Convincing an intimidating crowd that you would do everything you could for them and their livelihood? A taxing experience, for sure.

By the time we were done in the factory and the strike was officially rendered null, I was starving. Stressing out on stuff famished me, and God knew I was already stressed out enough having to ride a small plane. Surprisingly enough, Lucas had made me forget the second half of that ride, which I was grateful for.

And there was no other way for me to show my gratefulness than to treat him to a delicious Italian dinner.

Having lived in California most of my life—or at least, since my father had moved us there when I was ten—I had always been fond of the place. It was fast-paced without being suffocating, and it had charm in spades.

I decided to take Lucas to a little bistro that had always been my favorite, which had a rooftop that wasn’t so high and had a view of the park downstairs. He was studiously quiet as he watched the view, and I began to wonder what was on his mind.

Deciding he’d done his part in making me forget my broodiness, I knew it was now my turn now. I leaned forward just as we finished ordering our food.

“Tell me what’s on your mind,” I said.

Lucas raised a brow. His piercing eyes stared straight at me, but I stubbornly held on, wanting him to see I wasn’t affected like all the other omegas who found his gaze too intense to look into. Finally, he sighed.

“Manhattan,” he said.

“What about Manhattan?”

“I miss it. I’ve never really been fond of California.”

My eyes widened at his admission. I couldn’t imagine anyone not liking California, and I tried to figure out what it was he didn’t like.

“It’s hot,” he replied to my inquiry. “It’s crowded.”

“And it has hot omegas in skimpy shorts everywhere,” I shot back.

A smirk flitted on his mouth. “Contrary to popular belief, I’m not all about the omegas.”

“Well, they sure are all about you,” I muttered under my breath. Luckily, he didn’t hear me, and the food arrived soon after. We were temporality distracted by our delicious meal until Lucas brought the subject up again.

“Why do you like California so much?” he asked, puzzled.

I couldn’t help but laugh. Then an idea formed in my head. “I’ll show you why.”

* * *

After our meal, I took Lucas to my favorite spots in the city. They weren’t the usual spots that most tourists frequented, but they were the ones that allowed me to have a breath of fresh air in this every-growing urban jungle.

As apprehensive as Lucas, the dominant alpha was, he allowed me to lead the way as he followed. He had a smirk on his face almost the whole time and I knew it was because he was checking out my ass almost the whole time as he walked a step behind me. I didn’t mind that at all. I loved that he was giving me some attention, even though there were so many hot pieces of omega ass on display everywhere we went.

There was the local art gallery, whose owner was a friend of mine and who showcased some local art that weren’t really known yet. I loved checking them out from time to time to see if there was something I could take home, considering the price wasn’t really that expensive. I then took him to a local bookstore, where the wooden floors invited you to just sit down and read to your heart’s content. Lucas liked the titles they sold and bought a travel book for himself while I bought a fantasy book from a new author I wanted to try out.

Our last stop was the park, which had fairy lights on the trees and floating lights on the lake. People sat on the grass to enjoy the majestic view, and we joined in. Seeing Lucas this carefree, in his casual clothes and relaxed stance, I would never have imagined him in any boardroom meeting. He looked good in any attire, be it casual or formal, but I couldn’t deny there was just something about this casual Lucas that was more compelling than the alpha business hard-ass I’d been accustomed to seeing.

Maybe I was beginning to see the real him.

I eyed the tattoo on his arm again, no longer able to contain my curiosity.

“What does that symbol mean?”

He glanced down. “It’s from a tribe I visited Malawi. I was there for a month and bonded with the people. It means brotherhood.”

“What were you doing in Africa?”

“No. This was from an outreach program I founded.”

“Wow.”

“Told you I wasn’t all about the omegas.”

“What about your clothes?”

“What about my clothes?”

“You wear the most worn out jeans outside and the most pressed slacks in the office.”

Lucas shrugged. “I always make it a point to separate work from personal life. I try to make them as differed from each other as much as possible, you know?”

The more things I was discovering about him, the more I was fascinated. He was arrogant, yes, but he had every reason to be. He was good-looking, sexy, rich and successful.

Apparently, I wasn’t the only one fascinated.

An hour didn’t end without an omega making eyes with him—or worse, boldly coming up to flirt, completely ignoring me. The last omega was slender, suntanned, and in booty shorts, with the longest legs I’d ever seen. He practically salivated all over Lucas, finding every excuse to bend over to show his ass, inches from Lucas’ nose and playfully tugging on his hair as he turned to face him. Lucas giggled uncomfortably now and then. I could tell this was unwanted attention, because he was focused on me more than ever before, and was finding the frequent interruptions annoying, which was evident from the low growling in his voice.

The constant interruptions to our potentially romantic moment had finally gotten on my last nerve, and I had to clear my throat.

“Lucas, shouldn’t we be going by now?”

Lucas nodded. “Yeah, let’s go.”

The slutty omega shot me a burning look before sauntering away. I smirked at his retreating back in his defeated body language. He’d have to try his luck with some other alpha, because Lucas was all mine!

“Jealous?” Asked Lucas, not as oblivious as I thought.

“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”

Lucas shrugged, then grinned. “What’s not to enjoy? And you’re jealous. I thought I told you not to fall in love with me.”

This time, I glared at him. “I’m not jealous. I just found that fake omega very annoying.”

“You’re jealous,” he confirmed, the grin widening.

“No. He was lame. I have better flirting game than that sorry excuse of an omega.”

I shouldn’t have said that. It was inappropriate, and it almost sounded like a challenge. Of course, Lucas took it as such.

“I’d like to see that.”

I scoffed, planning to change the subject.

But his next words had my pride tingling.

“I knew it,” he scoffed back. “You don’t have it in you, prude.”

He pushed his hands on the grass, about to stand up. My own hand shot out, tugging him back down. There was a puzzled look on his face, but it cleared when I slid closer to him.

“You haven’t even seen the ducks yet,” I said.

“Ducks?”

I nodded, smiling casually. There was a bottle of water on the other side of him, so I got on my knees and leaned to the side, stretching my hand out to get it. I kept my distance, but allowed my hand to brush against the side of his chest as I reached for it.

Then I took a deep breath as I leaned forward. I knew my jeans were tight and my ass was up close to Lucas’ face, and I could see it worked as his breath suddenly stopped while he ogled at it.

I inwardly smirked, rejoicing that I didn’t even need to show skin for it to work. Perhaps I was rejoicing too much, because I lost my balance when I was about to return to my place with the water bottle.

Lucas’ hand shot out to grab my arm, steadying me. A shiver ran up my spine at the rough pads of his fingers.

“Cold?” he murmured, his low voice skittering across my skin and turning it hot.

“Thirsty,” I responded calmly. My eyes shot up to his to gloating smile.

I wished it hadn’t.

He wasn’t amused like I first expected him to be. Instead, those blue-gray eyes were dark, holding an emotion that made me lose my breath altogether. We watched each other in suspended silence, and something inside me ached—particularly between my legs, as a shocking need for Lucas to consume me washed over my entire body.

His fingers moved again, sliding to my elbow. A whimper of desire almost came out of my throat. His gaze slid to my lips.

A thunder of awareness came at me, and my body was electrified. He was going to kiss me. He was going to pull me down and slide his tongue inside my — Suddenly, Lucas let me go. Then he stood up and held a hand out.

“We’d better go. It’s getting late.”

What the fuck!

I stared blankly at his hand. A stark disappointment settled in me, which in turn irritated and confused me. Then I took his hand, trying to appear casual as I smiled up at him.

Trying to hide the thundering of my heart and the ache still inside me.