“I’m Olive, by the way.” She was looking out at the water but didn’t seem uncomfortable.
It would be so easy to put my arm around her. Pull her into mylap. Of course I wouldn’t, but I could imagine how soft and perfect she would feel against me.
“Are you here for vacation?” I asked.
“No. I’m actually the new lighthouse keeper.”
God, if I had more than one functioning brain cell in her presence, this would have been obvious. Everything was making sense now. Olive was the woman Easton had been secretly obsessed with, the reason he’d applied for this job. I’m sure he was convinced we would all fall in love with Olive the moment we met her, and he would be fucking correct.
“I should have guessed that,” I said.
She met my gaze, surprise on her face. “Yeah? I feel like most people don’t think an omega is the right person to run a lighthouse.”
I shrugged. “Don’t know what designation has to do with it.”
I was rewarded with a real smile, and I swear my heart skipped a beat.
I meant it. Of course omegas could do anything they wanted. My sister and moms proved that. But the idea of her being isolated from town in the lighthouse put my alpha on edge.
“I’m actually one of the guys on the restoration team.”
Her smile disappeared and she turned back to the waves. “Oh, right. Did you come looking for me so I could unlock the door?”
Her scent soured with something like shame and I fucking hated it. I couldn’t stop myself from putting my hand on her shoulder.
“Nah, I came out here because I didn’t really feel like working today.”
She kept her face hidden.
Shit.
“Was there a reason you weren’t there?” I asked gently.
She shrugged. “I’m sorry. We can reschedule.”
“Hey,” I said, gently touching her face and tilting her chin towards me. “I’m not upset.”
Her eyes met mine—deep and dark. “I’m not good with strangers in my space,” she whispered.
My heart ached. Olive wasshy. Of course it would beoverwhelming to move to a new place and have three alphas immediately in her space.
“Good thing I’m not a stranger now.”
She swallowed hard, but her scent turned sweet again.
“And I think you’ve already met my packmate, Easton?”
The blush on her cheeks was back. “We don’t really know each other,” she said. “I’ve just seen him at the market.”
I couldn’t stop a grin from spreading across my face. Another mystery solved. Easton must really care about her if he had tried this hard to restrain himself. It made sense, though. Olive was skittish. I could picture her leaping into the ocean and turning into a mermaid if she got overwhelmed.
And I’d fucking follow her. Even if it meant drowning.
10
OLIVE
Growingup in a fishing family meant early mornings. During peak lobster season, we were on the boat by 3:30 a.m. every day. Night owl, I certainly was not.
