It wasn’t an enthusiastic ‘yes,’ but it wasn’t a ‘no’ either. I’d take it if it meant even another minute or two near him.
I rounded the counter and settled my hands on the cart so that I could follow him out.
“Come on, Russy,” he said as the dog eyed me.
The dog turned and fell in beside him as he headed toward the door.
The cart bumped over the gravel, though it was much lighter than I was accustomed to.
His truck’s tailgate squeaked as it dropped down, then he reached in and snagged a bucket.
I’d barely stopped the cart when he grabbed the scrap bucket and tipped it into his own. He pushed it back into place and reached for one of the burls as I made my way around.
Making myself useful ended up being handing him the other burl and the stack of shorts. But it was something.
My omega is strong, some inner voice praised.
“See you next time,” I said, stepping back with the cart as he closed the squeaky tailgate.
He turned and nodded. “It was nice meeting you… Craig?”
Something fluttered in my middle. I nodded. “That’s right.”
He smiled. “See you next time.” Then he turned to his dog. “Come on, Russy.”
I steered the cart back to the building as he got into his truck, which took two tries before the starter caught. Then he pulled out of the lot.
The building felt empty as I walked back inside. The constant thrum of the mill equipment still filled the space, but there were no customers as I returned to my self-imposed task of cleaning out under the register.
I was attempting to chisel out what had to be decades of accumulated sawdust from a back corner when Harrison returned.
“Damn, man,” he chuckled. “You’ve got it bad.”
“Hmm?” I asked, somehow managing to not knock my head as I pulled back from under the counter.
He motioned to a garbage bin I’d dragged over to dump things into. “Cleaning under the register? Come on. Nobody cleans under there.”
“It needed cleaning,” I tried.
He snorted. “Ok, Romeo, whatever you say.”
I shook my head, gave up on the sawdust, and started putting things back.
“Damn, some of these phone books have been here since I was a kid,” Harrison laughed from where he peered into the garbage bin. “Maybe it’s a good thing you needed a distraction.”
“Fuck you, too,” I jabbed. Then I noticed how much space I’d made. “Hey…”
“Yeah?”
“Think the boss will mind if I bring in a container of dog treats?” I asked, remembering looking for one for Russy.
“It’s probably fine, as long as we can give them out to all dogs, not just Spud.”
“Ok.”
“You’re up for lunch,” he said. “Pick up the scraps on your way back.”
“Got it.”
