Chapter 23
Lucy
My shoes slapped against the sidewalk as town hall came into view.
One of my life goals was to never run—I was more of a strolling omega—but the large clock on the building told me I was late.
So not only was I the worst person ever, I was also going to be treated to a Stanley lecture.
The last time I was late to a town meeting, he’d spent ten torturous minutes lecturing me about the importance of punctuality. In front of everyone.
My breaths were ragged as I ran up the town hall steps, through the front door, and down the corridor to the meeting room. I braced my hands on my knees to catch my breath. I needed to navigate this next part carefully so Stanley didn’t notice my entrance.
Okay. New plan.
I dropped to the floor on my stomach and slowly pushed the door open until there was enough space for me to squeeze through. I inched forward slowly, fully aware of how absolutely ridiculous this whole situation was. Any pride I possibly had was left on the dingy carpet.
Even if people noticed that the door was open, they wouldn’t be able to see me. That was, unless they were the hot beta sitting in the otherwise empty back row. Staring straight at me.
The moment I was clear of the door, I crawled to the last row of seats and popped up to take the chair next to Leo, whose mouth was hanging open.
“What the hell—”
“Lucy Andersson-Spring!” Stanley’s exclamation cut Leo off.
No, no, no. That can’t all have been for nothing.
“Yes, Stanley?” I batted my eyes and smiled innocently.
“The meeting started eleven minutes ago. I cannot believe you’d choose to be late. Again.”
My lips parted with a sharp gasp and my hand flew to my chest. “After your compelling speech about punctuality? Never. I’ve been here since the meeting started.”
Stanley pursed his lips. “I didn’t see you.”
“She came in with me,” Leo said.
My heart squeezed. He was defending me? Did that mean he didn’t hate me?
“What?” Stanley spluttered.
“Lucy and I were talking before the meeting.” Carmen smiled mischievously from her seat on the stage beside Stanley and gave me a wink.
“Can we get back to the topic at hand?” Hank, the grouchy bookstore owner, grumbled.
Stanley shot me one more narrow-eyed gaze before jumping back into the meeting agenda.
I let out a long sigh and slumped in my seat. “Thank you.” The only threat Stanley posed to me was the ability to bore me to death, but my omega still preened at Leo’s protectiveness. She wanted to curl up in his lap and rub her scent all over him. But first, I had to apologize.
“You’re welcome,” he said, lips quirking into a smile that made me lose track of all my thoughts. “Your entrance makes a lot more sense now.”
I swallowed hard and grabbed his hand. “Leo, I am so sorry about this morning. My phone died and I just got back and plugged it in and saw your messages. I totally forgot about our date. I don’t expect you to forgive me or give me a second chance, but I just need you to know how incredibly sorry I am. ”
He blinked, looking somewhat dazed. Then he did something that made my world flip on its axis. He entwined his fingers with mine and squeezed. “It’s okay.” He ruffled his messy curls with his other hand. “I thought maybe you changed your mind because my date idea wasn’t very good.”
I swallowed hard. “Never. Lattes and pancakes make the perfect date.” His easy forgiveness was disorienting. Shouldn’t he make me work for it? Instead, he settled back in his seat, keeping my hand firmly in his.
“What did I miss?” I leaned into his shoulder.
“It was a solid five minutes of Stanley arguing with Carmen about the rules of order for the meeting. Then Felix popped in, stole his gavel, and ran off. So nothing much, really.”
I grinned. I loved this crazy town and how easily Leo had fallen into step with all of us.
“People, pay attention!” Stanley shouted.
He resorted to banging his fist on the podium since he was gavel-less.
“Last year, Briar’s Landing hid ten thousand Easter eggs in comparison to our measly nine thousand.
This year, we’ve set an ambitious goal, but I trust we will all rise to the occasion!
” He raised both arms in the air in victory.
“How many eggs do you want to hide?” Carmen asked with a dramatic sweep of her bright pink kaftan. “Last year almost ended in disaster.”
“That will not be happening again. Easton has a lifetime ban on attendance.” Stanley glared at the alpha, who had one arm slung around Olive’s shoulders, an easy smile on his face.
“Just try and stop me,” Easton said. “I will be the egg hunt champion once more!”
Stanley’s face was turning red. “Town ordinance thirty-seven point nine states that the mayor of Starlight Grove has the power to ban any town citizens from official town gatherings if they pose a threat.”
“Last I checked, Felix hadn’t banned me from any festivals,” Easton said smugly.
Stanley’s face turned redder at the reminder of who we thought of as the true mayor. “I will not hesitate to unleash the full power of the law on you! Tread carefully, or you’ll find yourself in jail.”
“We don’t have any cops,” Marisol shouted from her seat. “Or a jail.” Tittering laughter broke out across the room, and it took Stanley a few minutes to regain control.
“People, we need to be united. Do you want Briar’s Landing to defeat us?” This had a sobering effect. Starlight Grove town pride ran high when it came to our festivals.
I nudged Leo. “I hope you didn’t move here to be a secret undercover operative with the express purpose of sabotaging our Easter Eggstravaganza.”
“You mean did I come to Starlight Grove months ago, rent a building, set up my apartment, and start a whole flower business for the express purpose of undermining the Easter egg hunt?” He leaned in close, hypnotizing me with his warm brown eyes and dark lashes.
I swayed closer, drawn in by his sweet scent swirling around me.
“You caught me. But now that you know my secret, what will I do with you?”
Arousal shot through me, and I bit my tongue to hold in a whimper. I wanted to kiss him, crawl into his lap, strip down, and…
I broke eye contact and scooted away before I did something embarrassing. Leo was potent.
His low chuckle made my cheeks heat, but my embarrassment transformed into satisfaction when he shifted in his seat, adjusting the bulge in his pants.
“How many eggs are you proposing?” Carmen asked again.
Stanley walked over to a poster board on an easel covered by a faded floral bedsheet. “This is the plan!” He whipped the sheet off and the poster fell flat to the ground.
“Stanley is not having a good night,” I said out of the side of my mouth.
Leo squeezed my hand. “I would be more sympathetic, but last week he came into the flower shop and made me show him every single variety of flower I had in stock to prove I wasn’t running a black market exotic flower ring.”
“Well, are you?”
“Oh yeah. But my illegal exotic flowers are under a secret trapdoor in the back.”
Could he be any cuter?
“You better stay on my good side now that you’ve given me the power to destroy you,” I said.
“I’m pretty sure you’ve always had that power.”
What did that mean?
Now it was his turn to break eye contact, fixing his attention on Stanley, who managed to put the poster back on the easel with a shouted “Ta-da.” I scrunched my nose as I read the poster’s title: Starlight Grove’s Path to Egg Hunt Domination.
“Twenty thousand eggs?” Carmen exclaimed. “Stanley, be reasonable.”
“You cannot be reasonable and expect to win,” he shot back.
“Why is your poster written in Comic Sans?” Summer called out.
I stood up slightly and spotted her and Ivy in the row in front of Olive and her guys. I waved and Summer turned, immediately scowling as she held up her phone, pointed at me, and dragged her finger across her throat.
I blew her a kiss.
A loud argument broke out about proper font usage for official town posters.
Leo leaned in. “Maple Glen’s town meetings were never this entertaining.”
“Honestly, this is pretty tame. He hasn’t even insulted Briar’s Landing’s mayor—”
“We will not fail! We will not stumble! We will once and for all defeat Claude Fumble and prove that Starlight Grove reigns supreme!”
“There it is,” I said dryly, and Leo snorted.
“Who is Claude Fumble?”
“It’s actually pronounced Foom-Blay. He’s the mayor of Briar’s Landing. He and Stanley have a major rivalry going on, so they trade incredibly mild insults.”
The rest of the meeting centered around talking Stanley down from placing a bulk order for twenty thousand plastic Easter eggs and what prizes would be offered for the winner of each egg-hunt division.
Stanley was finally talked down to eighteen thousand eggs and the meeting came to a close.
“Shoot,” I muttered.
“What?” Leo asked.
“I haven’t started Felix’s Eggstravaganza outfit.” I rubbed my eyes. With my custom orders, the craft night event I was planning, and my house growing messier and messier, there never seemed to be enough time in the day anymore.
“I like the idea of a cat having an official dresser. But I’m sure he’ll understand if you don’t have time to make him something.”
It was on the tip of my tongue to tell Leo about my secret social media account and how the fans would riot if they didn’t see Felix in costume, but I stopped myself. I couldn’t imagine Leo ridiculing me like they had, but my fear held me back.
“I take my job as his dresser very seriously.”
Leo smiled. “I’m sure you do.”
Somehow, the space I’d created between us had disappeared. His thigh was firmly pressed against mine again, and I swore his eyes flitted to my lips.
“Are you doing anything now?”
“What?”
Why was I so nervous? He’d already said he’d forgiven me, but I was still braced for rejection. My recent track record was less than stellar. “Would you like to have our date now?”
“Yes,” he blurted out. He ruffled his hand through his hair again and his scent intensified. “I’d like that.”
I grinned. We were both trying and utterly failing to play it cool.
My omega was practically dancing. I didn’t want to get my hopes up yet that this date would lead to anything else, but after months of trying to get Leo to hang out with me, I would take whatever he offered, even if it was just friendship.
“Do you want to go to the diner?” he asked. “I bet Char could be convinced to make pancakes for dinner.”
People were filing past us now to the exit, throwing curious looks our way. Summer and Olive walked down the aisle super slowly, clearly trying to get my attention while Ivy physically pushed them along. She was definitely getting a fancy latte delivery at school tomorrow.
“I have half a cake at my place that Summer made. I could grab it and we could find a spot to sit at the park or on the beach?” The diner was always crowded after a town meeting, and I would prefer to avoid the comments Leo and I would get if we showed up together.
“I’m honored you would share your cake with me.”
Don’t think dirty thoughts.
I stood and flipped my hair. “Who said I’m sharing? Maybe this is a Bring Your Own Cake date.”
Leo shrugged. “Sitting with you and watching you eat cake is still a great use of my evening.”
Ahhhh! How was I supposed to act normal after that?
He reached down and grabbed his cane off the floor before standing with a pained grimace. My heart ached for him and what his osteoarthritis had cost him. He seemed to be happy running his shop, but I couldn’t imagine how I would cope if an injury stopped me from sewing.
“Is your knee hurting?” I asked softly.
He cleared his throat. “It’s just stiff from sitting for so long.”
“Can I help? Do you need medication or something?”
His eyes shuttered and he shook his head. “No, it’s fine.” His words were clipped, his scent bitter. Oh god, he was obviously sensitive about this, and I’d made it worse. Regret sat heavily in my stomach. Was he going to cancel now?
“We should get going.” He gestured for me to go ahead.
He wasn’t canceling! I hadn’t ruined everything! And now I was determined to do everything I could to make him smile.
We were among the last of the stragglers to make our way outside. The sun had set, and there was a chill in the air.
“There are some benches in the town center, and the string lights are really pretty. How about I run and grab the cake and meet you there? That path there is actually a shortcut to the town square.” My voice was high pitched with anxiety.
I didn’t want to make it too obvious that I was trying to prevent him from having to walk too far.
If I had a car, I would offer to drive him.
Leo’s jaw clenched. “Yeah,” he finally answered. “Sounds like a plan.”
My smile felt slightly wobbly. “Okay, meet you there in a minute!”
“Wait.” His hand closed around my bicep. “What about your ankle? You shouldn’t be running around.”
“It’s feeling a lot better. I promise.” A brilliant idea struck me, and a real smile spread across my face. “Actually, wait. I have a solution that will keep me off my ankle.”
His eyebrow cocked. “Oh?”
“You’ll have to wait and see. Just stay here and I’ll be back.”
He nodded and I took off jogging for the second time today, because apparently I would break my no-running rule for Leo.