Her Real Alpha

by Sherie Keys

  “You’re afraid he might leak some juicy gossip somewhere?”

  “Maybe…a little,” he said and I simply shook my head.

  “That’s what you get for being too fancy,” I said and Hunter laughed.

  We stepped out into the hall and, thankfully, made our way down the hall quickly, but then at the last possible second. I heard Caleb’s voice.

  “Hunt, before you go, I have one last thing…”

  I didn’t stick around to even look back, I just kept walking and didn’t stop until I was out by the elevators. My heart was pounding, my temples were throbbing, and my mouth was dry. I was pretty sure that meant I would pass out soon.

  “Mel, what happened, I thought you ran away?” Hunter said and I shook my head. “Are you okay? You look like you’re having a panic attack,” he said, his voice was full of concern.

  “No…okay, yes, I’m hyperventilating a little bit…I just—realized something was all. I’ll be okay, though. Can we go outside now please?” I asked and Hunter nodded and then we rode down to the lobby and swiftly walked outside where I put my hands on my knees and forced myself to take even breaths.

  “What happened, Mel? Talk to me,” Hunter said in a soothing voice, even though I was making a semi-scene outside of the building he worked in. Hunter simply rubbed my back and tried to calm me down.

  “I, um, saw someone in the lobby before I got to your office that I used to know and I sort of freaked out,” I said and then straightened.

  I hated lying to him, and I had done it twice then. Not to mention the huge lie of omission that I was dating his freaking business partner. Someone he worked with every week!

  “What was he, an ex-boyfriend? Was he a jerk?”

  I shook my head and chuckled humorlessly.

  “No, it was…a woman I used to…go to school with. It’s a long story I rather not talk about it,” I said and then felt sick to my stomach.

  I needed to stop before the lying got out of hand. I had to sit both Hunter and Caleb down and tell them the truth.

  “Oh, okay then, no worries. Come on, you’ll feel better with something to eat and drink,” he said and I nodded then followed him to his car.

  The ride was mostly quiet as I stared out of the window stoically, but Hunter kept to his word and didn’t push me at all. When we got to the restaurant, Hunter finally forced us to break the silence.

  “So my dad is getting out of the hospital…” he said and my head lifted from the menu in front of me to meet his gaze.

  “That’s great! What are you thinking, how do you feel?” I asked him and he shrugged, then sighed.

  “Honestly, I don’t know…I’ve been visiting him, we haven’t really talked much, but I think I’m ready to finally have the talk with him you know?” Hunter said and I nodded. “I don’t want to be on frigid terms with him and my mom anymore,” Hunter said and I reached across the table to take his hand in mine.

  “That’s good, Hunter, I think you’ll make him feel even better if you guys talk. Just remember that he still has a weak heart, so don’t yell at him or anything,” I said and Hunter chuckled.

  “I know, I’ll be gentle with him,” Hunter said.

  “Good, I think you two will come to an understanding at the very least.”

  I was optimistic and Hunter smiled at me with that look in his eyes that made my heart pick up its pace. My heart has been through a lot in the past week or so, I was certain it wasn’t healthy. It was a sign that I needed to just tell both Hunter and Caleb everything and then choose once and for all, before I killed myself from anxiety and panic.

  “Yeah, my sister already made her peace with the old man and our mom, so it’s kind of my turn anyways.”

  We ended up having a nice lunch after Hunter distracted me with talk about his family and he actually alluded to introducing me to them a few times.

  Hunter dropped me off at home before he headed back to work and I spent a large portion of time pacing around the apartment. I finally worked up the nerve to text both Caleb and Hunter to come over to my place after work. The encounter would no doubt be the pinnacle of awkward. I went out to grab a few bottles of wine, because I thought we would all need it. Before it was time for them to come over, I called my brother and Peter on a conference call.

  “So, you guys wouldn’t believe what I found out today and am doing as a result of said information that I found out…today,” I said and there was a pause on both lines.

  “Okay…what did you find out?” Peter asked and I took a deep breath and then poured myself a glass of wine to sooth my mounting nerves.

  “Well, Hunter invited me to his job today, so that we could go out for lunch and you know what? He is part owner of the brokerage firm called Caldwell and Berkshire. Caldwell being Caleb’s last name. Then sure enough, it turns out Hunter and Caleb work with each other and own a freaking business together!”

  There was a shocked silence on the other line and I took a gulp of wine.

  “Are you serious? Are you…you’re serious?” Joe asked me, clearly in shock.

  “Holy shit, I just looked it up, it’s true,” Peter said and I simply nodded my head sagely, even though my nerves were shot at that point.

  “So after I had a panic attack, I decided to invite them both over and explain that I’ve been dating both of them and that I will need some time to make a decision on who I want to be with, assuming they both don’t hate me and leave me,” I said and both Peter and Joe sighed heavily.

  “Good luck with that one, baby girl,” Joe said and I am sure Peter agreed.

  “Seriously, but I think you’re doing the right thing even though it’s…hard. Let us know if you want us to be close by…just in case. You know if guys get emotional…” Peter said and Joe hopped right on that line of thinking.

  “Yeah, Mel, forget it, we’re definitely going to be out in the hall when the talk goes down. I know you like the guys, but you’ve never seen them when they’re mad or anything,” he said and I sighed.

  “Guys, it should be fine,” I said, already exasperated.

  “No, Mel, come on, you’re about to drop a bomb on these guys,” Peter said and I was surprised, he usually took my side when Joe was being too much of a big brother.

  “At least let us hide in your bedroom just in case,” Joe said and I threw my hands up and then took another long drink of wine.

  “Fine, just hurry up and get here, because they both get off work in an hour,” I said and then hung up.

  Everything was becoming so complicated, I just wanted to un-complicate it.

  Hunter

  Mel had sent a weird text saying that she needed me to come by after work. So once everything was settled at the office I was set on heading to her place.

  “Hey, Hunt, see you tomorrow?” Caleb said as I passed him in the hall.

  He was almost innately polite as always, even though he seemed like he had something else weighing on his mind. It’s one of the things that made him a good business man.

  “Yeah, definitely, headed over to your family’s house?” I asked and he shook his head.

  “Nah, I got a weird text from this girl I’ve been dating, I’m going to see her,” he said and I nodded.

  “I know how you feel,” I said and then we pretty much left the building together, but didn’t say much as we both seemed to be lost in thought.

  I was just hoping that Mel recovered from her moment of panic and didn’t have some deep dark secret to spring on me. Not that it would change how I felt for her; if it was a problem, then I’d definitely help her through it. She’d done that with me and my dad’s situation.

  I practically sped over to her place and then knocked on her door. She opened it abruptly as if she had been waiting on the other side with her ear to the door.

  “Hey! Come in,” she said.

  I stepped inside and then went over to the living room and shrugged off my jacket to drape over the back of the couch.

  “Hey! Co
me on in.”

  I glanced behind me, confused as to why she was repeating herself and then I saw Caleb walking into the apartment.

  We both looked at each other with drawn eyebrows and then I put two and two together. I knew she had been seeing someone else, but I couldn’t fathom that it would be Caleb! That smooth bastard, of course she’d be head over heels for him, what chance did a sarcastic guy like me have against him?

  “What is this, Melanie?” Caleb asked her as he stepped into the room and crossed his arms over his chest.

  I simply slid my hands into my pockets and looked at Mel as she stood by the kitchen counter where there were a couple bottles of wine sitting amongst a few glasses, one was just recently emptied.

  “I’ll take one of those,” I said and Melanie almost seemed relieved to have something to do with her hands as she poured me a tall glass of white wine.

  “I…have been dating the both of you…and today I came to the realization that the two of you work together.”

  She poured herself and Caleb a glass and then distributed the wine. I took a sip and then waited for her to continue, Caleb was standing stoically and watching her like a hawk.

  “I met you both at the gala I crashed and then again at the deli and it was like some weird sort of fate, I don’t know! At the time it was just me dating, and then…and then a bunch of stuff happened between us, Caleb, and us, Hunter, and things got complicated. I have feelings for both of you and I’m driving myself crazy and not to mention making myself ill by dating the both of you.

  I honestly need some time to choose, because I don’t think it’s fair to continue dating the both of you from this point,” she said and then took a deep breath and a long drink of her wine.

  “You shouldn’t be drinking like that after being so sick, Melanie,” Caleb finally said and she looked at him, then put her glass down and looked down at the floor.

  “I suspected that you were dating someone else…I had no fathomable idea that it was Caleb, but I suspected…” I didn’t know how I felt, oddly my chest felt like it was full of cement at the thought of losing Melanie…to Caleb.

  “I had no idea…I mean I knew we weren’t exclusive or anything…but I had no idea, Melanie, I thought you really liked me,” Caleb said and she looked at him as if he were breaking her heart.

  I rolled my eyes while looking down so he wouldn’t see.

  “If you need time to choose, then I’ll give it to you, Mel. I’ll wait for your answer, a chance with you is worth a little patience,” I said and then took a long drink of wine and grabbed my jacket. “I have to go,” I said and glanced at her before I reached the door.

  She looked to be at a loss and she seemed like she wanted to say something. “Don’t say anything yet, Mel, especially when you don’t know what to say,” I said and her eyes filled with a sheen of tears.

  I left before any could fall from her eyes. I didn’t really care if Caleb stayed to comfort her; if she wanted me, then she would choose me.

  I went to my place and changed to spend about three hours in the gym. I left only when I felt like I could pass out as soon as I found a comfortable seat. I made it back home without falling asleep on the road and then showered and went up to my bed.

  I thought I’d be able to just pass out, but of course my mind went directly to Melanie. Would she choose me? I was almost certain that she would choose Caleb, he was simply the better choice. He had a great family with no drama, no past, he was a great guy, successful, handsome, who knew, he was probably even good in bed. I sat up and dragged my fingers through my hair, then like a pathetic loser, I grabbed my phone and set it in front of me.

  I think I sat awake staring at my phone for about three hours before it rang. Melanie’s name blazed across the screen and I stared at it in shock before actually answering it.

  “Mel,” I said, sounding way too relieved and hopeful, but I couldn’t help it. I wanted Melanie in my life, I wanted her.

  “Hunter…I—I, um…” She trailed off and I felt like someone was shoving a stake through my chest.

  “You chose him didn’t you? You chose Caleb,” I said blandly and then pinched the bridge of my nose.

  “No, I didn’t…I want you, Hunter,” she said softly and I almost didn’t hear her correctly.

  “What? You…what?”

  “Can you let me up please? Security is tight here,” she said and I jumped out of bed and hurried to get to the landline and call down to the security desk. Within five minutes, Melanie was in her pajamas in my foyer and I all but ran over to her and scooped her up into my arms and hugged her hard.

  “I don’t understand, why’d you choose me?” I asked her and then finally set her down on her feet.

  “Because you’ve gotten under my skin. Even when I’m with him I think, about you…it’s hardly the same when I’m with you. You, well you’ve got me,” she said and I smiled at her like a kid who’s just got a lifetime of free access to Disney World.

  “So you’re mine? No one else’s? You’re not dating anyone else?” I asked her and she shook her head and giggled.

  “No, I think it’s safe to say we’re no longer dating other people and that we’re in a full on relationship,” she said and I grinned at her again.

  “Good, because I…I love you, Mel, and I can’t get you out of my system, nor do I ever want to,” I admitted and her entire face suffused with happiness.

  “You mean that,” she said as an observation and I nodded my head, my gaze was sincere on hers.

  “I do,” I said and she hugged me tight before pulling back a fraction.

  “I love you too, Hunter…obviously,” she said and I laughed then picked her up and spun her around.

  “Good, let’s go have sex now,” I said and then carried her into my bedroom.

  Melanie giggled as I plopped her down onto the bed. Her blue green eyes were alight with excitement and her curly black hair was spread around her head in a sexy disarray. I was ridiculously happy that she chose me, that she was mine and no one else’s.

  “Wait…before we start, how did he take it?” I asked and she sobered a little and shrugged her shoulder delicately.

  “He understood, he wanted me to be happy, we agreed to be friends and that was that,” she said and I nodded.

  I knew he’d need some time to get over it, hopefully it wouldn’t hinder anything between us at work. But all the technicalities were leaving my mind as Melanie pulled off her sweat shirt and her naked breasts bounced free.

  “You’ll definitely be happy, I’ll make sure of that,” I said and she looked up at me with happiness and content in her eyes. I knew that she knew she made the right decision.

  THANKS FOR READING!

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  SEXUAL HEALIN'

  A BWWM BILLIONAIRE ROMANCE By..

  SHERIE KEYS

  Summary

  Brandy Keller's part time job as a masseuse took an interesting twist when she gained a wealthy new client named Kyle Jamison.

  She was intrigued by the young billionaire and she found it hard to keep her cool as she had to rub her lubricated hands all over his muscular, toned upper body.

  However, one day everything changed as a professional relationship became much more.

  Kyle was no longer interested in just having his muscles healed. He wanted a different type of healing and he was willing to make Brandy an offer she simply could not refuse in order to make it happen....

  Could she possibly accept this billionaire's indecent proposal?

  Chapter1

  The large room was silent, except for the hypnotic drone of the college professor who talked on endlessly, and the scratch of pens and pencils making their way across paper, as the mass of s
tudents sitting in the classroom made copious notes and struggled not to fall asleep in this humanities class.

  Brandy Keller had been working exceptionally hard in her humanities class and in all of her classes at NYU, but she felt that she was still struggling to get by and it weighed on her heavily. She was a good student, but she was putting herself through school, and working part time as a massage therapist.

  She studied in what little free time she had, which meant that every moment she could devote to the things she was working so hard for had to be devoted to those things whole-heartedly, or she would fail, and all of her life would probably come crashing down around her.