Chapter 25 Before Naomi knew it, it was Monday morning, and she was stood outside her office building trying to convince herself to go in. Apart from a text later afternoon Saturday to check she had gotten home okay, Theon had been suspiciously quiet all weekend. Peter text her on Sunday night telling her not to forget pre work coffee and she didn't know whether it was just Theon being around had her on edge, but she felt like even that was suspicious. They didn't arrange to meet, they just met. Chin up princess, she told herself, or the tiara slips. This has been Naomis mantra every time her confidence ever seemed to slip a little. It was something her mother always told her and it stuck with her after she passed away. The second Naomi stepped into large coffee shop she instantly regretted it. Sat against the far wall was Peter as normal, sat in his all black outfit and his glasses perched looking happy and relaxed but there, next to him looking like he doesn't have a care in the world was Theon. He lifted a muscular arm and waved lazily at Naomi as she went to the counter and bought her drink. Walking over to the two men Naomi made sure her face reflected the displeasure she felt about being ambushed like this. "Good morning, gentlemen" Naomi said in a detached, cool tone. "Any reason why there are two of you this morning?" she said arching an eyebrow in Peter's direction. At least he had the sensibility to look a little sheepish. "Alpha Theon happened to be here getting coffee when I sat down" Peter responded, his eyes not quite looking at Naomi's but somewhere closer to her left ear. "I didn't want to be rude to the Alpha and send him away.". Theon nodded smugly "Yeah Nai" Theon said, "I am his Alpha; did you want him to get into trouble?" "For fucks sake" Naomi muttered, while Theon chuckled to himself. "I have work to do. Lovely to see you Peter" she said getting up and walking away. As she walked off, she heard Theon say behind her "You can run but you can't hide Naomi!" Naomi heard Artemis growl in her head, smug asshole, Naomi agreed with her. By the end of the day Naomi was a mess. Her nerves were all over the place not helped by several surprises during the day. After the greeting in the coffee shop, Flowers arrived for her mid-morning and Naomi couldn't hide their arrival but managed to hide who they were from. Then, in the afternoon the Alpha himself came down to her desk and proceeded to ask her to go with him to dinner the next evening. This happened while her whole office stared at her so she couldn't say no. This also meant she was the subject of a whole heap of office gossip and whispering all afternoon, about how she knew the Alpha and did he send the flowers. 1/2 +15 Bonus Luckily she was saved from it all with a phone call from Lottie at 3 saying that Alex wasn't doing well and wouldn't go for a nap without Naomi. She decided to take this as a good excuse to cut her loses and run before she could be embarrassed any further. But, of course as the lift doors opened for Naomi to make her escape there he was the tall, toned, tanned Alpha Theon already in this tiny space smelling like heaven and looking like the devil. Smiling at her like he just won some sort of prize with her arrival. "You just cant stay away from me can you?" Theon asked Naomi in a light flirty tone "You wish" Naomi responded childishly. "I do. I really do" Theon said in a serious tone that caused Naomi to pause for a moment as she felt a flicker in her chest that made her suddenly want to reach out to him. This is why she can only deal with him in open spaces. His scent is too much for her to keep her wits about her in this tiny box! That's what she told herself anyway. Naomi was determined that she wasn't going to have any real feelings for him and anything she did feel would be 100% blamed on the bond or pheromones. Theon knew better and he saw the momentary change in her face when she looked like she wanted to be closer to him, and he felt a warm sensation in his stomach. A flicker of hope that maybe they could do this. Fix what he broke.