Thing? I had to stifle a laugh.
“Well, I am an Alpha,” I confirmed with the smile I’d been repeatedly assured could charm the knickers off a nun, “but Alphas love their children and want to be involved in their upbringing, you know.”
“No,” Ari said slowly. “I, uh, guess I didn’t know that.”
ChapterSix
Ari
I wasn’t left with much time to puzzle over the odd description of child-rearing that Roger had laid out before me before he suddenly sprang to his feet and reached for my hand.
“What are you doing?” I gasped, alarmed.
He wrapped my fingers in his and began to carefully tug me toward the still open door.
“Well, we certainly can’t stay here in your room where you are getting deeper and deeper in your head, can we?” Roger was smiling but it seemed a little off.
“We can’t?” I parroted. “Jeremy said..” I trailed off when Roger teasingly clucked his tongue at me.
“Yes, Jeremydidsay that we could be in your room,” he agreed. “The problem is that you are trying to stay in your room without me and we still need to talk.” He tugged gently on my hand again. “So why don’t we go out into the world and see how it feels?” He winked at me and something fluttered in my stomach. “We spent time together while I was guarding you, right?”
“We did.” My words came out as kind of a squeak.
“So, there shouldn’t be any reason that we can’t do that again, right?”
Even though I knew Roger was absolutelynottalking about repeating the actions that resulted in my current situation, the fluttering in my stomach intensified. I swallowed and nodded again.
“Great!”
Roger led me down the hall and out the double doors from the cafeteria out into the park-like garden before continuing on to the parking lot.
“We’re leaving the school?” I asked, a little breathless.
“We are,” Roger confirmed, helping me up into the seat of his truck and snapping my safety belt in place.
“Where are we going?”
“It’s a surprise,” Roger teased me, tapping me on the nose before closing my door and walking around to climb into the driver’s seat.
We didn’t talk as we drove, instead letting the local country music station fill the silence until Roger pulled into a parking space in front of the same dingy bar we’d first met at.
“How’s this?” Roger asked, his voice low. “Public enough for you to feel safe, private enough for us to be able to talk if we want, and I’m assuming there’s no real chance of running into anyone you know, right?”
“Um, yes,” I agreed hesitantly. “I mean, no. No one will know me.”
“Perfect,” Roger commented cheerfully. “Let’s grab some lunch, shall we?”
He led me to a corner booth in the back, far from any random prying eyes, plucking the menus from the waitress’s hand and ignoring her snicker when she greeted us.
“What’ll it be to drink?” she asked, snapping her gum.
“Beer of the day,” Roger said promptly before looking over at me. “What are you in the mood for?”
I hesitated and then shrugged. “Another one of the fizzy drinks?”
“Got it,” the waitress assured me with a wink. “You boys take a look at the menu and I’ll be right back.”
“I’m having the special,” Roger declared after a cursory glance at the options. “What sounds good to you?”
