Jack’s phone call is brief. Paul, finishing up a job a couple of miles away, agrees to come to my apartment in the next thirty minutes. After I give him my address, Jack hangs up.
“Thanks,” I say, beyond relieved. “I wasn’t sure what I was going to do.”
Panic most likely, then go looking for a wrench to whack the pipes and likely make a bad situation worse.
He shrugs. “I just made a call.”
Looking around, I pick a couple of parts from a small plastic container on the counter when I remember the stack of invoices he tucked away since they’re no longer next to the cash register. "I'll buy these."
He raises his eyebrow. “Do you know what those are?”
“Nope.” I pull my purse from my pocket. “How much?"
“Put your money away,” he says with a smile. “You don’t have to buy something for my help.”
I return the unknown electrical parts to the plastic container. When I got home, I would have tucked it into a drawer and promptly forgotten all about it. “Can I do something else to thank you for the plumber? I clean at a hotel during the day, but maybe I can come clean your shop for a couple of hours in the evening.”
“You’re acleaner?”
One sniff and he’d have known I’m an omega, and omegas aren’t cleaners. I changed out of my uniform before I came to see him, not wanting to carry any nasty smells from the hotel with me.
“Yeah.” When I realize what else he might assume by my spontaneous offer, I blush. “Not that I’m saying your shop is dirty or anything. But I can’t fix things or cook. I know how to clean, though.”
I could bake him a cake to say thanks, but I don’t bake anymore. Not after that scarring first day with my scent matches. Never again.
“Aren’t you tired from cleaning hotel rooms all day?” he says, thankfully not asking why I’m a cleaner and not being pampered by an alpha.
“A little, but my job isn’t that hard.” It’s boring, but the work is easy, even if I don’t have as much time as I would like to get the rooms ready for the next guests to check-in. “When do you want me to clean?”
His lips pull up in a crooked smile despite his resigned expression. “You’re going to be stubborn about this, aren’t you?”
I should have walked away from my scent matches long before I did. I’ve learned my lesson. Fight for myself, defend myself, and do it well because no one else is going to do those things for me: not my scent matches or even my parents. I’m on my own.
I lift my chin, testing out my new determination. “Yes. I’ll clean your shop for two hours.”
“One hour,” he says reluctantly.
I stick my hand out. “Two hours. I have days off on Saturday and Tuesday. I can come by and do an hour on each of those days.”
Grinning, he shakes my hand. “You’ve got yourself a deal, June. Thanks.”
Chapter 21
Archer
Sleep-deprived, I stare blearily at the headlights inches away from my face.
BEEP!
A man hangs out of a red Toyota Camry and screams at me. “What the fuck is wrong with you?Move!”
He’s not the only one staring. There’s a line of cars blaring their horns behind him, and people on the street are studying me, curious about why I’d stop in the middle of crossing a road.
The answer is, I don’t know.
Scrubbing a hand over my face, I step onto the sidewalk and return to scanning the streets as my cell phone vibrates in my back left pocket.
I fish it out.
