The Loneliest Alpha (The MacKellen Alphas) (30 page)

“You
got a work room?” Hanna asked.

“Yeah,
I didn’t have enough space to work in my room, so I pulled everything down
here.”

She
led them down into the basement and threw out her arms in front of her
materials. “Ta-da!”

Both
girls immediately flocked to the feathered piece—her masterpiece. “Wow, this is
gorgeous.”

“Yeah,
if only I could fit in something that small,” Hanna said.

Alicia
waved Hanna’s pessimism away. “It’s in my size. If I made one in your size it’d
fit you perfectly. Speaking of which, that’s what I wanted to show you.”

With
a critical eye she studied Hanna’s body. She had a full figure with curvy hips,
large breasts, and an equally sized rear. Alicia understood sizes and
dimensions and more importantly she understood that women with certain body
shapes looked better in some lingerie than others.

Digging
around in her box of goodies, she mumbled under her breath until she found it. “Ah-ha!
Here it is.” With a bow, she flicked the babydoll lingerie piece out to Hanna. “Just
your size.”

Hanna’s
eyes widened. “Wait, you mean you want me to wear that?”

“Absolutely.
It’s not going to look sexy on its own.”

“I
don’t know; it looks pretty sexy by itself.”

The
babydoll was lavender sheer lace with supportive straps for women who actually
had boobs, unlike her, and had a silk ribbon that tied under the bust. The
negligee stopped right at the top of the thighs and bottom of the butt and it
arched up on the thighs to reveal lots of skin. The sheer lace meshed with
satin. It was pretty but equally sexy. It’d also fit Hanna’s curvy build
perfectly.

“Take
it.”

Hanna
took a step backward. “What?”

Alicia
shook the negligee at her. “Really, I want you to have it. It should fit like a
charm. And it’s on the house.” She grinned.

Kaity
pouted. “I want one.”

Alicia
eyed her figure then snapped her fingers. “You’ll look great in white. I got
something for you.” She dug back in her box and came up with a white laced up
halter. Black ribbon tied the two halves together up the front and the top was
held up by white cord that wrapped around the neck. The material, save for that
around the breasts, was completely shear and fell to mid-butt. Very revealing
and it went perfect with sexy underwear.

“This
will suit you just fine.”

Kaity
snatched it with wide, greedy eyes. “I
love
,” she gushed.

Hanna
took hers much more slowly. “Okay, but I can’t guarantee I’ll wear it or fit in
it.”

Alicia
grinned. “Oh, you’ll wear it and it’ll fit. Trust me.”

Baffled,
Hanna shook her head. “Who am I going to wear this for, myself?”

“You
just need the right man to show it to.”

CHAPTER 19

After
having dinner with Alicia and Kaity, Hanna headed home. Alicia had insisted on
stuffing the very pretty, way-too-sexy lingerie in a bag before she left the
house. It’s not like she was a prude, but she couldn’t remember a time in her
life where she wore lingerie—ever. It hadn’t crossed her mind.

Just
looking at it and picturing herself naked in it felt all kinds of strange.
Almost a naughty feeling. Which was why the first thing she did when she got
home was march right upstairs, turn the radio on, and pull off her clothes.

Naked,
she stared at the lingerie. It was really something. Sexy and beautiful all
rolled into one. She’d never touched anything like it. Her underwear and bra
selections had always been so…normal. Not to say she didn’t own a few pairs of
lacy bits, but nothing like
this
. A piece of clothing meant to push her
breasts up and bare them, and reveal her butt and legs. The material was shear
enough to see her skin through.

Taking
a deep breath, she prepared to try it on.

Bzzzt.

“This
must be a sign,” she said as she crossed the room to her cell phone.
Bzzzt
,
it vibrated again.

Flipping
it open, she froze at what she saw on the screen. A message. For her. From
Alex.

This
can’t be real.

How
you doin’? Just wanted to know if you’re all right. -Alex
.

He
wrote just to find out if she was all right? Well, aside from nearly
hyperventilating right now, she’d say she was doing swell.

How
did he have her number? He probably just asked Gavin for it and he gave it away
without question. After all, why wouldn’t he?

Her
thumbs hesitated over the phone before typing back. With each little push of
the button her heart skipped a beat.
I’m fine, thanks for asking. How are
you?

A
minute passed and then another. She was just about to set the phone down when
it buzzed in her hand. The vibration startled a squeal out of her nearly making
her drop the phone.

“Stupid,
stupid.”

She
checked the screen and read:
I’d rather know what you’re up to.

Aside
from the fact that she blushed and smiled and felt a whole whirlwind of
emotions from that single sentence, she somehow managed to type back.

Just
trying on something Alicia gave me.

Not
even ten seconds passed before her phone buzzed.
Doesn’t she make lingerie?

Holy
crap, he knew that? Mortified, she typed back,
Yes…

Just
because she made lingerie didn’t necessarily mean Alicia had given her some.
She could have given her an old T-shirt. Oh god, she hated text messaging
because she couldn’t tell what his face looked like or what his reaction was or
if there was one at all. If she was lucky, he had no idea it was lingerie.

Hell,
woman.

Two
words, simple ones even, and she had no idea what they actually meant. Shaking
her head to dislodge the thoughts, she texted back.
Was there something else
you wanted?

Please,
oh please, say yes. It might be the most crazy thing she’d ever done, but
talking to Alex made her feel like a loose cannon. He made her feel capable of
doing things she’d never thought possible before—like standing up to Tom.

The
phone stayed quiet for a few seconds, so she got back to undressing. The radio
surrounded her in some good southern country. She’d always loved the singers
with real twang in their voices.

She
studied the lingerie contraption to figure out how to put it on before she
tried it. It would be the first time she’d gotten stuck in an intricately
designed outfit and had ripped a seam trying to get it off.

Luckily,
the outfit looked simple. She pulled it on over her head and performed a little
dance tucking and shrugging until her breasts went into the right places and
the material fell down to where it should—not nearly far enough down.

The
phone buzzed on her dresser.

Hanna
stood upright and checked out her reflection in the full body mirror.

“Holy
crap.”

She
looked…

“Ridiculous.
You look ridiculous, Hanna. You don’t have the body to wear something like
this.”

A
heavy weight made her shoulders slump. She didn’t like the negativity that had
been clouding her lately, but she couldn’t help it either. Her mate was gone.
She’d have to file papers with the Justicars office soon to start the official
process. Her stomach looked too rounded , her butt too big, arms too big.
Everything looked all wrong. Not how Alicia or Kaity would look in the same
thing. But, she’d have to admit the material was pretty and it could look worse
on her.

Her
eyes slid away from the mirror and caught the phone. How could she have
forgotten it just vibrated? She raced to it and flipped it open.

Yeah,
I wanna take you out tonight. You up for it?

Her
eyes squeezed shut then opened again to re-read the message. The words were
still there. It had to be some joke. One of Alex’s buddy must have his phone
and be texting her as some sick prank. This couldn’t be real. He, the bad-ass
biker who had no qualms about punching a man in the face, wanted to take her
out.

She
had to know the truth.
Is this really Alex Thompson?

Of
course if it was a prankster, she wouldn’t really be able to tell.

Same
one who hit that son of a bitch Tom in the mouth. Shoulda done worse.

It
had to be him. Alex had always been a private person; he wouldn’t have spilled
the beans about her personal outing with him. No way. So this really was Alex
and he really wanted to take her out.

Did
he mean it as a friend kind of thing? Maybe he just wanted someone to go see a
movie with him.
Oh, please, Hanna, you know better than that
, she told
herself.
You aren’t that stupid. He hit Tom for you, he said nice things to
you, you know what that means. He actually likes you.

Without
a doubt, she knew what her answer was. She was pushing Tom out of her life
where he belonged and beginning a new one. A happier one. She was going to get
a job she actually liked, maybe bartending or bounty hunting; something
dangerous and exciting. Maybe Gavin would let her train to be a lieutenant in
the pack. She could have a real purpose, one not dictated because she was good
with numbers and had a college degree. A job that Tom had wanted her to get
just like him.

Argh,
she wanted to growl just thinking about all the things she’d done for him over
the years. All the changes she made to make him happy. It had never bothered
her before. Her mother had said many times that making a relationship work
meant making sacrifices and compromises. Hanna knew she’d made many of them.
But how many had Tom ever made?

She
couldn’t think of one. Especially not the one that’d stuck a dagger in her
heart and turned her world upside down—the other women.

Smiling,
her fingers started typing in her reply:
I’d love to.

Before
she had a chance to hit send, a knock sounded on the downstairs door.

“Oh
shoot!”

Running
into the bathroom, she grabbed her robe and pulled it on while stuffing her
feet into slippers. The knocking continued sending a burst of panic inside her.
Something was wrong. People didn’t knock like that unless something was wrong.

She
threw the front door open and her whole world came crashing down.

The
happy, upbeat country song playing upstairs went mute. Even the man before her
was speaking, she could see his lips moving, but the words were indecipherable.

It
was like something had sucked the life out of her body, had maybe even sucked
her soul out, and all that was left was a husk. A shell of herself.

He
wanted in and she didn’t recall saying anything, but he walked in anyway. He
walked in agitated steps, his hair in disarray, his clothes rumpled and dirty.
He looked like hell and still his mouth moved, but no sound came out.

It
had to be a defense mechanism, she realized. Her mind new how difficult this
was and didn’t want to deal with it. Her mind knew it was too much, she was
overloaded, so it was trying to protect her.

But
it didn’t last long enough.

It
came rushing back as Tom dropped to his knees before her, his eyes shining with
tears, his pleas ripping out her heart and tearing it into shreds.

He’d
never done this before. Never pleaded with her on his knees like this. Even the
time he’d done it before, she could see the difference here. Her eyes roamed
over his tear-streaked face. Those hadn’t been real tears before, her eyes must
have been letting her see what she’d wanted to see. Because these were real
sobs, genuine troubled eyes.

The
words were already in her head, the answer to his plea. But the tears did something
to her. They were so sincere, Tom couldn’t be faking this. He didn’t have that
kind of acting ability, that’s why he was so bad at cheating. That’s why he
barely tried to hide it.

A
shell around her heart cracked and she found herself reaching for him and
pulling his head into her belly. His arms came around her and another crack
fractured inside her, tearing pieces loose. It felt so good she could have
broken down and cried in that moment. He was here again, back in her arms,
telling her he loved her.

Things
would change now. He meant it.

It
had to be true, because she’d never gone so far as to kick him out before. She
even had planned to go to the Justicars this week. What if this was the boot in
his ass needed to make him stop?

“I
know I don’t deserve your forgiveness,” he was saying.

Words,
all words tearing her up inside and pushing her into places of confusion and
pain. Places she didn’t want to be anymore, was trying to move on from.