“Perfect. Thank you. See you boys at lunch. Now for a little cuddle time with my grandpup.”
Leaning against the counter, Dakota watched as Oracle left his kitchen. Nothing in her manner indicated she knew her son was his Fated Mate. Sighing deeply, the tension of the morning weighing heavily on him, he closed his eyes, hoping when he opened them, the nightmare would be over.When did my life become so complicated?
“Hey bro, are you all right?” Zane asked. Something was going on but he didn’t know what it was. The tension in the air was thick and Dakota was acting weird towards Oracle, who seemed…I don’t know but Oracle wasn’t acting as herself, that’s for damn sure.
Dakota opened his eyes. Seeing the concern etched on Zane’s face, he forced himself to smile. Searching around for something he could say to assure his brother, Dakotasaid, “Yeah, I’m fine. I’m just thinking about our uncle’s complaint. Earlier you said you were showing Jackson what you found…was it good?”
“Good? It was perfect! I was able to find video of us in Las Vegas! I gave it to Jackson and I’m sure he’ll tell you,” Zane said excitedly.
“Wow! That is fantastic! Thanks, bro. One less worry for all of us. Hey did you hear from Kieran? Is everything okay between him and Logan?”
“Yup, according to the text I got, they patched things up and now both are very happy. I haven’t heard anything since they got to Scotland but I figure they’re busy sightseeing with Miss L, Theo, and Norman. Maybe I should’ve gone too. When Theo and Norman said they wanted to travel because they hadn’t been anywhere, they might as well have been describing me.”
Dakota asked, “Why didn’t you go? I’m sure Jackson would have agreed.”
“Because I didn’t think of it right away. Then Jackson wanted me to find proof we were in Vegas and I still haven’t been successful with the other stuff I’m working on.”
“Bro, go now, even if it’s only for a week, it will do you good.”
“I don’t know,” Zane said, sounding frustrated. “I mean, I still have a shit load of work to do for Jackson. Dammit! It’s driving me crazy because I can’t figure it out. I go round and round in circles cause no matter what I try, all I end up doing is chasing ghosts.”
“Maybe that’s exactly why you should go. Clear your mind…get a new perspective…maybe when you aren’t thinking so hard about it, your brain will find the answer.”
“Maybe…” Zane said, thinking about Dakota’s points. His brother was right about one thing—clearing his mind always helped him see what he had missed. Quickly going through what he still was working on, Zane came to the conclusion everything could wait for a week. After lunch, he would line up his arguments as to why his brother should let him go to Scotland and have them ready to present at their two o’clock meeting. Looking up at Dakota, Zane said, “Thanks, I’ll ask Jackson this afternoon. So what do you want me to do?”
“Actually, would you mind helping me with dinner instead?”
“Okay. Do you want me to take Slate his lunch? Have you met him? Colton and Cody speak highly of him so I’m really looking forward to meeting him. Did you see him? Is he as tall as Steel?”
“No, I haven’t seen him. Now shoo. I’ll see you later. Don’t forget to talk to Jackson. I think it would do you some good.”
“I won’t. See you at lunch.”
Dakota waited until Zane left before letting out a sigh of relief. Thank goodness Slate wouldn’t be at lunch so he had some time to figure out how to avoid him until he was gone. Turning back to the bread, he removed it from the pans and set it on a wire rack to cool. He pulled the roast beef out of the refrigerator and after slicing it, proceeded to make the sandwiches, but his mind was focused on the body sleeping in the yellow bedroom. Snorting to himself, he knew there wasn’t a chance in hell he’d ever allow Zane to deliver Slate’s lunch. That right belonged to him.
Finally, when everything was ready, he pulled the cart out of the pantry and placed the rare roast beef sandwiches on a platter along with some side dishes, a thermos of coffee and a special dessert he whipped up for his mate. At the last minute he added a vase filled with wild flowers. Stepping back, Dakota surveyed it and nodded his approval. After removing his apron, he wheeled the cart out of the kitchen, headed for Slate’s room.
~/~/~/~/~
Looking up from the reports he was reading, Maximus smiled as his mate entered their sitting room. “Hello, darling, what did our wild child have to say?”
Oracle leaned down and kissed her mate gently at first but as she felt his arm go around her neck, pulling her tighter, deepened the kiss. It didn’t take long before Maximus had her sitting on his lap, while he was giving her sweet kisses all along her neck. No matter how long she lived, Oracle knew she would never get enough of his kisses but she had to talk to her mate about their ‘wild child’. Finally moving away from Maximus’s wicked lips, she looked at her mate and said, “I love you so much, darling. Thank you for giving me two wonderful sons.”
Bemused, Maximus gazed at her. “My pleasure and I mean that in every sense of the word. I also owe you a ‘thank you’ for giving them to me. You know it wasn’t one sided,” Maximus said, chuckling. “Now, why don’t you tell me what’s bothering you and let’s see what I can do to fix it.”
Sighing, Oracle said, “Slate is intoirchigh…”
“That’s wonderful!”
“No it is not. He came here to ask me how he can end it early because according to him, he does not have the time for his Fated Mate.”
“What? It’s impossible to end it early unless he gets his mate pregnant.”
“I know but I did not want to tell him that because he looked exhausted. He listed all the reasons why this was not the right time for him to mate.”
“What were his reasons?”
“All work related. When I asked him that question, do you know he never included himself in the list of reasons? I am worried about him, Maximus. Not just him, but Steel too. I think the company should hire some personal assistants for both of them. I know Steel wants to spend more time with Daniel and he is also acting as Jackson’s Second.”
