34. Jeremy
Chapter thirty-four
Jeremy
Willow’s eyes flick up to meet mine in the mirror, her blue orbs bright with tears, contrasting with her pale face. A shiver runs down her back.
I lean my crutches against the wall and hop up behind her, resting my hands on the vanity either side of her body. She looks like she’s about to cry. I know this expression. It’s like when her heat first roared to life—vulnerable, uncertain, and shocked by her own feelings.
Gently I scoop her hair to one side, exposing her neck. I drop tiny kisses on the soft skin from her collar to hairline. She closes her eyes and leans into my touch, her body slowly relaxing. But a single tear leaks, streaking a silver trail down her cheek.
I pressure her arms until she turns so I can kiss that little tear away. “Sweetheart, it’s nothing to cry about,” I soothe. “I find Joel’s scent relaxing too.”
She sucks in a shaky breath.
The omega must know he’s a scent-match, to have that kind of reaction. It’s good news for me if she takes an interest in my brother, but Willow might be overwhelmed right now, especially since it’s a shock. And she’s had issues with alphas in the past.
I just need to reassure her, and give her some time for it all to sink in. Let her get to know Joel. Nuzzling my nose into her face, I lift her chin.
“It’s perfectly normal for an omega to sometimes have strong reactions to an alpha’s scent. You’re only a few days out from your heat as well, remember?”
Willow stares up at me, biting her lip. “You’re not upset?”
She’s so fucking sweet, I nearly can’t handle it. I try to get my arm around her but wince as the position aggravates my groin. “Can we sit down, darlin’?”
She nods and grabs my crutches for me. A moment later, I ease myself down on her bed. The mattress springs a little but doesn’t bend along the edges. “Oh, this is nice. Maybe I should’ve taken you up on the offer to sleep here.”
Willow smirks and pretends to elbow me.
I grin and reach out to stroke her hair.
“Normally I wouldn’t talk about this stuff, but since it might be important now .
. .” I twiddle her golden lock between my fingers.
“The only serious girlfriend I had was an omega I shared with Joel. Twins normally grow up close, you know. Share a lot of things.”
She studies her nails in her lap. “How long ago?”
“Back in senior year.”
She jerks upright. “High school? But that’s years—” She snaps her jaw closed around the rest of that sentence.
I chuckle. “Yeah. Around sixteen years ago now. Man.” I scratch my head, hiding my face with my arm. “Makes me sound ancient.”
“No more than me,” she says, nudging my shoulder. At least the stressed rasp in her tone lifts.
“Pfft. You can’t tell me you’re a day over twenty-six.”
Willow giggles. “Not even. I’m thirty-two.”
“Get out of town! I don’t believe you.” Of course, I knew that from her omega profile, but my denial teases a soft laugh from her perfect lips.
When I stroke her back, she smiles up at me.
I can’t resist the softness in her expression, so I lean over and drop another kiss on her mouth.
It’s long and slow as I try to stuff my energy into her until the last stiffness in her shoulders relaxes.
Willow finally pulls back with a deep sigh and touches her finger to her lips to catch a drop of moisture. A moment later, she leans her head on my shoulder.
I rest my cheek on top of her silky hair. The position makes my thigh pull but not enough that I’m willing to break our cuddle. “What do you want to do, Willow?”
“I don’t know.” She shrugs gently, not enough to disturb my head. “I want my body to stop surprising me with new things.” The omega huffs out her breath. “I got used to things being a certain way, you know?”
I can’t help myself from turning enough to plant a kiss on her crown. “Yeah, I get that. Must feel a bit like presenting all over again.”
“Ugh, that was a tornado in a mud field.”
Her description makes me chuckle. I can picture it too, mud flinging in all directions.
“Puppies chasing our tails,” I agree, recalling my own hormone fueled teenage years.
We sit in silence for a long moment. I know she was planning to turn me down, but sitting like this in her bedroom, it feels like I’ve made a touchdown. Plus, every inhale tells me she’s turned on and has been ever since she climbed my twin.
But I’m too scared to break this glass-like connection between us. One push in the wrong direction and the fragile bond might shatter. So I sit and stroke her hair and wait for the omega to come to me.
She sits in silence, chest rising and falling, and I can tell her thoughts drift far away. A hint of anxiousness sours her scent, like crushed plant stems and turned over soil.
“Something worrying you?” I ask, stroking her hair. “You can tell me, whatever it is.”
Willow’s jaw works for a minute before she gathers her courage. “There’s this alpha . . .”
Ah. The wrapped plate in the refrigerator and the way her thoughts drift now and then. It all makes sense now.
“Alessandro?”
She pulls away from me, eyes wide. “How did you know?”
I smile and cup her cheek, losing myself in the sky depths of her eyes. How did I know? Hard to tell. Maybe it’s the traces of an alpha’s scent lingering in this very room, or simply the fact he came looking for her while she was in heat.
Willow shakes her head. “Um, we’re friends. For now. I mean . . .” She sighs and picks at her fingernails. “I don’t know what we are. But he was supposed to come around this morning and he didn’t turn up. It’s not like him.”
I capture her hand in mine to rescue her cuticles. “Maybe he just slept through his alarm or something. Want to try calling him again?”
Her gaze flicks up, her pale lashes brushing her upper lids. I understand the question written there but before answering, I lean over and press a kiss to her forehead. “Above everything, I want you to be happy, Willow.”
I’m still waiting for the jealousy to rise, but if it does, it comes so faint that I don’t register it under her intoxicating scent, and the wonder that creeps softly through me every time I gaze at her face.
She likes Alessandro, and she’s not sending me away, and now she’s scent-matched with Joel.
Maybe there’s room in her life for all three of us.
Willow drops her gaze. “Happiness? Not sure I even know what that is anymore.”
I release her hand to squeeze her knee. “Try calling him. Let’s start with that.”
She nods and digs her phone out of her pocket. His name’s saved in her phone, along with an actual photo that glows white as the line rings out. She shrugs and sets the phone on the bed.
“At least you tried,” I say, wrapping my arm around her shoulders. “Nothing more you can do for now. What else might make you happy?”
She presses her lips together, cheeks tinting a pretty pink. The way her scent thickens tells me everything I need to know.
“Any time, darlin’,” I reassure. “I can’t stop thinking about your heat either.”
Her gaze flits up, full or surprise.
I laugh and stroke one finger across her delicate cheekbone. “Do you not know how fucking sexy you are? This has been the best week of my entire life!”
“But you broke your groin,” she protests.
“Sprained. And I’d make the same choice if I had a do-over.”
Her answering smile makes my heart beat harder and my cock wake right up.
A male voice coughs outside the bedroom door. “Um, Jeremy?”
Willow stiffens and I waggle my brows at her. “What’s up?” I call.
“Is Willow with you? I fixed the light, but most of her gear hasn’t been tested and tagged. I can do it now, if that suits?”
“Well?” I whisper.
The omega chews on her bottom lip, thinking. “How long?”
I relay her question more loudly.
“About an hour. Depends on if she wants me to look at everything.”
Our gazes meet, and I see the same heated desire blazing in her eyes as the one coming to the boil in my chest. But she’s also got other things on her mind.
“Do I need a confidentiality agreement?” She whispers to herself.
Pain throbs in my heart. That’s how she protects herself, always, which means it’s also one of the reasons she’s open with me.
“Darlin’, I can promise you Joel’s not the sort to go talking about your personal business. He barely talks at all.” I pop my fingers under her chin and lift.
She sucks on her bottom lip, lashes damp. Fuck, she’s so beautiful, my body throbs in response.
“What does your heart tell you about Joel?”
“That he . . . I can trust him.”
“Right, because an alpha’s scent tells you a lot about the person, right?”
Willow nods slowly, her gaze growing unfocused, as if she’s lost in her thoughts.
I take both her cheeks in my hands. “I know alphas hurt you before, took things from you, even. I promise I won’t let that happen ever again. We’ll never ask you to do things you don’t like or become someone else.”
She sucks in a shaky breath, her slim body trembling.
Fuck, I want to protect this woman so badly, it’s like an instinct blazing inside me.
And that same inner voice also warns me not to push too hard or too fast. I don’t know everything she’s been through, or what’s holding her back.
I just need to be the one thing she can trust to never let her down.
I drop a kiss on her forehead. “But we have plenty of time for all that, Willow. Today, you only need to decide if you’re happy to have Joel in your house. Do you want him to do your electrical tagging?”
A moment later she nods and calls loudly, “Yes, please, Joel. Test whatever needs doing.”
Being the first time she’s called his name, I reckon my brother’s probably orgasming out in the hall.
I grin and run my fingers over the back of her neck. “Well, looks like we have an hour or two to kill. Anything you want to do, my pretty omega?”
“But you’re injured,” she protests.
I sigh. “It’s not very gentlemanly of me, but I guess you’ll just have to do all the work.”
Willow giggles and then turns to see if I’m serious.
Which I am. Dead serious about anything when it comes to her.
Especially now, while I still hang in the balance of employment with Heat Wave.
My contract doesn’t forbid ongoing communication with clients, if they initiate it.
But what if I’m not cleared for duty by next month, and she asks for someone else?
The idea makes my alpha soul quiver. That cannot happen. Never. Which means I have four weeks starting today to make myself indispensable, to stick to her side and prove she doesn’t need contracts to trust us—me and my twin, who she just scent matched with.