Omega in the Sand - Aria Grace Page 0,32

still trying to catch my breath, but the hard part is over. Now we've just got to clean everything up and sneak back up to the hotel.

"Here." Duke hands me a towel from another hidden plastic bag.

"Did you mean all those things you were saying?" I ask as I clean myself up.

"Yes." I feel his eyes on me through the darkness. "I feel like we've been having a lot of fun and??'m not ready to stop."

My heart does a backflip. I force myself to stay calm. He's still only interested in this because it's fun. I've been a pretty easy lay so far. What alpha would want to give that up?

"What about you?" His question catches me off guard. Do I tell him that I want more than just sex? That I'd like to go on a proper date. Or maybe that I'm interested in him on a deeper level? That every single moment of my day is filled with thoughts of him?

I swallow the lump in my throat. "I've been having fun too," I say with a light laugh. "I'd like to keep going. If you're up for it."

Playing it safe is the good call here. There's a good chance that I'm just feeling like this because of the hormones flooding my system right now. Let's see if that feeling keeps up when my judgement is a little less clouded.

We take a few more minutes to finish cleaning everything up. The blanket and towels go back into their bags. Duke will smuggle them out in the morning. Normally he'd also swap them with fresh ones, but I guess that won't happen this time. We're in the clear. All this sneaking around can finally be over.

From now on, there's nothing to worry about.

Fourteen

Duke

"What the hell are you talking about?" I demand, standing in the middle of Warren's office with a glare on my face. I can't remember the last time I was this angry about anything. What an absolutely shitty way to ruin the sexual high I'd been coasting on. It's been less than an hour since Isaac and I parted ways at the shed. Everything was going so well. Now this.

"Exactly what I said," Warren frowns and shakes his head. He's sitting behind his desk looking at his laptop. "You forwarded the footage to me, you should know what's on it."

"I didn't forward anything to you, Warren." I'm doing my best to try and remain civil. "I haven't even gotten the chance to go over the security reel from today. There's no way I sent you anything."

Warren shakes his head. "You're going to have to verify this for yourself??nd change your email password."

"I'm telling you right now, it's fake," I say as I approach Warren's desk and circle around to get a look at the screen. "There's no way that Isaac is the thief we've been looking for."

The video playing on the screen appears to be from one of our security cameras. It shows Isaac heading into one of the guest rooms at roughly seven PM yesterday evening. It's followed by a second clip, showing him leaving the same room an hour later.

"His hands are empty," I observe. "He's not carrying anything. These clips are cut at the weirdest spot. It's literally the moment he walks into the room, and the moment he walks out. How did he get the door open? Why did he stay in there for an hour?"

"Those are all questions that you're supposed to answer, Duke," Warren says, looking sidelong at me. "One of the most important ones is, if you didn't send this to me, who did?"

Warren steeples his hands and leans forward. "I can tell you're fond of Isaac. You've been staring at him all week and I've seen you flirting with him a few times. I don't care about that. All I care about is whether or not you're going to let it affect your investigation. You can be honest with me here."

I step back and try to push all the questions out of my head. I need mental space in order to think. I've got to be objective. I've got to be professional.

"I'll figure this out," I promise, pinching the bridge of my nose and squeezing my eyes closed. I need to focus. "Whoever it is, I'll bring them in. I swear it."

"There is one last thing?? Warren frowns. "Even if Isaac isn't the thief, he still entered a guest's room. I don't want to send him home, especially if there's