“If I didn’t know better,” I quipped when we were alone again, “I’d think this was all a sneaky plan to get us to eat our vegetables.”
“You may be right.” Remi twirled some of the spaghetti around his fork. “Is that so bad?”
“Not at all. Unless they try to puree peas into the ice cream—if we have ice cream.”
“I love most vegetables, including peas, but I agree they do not belong in ice cream. I don’t mind chocolate cake made with zucchini in it, though, or even beets.”
“Beets in cake?” I gaped at him. “Zucchini makes sense. Or even pumpkin. But beets?”
“Sure. There’s a lot of sugar in beets and all that color? You can make a natural red velvet sort of thing.”
As each course arrived, more delectable than the one before, our conversation continued. We didn’t talk about anything earthshaking. Just our work and things we liked. What we wanted out of our lives. I could have listened to him talk all day, every word from his lips so interesting to me, but finally we were having dessert.
Remi took a bite of strawberry shortcake and closed his eyes. “Who knew hothouse berries could be so good?”
“I didn’t know, but I agree they are really good. Do you grow strawberries in your business? Or your yard?”
“We do strawberry starts to sell, and I have a half barrel with them spilling down the sides. They are the tiny alpine variety, but the sweetest taste. You’ll have to try some if you ever come by the nursery.”
“Is that an invite?” I blurted out, so hoping it was. Not that I’d go, unless we mated… Would we? I was having an awful good time with the alpha. The weekend was going too fast.
“Of course, I’d love to show you the property. All the plants. We’re quite proud of the place, my sister and I—”
My phone buzzed with a text, but I ignored it until we were ready to leave the restaurant. It was the end of the tour, so we would be on our own for the afternoon. Which suited me perfectly. We’d left some boxes of bulbs Remi bought, at the hostess station, and picked them up and took them outside with us.
“Why don’t we take them to the car?” I suggested, and he happily agreed. This day was going so well, and although we weren’t exactly making out in the festival streets, he had been holding my hand a great deal of it.
I was as happy as I could remember being when my phone buzzed again. “Oh, I’d better check this,” I said. “Might be work.”
“Sure.” He stood by the car while I pulled out my phone and brought up the text. The second I began to read, my stomach clenched, all the good food we’d just eaten threatening to come up. A coworker wrote,Looks bad for funding. I’m afraid we’re up for layoffs now. And you know who is kissing up.It went on, but I’d read the rest later. My first instinct was to run home and find out what all was happening, but no. I wasn’t going to let this ruin my weekend with my mate.
But it wasn’t so easy to forget.
Chapter Thirteen
Remi
My omega was distracted ever since he had some texts come through. His scent changed as well. Something was up but he didn’t want to tell me.
We’d been walking all day with the exception of lunch at the restaurant. We’d even taken a trip back to the car where I dropped off the bulbs and other things I’d bought instead of carrying them around any longer
Bowen had gone quiet. Sweet omega. Whatever was bothering him, I wished I could take it from him and make him smile again.
“Are you ready for dinner?” I asked as the streetlights around us came to life. The town took on a whole other personality with the sun setting and the nightlights flickering on around us.
“Sure. I’ve been eyeing that place over there. The sandwich place. Unless you want something else?”
“A sandwich sounds really good. Simple fare, unlike lunch.”
We went into A Sandwich Apart and placed our orders. Bowen got a steak-and-cheese flatbread, while I got the roasted vegetables on sourdough. The ambience was perfect and lent itself to a date. Soft battery-operated candle-lamps flickered on the tables, and the overhead lights were turned down low.
Bowen sat across from me at the small round table.
“Tell me about you,” he said in between bites. He snuck a sweet potato chip from my plate, and my panther purred. It showed trust. My mate was comfortable around me.
“I was about to say the same thing. You first. What made you want to become a park ranger?”
“My parents worked in corporate. They actually enjoyed their jobs but, on the weekends, we went camping and hiking and kayaking, spend the whole weekend outdoors. But I saw how torn they were about going back to work. I wanted to have a job and a life that I didn’t need a vacation from.”
