Falling for my best friend's dad

Chapter 2

Cecilia

My heartbeat drops, and I stand there shocked, unable to let out a scream as I feel his gaze scan my body for the shortest of seconds before the chair scrapes against the floor, snapping me back to the very revealing state of my body.

A gasp escapes my lips as I run back into the bathroom without meeting his gaze. Aaron Ainsworth, the Alpha of this pack, and Nora's dad.

My chest heaves as I stand against the door. My back flushes against the wood as I try to breathe. I internally scream after the initial shock wears away.

I can't believe I was so shocked that I wasn't even able to scream right away. There was complete silence between us.

Goddess, what the heck just happened? I feel the back of my neck warming up as shame starts crawling upwards from the tip of my toes.

"Cecilia."

Thud.

It's the sound of my heart dropping into the pit of my stomach when I hear his deep, deep voice calling my name through the thick wooden bathroom door.

A slick, traitorous heat starts warming up my body, stopping and pooling at a specific place between my legs as I struggle to form words, only to fail miserably.

"I am sorry about what happened. I didn't know the room was occupied." He says, a tinge of regret lacing his tone, mixed with his usual authoritativeness.

I clear my throat, feeling my heart hammer against my chest. I clench and unclench my fists before I form coherent words, "I understand, Alpha. I didn't know it was your room."

"Oh no, it isn't my room. Elias asked me to come upstairs for a meeting. I must have walked into the wrong room. I apologize. I will leave now." He says before I hear him walk away.

I slump down on my knees after I hear the door open and close. I let out a curse, groaning softly.

Was he flustered? Was that a hint of nervousness I heard in his tone before he left?

Dear goddess, what is wrong with me?

I bury my face in my hands, feeling my stomach flip-flop at the thought of Alpha Aaron watching me barely naked in the morning.

I don't know if I am doomed...because I wouldn't be feeling strangely excited if I were.

I press my legs together to suppress the sliver of heat that rose in my body. There is something about him that draws me in and wakes up these lewd exhilarations in my body.

He is my best friend's dad, for goddess's sake, and yet I feel myself stealing glances at his beautiful eyes, and huge frame that is littered with muscles and sexy scars.

He was wearing glasses.

I groan again at the ruined state of my mind before I shape myself back into perfect pieces. It's just a crush which will pass.

I can't let it bloom into something big. It's impossible for me anyway, and I know it's inevitable considering my position in this pack.

No, it's impossible to begin with.

I shake my head and drag myself out of the bathroom after securely wrapping the towel around my body this time. I quickly fetch my bag and take out my pant-suit for the office.

Today's an important meeting, so I must be at my best. The door to this scandalous room opens again while I am in the middle of dressing up, and Nora finally arrives.

"You are late," I say sternly, trying to bury what happened in the deepest depths of my mind.

There is no way I am going to share something like this with her...and I am sure even Alpha Aaron won't say a thing about what happened. He is a doting father, and Nora and he are more like friends than a dad and a daughter duo, and it's another thing I like about him.

But I am sure there are some secrets he must be keeping from her, and now this one is going to be one of them.

"I know, but don't worry. I will get ready in just five minutes." She sings untrustworthily, but I let it go.

After another twenty minutes, we are finally heading to the office in Nora's car. Grace has already left before us, so that's one reason to be nervous, but since we have been able to arrive at the office before the meeting time, everything is fine.

"See? Everything is fine. I told you I would get ready in five minutes." Nora jokes while getting out of the car.

I shut the car gate. "Yes, everything is fine until we go into the meeting room."

"Oh gosh, Cici. You are being too pessimistic. We worked hard on our design. We will surely win." She presses my shoulder reassuringly.

I manage to give her a small smile as we walk towards the meeting room.

Luckily, we still have five minutes to run over our presentation once again. The rest of our team has also arrived in the room, so it will be quick.

Discussion can be heard over the door as we get closer to the room. Nora takes the doorknob and opens it first.

"There they are. Let's ask them." Abigail, one of our team members, says loudly when Nora and I enter.

I spot Grace already in a discussion with her team on the other side of the room while our occupies the opposite side.

"What happened, guys?" Nora asks as we walk towards our group.

"We already decided that we aren't doing the masquerade theme for the whole party, but only for the special hours, but Abigail is insisting that we keep it for the whole duration of the ball. Please clear her doubts." Hudson complains.

I almost pinch my forehead because of their last-minute questions before the meeting.

"Guys, tell me you aren't serious. We went over this so many times. How are you still confused, Abigail?" Nora's heels clack against the floor as she quickly walks over and takes the sheets from her hands.

I watch her go over the basics again, once again realising that she is born to be a leader when the door to the meeting room opens and the air shifts.

Juliana walks inside, accompanied by her assistant, Melanie and two other employees from the inner team, but instead of Beta Elias or Gamma Owen, Alpha Aaron himself is walking beside her.

Don't tell me.

Is he going to lead this meeting himself?

My breath hitches in my throat when he passes by, hitting me with his spicy cologne, speeding up my heartbeat.

I watch him go over to the center of the table. His eyes meet mine for the slightest of seconds before they hover over everyone in the room. He eventually stops doing so, staring at his laptop screen now, a signal for Juliana to start the meeting.

"Good morning, everyone. We will now proceed with the meeting. We are here to decide on the final theme for the moon ball that is fast approaching us. We have two planning teams here, one led by Grace Miller and another by Nora Ainsworth. The final decision will be made by Alpha, the two respected members from the inner team, me and my secretary's votes.

I wish both the team heads and their team all the best for their presentations ahead, and now I request Alpha to please choose one of the teams to present first." She starts with the brief introduction and the instructions, passing the ball to Alpha Aaron next.

We need to secure at least three votes to win and while it won't be easy, it wouldn't be difficult either. Just like Nora said, I just need to have faith in myself. Perhaps things would have been a little easier if I wasn't the one who was going to present, and that too first.

"Nora Ainsworth, start the presentation." His deep velvety voice echoes through the chambers of my heart, squeezing the air out of my lungs. My insides slosh and a weight drops somewhere in the middle of my empty stomach as I stand and connect my laptop to the projector, and put on the presentation.

I exchange encouraging glances with Nora before I walk to the center of the room, near the projector with a clicker in my hand. Nervousness creeps up to my neck, choking me but I take deep breaths before putting on a professional smile.

"Good morning to everyone present here, I am Cecilia Bann, a planner under Nora Ainsworth and I will be talking on the topic of the Moon ball's theme." I begin, and the nervousness starts to fade away. I click and slide changes to the first aspect.

"We have decided to come up with a royal grandeur theme befitting both the pack and the event's image with masquerade lining up for the special hour to make the ball exciting."

I pause on the slide where we have explained the details in our plan, like the red-gold chandeliers, our celestial theme encoding that royalty meets under the moon, after we have explained how we are going to accommodate our guests in the venue.

I wait for the questions before going onto the next slide when there are none, ignoring Alpha Aaron's intense gaze which had been fixed on either me or the presentation.

In the next few slides, I explain the decorations in more detail, the colors, lighting, props and a little bit of fantasy touches. At the same time, Abigail distributes the necessary handouts before we smoothly move over food and budget.

I pause again at the budget slide, remembering how setting it up within the allotted amount took us the most time because of our grand theme when Juliana finally asks a question, tightening up the atmosphere.

"The royal theme that you have come up with. It is beautiful. However, doesn't it insinuate that it's only for the Alphas and the higher hierarchy members? As if to please only them?" She asks with her arms folded, dropping the temperature immediately to an icy point.

I do not let my smile falter, and answer with ease I spent days and night perfecting for this presentation, "It may feel that way, but it's an idea that came up to honor the object of the ball, firstly since it's dedicated to the moon goddess, and secondly it's going to be an experience for everyone, and not just the distinguished members.

The dress code will apply to everyone, and it is to make everyone feel like a royal, proving the goddess's feeling to see everyone as one and equal in her eyes despite the hierarchy she has set for our world to work smoothly. We want to make that feeling come true through our theme." I finish, stealing a glance at Alpha Aaron unconsciously to find him already looking at me.

My right hand trembles at that sight, and I clasp it tightly before continuing to smile at everyone in the room. I wait for more questions before moving closer to the end of the presentation. I change the rest of the slides, including invitations and guest experience, entertainment, logistics and operations accordingly.

I catch Melanie smiling at our idea of elegant scroll-style invitations, which I am counting as a good thing. Lastly, I talk about special effects, not very far from concluding our ppt when Alpha Aaron asks a question the next second I pause in between.

"Knowing how other packs have organized the ball so far, wouldn't this lavish theme put our pack at a disadvantage? It might be serving as an open invitation to others to attack us." He questions, fixing his penetrating gaze on me.