“Okay, what do you think? Is this too much or just a bit naughty? Sometimes when the guys get excited it’s hard to tell.” Looking at Matthew’s photo on the dresser, I sighed. “I know. It’s too late to back out now.”

Opening night of the club was probably not the best time to be having an existential crisis, but there I was anyway.

Taking a deep breath, I grabbed the picture frame that held his photo and sat down on the bed. I had almost an hour before Dakota and Tristan were supposed to pick me up, but I had a feeling they weren’t going to wait that long. Dakota had been texting me all day, asking me variations on the same question…are you doing okay?

The answer might be no or it might be yes; I just wasn’t sure anymore.

“We’ve had mini-scenes when Dakota gets a wild hair up his ass and decides we need to try something ridiculous, but this is going to be a full scene at the club.” Every once in a while, when I talked to Matthew I knew what he would say, but in that moment, I couldn’t feel anything except nerves.

Could someone die of boredom?

The fact that I’d have preferred to have been home writing the blurb for my latest book rather than hanging out at the party said something about my lack of enthusiasm. Unfortunately, only Jonah would have understood how frustrating it was to boil an entire book down to two paragraphs of teasing, so there was no point in making the comparison.

That just left glaring at anyone who tried to talk to me and hiding from anyone who tried to flirt with me…which was a surprising number of people in the crowded room, considering how downright unfriendly I was attempting to be.

Maybe asshole was the new “in” personality this season.

Oh, that would be good in a book.

Scrambling to pat my pockets, I quickly remembered Austin had stolen my notebook and pen. He had the crazy idea that if I couldn’t work, then I’d have to talk to everyone. It was ridiculous. I could ignore them without a pen and paper. I had a great imagination.

“If you get any more naked, I’m leaving and taking the numbers with me.” My threat might have held more weight if Austin were more curious about the finances to begin with.

“There is no point in obsessing about the numbers until we start getting revenue in. You know that as well as I do.” He danced around the room wearing a fluffy skirt and not much else. “Once we start getting members, that’s when we need to begin focusing on the money. We’re not spending more than we can afford and it’s all necessary expenditures at this point.”

He was right, but since he was nearly naked and not paying a damned bit of attention to the meeting we were supposed to be having, I wasn’t going to admit it.

“We have a list of things we were supposed to discuss, Austin.” And he was too distracted to go over any of it.

“Then skip to something less boring.” He came to a fluffy, sparkling halt in the middle of the living room. “Silas will be here in an hour and we have a full evening of fuckery planned that doesn’t involve to-do lists.”

“You’re deliberately trying to drive me insane because I wouldn’t let you out of this meeting.” Asshole.

“Killing her this way just isn’t going to work. You’re going to have to get more creative with this one.” He’d boxed himself in and no amount of research was going to help. “I told you in the beginning there were only so many native plants that were poisonous.”

No matter what anyone said, writers were just as insane as any other artist.

Dakota gave me a scathing look as his pacing increased to an almost frantic level. “There has to be another option. That’s the point of the series.”

When he’d started his series based on a small town that had lots of crazy deaths, it had sounded like fun, but he hadn’t expected it to go on long enough that he’d run out of local plants that were poisonous or could remotely be from that region.

“What about an invasive species or someone who’s moved into the area from a weird part of the world?” I rolled over and stretched out on the floor. Desks were for boring people. “You said the college was going to be hiring next year. Just move up the timeline a bit.”

“You’ve always been my favorite friend.” Curling up against Tanner, I batted my eyelashes at a slightly confused Shane who just stood there staring at me. He was so cute. Dominant and sexy with Tanner but still easily startled and fun to tease.

Tanner snorted. “You can’t go. No unmarried omegas.”

“You’re no fun.” I huffed and pouted at Shane prettily, changing tactics. “I bet you can think of a way to get me in. You’re so smart and I bet the owner would love to help a strong alpha like you.”

Laughing, Tanner shoved me away and moved between Shane and me. “No, be gone, witch.”

I grinned. “I have to see it.”

I was tired of having to bribe customs people to get sex toys. It was a ridiculous waste of money when there was a store on the other side of town.

Tanner snorted. “I can’t even get in. There’s no way he’s sneaking you in.”

“You know, if those pants were just a little tighter in the ass, he might be more tempted to bend you over that desk.”

Thankfully, Austin had waited until Shane closed the door before starting to drive me crazy.

“Stop that.” I rolled my eyes then glanced toward the door, double-checking that it was securely closed. “Do you know how hard it is to find a decent admin?”

Finding a spouse was easier.

At least, the way my father kept threatening to handle the situation was.

A situation.

That’s what he called an unmarried omega over thirty. I’d say he was living in another time, but he was living in another universe.