glance over my shoulder to see what all the fuss is about, and I nearly spit out my damn coffee at what I find.

That naïve, sheltered girl I was just talking about? Yeah, she’s standing in the doorway to the kitchen wearing nothing but a little blue bikini, dripping water all over the floor beneath her. My brain fucking short-circuits at the sight of her scantily clad body, because holy fuck, the girl is perfection. She’s got legs for days, long and shapely and perfectly toned, every inch of her skin golden without a tan line in sight. She must be a runner or something, and all I can think of is how those legs would feel wrapped around my waist. Or my face. The flare of her hips and the snatch of her waist gives her curves a subtle hourglass shape, and her flat belly and prominent hipbones have me practically salivating to lick a path down them to the apex of her thighs. And let’s not even talk about her tits, because fucking hell, they’re gorgeous. Perfectly symmetrical and round and perky, her hard nipples pebbling up beneath the thin fabric of her swimsuit. My dick instantly springs to attention, and I’m sure every other hot-blooded guy in here is already sporting a semi thanks to her.

I’m instantly agitated, balling my fists and gritting my teeth. I’m not sure if it’s because she has the audacity to strut in here and put herself on display like this for all to see, disrupting the natural order of things at the packhouse, or because every other male in the vicinity is currently mesmerized by the sight of her and mentally storing images for their personal spank-banks. I’m not exaggerating- every single warrior seated across the kitchen is fucking gawking at her, but she’s acting like she doesn’t even notice. She just scans the room, spots the coffee pot, and pads toward it with so much nonchalance that I practically grind my molars to dust in my mouth.

“Someone get her a towel.” I bark out the order to nobody in particular, rising to my feet and eyeing the trail of water Juliet has left behind beneath where she’s treaded. Sam springs to action, hustling out of the kitchen, while I stomp toward the seemingly oblivious blonde, freezing in my tracks when she spins around, putting her back to me and reaching up to open the cupboard above the coffee pot.

That ass.

I raise a fist to my mouth, biting down on my knuckles to stifle a groan. Her ass is like a juicy fucking peach- round and tight and fucking begging for me to sink my teeth into it. Or grab it while she’s riding me. Or slap it when she’s bent over in front of me. Or fuck it…

“A little help?” Juliet interrupts my filthy train of thought, glancing back at me over her shoulder as she struggles to reach for the coffee mugs on the top shelf. She’s up on her tiptoes, but they remain just out of reach, her fingertips barely brushing against the ceramic cups.

If she’d come for coffee earlier, there would still be plenty of mugs left on the lower shelf.  I consider saying as much, but I refrain- it’s her first morning here, after all. She hasn’t got the lay of the land yet. I’m being too harsh on her; she’s sweet and innocent and it’s not like she’s doing any of this on purpose, right?

Or maybe I’m just blinded by that gorgeous fucking ass.

I step up behind Juliet, reaching over her head to retrieve a mug from the cabinet, but it nearly slips from my fingers when she suddenly rocks back into me, aforementioned bikini-clad ass pushing into my crotch.

There’s no way it’s a fucking accident. My body tenses and I flinch back like she’s a fucking leper, a low growl emanating from my chest as I stumble backwards a step and she whirls around to face me.

“Thanks,” she sing-songs as she plucks the mug from my hand, smiling sweetly in gratitude before turning to fill it up with coffee from the pot. As if she didn’t just grind her ass on my dick.

What the hell is this girl playing at?

I watch her for a moment with morbid fascination, remaining rooted in place to shield her body from the prying eyes across the room. “Go for a swim?” I murmur.

She darts me a sly glance over her shoulder as she pours coffee into her mug. “What gave me away?”

My fist clenches in response to her sarcasm, and it’s at that moment that Sam reappears with a fluffy white towel in hand. I snatch it from him as soon as he’s within reaching distance, shoving it toward Juliet. “Here.”

Maybe I’ll be less agitated once she covers herself up.

She sets the coffee pot and mug back down on the counter, turning toward me to take the towel from my hands. “Thank you,” she breathes, wiping at her wet swimsuit and dripping body as I try- and fail- not to track her every movement with my wandering eyes.

I’m not the only one. Sam turns away politely, but every other fucker in the kitchen is practically salivating as they watch her dry off, despite my best attempts to block their view.

Once she’s finished, I expect her to wrap the towel around her body and cover herself up, but no. Instead, she bends over at the waist in a move so sexy that I nearly lose it, wrapping the towel around her hair instead before slowly rolling back up and flashing me a wide smile.

I just stand there gaping at her.

Who the fuck is she and what did she do with the sweet girl from last night?

A whistle sounds from across the room and Juliet’s cheeks flush pink as she glances past me toward the tables full of young men, smiling coyly as she raises a hand and flicks her fingers in a little wave.

“You’re distracting my warriors,” I grit out.

“What?” she gasps, feigning innocence as her sky blue eyes dart back to mine. “No I’m not.” Then, with a barely concealed smirk, she peeks around me again, raising her voice to loudly ask, “I’m not distracting you guys, am I?”

They all trip over themselves to answer in the negative, and she turns her gaze back on me with a triumphant grin. “See?” she shrugs, turning at the waist and grabbing her coffee cup from the counter. “They don’t mind.”

Her eyes spark with mischief as a sly smile pulls at the corners of her mouth, and I now know for sure that she was putting on a front last night at dinner. The girl standing in front of me right now is a far cry from the shy, reserved one that sat across the dinner table; she’s a walking temptation, draped in sin and dipped in deviance.

The girl from last night, I could handle.

This one is going to be fucking trouble.

“Try to put some clothes on before you come in for breakfast tomorrow,” I grumble, turning away abruptly and stalking toward the doorway. I’ve barely touched my food, but for some reason, I’ve lost my appetite.

“Sure thing, Sarge!” Juliet calls after me.

I grind to a halt, pausing in the doorway and considering turning back to address her insubordination. To remind her who I am and put her in her place.

I don’t. I recognize that I’m too wound up at the moment, and I’m better off walking away than escalating the situation. I decide to let it go, for now.

I inhale deeply, continuing into the hallway without so much as a backwards glance. Swiping my phone out of my pocket, I start to type out a text message when I hear the familiar sound of Sam’s footsteps following behind, moving quickly to catch up.

“Are we still heading downtown today?” he questions, falling into step at my side.

My phone vibrates in my hand as I receive a near-instantaneous response to the message I just sent. “Give me an hour,” I grunt, sliding my phone back into my pocket and continuing toward my office.

I just need to take the edge off to get this day back on track.