ALPHA(10)

“I hope our little princess hasn’t been too much trouble.”

“Oh no, honestly she’s very sweet. You’ve raised a lovely young girl.” She beamed with pride, and took Annabelle inside, inviting me to go in and bake some cakes with them. I went to follow, when Jackson grabbed my hand, and pulled me over to stand with Noah and Ethan.

“Good morning, Laura.”

“Good morning.”

“Your car has been fixed and is waiting outside for you. It wasn’t anything major, so it should be fine now. I would recommend buying a newer model, though. It will be safer for you.”

“Ssshh, she might hear you!” I said, smiling at him in jest. “She’s my baby, I’ll never replace her.”

“Fair enough.”

“Do you ever smile?”

“You haven’t given me anything to smile about.”

I sighed, as I realised trying to have a decent conversation with this man was like banging my head against a brick wall. Pretty pointless. Ethan and Noah were watching us with bemused looks on their faces and looked at each other in some kind of silent communication.

“I’m actually thinking of staying here. I was looking for a fresh start where no-one knows my name, and this place is just perfect. I have enough money from inheritance to put a deposit down somewhere, I just need to find the perfect place.” I left the boys all looking at each other, and went to find the girls in the kitchen.

Hours passed and I could not remember the last time I’d had that much fun. Jasmine, Annabelle and I had baked enough cakes to feed the whole of England, and I was covered in flour and chocolate, with my stomach hurting from laughing so much. When Annabelle practically fell asleep in a bowl of cake mix, Jasmine excused herself to put her down for a nap, so I was placing some mix in to a cake tin when Jackson walked through the kitchen door, and stood close behind me. He cleared his throat to announce his presence, and I failed to stop my body’s reaction to him as I felt the attraction to him right down to my toes. It was like my body couldn’t seem to fight the pull he had over me, and I turned around slowly, trying to hide the lust that I’m sure was written all over my face.

“Will you be staying here until you find a home then?”

“Hopefully, if it’s okay with Noah and Jasmine.”

“They are so excited to have someone new arrive in town, I really don’t think they’ll mind. Plus, I think it will make Annabelle very happy.”

“She’s a special girl.”

“She is. She finds it difficult to make friends.”

“Really? But she’s so lively! I was exhausted after just ten minutes of talking to her earlier, she’s got such a great personality.”

“She is a very enthusiastic young girl, but there aren’t many children around here unfortunately.”

“That’s a shame.”

He walked closer to me, and I held my breath as a shiver wracked my body when I gazed upon his frame. He really was beautiful, and exuded a raw power and strength that I couldn’t even describe. I should have been put off by the fact he seemed serious and brooding most of the time, but I couldn’t seem to help myself. I imagined the things he could do with that raw power and I mentally chastised myself for panting like a dog in front of him. Down girl. He reached a hand out, as if to touch my face, when Ethan walked in hollering about the cakes and the moment was ruined. I had no idea what was about to happen, but I felt disappointed that I didn’t get to find out. Jackson shook his head as if mentally arguing with himself, and I couldn’t help but smile at how rattled I seemed to have him. Perhaps the serious, brooding guy isn’t quite so stoic and emotionless after all.

“Oh my god, these cakes are fucking amazing.” Groaned Ethan, and I looked over to see him sat at the table, shoving an entire cake down his mouth with his face covered in icing. Well, I guess these perfect men need to have some negative points. Wouldn’t be fair otherwise.

“Okay, that’s disgusting,’ Jackson complained as he watched his brother with disapproval on his face. I smiled at the playful banter between the two of them and felt a sudden longing for siblings of my own. It had never really bothered me not having any family, but just watching this group of people interact with each other had made me realise how much I had actually missed. Shaking myself out of my little reverie, I noticed Jackson watching me with a pensive look on his face. He seemed to forcefully halt his own inner musings, and began to speak again.

“If you’re hanging around for a while it might be worth knowing where everything is located. It’s pretty much just woods around here and it’s very easy to get lost. We do have a main street with some shops and banks a bit deeper in to the town, but some people find the route quite difficult. I can take you there now if you like, so you know the way when you want to drive there yourself?”