The Call (Alpha Billionaires Book 4)
By: B.L. Brooks
PREVIEW
ELI
A hell of a distraction, but a fine one at that…
When a five-foot-two gem walks into my life, possessing none other than honey blonde locks, enchanting blue eyes paired with a body that just won’t stop; I can’t force myself to turn away.
Sweeping all restraint beneath the rug, I offer her my card—in hopes the girl doesn’t make me have to track her down…
But when I get a call from the gem hours later, hearing her once sweet voice now broken—panicking on the line as she watches her apartment get rummaged through by a group of thieves—I’ll stop at nothing to protect what’s mine.
When the fear settles and the dust clears, will my stubborn desires only drive this forbidden gem away?
There’s only one way to find out…
1
MEGAN
“Haaaaappy biiiirthdaaay,” I join the melody, wiggling back into the crowd while aiming for the birthday boy, Sam. His little eyes go wide as he looks at the cake—at least, I hope he’s staring at what’s in my hands and not my boobs I caught his bug eyes on earlier.
With a light smile, I set the cake down, amused by all the tiny hands reaching out at once to grab a piece. But Sam’s mom swats their paws away, giving her son space here as everyone continues to sing.
I giggle, joining back in with the rest of the group as we all sing an out-of-key happy birthday. And slowly, I inch my way back until I’m no longer in the center of the crowd. Much better.
The second the wretched tune is over, the boys descend on the cake like a tiny pack of wolves. I giggle, shaking my head at the bunch.
“You sure you won't miss this?”
I glance over at Sonja, who I find with a sad smirk on her face.
“Trust me, there’s nothing you can say to change my mind.” It doesn’t take a detective to know where she’s going with this.
She raises her arms, surrendering. “Hey, I’m just saying. Like, how easy is this job? You skate across the rink a little and deliver birthday cakes. It’s pretty easy, Meg.”
I laugh, “Yeah, and it’s also boring. I need more in a day.”
“I can’t imagine what it’d be like to want a harder job. Don’t you like your free time?”
I roll my eyes. “It’s not so much about harder; it’s about wanting to use my brain.”
“You use your brain here. I don’t think once you’ve ever forgotten the words to happy birthday.” Sonja gives me a playful wink, her lips curling into a smile.
“Gee, how lucky am I?”
Try as I might, she hasn’t quite got why I need to move on—why I have another job lined up, and starting tomorrow.
No matter what Sonja thinks, I see her as the lucky one with her wavy long blonde hair and her stick-like body made from all those years of figure skating…and though she makes her fair share of jokes about wanting to find a sugar daddy at times, I don’t think she’s kidding all that much—nor do I think it’d be hard for her to find one if she so much as decided it was time.
With all the thirteen-year-olds now hyped up on ice-cream cake, I remove as much of the tableware as I can before heading towards the kitchen.
It’s a madhouse in here, but this time of the year always tends to be. Winter is apparently the best season to throw parties at ice rinks…like today, I still have two more of these shin-digs to go before I’m finally free—just the thought of freedom is about the only thing to keep me going right now.
Sonja joins in as I start clearing out the birthday box for the next party. She prattles on about her sister stealing her favorite jersey, signed by someone I already forgot the name of...
“Crap,” she squawks, ending her story. And thank the heavens. “They’re early.”
I look at Sonja before following her gaze to the entrance of the rink, spotting our manager leading a large party our way. Crap is right…and why so early?
Everyone in the group looks to be older; my age, at the very least. So not older-older, just older than the usual kids I find taking over the rink.
My manager smiles, pointing my way while talking to the lanky kid beside him—although they’re too far away for me to hear what’s being said. And can’t say I’ve ever been good at lipreading…
