Bossy: An Alpha Collection

by Levine, Nina

  I hug her goodbye. “Stop thanking me. I’m here whenever you need me.”

  We finish up our goodbyes, and I head outside, dialling Luke as I walk. The cold air catches me by surprise, and I pick up my pace so I can shelter in the warmth of my car. This winter has been colder than usual. We’ve also had a lot more rain, and I almost slip on the muddy driveway.

  Luke answers just as my foot slides through the mud. He catches me muttering an expletive, and chuckles. “Your day isn’t going so well?”

  I unlock the car door and slide in before slamming the cold out. “Bloody mud. I am so sick of this rain! You need to do a sun dance or something. Anything to make it stop!”

  “A sun dance?”

  “Yeah, to make the sun shine,” I say. “Seriously Luke, how do you not know what a sun dance is?”

  His laughter brings a smile to my lips. “Callie, I’ve never heard of a sun dance. You’ll have to demonstrate it for me the next time I see you.” His voice has the sexy cheeky tone to it that I’m growing to love. God, I’ve wasted a whole year arguing with him when I could have been listening to this instead.

  “Nuh, uh. You only want to see that so you can imagine sexy times. You’ll have to wait until those sexy times can actually happen before I demonstrate anything.”

  He groans. “You have no idea how often I think about you.” The need I hear matches my own, and I squeeze my thighs together and say yet another prayer that his divorce hurries up.

  “Okay, we need to move off this topic. What did you call for?”

  “Are you free for dinner tonight? It’d just be a quick one during my break, which I know is not perfect, but I need to see you.”

  “As in, you need to tell me something? Or, you just really, really want to see me?”

  “As in, if you don’t get your ass over here tonight, this friends thing might get thrown out the damn window.”

  Oh, boy.

  That voice.

  So gravelly and demanding.

  Bossy Luke has reared his head. I’m starting to really like bossy Luke.

  “What time?”

  “Seven.”

  “I’ll be there. I can stop and pick some dinner up on the way. What’s your favourite takeaway?”

  “Chinese.”

  “Ooh, I know an awesome Chinese place. I’ll grab their omelette and fried rice—they’re the best I’ve ever had.” I hesitate for a moment. “Unless you want something else.”

  “No. I like everything, so whatever you get will be good.”

  “Okay, well I’ll see you tonight.”

  “Callie?”

  “Yes?”

  “Don’t be late. I don’t want to waste a minute.”

  Luke Hardy is trying to kill me. I know this for sure now. Soon I’ll have no heart left because he’ll own all the pieces.

  My veins flow with lust from the minute I step foot inside Elixir that night, until long after I leave. And I begin to seriously doubt I can last much longer being with Luke without having him completely as mine.

  His eyes track me as soon as he sees me. They don’t let go, and I send yet another prayer to the heavens. This one is for help with keeping my hands off him. The man is dressed for the killing season. And it’s not just me he’s killing. He has his own posse of admirers sitting at the bar staring at him with probably the same look I have on my face.

  My steps falter a little as I take in the gorgeousness of this man. When I finally reach him, he’s moved from behind the bar to meet me, and his arm slides around my waist so he can pull me close.

  “You okay?” he murmurs into my ear.

  I can’t think straight. Between his appearance, his warm breath on my skin, his masculine scent and his goddamn hand on my ass, I think I might finally be going batshit crazy.

  Pressing my hand against his chest to try to put some space between us, I mutter, “What the fuck are you wearing, anyway?” I nod at his black shirt. “What is that? And why do you feel it necessary to torment me with it?”

  He looks down at his shirt and appears genuinely puzzled, but then again, he’s a male, and what do men know? Lifting his face back to mine, he says, “What’s wrong with it?”

  I lift my brows, ready to go to battle. “Well, I think maybe it’s way too tight. And cottony. And it’s definitely too thin. I mean, for all the muscles I can see through its thin, cottony material, you may as well not have worn anything. And that V-neck button opening is bad for womankind. The way it’s just flapping open there, exposing that skin, is shameful. I do not need to be seeing that skin and that chest and—Jesus, Luke—those goddamn muscles. Put them away.”

  Amusement has crept across his face, and I clench my hands by my side in an effort not to smack him. “Is there anything else you’re not happy with tonight?”

  “Yes! Those jeans need to be burnt. Tonight. Now. This very fucking minute.” I pause. “Actually, wait. Turn around.”

  He smirks. “You wanna see my ass?”

  “So what if I do?”

  He leans close and brushes his lips across mine. The bastard! “Anytime you wanna see a body part of mine, all you gotta do is ask. I’d be more than happy to take the jeans off for you and burn them right now if that would make you happy. The shirt, too.”

  I suck in a breath.

  Oh, hell no.

  No, no, no.

  I press against his chest. “We need to go and eat. No more talk of clothes or body parts.”

  He laughs as he reaches for the takeaway bag I’m holding and leads me to his back office. I haven’t spent a lot of time in his office, so I take the opportunity to inspect it in greater detail.

  It’s small, but Luke manages to keep it tidy and uncluttered. It’s a theme I’ve noticed in his personal spaces. Not that I spent very long at his home, but in that time, I observed it was clean, open, and uncluttered.

  Luke has a small desk facing the door. Besides the window behind it, the desk is the first thing you see when you enter. The wall to the left has a large dark wood bookcase—it’s made of the same wood as the desk. The wall on the right is bare of furniture, but frame after frame hangs on it. A quick glance reveals photos of him, Sean, Tyler, and Paris. There are also some with an older man, who I presume might be his father because of the way they have their arms over each other’s shoulders. And then there’s one of Luke, Sean and a woman of about forty. It could be his mother, but she looks too young. Maybe an aunt?

  Luke cuts into my thoughts. “It’s my mother.” At my blank look, he nods at the photo I’ve been inspecting. “In that photo, it’s Mum with me and Sean.”

  I sit in the chair he gives me. “She’s so young.”

  “Forty-nine this year.” He moves the office chair from his side of the desk so he can sit next to me.

  I take another look at the photo. “Wow, she’s aging well. I would have picked her for under forty-five.”

  Passing me a plate, he says, “It’s amazing what plastic surgery can do.”

  I’m so engrossed in the photo that I don’t realise Luke has served my dinner for me. “Thank you,” I say quietly when he gives me chopsticks. I’m fighting with myself over arguing with him. It seems ungrateful not to appreciate him doing things for me, but at the same time, I need him to know I still want to do things for myself.

  He frowns. “What’s wrong?”

  I take a moment before trying to make him understand. These words need to come out right. “I love that you want to do things for me, but I’m capable of doing them for myself.”

  “I know you can. But, you’re just going to have to get used to me doing some things for you, because that’s who I am. I’m a man who likes to take care of his woman.”

  His woman.

  My tummy does somersaults. I try to ignore them, though because it’s important to me that Luke understands my needs.

  “I’m getting that. But what you need to know is that I’m not okay with that.”

  “Why?”

  “
Because as much as you’re a man who likes to take care of his woman, I’m a woman who likes to know she can look after herself. I won’t be one of those women who doesn’t even know how to access her bank account when her husband dies.” I can feel myself getting a little worked up, but I’m helpless to stop it as memories flood my mind.

  He stills as he processes that. “Has this happened to someone close to you?”

  “Yes. To my grandmother, Mum’s mother. I was with her when she found out my grandfather had died, and she looked at me with such despair and told me she didn’t think she could live without him. I thought she meant that she loved him so much that she’d be lost without him. What she actually meant was she couldn’t drive, she didn’t know what bills they had, she didn’t know how to use an ATM machine because he’d always done it, and she had hardly any friends because he was her entire life. I won’t be her, Luke.”

  He listens closely. When I finish talking, he says, “Taking care of someone doesn’t mean taking over their life. I fully expect you to give me hell if I go too far. But I will take care of you, Callie. It’s in my DNA.”

  His expression is so earnest. I take a moment to pull my thoughts together. This is give-and-take, and he’s signalled that he fully expects me to call him out if he takes too much; I need to give a little here.

  I smile. “Okay,” I say softly.

  He nods, letting that sink in. And then he lifts his chin at my food. “Eat up, it’ll go cold.” I fight to hold back my laugh. He’s right—taking care and being bossy is in his DNA.

  We eat in silence for a little while, but while no words pass our lips, the need we’re both feeling thrums between us. I can’t keep my eyes off Luke’s body. I try, but I keep catching myself staring. And each time I lift my gaze back to his, I find him watching me with a knowing look.

  “When can I see you again?” I blurt out.

  He’s quick to reply. “Tomorrow night. I’ll organise someone to cover me here.”

  “Thank God.” I don’t even bother hiding my relief. I’m used to relationships moving a little slower. I don’t usually know what I want this soon, but with Luke, after knowing him for a year, I know exactly what I want. And I’m not going to do the flirtation dance of waiting for the man to make the next move.

  11

  Luke

  “Bowling?” Callie says as I pull into the bowling alley car park.

  I park the car and cut the engine before turning to her. “How long since you’ve been bowling?”

  “God, it would have to be at least fifteen years, maybe longer.”

  I jerk my chin towards the door. “Get your ass out of the car and don’t judge it then. By the end of tonight, you’ll be begging me to bring you bowling again.”

  Her eyes flare a little at my order, but she doesn’t argue. We exit the car, and I lock it as I make my way around to where she waits for me.

  “Are you warm enough?” I ask as she rubs her arms.

  She smiles. “Yes.”

  With my arm around her waist, we walk the short distance to the building. Once inside, I pay, to her annoyance, and we choose our bowling balls. Callie continues to give me the look that lets me know she thinks this is lame. She won’t. In a moment, she won’t know what fucking hit her.

  “Okay, master, show me how good bowling can be,” she says once we’re settled at our table.

  I smirk. “You’re up first.”

  She raises her brows and slashes her finger in the air at my mouth as she gives me some more attitude. “What’s with that smirk?”

  I nod at the lane. “Go.”

  She mutters something I can’t make out, but she takes her turn.

  “Bugger, I only got one damn pin,” she grumbles as she waits for her ball to come back up.

  I move to her. “I’ll give you some pointers.”

  She narrows her eyes at me. “So I can beat you?” I love her competitive nature. It matches mine, but tonight mine doesn’t exist. Tonight, I have a whole other agenda.

  “What kind of man would I be if I didn’t help my woman?”

  Her lips purse together as if she doesn’t quite believe me. “I think you’ve got a motive I haven’t quite figured out yet, Luke Hardy.”

  I smack her ass. “Move.”

  A moment later, I stand behind her as she holds her ball up, ready to take aim. I place my hands on her hips and bend to her ear. “You need to move to the right a little, baby.”

  Her sharp intake of breath jolts pleasure through me, and I groan as my dick hardens. In retrospect, this may not have been my best idea.

  “You sneaky bastard,” she murmurs as she takes a step to the right.

  I tighten my grip on her hips. “Too far. Come back a little.”

  She slides a fraction to the left.

  My dick twitches again.

  I slide my left arm around her waist and hold her there while my other arm lifts so I can point at the bowling pins. “You need to aim at the third arrow from the right.”

  “Okay.” She practically breathes this word out as if she’s struggling to even form words.

  I tighten my hold around her waist, and she sucks in another sharp breath. “The ball should be in line with your shoulder as you approach the lane.”

  Her chest rises. “Yes.”

  I trail my fingers down her right arm. “Extend your arm after you let the ball go. You need that follow through.”

  I watch her face over her shoulder. When her tongue flicks out to lick her lips, my dick does the motherfucking dance of joy that unfortunately can’t go anywhere tonight.

  “I think I’ve got this, Luke.” So damn breathy.

  I loosen my hold on her and slide my arm slowly from around her waist. Just as I’ve almost let her go, I grip her hips, and press hard, tilting her back, so her ass hits my dick. “You sure?” I ask.

  “Fuck,” she mutters softly as I grind against her a little. My movement is so subtle that no one would notice, but she sure as hell notices. She’s practically panting now.

  “What was that?” I ask.

  She stills in my hold and turns her face, so we make eye contact. “Who knew bowling could be so dirty? It’s a shame you’ll have no one to take care of that for you. I’ll be sure to think of you when I come later tonight.”

  Fuck.

  When I don’t reply straight away, she cocks her head. “You want me to send a photo of that?”

  My arm slides back around her waist, and I grind a little harder against her ass. Gripping her tightly, I growl, “That dirty mouth of yours needs to be washed out.”

  She smiles sweetly at me. “Oh, and how I’d love for your dick to do that… but not tonight, sorry.” Turning in my arms, she stands on her tiptoes and kisses me. When she pulls away, she says, “You were right about bowling. I think we should do this a lot more often. Don’t you?”

  She’s fucking playing with me more than I ever could with her.

  Callie St James has whipped me tonight. Hell, this woman fucking whipped me a long time ago.

  I stare at the text Callie just sent me.

  * * *

  Callie: I just got a job at the local paper. They want me to start tomorrow. *throwing confetti*

  * * *

  I call her.

  “Morning,” she says, the excitement clear in her voice. “You didn’t have to call. I know you’re probably busy with Sean.”

  “What you don’t seem to grasp is that I can’t stop thinking about you. I wanted to hear your voice.”

  “You’ve spent all night thinking about your cock against my ass, haven’t you?”

  Fuck. Her dirty mouth will be my downfall. Taking her bowling last night was a serious lapse in judgement.

  I move the conversation along. For my dick’s sake. “When does the job start?”

  “They want me there this afternoon just after lunch so they can brief me on what my duties will be.”

  “Full-time work?”

  “Yes, so no more
café.”

  Paris distracts me before I can reply. “I’ve gotta go, Luke. Are you sure you’ll be okay to figure something out for tomorrow night?”

  I nod and wave her goodbye before giving my attention back to Callie.

  “Is everything okay?” she asks.

  I run my fingers through my hair. “Paris can’t be home for Sean tomorrow night, so I need to find a babysitter. I’m about to cave and ask my mother if she is free because Tyler isn’t available either.”

  “I can do it,” she blurts out, before saying, “Unless of course you’d rather I didn’t have too much to do with Sean until you and I are more involved.” Her words fall out of her mouth in a rush, and my heart constricts at her hesitation. I hate hearing that doubt in her voice.

  I grip my phone hard. “Callie, as far as I’m concerned, I’m involved here. Completely and utterly involved. I want you to spend time with Sean, and if you’re free tomorrow night, it will save my ass.”

  “Okay, I’m in then. What time do you need me?”

  “Paris can stay until six thirty. Does that work for you with your new job?”

  “Absolutely. I’ll be over before then.”

  “I’ll organise someone to cover me at the bar after eleven, so you don’t have to stay too late.”

  “I don’t mind, Luke. Whatever you need.”

  Sean wanders into the kitchen where I’m standing. Tugging on my shirt, he says, “Daddy, I need you to come and get my plane down from the shelf.”

  I press my fingers to my lips. “I’m on the phone, little man, but I’ll be there in a minute, okay?”

  Callie interrupts. “You go and get his plane. I’m heading out to the supermarket. I’ll talk to you later.”

  We end the call, and I think back on the hesitation she had about looking after Sean. I need to get this damn divorce sorted so that Callie can relax into this relationship. Because as sure of it as I am, she’s still not feeling settled. And I need her to be settled. That woman is my future.