I lived in my uniform, work clothes, or sweats, but I was struckby the urge to buy new clothes just so I had an excuse for her to tailor them.
Stupid idea. And not conducive to my plan to stay far, far away from this omega.
A stilted silence fell. Lucy fidgeted with the cuffs of her sweatshirt—mysweatshirt.
“Do you want me to roll those up for you?” I blurted out the question before I could stop myself. Her lips parted and she glanced between me and the too-long sleeves.
“Never mind,” I said, just as she responded, “Yes, please.”
Her cheeks turned bright pink and she let out a forced laugh. “Of course, I can do it. Thanks again for lending it to me.”
My chest clenched with regret as she rolled up the sleeves.
I focused my full attention on my food, doing my best to block out her mouthwatering scent. Once we were done, she got up and moved to grab my plate. I grunted and took the dishes out of her hand. She wasn’t going to fucking clean up in my house.
“Go sit by the fire and elevate your ankle.”
I caught her smile before she turned away.
8
Lucy
I was trapped in aromance novel.
A dramatic mountain rescue followed by going home with a rough, hot-as-sin mountain man?
Romance. Novel.
I was curled up in an armchair by the woodstove, covered with a quilt that smelled of smoke, pine, and leather, just like the alpha sitting stiffly on the couch. His eyes were fixed straight ahead, giving me a chance to admire him. His dark hair was tied up in a bun and his firm jaw was lined with a beard. He was huge, probably the biggest alpha I’d ever seen. Tall and broad, with muscular arms and thighs, a wide chest, and a thick torso. I wanted to crawl over and curl up in his lap with his huge hands spanning my hips and waist, moving me wherever he wanted me…
The only issue was that Wilder seemed distinctly uninterested in me. He wasn’t unkind, but his grunts, stony silence, and the fact he was sitting as far away from me as possible in the small living room made it clear he would prefer I wasn’t here. My chest clenched with the familiar feeling of being a nuisance.
Lucy distracts other students by talking too much in class.
Lucy needs to work harder to apply herself.
Lucy struggles with codependence.
Finally, the silence stretched on so long that I couldn’t hold myself back. “How did you get into firefighting?”
Wilder jumped, his eyes meeting mine like he was shocked I was still here.
Very flattering.
“Uh, I went to trade school and tried out a couple of things butnone of them felt right. I saw a recruitment ad from the fire department in the paper. There was a big signing bonus—more money than I’d ever seen. I figured I’d give it a try. That was fourteen years ago.”
“You must be good at it if you’ve stuck with it that long. Where are you from?”
“Western Mass. Did a short stint in Boston, but city life doesn’t suit me. When the fire chief here retired, a guy I used to work with recommended me for the job. Still not sure why they hired me.”
My brow furrowed. Most of the alphas I knew tended to be overconfident, but Wilder seemed almost down on himself. “Why shouldn’t they hire you? You’re clearly great at what you do.”
A little thrill ran through my chest when his cheeks flushed. He rubbed the back of his neck. “I guess they were desperate.”
“Do you like it here?” I leaned in, anxious for his response. For reasons I wasn’t quite ready to examine, I wanted him to love Starlight Grove.
“I like being close to the ocean and living in the mountains.”
