Chapter 7 Elton
SEVEN
ELTON
I was late finishing my supervised clinic hours, and I didn’t see Rafferty’s text until I was getting out of my car at the bookstore.
Daphne had already left, which meant Taylor was handling the Saturday rush on their own, and I didn’t have time to respond.
The line to check out was five deep when I slid behind the counter.
“Sorry, everyone! Give me sixty seconds to open this register, then we’ll get y’all out of here and on your way. ”
When the line was down to one person, I told Taylor to go on break.
I alternated checking people out and adding the new stock we’d received to the inventory in the system.
When Taylor came back, we traded off putting the new books out on the floor and running the registers.
I usually enjoyed busy days at the bookstore, but I’d been frazzled when I’d arrived, and there hadn’t been a chance to catch my breath. Or to respond to Rafferty.
Everything in my gut—not to mention my dick—wanted to agree to be Rafferty’s mate.
He was gorgeous, sexy, and smart, and as much as I’d been overwhelmed by the pack last night, I’d appreciated the opportunity to see how Rafferty acted around his people.
But my logical side was screaming that this was all happening too fast, that I should focus on my health.
Mating a pack alpha would change my entire life—where I lived, who I interacted with—and it came with responsibilities Rafferty needed to explain to me.
And outside of everything else, I’d only have my one remaining ball for less than forty-eight more hours.
I really wanted to have sex again before I lost it, and Rafferty was the only person I wanted to do it with.
The thought of running my hands over his muscled chest, rubbing my dick against his, was hnngh.
But if just touching him would make our mating connection permanent, what would having sex with him do?
I’d be smart to wait until I was recovered from the surgery, but it could be a month or more for me to be ready physically. Mentally might take even longer.
Around 3:00 p.m. I finally took my break.
I was starving because I'd skipped lunch, but all we had in the communal fridge was leftover pizza from last week.
Sighing, I made myself some disgusting herbal tea and sat down to finally text Rafferty back.
I'd barely unlocked my phone when Taylor walked into the break room, wide-eyed and whisper-yelling.
“Elton! That guy! The one who buys the pregnancy books! He's here and asking for you by name!”
Oops. Ruefully I glanced down at my phone before locking it again and putting it into my pocket. “Thanks, Taylor.” I got up and walked toward them, but they didn’t move out of the doorway.
“How does he know your name!? Kate said he was here the other day, but she didn’t mention anything unusual had happened.”
Smirking, I squeezed past them to head up front. “He knows my name because we're dating.” Leaving a gaping Taylor behind, I walked swiftly toward the retail area of the store. I'd said it out loud. Rafferty and I were dating. Whether it would be more remained to be seen.
He was leaning against the counter next to the Valentine's Day display. I waved. “Hey, I'm sorry I haven't had a chance to text you back. Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, everything's fine.” He gestured in the direction I'd come from. “What's up with your coworker? They got really squirrely when I asked for you.”
“Oh! Hah. No reason.” He narrowed his eyes at me, and I wondered if those stories about shifters being able to tell when you were lying were true. “What brings you by?”
He cocked his head but accepted my topic change “If you don’t have plans after you get off work, I wanted to see if you’d come with me somewhere.”
“Somewhere? Is that as much detail as I'm getting?”
He grinned, and lust shot through me. My balls didn't care that one of them wasn't real and the other one had a limited lifespan. They wanted me to get naked with Rafferty ASAP.
He glanced at Taylor, who’d walked behind the register to check out a customer.
I gestured for Rafferty to follow me toward the front door, where we’d be out of the way.
“I have twenty minutes before Daphne comes back to work the rest of her shift.
If you don't mind hanging out until then, I'll go with you, but we have to stop and get me something to eat. I skipped lunch.”
His face lost its smile, and his eyebrows drew together. “You shouldn't skip lunch. I'll go get you something, and you can eat it here before we leave.”
Aww. He was so sweet. “If you're sure you don't mind, that would be amazing.”
“It's no problem. What would you like?”
I told him where the salad place was around the corner, and his scowl deepened. “If you skipped lunch, you need more food than salad.” His voice dripped with disdain, and I flashed back to the lack of vegetables at dinner last night.
I opened my mouth to explain about antioxidants and cancer-fighting foods, but suddenly I was tired.
Tired of trying to make myself feel like I was accomplishing something by eating things I didn't enjoy, when the cancer was already present.
My shoulders sagged, and I nodded. “You're right.
There's a deli half a block beyond the salad place.
I like anything they make, as long as it doesn't have mayonnaise on it.”
“That's more like it.” I got the sexy grin again, and he told me he'd be right back before hurrying out the door.
The customer Taylor had been helping left right after Rafferty. As soon as we were alone, they rounded on me. “What’s happening? When did you start seeing Pregnancy Book Guy, and why didn’t you tell us?”
“His name is Rafferty.”
Taylor made a frustrated grimace and spread their hands out to the side. “Okay, but what's up with all the baby mama books?”
I shook my head and gave them a reproving look.
“It’s none of your business or anyone else’s.
In fact, that reminds me.” I went behind the counter and opened the drawer next to the register.
A few seconds of rummaging produced the paper the team had been using to track Rafferty’s visits.
I crumpled it up and put it into the trash before shutting the drawer firmly.
“No more speculating about clients’ personal lives.
” Well, they'd never stop doing it, but at least I could keep them from writing things down.
Daphne arrived back from her kid’s soccer game and was getting settled behind the register when Rafferty returned with a white bag that smelled heavenly.
Going forward, I promised myself, I would eat healthy, but I was also going to enjoy my food.
I took the bag from him. “Thanks for this. Do you want to sit with me in the break room for a few minutes while I eat?”
“Sure.” He nodded at Taylor and Daphne as we walked past. Daphne goggled at him, then looked between me and Taylor.
I just kept walking. When we got to the break room, I headed for the table and sat down to unpack my meal.
My tea was still sitting in its mug, cold and even nastier than usual.
I stood up again to dump it out in the sink.
Rafferty was still standing in the doorway, his head tilted oddly.
“You can shut the door. Do you want something to drink?”
I rinsed out my mug and filled it with water before heading back to the table.
Rafferty hadn’t moved into the room, but now his arms were crossed and his eyebrows were raised as he stared me down.
His lips twitched, which ruined whatever intimidation he was trying for.
He jerked his head toward the front of the store.
“You were tracking how often I came in? And my nickname was Pregnancy Book Guy?”
Oh, shit. Wolf shifter hearing. Taylor was no doubt filling Daphne in.
I shrugged, affecting unconcern. “You have to admit, a male-presenting person buying the same three pregnancy books over and over again is a little unusual. And in my defense, this week was the first time I’d ever seen you myself. I did throw away the tracking sheet.”
He opened his mouth then shut it before shaking his head. “And here I was, trying to support an independent bookstore.”
I sat down and grinned up at him as I pulled the deli bag toward me. “We appreciate your business.”
Chuckling, he pulled out a chair and sat down across from me, making sure not to kick my feet accidentally. If we didn't have to worry about this stupid mating connection, I would’ve loved to have hooked my ankles around his under the table.
I needed to decide what to do.
The Reuben was delicious, as were the homemade kettle chips. I hadn't eaten anything that decadent since I'd noticed the lump on my left ball a couple of weeks ago. “So where are you taking me?”
Rafferty glanced at the open door. “I'll tell you when we get in the car. It'll only take fifteen or so minutes to get there though.”
When I finished eating, I straightened up the break room a little bit, then Rafferty escorted me through the bookstore.
I waved casually at Taylor and Daphne, reminding them that I’d be out on medical leave for a couple of weeks.
I knew I'd have to explain how Rafferty and I had gotten together when I came back to work, if they didn’t hound me by text before the day was out.
When we were in Rafferty’s truck, he pulled a blue sticky note out of his pocket and entered the address into the navigation system.
“Where is that? The Second Ward?”
“Yeah.” He put the truck in gear and pulled out into traffic. “It's not a great area.”
I crossed my arms and raised my eyebrows. “We're in the truck. Spill.”
He took one hand off the steering wheel and rubbed his forehead before tilting his head toward me and giving me a pleading expression. “This might all be some sort of weird hoax, so try not to get your hopes up.”
“Um, okay?”