Greg blushed. Again. He did that a lot and if I was his mate, which I might be, I would make it my mission to cause that blush as much as humanly possible, shifterly possible as well. “The upstairs is for me, my mate, and I thought the room might make a good nursery, if I’m blessed with an omega who wants to have children.”
My fox yipped and bounced inside me, volunteering to be the omega in question. I had to say something. I was sure that if I had this inkling that I was his mate that he also knew we belonged together, but it had only been two days. I doubted either of us were ready to declare love this fast.
My fox was, but he was an animal. No care at all for pretenses and protocols.
He wanted this alpha to be ours. Period.
“Your omega would be a very lucky man,” I said. “I’m going to room three. Or C. Whatever it’s called. The plum one.”
I walked out, not giving him a chance to respond but also not giving us a chance to become awkward. I meant my words. Greg was caring and giving and was building a life for him and his future family. Any omega would be blessed to have him as an alpha.
For the rest of the day, we worked together and ended up finishing two rooms and starting on the flooring in the kitchen. We were exhausted by dinnertime and had been so wrapped up in working that we’d skipped lunch.
“How about some smoked meat and sides? Dragon’s Breath Smokehouse is amazing. I’ve had it several times.”
“That sounds great but I can pay this time. We’re both eating and you’re letting me stay here. It’s only fair.”
“Not on your life,” he said, laughing. “What kind of alpha would I be if I let you pay. Besides, we’ve gotten more done todaythan I could’ve alone by a long shot. I can’t thank you enough. Let me pay. Really.”
I sighed. “Okay. I’ll go shower while you order. Then we can make a list for tomorrow.”
Greg shook his head. “What am I gonna do once you get a job? It’s going to be so quiet here.”
“You’ll live,” I said, walking away and I swore I heard him say, I might not, under his breath.
Chapter Fourteen
Greg
We were having a great time together, or at least I was. My bear didn’t understand why we weren’t moving forward with all the love stuff, but I held strong. It was more than I’d ever expected to experience just seeing his face every morning. We’d agreed on one meal out a day, and what that was varied as it suited us. We still didn’t have a functioning kitchen to do much cooking, but that was coming soon. My bear’s desire to feed his mate constantly nudged me to get that done.
“The roofers are on the job.” Oswald came into the first-floor powder room where I was nailing up molding. “Troy says it won’t be long now.”
“That’s great.” I really should feel that it was, but I’d gotten so used to seeing him across the table from me at breakfast or carrying paint cans all over the place, I wasn’t going to enjoy it when he had to go be a librarian. The job he loved. The one he came here to do. How unkind of me not to be fully supportive of him in this way. “And your apartment?” I might as well get all the bad news at once. “Have you heard anything about that?”
“Yeah.” He shifted uncomfortably. “It’s extra lucky you had room for my furniture and stuff in the barn because the apartment doesn’t seem to be progressing. If you’re sick of me, say the word and I’ll try to find something else. You’ve already been too nice to me.”
“Omega, why wouldn’t I be nice to you? I was just feeling guilty because I’ll miss you around all day when you start on your real job.”
“I’m excited to do it, but I’ve enjoyed being your helper, too.” He gave me a shy smile. “I’ve enjoyed it a lot.”
“Well, that’s it, then. I know it’s not all done, but we should do something to celebrate the progress of the library roof.” I tapped my cheek. “Any ideas?”
“We could go out for a drink, I guess,” he said. “Or dinner.”
“Yes…or we could do something we’ve never done together before.”
His mouth dropped open. “Do you mean…”
Oh, I could have meant so many things, but I was a coward and kept it to my initial thought, which was, “Yes. We can shift together.”
“My fox has been wanting to meet your bear,” he said. “But I wasn’t sure how you felt about it.”
“My bear has been nagging nonstop. Let’s go out there and let them introduce themselves.” I pulled my shirt over my head and started for the door. “It’s going to be great.”
“Wait.” Oswald grabbed my arm. “Don’t we have to drive somewhere?”
“In Oliver Creek? Nah. I mean, we can, if you want, but there’s a park at the end of the street and beyond that, open country. We don’t generally shift around tourists, but since there’s nowhere for them to stay down this street and no restaurants in the direction we are going, we should be fine. Ready?”
