“Let’s worry about next time later,” Ethan said, squashing any hope I had at future freedom. “Today is my concern.”
“Fine,” I acquiesced. “That works for me.”
“Omg, Millie, who is that guy who dropped you off?” He’s a fucking hottie with a body!”
I knew Carly didn’t mean any harm by what she’d just said, but damn, I’d wanted to smack that look of carnal longing right off her pretty face the moment she’d blurted it out.
“That’s my boyfriend,” I answered, trying not to sound supremely annoyed as I did.
Though Ethan was no boy, and the term boyfriend kind of made me cringe based on how deep our relationship actually went, I wanted to stake my claim before any of the waitresses on this shift got any dumb ideas of trying to pick him up.
“Lu-u-u-cky!” She returned with absolutely no malice, just pure respect for my good fortune.
I tried not to laugh at her childish response. As much as I wanted to scratch her eyes out for noticing how good Ethan looked, she was harmless. Plus, I was “lucky” as she’d stated. The hot ware with the killer bod was mine, and no amount of pretty women throwing themselves at his feet, or cock, was going to change that. I might not have been a shifter for long, but I knew what I felt for the man. He was my mate. If that meant half as much to him as it meant to me, I knew he’d forever be faithful. Though, truth or not, I still wanted to scalp Carly for noticing.
The afternoon rush hit around eleven and Carly, Kevin, and I all began to run around like chickens with our heads cut off. The boom lasted for a good hour and remained fairly steady until the end of my shift at two.
Ethan came in with a frilly bag in hand as he waited discreetly at a corner table for me to clock out. When I came over to join him, he stood, relieved me of my coffee, pulledme into his arms for a very hot kiss, then presented me with the frilly bag he’d been carrying.
“I got you something,” he said, watching with an indulgent smile as I squealed with delight over the pretty package.
“I love presents,” I declared gleefully, as I shoved aside the colorful layers of tissue paper to reveal the gift inside. “My favorite chocolates! How did you know?”
Ethan grabbed my takeaway coffee off the table and led me out the door as he reminded me about something I’d forgotten. “Your dad used to get them for you every year on your birthday. When I saw the shop, I knew I had to get you some.”
If I wasn’t already in love with this man, I think that would have sealed the deal. Yes, I loved him. I had for some time now. Long before he’d saved my life and I’d learned I was a ware. Like the moon and the stars above, it had always been. No need to define or dissect it. Like Ethan had just done, sometimes life handed you a precious gift. Best to just accept it instead of ripping it apart looking for further meaning.
On the ride home from work, Ethan explained that there would be some men staying with us at the cabin for the foreseeable future. Though I’d known since the mystery texter had threatened me that Ethan would have to call in reinforcements, I wasn’t happy about it. I mean, Flint was bad enough, but now there needed to be a slew of nosey wares hanging around the cabin when I just wanted to be alone—and naked—with Ethan.
“That’s not all,” my mate said then, his gaze flicking in my direction as he drove. “Gavin is going to be one of the men staying with us.”
The kid who had attacked me while I was showering the first night I’d spent at the cabin!
“What? Ethan, no! You promised I wouldn’t have to see him again after what he did.”
“I know, Princess, but things have changed. And so have you. Since we’ve mated, your scent now has mine mingled in with it. Gavin won’t be attracted to you in the same way as he was before,” he carefully explained.
“But he will still be attracted to me?” I angrily asked.
“All wares will be attracted to your scent, Millie. You’re an omega. You’ll smell divine to any ware, no matter if you are mated or not.”
Pouting, I sort of shrieked, “That’s not my fault! I can’t do anything about that!”
“Of course it’s not, but it’s still our problem. That’s why Gavin is coming to stay with us. He’ll protect you from whoever was in the woods last night. I know he hasn’t shown you as much so far, but he’s a great kid and I trust him.”
“Whenever he’s not trying to attack me,” I muttered under my breath.
Knowing what was good for him, Ethan didn’t react to my barb.
“There’ll be other men there as well. Brothers who I know from Cascia House,” he explained, as he took the turn-off onto the dirt road that led to the cabin.
I’d heard so much about Cascia House over the years. My father had often peppered our conversations with stories from his youth that had incorporated Laurence and his friends. Every time it was mentioned by Ethan now, I feltmyself getting ever more curious about the men who had lived there, wondering what their experiences were like.
“Did my father know the men that will be staying with us?”
Ethan nodded. “He did. Though not as well as I do. Most of them are younger, but whenever they were in town, they’d stop in for a beer to catch up and Calvin would sometimes join us.”
Intrigued, I asked, “Who are they?”
