Alpha Owned(2)

“What?” Darius and Ciara asked at the same time.

“Take Darius!” She wiggled on her seat, long dark curls bouncing with her.

“Take me where?” Darius’ dark head whirled back and forth between the two of them like someone following a game at a ping-pong match.

“What?” Ciara exclaimed, a lot louder than necessary. Things got confusing there. She’d only had a few… or six drinks and not enough to lose track so quickly.

“It’s the perfect plan.” Sara leaned forward on the table, glancing between Darius and Ciara.

“What plan? Take her where?” Poor Darius sounded so lost. Almost as lost as Ciara felt with Sara’s crazy plan.

“She needs a date for her brother’s wedding. So you should take her.”

“Why not take a real date?”

Ciara rolled her eyes. “Because I don’t have one. I haven’t had a real date in months. Have you forgotten I work crazy hours?”

Face creased in sympathy, he nodded. “You do work crazy hours, but you’re a baker, so it’s understandable.”

“Thank you. So you see why I have no man?”

“Which is why you should take him.” Sara chimed in again.

“What’s the big deal? Aren’t you going to this wedding, Sara? As far as I know you don’t have a man either.”

Sara reeled back and folded her arms over her chest. “I don’t have a man, but my parents think I do. He is traveling overseas and won’t be able to attend the wedding.”

“Perfect timing.” Ciara muttered.

There went her sarcasm again. She needed to get slapped. Maybe she could use that as an excuse to skip the dreaded wedding.

“Seriously, guys,” Sara glanced back and forth between them, “you need a date.” She pointed her cocktail at Ciara. “And you owe her from the time she got you those last minute cupcakes.”

“Great time to bring it up.” Darius groaned.

“That’s true. You do owe me. Those cupcakes were the sole reason your parents didn’t freak out when you told them they should stop trying to hook you up with women if they ever wanted you in a relationship. Remember?”

“Yeah, yeah. I told them if they wanted to hook me up to focus on some of the hot guys at my dad’s firm.” He smiled at the waitress and took his own cocktail out of her hands. “Those cupcakes stopped what was clearly an uncomfortable moment to a more relaxed chat.”

Happiness filled Ciara’s chest. She loved that something small she’d made had helped Darius come out of the closet. He’d let his super religious family know he was a happily gay man and he wasn’t going to change.

“You don’t have to do it, D.” Defeat pulled at Ciara’s muscles. Her first time seeing Ryker in almost fifteen years wouldn’t be pretty. She pressed the bridge of her nose and shut her eyes. Shit. The last thing she wanted was to look like some loser who didn’t have a man. Not to mention what her mom or step dad would resort to once they realized she was single. They’d probably slip a guy into every second of the weekend. “I think I need another drink.”

Darius laughed. His golden brown skin very similar to her own Latin one glowed. “Ciara Ortiz! I got your back girl. I’ll pretend to be your boyfriend, fiancé, whatever you need. Heck I’ll be your husband or a baby daddy if you want.”

Sara choked on her laughter. “Baby daddy? Her parents would know if she was pregnant. They’d scent it. I think you guys should just do the whole engaged best friends deal. I bet that will work best.”

Darius kissed the top of Ciara’s head. “I already love you to death, so this won’t be too hard.”

A smile split Ciara’s lips. She glanced up into his dark chocolate eyes. “You love me like a sister, not some chick you want to have your babies.”

“Hey, I took drama in college. I can channel my inner heterosexual.”

“This is going to be so interesting.” Sara laughed, still bouncing in her seat.





Chapter Two





Ryker stared at his beer in thought. “Do you think she’ll come?”

Christian, his best friend and right hand man gulped down his own beer. “You never know with Cici. One day she says yes and the next she says no. She’s probably trying to figure out how to get out of it.”

Ryker grinned. “She can’t. It’s your wedding. She has to come.”

He was counting on her showing up. That had been his biggest wish since she’d moved away. For her to return just once so he could make her his. But Ciara wasn’t some timid little woman. She had bigger balls than most men he knew. She also had something against being near or alone with Ryker. Ryker had yet to figure out what caused her frostiness toward him. They’d had a single date which, even he had to admit, had been the worst ever, but he knew she was the one for him.