Chapter Thirteen
Oswald
The plan to do the kitchen first came with some hiccups. New cabinets and countertops had been ordered online and were still a week or so out.
In the meantime, there were plenty of walls to be painted.
And I’d learned that my maybe mate had a theme planned for each room.
“Wait, what?” I asked as we sat on the steps of his back porch sipping on coffee number two for the morning.
“You think it’s stupid?” he asked, looking over at me.
“I don’t think it’s stupid. Not at all. You just surprised me.”
Shrugging, he looked out over his yard. It was the one place that was almost perfect. No large overhauls needed. “I thought it would be better than having six bedrooms all decorated the same.”
“But how will you refer to them when people book?”
He turned. I had all his attention and I wasn’t going to lie, I loved it. I wasn’t happy about not having a job for a few weeks, but I wasn’t sad about being here with Greg. “What do you mean?”
“What if you named the rooms after a romance novel or famous authors? The Bronte Room. The Tolstoy Room. The Christie Room. But that’s the librarian in me talking. Of course, it’s your inn. You do what you want.”
“I’ll have to think about it. I was just going to put A through F on the rooms and call it a day, but I like the way you think.”
I stood and took his cup since it was empty now. “No time like the present. Which room are we painting today?”
“The one with the window that faces the road. Suite A.”
I snickered. “See? Suite A is kind of boring.”
“We’ll think about it.”
We worked well together. He taped the rooms while I painted. I wasn’t an expert by any stretch of the imagination, but I knew how to roll it on the wall and check for spots that needed a few more strokes.
The first room was painted a deep grayish blue that complemented his furniture picks. He was waiting to bring in the furniture from the barn until after the rooms were painted. The floors needed to be cleaned but they were in impeccable shape.
“What about the master bedroom?” The question popped out of my mouth and then I realized I was talking about his bedroom. He’d walked back in after finishing up taping.
“I want to change it as well, but I can’t decide how. I want it to be comfortable and someplace to relax. Especially since all the other rooms will be taken and even some of the common rooms might be occupied by guests. We will need somewhere to get away.”
“We?” I asked while prickles fingered up my neck. Goddess, I only met him but “we” sounded so damned good. He and I, sitting upstairs, enjoying each other in all kinds of ways.
“Yeah. I hope to…I always wanted to share this with a mate.”
I stopped painting. “That sounds like a lovely, quiet way to live. Of course, it might get busy during peak times but, in between, you two would have this whole house to yourself.”
Stepping back, I assessed my work. “One room done, don’t you think?”
He walked to the center of the room, hands on his hips. “You did well. I’ve taped all the other rooms, so we can just go to the next one unless you need a break or something to eat?”
“It’s a good distraction for me. I’d like to start on the next. If we split up, we could have three done today. That would be halfway through the painting. Wait, what about my room? You said six rooms, but that doesn’t count the two upstairs.”
Greg blushed. Again. He did that a lot and if I was his mate, which I might be, I would make it my mission to cause that blush as much as humanly possible, shifterly possible as well.
“The upstairs is for me, my mate, and I thought the room might make a good nursery, if I’m blessed with an omega who wants to have children. ”
My fox yipped and bounced inside me, volunteering to be the omega in question. I had to say something. I was sure that if I had this inkling that I was his mate that he also knew we belonged together, but it had only been two days. I doubted either of us were ready to declare love this fast.
My fox was, but he was an animal. No care at all for pretenses and protocols.
He wanted this alpha to be ours. Period.
“Your omega would be a very lucky man,” I said. “I’m going to room three. Or C. Whatever it’s called. The plum one.”
I walked out, not giving him a chance to respond but also not giving us a chance to become awkward. I meant my words. Greg was caring and giving and was building a life for him and his future family. Any omega would be blessed to have him as an alpha.
For the rest of the day, we worked together and ended up finishing two rooms and starting on the flooring in the kitchen. We were exhausted by dinnertime and had been so wrapped up in working that we’d skipped lunch.
“How about some smoked meat and sides? Dragon’s Breath Smokehouse is amazing. I’ve had it several times.”
“That sounds great but I can pay this time. We’re both eating and you’re letting me stay here. It’s only fair.”
“Not on your life,” he said, laughing. “What kind of alpha would I be if I let you pay. Besides, we’ve gotten more done today than I could’ve alone by a long shot. I can’t thank you enough. Let me pay. Really.”
I sighed. “Okay. I’ll go shower while you order. Then we can make a list for tomorrow.”
Greg shook his head. “What am I gonna do once you get a job? It’s going to be so quiet here.”
“You’ll live,” I said, walking away and I swore I heard him say, I might not, under his breath.