“I was making the arrangements with your father about the trees for the Christmas Village,” he says, and while he stares at the mess, I stare at him. There’s a long stretch of silence until he moves. I watch as he grabs a dustpan and brush from the wall and drops to one knee so he can clean up the glass.
“Oh, I love an alpha on his knees,” I tease. It’s practically a reflex at this point. With Nick it’s easy to flirt, to toy with him. He never gives it back as good as he gets it, but trying to get a reaction out of him has become a bit of a habit. He just takes my sassy flirtations until he can’t handle them anymore, shakes his head, and walks away.
This is new, though. He sought me out voluntarily?Interesting.
When I saw him at the farm yesterday, I panicked a bit. That was probably the first time I didn’t take the opportunity to mess with him, but it didn’t feel like the right time.
Benson and I haven't talked about rules yet, and Nick is hard to resist, looking all hot as he cleans for me. This might be the last time I get to do this with him. Once we figure out our rules, which might include no more flirting with his brother, and then tell everyone we’re dating… Well, this might never happen again.
The thought makes me feel more daring but also a little sad at the same time.
“I’m sorry I startled you. I didn’t realize you’d be so easy to scare,” he says over his shoulder, ignoring my taunt. “Or that you would throw things…”
“Just be glad I didn’t toss it at you,” I snark, standing up and grabbing my small trash bin. I hold it out so he can dump the glass in, and once he’s done, I take the dustpan from him. He gives me an unamused look when I make sure my hand caresses his in the process.
Oh, how I’m going to miss this…
“I’ll keep that in mind in the future.” He shakes his head at me once I’m done putting everything back, and I turn to face him, hands on my hips.
“So, Saint Nick.” I grin, using the nickname I know he likes the least.
To be fair, I don’t think he likes any of them, but that one really irks his nerves.‘I’m not Santa, and I’m certainly not a fuckin’ saint.’
He sure is a grump, though.
“What brings you to my workshop? Unannounced.”
“I wanted to ask if you wanted to sell your ornaments in our farm store this year. The Christmas village gets a lot of traffic,” he explains, stuffing his hands into his pockets. “I got some complaints last year from the locals. Guess we don’t sell enough Christmas-related products.” He huffs, glancing around my messy workshop.
“No way?” I gasp, eyes going wide. He jerks his head around to look at me, green eyes meeting mine with a confused frown. “You really want to sell my ornaments?”
“Yes?” He’s still frowning and looks even cuter when he’s confused. “Of course. I think your ornaments are beautiful, and they’ll sell really well in the shop this time of year. You can bring them by and set up as soon as the fifteenth, if you’d like.”
“That would be fucking incredible!” I squeal, sprinting at him while grinning from ear to ear. Just one more hug, big guy.
My reaction obviously surprises him enough that he doesn’t even try to stop me as I jump into his arms. In fact, he catches me with ease as I hug him, wrapping my arms around his neck and my legs around his waist.
“Thank you so much!” I’ve been putting up a booth at every town event for years, but there's always a lot of competition and a bunch of awesome stuff to buy, so I feel like my sales are never good enough. Sable has a section in her shop for them as well, but people are looking for old things, not new ones, when they go to her antiques store.
“You’re welcome,” he murmurs softly, pressing his face into my neck as I hug him, and the intimate position sparks butterflies in my belly. My scent reacts accordingly and fills the air with my desire. Nick grunts but doesn’t release me as his own scent reacts to mine. The bloom of clove and orange peels darkens with the hint of anise.
“Anything else you want to offer me, alpha?” I purr, fighting the urge to scent mark him. Flirting is one thing, but scent marking an alpha is a claim. One that ignites their instincts. Something I’m not trying to do. I like taunting the man, but I’m not trying to torture him or test the boundaries of his self-control by triggering his alpha hindbrain.
His hold tightens for a moment, and I think he might be about to have one of those rare reactions and flirt back. His scent sure suggests he wants to. His reaction to me probably has more to do with the fact that I’m an omega than anything else.
Just because an alpha reacts to your scent doesn’t mean they really like you. Or want you… Or want to keep you.
But as the moment stretches on, and he does nothing, I pout. Sometimes it’s nice when he flirts back, and if this really is the end, I can’t say I don’t want it a little more than usual.
“What else could I offer you, omega?” His voice is husky with a growl. My heart races in my chest, excited that he’s playing along.
“I can think of at least one thing. It’sthickandlong…” I murmur, nuzzling his neck, carefully controlling my need to press kisses to his skin. That would be a little too far for the big guy.
“Is it?” He grunts, and I nod my head, leaning back in his arms so I can meet his gaze, grinning brightly.
“Yourlong, thick…hard…” I whisper, watching as his pupils blow wide, nearly turning his green eyes into a black void. “Truck bed,” I add with a breathy gasp, snorting when he blinks at me, confused once more.
“Truck bed?” he asks, and I nod.
