When An Alpha Purrs
By: Eve LanglaisWrong.
So wrong.
How could she even be thinking such erotic things about the most arrogant jerk she’d ever had the misfortune to meet?
Probably because he was stupidly handsome.
Despite the fact his personality left a lot to be desired, she couldn’t seem to stop an attraction to him. The asshole syndrome at work.
What was it about her that couldn’t help craving the wrong guy?
Wasn’t her last boyfriend lesson enough? He was, after all, the reason she’d come out here. To escape.
When will I ever learn?
With a sigh, she flopped onto her borrowed couch, the mismatched cushions a reminder of her messed-up life. The phone rang.
One glance at the call display and she grimaced. The hair shop. Probably her uncle calling to ask what the hell was going on. Kira didn’t know what to tell him, so she didn’t answer.
She knew her uncle wouldn’t fire her, especially not once she told them what the big guy—Arik, a name fit for a Viking in a romance novel—had said to her. Heck, her cousins would probably form a lynch mob to confront him. Her family had an abundance of boys, and they tended to get rather protective of their sparse female cousins. A pity none of them lived in the Midwest close to her old home. She could have used them when she was having her problem.
But Arik hadn’t yet done anything that merited their attention, and Kira had already handled the pompous businessman. No, she couldn’t tell them what had happened, but she needed to talk to someone to cool her riled emotions, and she knew just who to call.
Number one on her speed dial. As the phone rang, she twirled a strand of hair around her finger.
“Kira, baby, what are you doing calling at this time? Shouldn’t you be working?” Her mother answered, her voice immediately concerned. Who could blame her, given the events of the past few weeks?
“I was. But something happened.” As she relayed to her mother the events, a gush of words that ended with, “the nerve of that man,” she expected commiseration.
Instead she got…laughter? “Oh my, but he sounds fascinating.”
“Fascinating? You did hear the part where he sexually harassed me, right? Or what about the fact he’s got caveman ideas? I mean come on, Mom. He claimed I wasn’t good enough to cut his hair because I’m a girl.”
“Oh please. As if that’s something new. We both know that many men feel that way. Look at most of your cousins. And what about you? I know a certain young lady who insists on having only a certain aunt trim and color her hair.”
Kira fidgeted. “That’s different. Aunt Fiona is a master when it comes to highlights.”
“Now who’s being sexist?”
“You know I called you because you’re supposed to be on my side.”
“I am. Which is why I’m pointing out the obvious. You don’t like this guy because he’s assertive.”
“Arrogant.”
“Whatever. Yet we both know you need someone strong willed or you’ll become bored.”
“I’d say there’s a lot to be said for boring. Especially since Gregory.”
Eep. She’d said it aloud. He-who-should-not-be-named. A shiver went through her—as her ex probably walked over the grave he had planned for her—and she resisted an urge to yank the curtains to the apartment shut and check the lock on the door.
Her mother made a noise. “Grr. Don’t talk to me about that man. He fooled us all, baby. But that doesn’t mean every man is like him. There are good ones out there. Just look at your father and his brothers. Even your cousins. They would never hurt or disrespect a woman like that.”
No, they wouldn’t, but once punched, literally, often threatened, and her hair salon burned down in suspicious circumstances meant Kira was more than twice shy. She was mad, and scared, mostly because she feared the violence from her ex-boyfriend would spill over onto the ones she loved. “Well, it doesn’t matter now. Even if the big guy was flirting and hinting at a date, I’m pretty sure he’s changed his mind now after what I did to his precious hair.”
After exchanging a few more tidbits of news, Kira hung up with her mother and let out a sigh. Here not even a week and already in trouble. With a man.
