He reached in and pulled out a piece of curly maple. His thumb traced over the grain, and he set it on the counter with a nod before pulling a second piece out, then a third—each one making his mental ‘keep’ pile.
He sighed. “You have a good eye.”
“Is that a compliment,” I teased, “or are you mad that you don’t get to mass reject them?”
“How about you make yourself useful and grab me one of those scrap buckets,” he sassed back.
I laughed, rounded the counter, and grabbed one of the buckets. I also wheeled a flat cart over and stopped it beside him.
“Thank you,” he said as he dropped his already-approved pieces into the bucket.
I pulled over the stool and perched on it while he went through my collection. Piece after piece seemed to satisfy him, with only a few pushed to the side as rejects.
His scent surrounded me, and I basked in his presence. My inner alpha was thrilled that he’d found so many of my selections acceptable.
Finally, he reached the bottom of the plastic bin, and I had to guess three-quarters—if not more—of the pieces had made it into his bucket.
He looked down and sighed. “Thanks, but I don’t have a ton of room left for anything I find in the big bin.”
“Sorry,” I replied. “Guess I overdid it.”
He cast me a mischievous smile. “At least I didn’t have to reject them all.”
I returned the smile as he turned to dig for more treasures. “More water?”
“I’m good for now, thanks.”
“Let me know. I’m going to get some more, but I’ll be right back.”
He nodded. “Ok.”
I headed back and let out a shuddering breath as soon as the door separating the showroom from the admin area closed behind me.
My omega had mostly accepted my efforts, and it felt like I’d cleared a huge hurdle.
Though, he’d also set subtle limits. He’d indicated two different times that there was too much.
That meant I needed to be more discerning.
I started toward the break room again, downed another cup of water, then returned to the front.
I’d take a better look at Randy’s finds when he was ready to check out. What did he find worthy of buying when he had his own trees available?
The next time he came in, I’d have fewer treasures for him, but hopefully better ones.
Chapter 9 - Randy
Something in my workshop smelled like alpha.
I’d done admin work on Friday in order to give my back a rest after picking up my order from the mill. Then I’d hung out with Kerry on Saturday, and my family on Sunday.
So whatever it was had three full days to fully saturate the air inside my workshop.
I grumbled as I started looking for the culprit. I’d have to set whatever it was outside to air out so that I didn’t have the scent distracting me while I was working with dangerous equipment.
I started near the stacked and stickered boards that I’d gotten from the mill. Craig had helped load, and we’d both been sweaty by the end.
I shuddered as I recalled how good he’d looked. Then I shook my head and reminded myself of my task.
