I glanced imploringly over my head at Walker, who frowned back at me with a nod.
“I’m taking you home,” I said, leaving no room for discussion.
“Wh—” she started to protest, but I simply handed the file to Walker, who took it, silently agreeing with me.
Gently but firmly, I guided her out of the room. Usually, if Hailey was at full health, she would have planted her feet solidly and refused to move. The fact that she only gave a few weak verbal protests let me know how bad this was.
“My car?” she asked as I guided her out of the station and toward my truck, not even bothering to grab my stuff. My priority was Hailey, making sure she was okay.
She needs you. Get this sorted.
“Someone will drive it back to your place later. You still live at the Orchid apartment complex, right?”
She turned her head to eye me hard. It was tricky to discern what she was thinking from that look, because her gaze was hazed over in that disorienting way, with her cheeks flushed bright red.
“How doyouknow that?” she asked, her tone confused.
“I dropped you off after the summer picnic last year. Your car had a flat.”
“Oh.” Realization washed over her face, then something else. Surprise? Curiosity? “I forgot about that. Maybe I blocked out that traumatic memory, since the asshole at the garage tried to charge me eight hundred bucks for a new tire.”
I hadn’t forgotten. No way in hell.
A week after dropping her off, my truck still smelled like strawberries, and I’d turned into a teenage boy unable to keep my hands off my cock for longer than a few hours because, every time I got into my truck, I was rock hard.
No other omega had that impact on me. When Sunny had stayed at the firehouse, before she was bonded, I thought her smell was nice, like all omegas, but it was nothing mind-blowing.
Hailey’s scent, on the other hand, sang to me in a way I’d never experienced before.
I’d been at its mercy,hermercy, from the moment it struck me.
“Why do you have such a big truck?” Hailey asked, attempting to clamber into the seat.
She was tiny compared to me, so the sheer height of my truck made it hard for her to easily get in. For a split second, I simply watched her stunning ass as she tried to jump into the seat.
“I like it.” I shrugged, shaking my head so that I’d stop ogling her. “Plus, it comes in handy.”
“I need a stepstool just to get in,” she complained, and it took everything not to laugh.
“No, you don’t. Here, I can just help you up.”
Grabbing her by the waist, I hoisted her into the front seat. A small squeak escaped her, and her eyes met mine, wide with surprise.
“T-thanks,” she stammered.
“’Course.” I smiled before walking around to the driver's side and getting in with no issues whatsoever. Her little glare at how easy it was for me made me smirk.
In a few short minutes, we were across town and in front of her apartment.
“I’m coming with you,” I declared, helping her down from the seat.
“I can walk up a few steps into my apartment. I’m not an invalid,” she insisted, but the weakness in her voice wasn’t convincing.
“I'm not negotiating. You’re going straight to bed. I’ll get you some food, and you’re going to rest.”
Hailey’s lips parted, her chest rising as she sucked in a breath, but then she closed her mouth and simply glared at me.
It only took a moment for her to find her words, though.