The Reluctant Alpha (West Coast Wolves #1) - Susi Hawke Page 0,62

it was to open the door before he went back to his leaning post. I knew because we'd planned it.

As we walked inside, Bart removed his sunglasses, shoving them up onto his head. I could only imagine what kind of impression the scarred, peeling linoleum and cracked vinyl in the booths made on the man. Like the rest of the town, the place would need time to get fixed up, but at least it was able to reopen in the meantime.

To his credit, he didn't seem to be sticking his nose up. He plucked a laminated menu card from the hostess stand, where a sign instructed us to seat ourselves. Taking one for myself, I followed him as he passed the other patrons and led me to the farthest table, where we might have a modicum of privacy.

After we took our seats on opposite sides of the booth, he looked around some more, taking in the faded, ‘50s-era posters and old records nailed to the back wall and over the tables. He didn't look back at me until after fidgeting with the broken tabletop jukebox. "Shame. I love these retro diners. I'm a sucker for listening to the tabletop juke." His eyes widened, and he laughed as he tapped one of the song titles on the broken machine. "‘Ain't That a Shame,’" he read off with a grin. "I love finding poetic justice in the universe. It's like the machine knows it's a shame she disappointed me today."

I dropped my guard enough to smile, curiously tilting my head to the side. "She? Are we assigning gender to our jukeboxes now?"

"Of course. What else but a female would take perverse pleasure by taunting a desperate man who needed his fix of classic rock 'n roll?"

While I found his joke sexist, his logic amused me. We made small talk as we perused our menus and waited for our waitress to come take the order. Since I'd always found a good way to judge a person was how they treated people serving them, I was impressed when he took the time to read Cindy's name tag and be polite before placing the order.

When it was my turn, I was barely able to maintain a poker face as she unknowingly blurted the one secret I didn't want Bart or any other neighboring alphas to know. It was like having an out-of-body experience. I was both watching and experiencing it at the same time while Cindy innocently smiled and told me how cute the First Mate's two little omega brothers were.

Keeping an easy smile on my face, I thanked her and got my order in before she gave anything else away. Like what bedroom window needed to be breached to find them in the night. I couldn't blame the girl; this was on me. I was so concerned about keeping their existence on the down-low. My mistaken logic had been if I didn't make a big deal out of it, people would be less likely to gossip or say something in front of the wrong person.

Bart was instantly fascinated. "Forgive me. I can well imagine why you probably don't want your family to become public knowledge. So when you claimed your mate to save him from the infamous lover's poison and then challenged his father, you ended up with not one, but three omegas. Good God, man. It's like having access to your own personal harem. No wonder Monty kept his pack to himself out there in that godforsaken desert. He didn't dare let anyone know what kind of treasures he was hiding under his own roof."

Thankfully, Cindy appeared with two cups of coffee, saving me from having to respond. I forced myself to calm down and ignore the harem comment, focusing on opening sugar packets and creamers and mixing them into my drink.

Apparently, Bart wasn't able to read the room because he blithely continued talking about my family. I might have convinced myself to ignore his ignorance if he hadn't pushed the issue. "All kidding aside, are you considering yet what you might ask for their dowries in the future? Depending on their ages, I'd like time to move some money around and be able to prepare before you start accepting bids."

The single sign of my disgust was my cup clattering against the saucer as I set it back down. Keeping a smile firmly in place, I took a calming breath. "No, I haven't started thinking about dowries because I don't plan on taking