“Who do you live with?” I asked. Her house was a mansion in the ritzy part of town. It seemed huge for just one person, but maybe she still lived with her parents.
“Oh…” She bit her lip.
I squeezed her hand, realizing I’d landed on something sensitive.
“You don’t have to…” I started.
“No, it’s okay. I lived there with my aunt and her three alphas since I was little. But my aunt passed away almost a year ago and her alphas are mostly staying at their vacation home out of town.”
I noticed she didn’t call them her uncles.
“So you’re alone in that house?” I didn’t like that idea at all.
She hesitated, and I realized my question might have made her uncomfortable.
“Sorry,” I said, squeezing her hand, relieved that she hadn’t pulled away from me. “I wasn’t asking to be creepy. Just seems lonely to be in that big house on your own.”
She flashed me a quick smile. “Sometimes.”
I wanted to ask more questions about her past, but there was something skittish about Westin that made me tread lightly.
“How do you like working at the bakery?” I hoped I’d chosen a safe topic.
“It’s been great,” she answered. “I love working with Josie. I started out just working out front, but she and Ben have been teaching me how to make some of the baked goods. Do you like your new job?”
“Yeah, it’s been really interesting. I’ve had a lot of catching up to do with Luna’s laws and legal system, but I think I’m getting the hang of it. Before this, I worked in a corporate law firm, so it’s nice to feel like I’m making a difference.”
“I bet. I never really had a dream job, but it would be nice to feel like I was contributing to the community,” she said with a little shrug.
“What did you major in?” I asked, turning onto Main Street. The pink neon sign for the bakery caught my eye and I wondered if I could stop in every day on my lunch break just to see Westin.
“Umm, I didn’t go to college?” she said, in a tone that told me I should know better than to ask.
I glanced over at her confused expression. And then it clicked.
“Shit.” I brought Westin’s hand to my lips and placed a soft kiss on her knuckles. “Sorry, I wasn’t thinking.”
The Designation Government had made it so omegas couldn’t pursue an education. Or work. Fuck, I was such an insensitive asshole.
“It’s so weird that it wasn’t the same everywhere else as it was here,” she said softly. “It’s kind of nice to remember the Designation Government didn’t control the entire world, even though it felt that way.”
She was being way too gracious. In my work on the new government’s legal team, I’d read some horrific accounts of what omegas had been put through. For some reason, my brain hadn’t let me imagine that the stunning omega next to me had suffered in that way. I wanted to ask her what it had been like, but at least I knew that wasn’t appropriate.Please tell me your deepest, darkest trauma and also, do you like fettuccini?
I parked in a lot a block away from the restaurant—regretfully flat and paved and in no way requiring me to carry her across it—and turned to face Westin, cupping her cheek with my hand.
“It was a stupid question. Forgive me?”
“Of course.” She leaned into my hand. The warmth of her skin against mine was addictive and I didn’t want to move.
“Stay there and I’ll get the door for you,” I said, forcing myself to move my hand away. She squirmed a little and nodded.
I opened her door, offering my hand to help her out of the car. I didn’t let it go as we walked towards the restaurant. The place looked charming, with vines and flowers climbing outside the building. I glanced over at her, hoping she liked it.
Dim candlelight and warm music greeted us inside.
“This is so cute,” Westin said. Her hair brushed against my arm as she leaned against me, and it took everything in me to keep my cool.
“Reservation under Williams for two,” I told the host, a middle-aged beta male whose name tag identified him as Chad.
