A Rogue For Four Alphas

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Chapter Twenty Eight

Wanting to allow myself extra time, I get started in the late afternoon cutting strawberries for dessert, and dicing tomatoes and avocados. It's slow going, since I still forget where some things are in their giant kitchen, and I had no idea how hard it was to deal with fresh avocados. I should have bought a tub of prepared guacamole.

I'm starting on the ground meat when the men get home.

"Looking good," Alpha Ian says. Is it my imagination, or is he looking at me instead of the bowls of neatly diced vegetables?

The men look good themselves. Erik's wavy hair is matted against his head in spots; it looks like he was sweating a lot. Alpha Damon's arms and shirt are scuffed with dirt, and I can't help but wonder why a dirty man is so sexy. "I'll be back in to help after I shower," Alpha Ian says, gifting me with one of his gorgeous smiles.

"Just relax," I say. "It's my turn to cook."

The men disappear, and I try hard not to think about their naked bodies soaped up in their showers, as I hear the murmur of water running elsewhere in the house. Despite my refusal of help, Alpha Ian returns in less than ten minutes, smelling fresh and clean, his hair still damp. He's put on a white t-shirt and jeans with no socks, the intimacy of his bare feet giving me a shiver.

He pours himself a glass of water and asks what he can do to help, but I tell him I have it covered. While I stir the meat and add the seasoning packet, he gives me an update on marking of the entire territory and sliming it to be part of their park .II don't understand the details, but it sounds like they're on schedule, even though I am not sure why they need more territory and why the hell do they have four Alphas in their park.

A few minutes later, Alpha Erikcomes in, coming up close behind me as I stand at the stove, his body pressing into mine, making my mouth suddenly feel very dry. He looks over my shoulder and I'm conscious of the way my shirt is loose at the neck, but I don't want to be obvious about adjusting it.

"It smells good," he says.

"Are you hungry?" I ask after swallowing the lump in my throat

He presses a little closer. "Mm-hmm." He's still looking down, and now I'm sure he can see my bra. I remember his hand digging into the skin just below my breast when I was on his lap.

There was something so steady and confident about his touch. There are times when I'm tortured by the fact that I can't be with him, and him standing so close is not helping. I edge a step to the side. Alpha Erikclears his throat. "Want a beer?"

"Oh, shit! I was planning to make margaritas, and I forgot to juice the limes."

He lays a hand on my arm, electricity shooting out across my skin. "Don't worry. We can help."

Alpha Ian slides off his stool and the two men go to work, juicing the limes and helping with the rest of the meal without me having to ask anything. It's a good thing they're here too, because I would have forgotten to warm the taco shells, and there were still a lot of other details to take care of to bring the meal together.

When the food's ready, Alpha Ian and Alpha Damon appear, both of them also smelling enticingly clean and wearing light, casual clothing that shows off their hard bodies. Dirty men are sexy, but so too, apparently, are freshly-washed men. Or maybe I'm just starting to lose my mind.

Dinner goes well—most of it, anyway. No one keels over after eating the food I prepared. Nothing was burnt, and thanks to Alpha Ian and Erik's help, I was able to get everything on the table while it was still warm.

The margaritas turn out to be delicious, if a little strong. I start feeling the alcohol when I'm halfway through the first one, but when Alpha Ian offers a round of refills, I say yes.

As Alpha Ian mixes a new batch of margaritas, I follow him into the kitchen to assemble the desserts, which consist of layers of cubed pound cake, sliced strawberries that have been resting with sugar on them-macerated, the recipe on my phone tells me and whipped cream

Aside fromErik, who's as quiet as usual, the men ooh and ahh when I bring in the strawberry shortcake.

"You shouldn't have done this," Alpha Ian says. "Now we're going to want you to cook more often."

To his side, Alpha Damon is sampling the whipped cream, licking a dab of it from his lips with the tip of his tongue as he stares right at me, triggering the release of a thousand butterflies in my stomach. "It's nice to see you have a night off from work," Alpha Ian says.

"It's nice to be off," I say. "I did ask for extra shifts, though, so I'll have money for a security deposit when I finally find an apartment

I. I'expecting money back from my old place, but it's taking forever."

"When's your next day off?" Alpha Ian asks. I keep my eyes fixed on him because Alpha

Damon is still watching me intently, like I'm a second helping of dessert. What is with him tonight?

"Sunday. Why?" I ask, taking another bite of the shortcake, which I have to say turned out too munchy but they had to lie to me that it was okay.