Cecilia
“I’ll front it,” Alpha Sebastian said, his voice low and smooth—like he was offering me a deal, not a disaster.
I froze mid-spoonful, pasta halfway to my mouth. “Absolutely not. I can’t pay you back.”
He leaned in, that maddening half-smile playing on his lips. “I’ll put you on a payment plan.”
I stared at him, fingers tightening around my spoon like it might turn into a weapon.
For one traitorous second, my heart fluttered like a Disney sidekick.
Then reality dropkicked me in the back of the head.
What was I doing?
This man was not a bank. This was not a rom-com montage. This was my actual life.
I stirred my clam chowder aimlessly, trying to shovel my dignity back into my chest.
“So, uh… what’s in this soup?” I asked, grasping at the world’s weakest
