Chapter Eight
Oakley
Working two jobs wasn’t for the faint of heart. I’d worked three when I was a teenager, to save up for my first car, but I wasn’t a teenager anymore. Despite being a shifter, my bones and muscles reminded me of that fact this morning.
But my bear was pleased as could be about all the time we were spending with… Well, he called Auburn my mate. I wasn’t quite there yet. The thought had occurred to me, almost once a minute.
I’d worked with Auburn that morning. We’d finally got the floors finished, and just in time. The freezers that would hold the finished gallons of ice cream, ready for scooping, would be delivered that afternoon. I was almost sad knowing I wouldn’t be there.
Every morning when I came to work, Auburn brought breakfast. At first it was pastries and things from a local place but, more and more lately, he’d brought homemade food. It made my bear happy to eat food his alpha had made for us.
His alpha. I was still getting used to that. He’d never once called Mason his alpha. In fact, he had gone somewhat dormant for most of that relationship. I now realized why.
Mason was never meant for us.
That was a hard fact to face. I’d devoted myself to Mason and our relationship for years. Pouring myself into him at the expense of myself. Giving and giving and giving, often denying myself in the process.
But, with Auburn, it was different. He paid me daily, and it all went into my savings. He paid well too.
“Daisy brought coffee brownies in today. They’re in the break room.”
I stopped checking the plants and turned to see Tim. “Her brownies should win awards or have a warning label. I’m not sure which. I’ll go grab one as soon as I’m done here.”
Tim chuckled. “What are you talking to them about today?”
Plants were the best listeners by far. I told them all kinds of stories. They knew about Mason. Every plant someone took home that had been in this greenhouse had a personal beef with the jerk of an alpha.
Today, and for the past few weeks, I’d told them about Auburn. The way he let me pick a pastry from the box first. Sometimes, if we were in each other’s way, he would gently touch my lower back. I’d caught him checking out my ass a few times as well.
He spoke to me with kindness, and when I accidentally messed up a section of the flooring, he shrugged and said we’d fix it together.
No yelling. No hissy fits. Didn’t even raise his voice.
Before Mason, I swore these kinds of alphas were boring. They had no passion. There couldn’t possibly be attraction and sex with someone so…bland.
I was wrong. Very, very wrong.
“None of your beeswax,” I said, moving on to the next section. The petunias loved my stories. And my gossip. Mainly the gossip.
“Maybe you’re talking to them about that alpha that was coming in all the time.”
I gasped and ran my fingers over bright-pink petals. “For shame! Have you been listening in?” I leaned in and whispered to the flower, “The boss needs more to do.”
“No. But I know mates when I see them.”
“You think Auburn is my mate?” I asked, well aware that my cheeks lit up in flames at the mention of his name. There was really only a small part of me denying the truth Tim had said out loud. How dare he.
“Don’t you know?”
I leaned against the next table, careful not to get any of my friends caught in the movement. “I’m thinking about it.”
“Thinking? Thinking? What does your bear say?”
I threw my head back and groaned. “You know too much about shifters.”
“That doesn’t answer the question.”
“He says Auburn is my mate.”
“Then, what’s the problem?”
I nailed him with a stare. “The human side. The one that’s afraid to get hurt again. The one that’s not quite willing to take a chance. The last time….it hurt so much. The betrayal. The abandonment. The financial ruin.”
“Auburn is not Mason. It’s not really fair to compare. Oh, hey, that rhymed.”
“It’s not fair but I can’t help it.”
Tim clapped me on the shoulder. “Try, okay? You are a great person. Hard-working. Kind. Smart. You deserve a good alpha. A good mate and partner.”
“Thank you.” My phone beeped. “Oh, saved by the bell. My shift is over.”
Tim nodded. “Going to help your man?”
I laughed. “Yeah, I think I will. Thanks for the talk.”
I wasted no time in going to Auburn. Tim knew he was my mate. Daisy did.
I did. Leaving me terrified of what that meant.
“Hey,” I said, going into the back door. Auburn had given me a key to his business the day before. Said there was no one on earth he trusted more than me.
“Hi. I didn’t expect you until tomorrow.”
I shrugged. “I left work and my legs just kind of walked in this direction.”
He put down what he was working on and closed the distance between us. “That’s funny because I was thinking about you, omega.”
Goddess. There was no doubt that he was an alpha and I was an omega, but there was something almost feral about hearing an alpha call you that for the first time. And from Auburn? Instant hard-on.
“You were?”
“Yeah. I was wondering if you’d want to go get something to eat with me. At night. Not working.”
I cocked my head and barely quelled a smile. He was so shy sometimes. “A nonworking dinner, just the two of us?” Time to take that chance.
“Yes.”
“Auburn, are you asking me out on a date?”
He blushed. Goddess, what a blush. I wanted to raise up on my toes and kiss each reddened cheek. “Yes, I am. I’m not very good at this. I’ve been thinking of all the ways to ask you in the morning, but here you are, and I can’t keep it in any longer.”
My brain got control for a fraction of a second. I could stop this now. Prevent the heartache. Prevent the pain. Make sure I never got hurt again.
But, Auburn? He might be worth anything I went through. And Tim was right. Mason had no place in this relationship with my mate.
Auburn was my mate.
“Yes. Yes, I’ll go out with you. When?”
“Tomorrow night. If that’s okay? I know it’s your day off, but…”
I raised my hand and put my finger over his lips. They were soft and warm and begging for a touch that wasn’t my finger. “I’d love to. Tomorrow night. Now, what were you working on?”