in bullshitting himself.
Which was maybe why her genuine caring felt so damn uncomfortable.
"We should stop talking so we can both get some sleep," he said gruffly. "Tomorrow probably isn't going to be easy."
"I guess you're right." The springs supporting the old leather bench seat creaked as Josie burrowed under the blankets. "Thanks for staying up and chatting with me, Knox. It really helped."
For a moment, Knox didn't know how to react, given how long it had been since anyone had thanked him for anything—much less meant it. Finally, he cleared his throat. "You're, uh, welcome."
"Good night, Knox."
"Yeah, good night."
In moments her breathing slowed, punctuated by the occasional sigh. There was no way in hell Knox would be catching any rest. In a couple of hours, the sun would come up on a new day, but until then, Knox was too wired to do anything but think about this confounding woman in his truck.
In his experience, few betas were as sincere as Josie. Even fewer acted on their convictions. But was that because she wasn't really a beta? Could her true omega nature be showing, even though it was dormant?
When he had agreed to let her sleep inside the truck after Gray threw them under the bus, Knox had been surprised by the sincerity of her gratitude. He couldn't quite square it with her obvious fear of all things alpha. Then she'd tried to hand over half of the blankets Olivia had given her, saying that she didn't want him to freeze in the night.
Knox didn't need any damn blankets. It would take a hell of a lot more than a few hours in a cold truck bed to bring down an alpha like him. But he'd taken one anyway…because it smelled like her.
He lifted the corner of the blanket to his nose and breathed deep. Mixed in with the light, fresh sweetness was an undercurrent of thunderstorms and crashing waves that suited her. After all, Josie was a firebrand who was out to change the world, as powerful as she was beautiful.
Dangerous, too, Knox reminded himself.
No matter how appealing she might be, Josie was still a dormant omega who held the power to turn Knox's world upside down with the slightest touch.
And there was no way in hell he was letting that happen. Knox wasn't willing to let anything change who he was. Not his father, not his nature, and sure as hell not any omega.
Not even one as intriguing as Josie.
But just because Knox couldn't change or claim or touch her, that didn't mean they couldn't be friends, did it? After all, it would be ridiculous to deny that there wasn't some connection between them that went beyond simple attraction. His alpha brothers would probably laugh their asses off if they knew he was out here just passing the time with her, but not every emotion he felt toward a woman had to be sexual.
Knox didn't like many people, beta, alpha, or otherwise. He respected even fewer. But something about Josie made her the exception.
And with every breath she took, he could tell she felt the same way.
So…friends. Maybe that's what they could be—just friends.
Chapter Six
"Either it's not here," Olivia muttered, obviously frustrated, "or it's so tiny that I can't feel it through your skin."
"My money's on the second one," Gray growled from the porch.
Olivia dropped her hands and pushed back the stool Gray had fetched from his workbench so that she could sit on the porch in the bright sunlight while she tried to locate the tracker in Josie's arm. For the past half hour, Olivia had been kneading her skin, trying her damnedest to find the tiny tracking device they seemed certain was hiding in there somewhere. Unfortunately, the only thing she'd succeeded in doing so far was bruising the hell out of Josie.
"I really appreciate you trying," Josie said, massaging the tender skin of her upper arm. This hurt almost as much as getting the Rosie the Riveter tattoo on her back in college.
"Told you." Gray had been leaning against the side of Knox's truck with a coffee mug in hand since he and Olivia had emerged from the cabin at sunrise.
Olivia whipped her head around to face her mate. "You did not just tell me I told you so."
"Yeah, I did," Gray drawled. "I was barely able to find the tracker in you, even with my sense of touch. There's no way an omega could detect something so small."
"Oh, I'll find it eventually," Olivia promised