“Fair enough.” I gestured to his nearly empty cart and decided to make a joke. “Doing some light shopping, I see.”
“I only needed a few essentials. Milk, bread, and eggs.” Thomas looked over at my overflowing cart of unhealthy butextremely delicious junk. “Not one for salads and organics, huh?”
“Not really. Although I do try to choose healthier options most of the time. I swear that I do usually eat better than this. I wouldn’t want you to think I only eat cookies, chips, and frozen pizzas. I’m not that bad of a bachelor alpha.” I chuckled. “Actually, I live with my brother and his family. At least for now, until I find a place of my own.”
“There’s no shame in living with family.” Thomas nodded. “Or even with friends. Especially in today’s economy. I think multigenerational living or communal living might have a lot of benefits for most people right now.”
“That’s true. But sometimes it’s a lot when you are single and they are happy little families. I haven’t been back here in town for too long and it was just easier to stay with them at first.”
“Trust me. I’m not judging you at all for that.” Thomas laughed, a light and sexy sound.
“Good.” I shrugged. “Anyway, they’re going away for a few days so I figured I’d just buy some things for myself that are quick and easy instead of going all out on making homemade meals for one.”
“Makes sense. But—” Thomas tilted his head and paused for a moment, seemingly thinking something over. “How about putting some of that away and getting the ingredients for something truly delicious instead. Something for the two of us.”
“Yeah?”
Thomas gave a more confident nod. “You can come over and spend some time at my place. I’m off shift at the station for the next three days. We can get to know one another with no one else around.”
Okay.” I jumped at my chance to see my mate again. “Let me go put this all away and we can figure out what we need for our dinner.”
“Sounds like a plan.” Thomas smiled, and I returned it with one of my own.
Yes, it sounds like a really good plan, actually.
Chapter Five
Thomas
Part of me was nervous inviting Isaac back to my place for dinner, but another part of me felt it was a very smart decision. I wasn’t ready to announce our mating to the world, or even to fully accept it, if I was honest with myself. Being drawn to him in a very real and all-consuming way didn’t keep me from thinking about all the omegas I’d met in my life who embraced their matings and let go of their dreams and careers. That wouldn’t be me, just another omega who gave up their career for a man who was hardly ever home to help take care of our children. Other omegas said that they made the best choice for them, and I respected that. I just wasn’t sure yet what the best choice for me would be and had to take my time in getting to know Isaac and exploring our bond.
Our mate,my dragon huffed, not convinced that waiting to complete the bond was the right path. He would just have to deal with it, though.
It’s not like I am shoving him away. I am just taking time to make sure our values and priorities align. What’s wrong with that?I pointed out to my beast.Allow me this time to make sure he really is the kind of mate we need.
Fate says he is,my dragon argued.
I know. But I need to say he is as well.
“Everything okay?” Isaac stared at me from his position on my light-brown leather couch. “If this isn’t a good time after all, we can reschedule. I know meeting your mate can be overwhelming and you do seem a bit—”
“No, it’s okay.” I approached the living room from the kitchen area of my apartment, carrying two cups of coffee. “I wasjust reminding my dragon of a few things. Sorry for being quiet. I really do want you here tonight.”
“If you’re sure.” Isaac took one of the mugs from my hand and settled back onto the couch. “Thanks for the coffee. I know most people don’t drink it at night because it might interfere with their sleep, but I don’t have any issues with that.”
“Neither do I.” I sat on the other end of the sofa and placed my mug on the coaster on the side table. My cat, Spice, lay across the back of the sofa and purred on my arrival. “The baked mostaccioli should be ready in another twenty minutes.”
“I’ve never had it before. I can’t wait to try it, though.” Isaac placed his mug down and turned a bit so he was facing me on the couch. “So, do you like to cook?”
“Sometimes.” I thought about my answer. Was cooking something I enjoyed or something I just did because no one else was around to do it for me? “I love to eat, so preparing the food holds some joy for me. But I do sometimes wish it was already done for me, and I could just dig into the meal.”
“I understand that.” Isaac laughed, deep and rumbly. “I feel the same, honestly. I can cook, and do often help out in the kitchen for my family. Depending on who I am cooking for or what I am baking, I enjoy it immensely. But other times, I just wish I could snap my fingers and have it all ready. I wonder if there’s magic like that. I see it on the television shows but not in real life. Now that would be a spell I would use half the days of the week.”
“At least we both can cook. We can share the pleasure and pain of that chore.” I mentally marked off cooking on my checklist of household duties. If we were living together, I could at least share that duty with my mate and not oversee every single meal like my sister was.
“I definitely believe in sharing household duties. Even if one mate stays home with kids, household duties should still be split.”
“Do you expect your mate to stay home with kids?” I asked an important question since he brought up the subject. I had no plans of giving up my career, even if we had babies in the future. I had to make sure now that he understood that.
