Page 12 of Yes Now Yes Forever

All their gazes shifted to me full of curiosity. “What is it, beautiful?” Pascal asked, gesturing for me to continue.

Unsure why I felt so nervous about making this request, I took a second and tucked my hair behind my ear. “Would it be all right if I cooked for all of you one night? I enjoy cooking and all of you have been taking care of me since the moment we met. I'd like the chance to do something in return.”

Eli, who was sitting next to me, rested his hand on my thigh, drawing my attention to him. “You don’t owe us anything, Lyra. We are your Alphas, your pack. None of us do things expecting anything in return.”

“However,” Pascal cut in. “If you truly do enjoy cooking, and it’s something that will help you feel more at home here, I have no objection to you cooking whenever you like.”

Fawn threw up his hand. “I agree with Passy, and not only because I want to eat your cooking. Zachary and Tanner tend to cook because I’m terrible at it, and Passy’s skills are rather limited.” He turns to look at him. “No offense.”

Pascal frowned at Fawn. “What do you mean by limited? You love my cooking.”

“Hell, yeah, I love your cooking, but there are only so many times I can eat baked chicken, spaghetti, and waffles,” Fawn explained. “If Lyra gets added to the rotation, it gives all three of you a night off to just enjoy dinner. Plus, I’m sure she’ll have new recipes.”

Tanner chuckled as he leaned back in his chair. “Fawnie’s got a point. Once we get back to real life and work again, it will be helpful to have an extra cook for nights when the three of us are busy. Summer is when the coffee shop is the busiest, and we stay open later. Zac has classes he teaches twice a month after the salon closes, and, Pascal, you sometimes have to take late meetings for clients overseas. Besides, to keep things fair we all agreed to take on chores to stay on top of things at the house. If Lyra wants to cook, then it can be one of her duties.”

His logic seemed to garner everyone’s agreement, and the conversation moved on to other things as we gathered up our dishes. I hung back momentarily and watched as Tanner and Fawn loaded up the dishwasher. Tanner whispered something to Fawn, which had the Omega dramatically pressing a hand to his chest and gasping. As if sensing something was brewing between the two, Zachary snapped the dish towel at Tanner’s ass.

“The fuck,” Tanner shouted as he twisted around to glare at Zachary. “What was that for?”

“No teasing him until everything from breakfast is cleaned up,” Zachary stated as he crossed his arms. “Dr. Mann will be here in half an hour, and I don’t want the scent of sex lingering in the air. It’s the first time she’s coming to our home and meeting all of us.”

“You’re being no fun, papa bear,” Fawn grumbled.

Seeing the pleading puppy dog eyes Fawn gave Zachary made me chuckle. Fawn was truly fearless when it came to asking for what he wanted. It was something I hoped I might be able to learn to do myself one day, but for now, I needed to work on other areas of my life first.

I maneuvered around the guys as I made my way over to the dishwasher to deposit my dishes before they shut it. An arm wrapped around my waist, pulling me out of the kitchen and against a broad chest. The scent of teakwood told me it was Eli, so I relaxed in his hold and tilted my head back to see his face. His free hand cupped my cheek as he kissed me nice and slow, making my toes curl in delight.

“I hadn’t gotten my good morning kiss yet,” Eli said, his thumb stroking my cheek.

I smiled wide enough it made my cheeks ache at the warmth and love I found in his ice blue eyes. “I’ll try to make sure I don’t forget, seeing as it’s important to you.” My tone had a hint of teasing, which had Eli returning my smile with one of his own.

“Don’t worry, petal,” Eli murmured, his lips brushing against mine. “I’ll happily remind you if you do.”

Happiness bloomed in my chest in a way it hadn’t in so many years. I wasn’t sure I’d ever be able to feel this blissful feeling after losing my family, but it would seem my heart wasn’t as broken as I originally thought.

Eli took a seat on one of the counter stools and pulled me to sit sideways on his lap. I was now held in both his arms, ensuring I wouldn’t fall. As if it was the most natural thing in the world, I tucked my head under his chin and let out a contented sigh.

“Lyra, I know we’re supposed to be on courting leave, but later today, I need to meet with my lawyer, Jonathan. There are some things the two of us need to go over and deal with. I’d have Jonathan come here, but I don’t want the media vultures still lingering around to know about this meeting,” Eli shared. “It won’t take too long, I promise.”

I sat up straighter so we could talk face-to-face. “Is everything all right?”

“Yes and no,” Eli answered ambiguously. “In light of what’s been happening with the media sharing such personal information about our pack, I asked Jonathan to hire a private eye so they could find out how all these buried stories are coming to light. The PI found a lead and wanted to discuss things in person.”

Shocked by this answer, I couldn’t do anything but blink at him.

Eli leaned in and pressed a kiss to my forehead. “This is all going to blow over, and soon the world will forget about our pack once there’s a new scandal to splash across the pages. My goal is to keep something like this from happening to us ever again. Plus, Mira Chambers, the woman I’m suing, has decided to counter-sue, saying I’m harassing her and her family.”

“What?” Fawn gasped as he came to stand beside us. “Was that the reason you got a call at five this morning?”

A simple nod was Eli’s only response.

“What does that mean for the rest of us?” Pascal questioned, leaning against the counter across from us.

Everyone else also stopped what they were doing and focused on Eli, waiting for his answer.

“I’m the only one listed on the suit, so it shouldn’t affect any of you,” he reassured us. “However, there is concern that she could go after Fawn and Lyra since I’ve ensured they were added to all my bank accounts, given some of my company shares, and made them beneficiaries of everything should something happen to me. Of course, they’d need to prove how either of them has harassed Mrs. Chambers or her family, which they haven’t.”

Pascal frowned as he adjusted his glasses. “What would be the point of the counter-sue? From what you’ve explained, neither you nor your family has made any effort to contact her or cause problems for her son who’s in prison.”