Oliver stepped away to give her some space. “Listen, I won’t keep you. You seem to be having a party in here, and I’m not one to disturb budding artists. You never know, one of these munchkins might end up a famous painter or something.” He grinned. “I’ve got bets on Kennedy, but then again, I am kind of biased.”
I giggled. “Hard not to be biased when it comes to family, huh?”
His lips curved into a smile. “Definitely.”
“So…” I linked my fingers together in front of my belly, then thought better of it and stuffed my hands in my pockets. “Whyareyou here?”
“For you,” he said softly, and I gasped.What?He looked down for a moment, then took a deep breath. “This is gonna sound…okay, probably a little crazy, but I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you. Mac and Nathaniel gave me a gift card to Riley’s Steakhouse and I…was hoping maybe you’d want to go to dinner with me sometime?” He hesitated. “Maybe Friday?”
I blinked at him, stunned to silence. My mouth hung agape like the giant idiot I was, but my heart was doing an Irish jig in my chest and the butterflies in my stomach had taken flight.
“I… Wow, um. I don’t even know what to say,” I mumbled. Biting my lip, I studied his face for any sort of clue, but all I saw was hope. He wanted to take me out?Me?
“How about yes?” he offered, and it dawned on me that this Alpha was nervous.
Clapping my hand over my mouth to stifle a slightly hysterical giggle, I nodded. “Yeah, I… That sounds really nice. Are you sure? I mean…” I glanced down at myself, all of myself, that old judgment creeping back in.
Oliver stepped into my space and with two fingers curled beneath my chin, he gently tipped my face back up to his. “I’m sure, Brinden. I promise. I want to get to know you, if that’s okay, and I thought maybe a nice dinner would break the ice? It doesn’t have to be a date if you’re not comfortable?—”
“No!” I gasped. “I… I’d really like it to be a date.”
His face broke out into a wide smile. “Great. Perfect. Let me give you my number, and you can text me later, if you want?” He nodded towards the clock. “After all the munchkins go home for the day.”
My heart racing a billion miles a minute, I quickly swapped numbers with him. As if he could sense my nerves, he winked at me and it utterly disarmed me.
“Text me,” he murmured, taking a step back towards the door, and all I could do was nod. With a little wave, the bells jingled his farewell and for several long minutes, I stood there in awe of what just happened.
“Brin?” called Jillian. “Everything okay?”
I grinned. I had a date with Oliver Dault.
Everything was perfect.
CHAPTER 5
Oliver
Icould hardly believe it. Brinden said yes, and he’d seemed delighted that I’d asked. I had a date with the gorgeous Omega. Now I just had to worry about not screwing it up somehow.
My phone chimed at ten till four, making my heart leap and my stomach drop all at once. I closed my eyes, counted to ten, then grabbed my cell off the coffee table. Sure enough, Brinden’s name popped up with a big blue B.
Hi?
I grinned.Hey, what’s up? All the kiddos get home okay?
Yep. My BFF grilled me on you, tho lol. She told me to tell you that she’ll castrate you if anything happens to me on Fri.He sent a laughing emoji, then a sweating one.Not that I’m worried or anything!
Good,I replied back.You shouldn’t be. I’ll keep that in mind. Kind of need my nuts to have a family, right? Ha!
Right? Um if it’s cool, maybe we could text for a couple of days? Get to know each other a little better? I mean, it would be easier for me, I guess? Sorry.
Don’t be sorry. I’d like that. We can talk about anything you want. If you have any questions, consider me an open book. Oliver Dault, at your service.
From that point on, our text thread was a never-ending stream of conversation. I learned things about Brinden that I never would’ve guessed. He was allergic to shellfish, of all things, which made me happy that I’d asked him out to a steakhouse and not seafood. He also was afraid of the dark, and his favorite past-time was swimming laps around the lake with his friend Jillian.
By Thursday night, I was itching to see him again, or at the very least, hear his voice. This was crazy. I hadneverbeen this obsessed with a guy before, not even when I was a teenager. Everything about Brinden made my blood hum and my soul sing, and before I could stop myself, I was pushing the call button.
The phone rang twice before a nervous Brinden answered, “Hello?”
