Chapter 30
BEN
As I come down the stairs, someone lets out a whistle.
“Looking good hot stuff,” Eli says, waggling his eyebrows.
Smiling in spite of myself, I tease him, “I’m surprised you’re not still pouting that I got the first date.”
“Pfft you heard her we’re all equally important. What are you guys doing anyways?” he asks.
“I’m cooking us dinner at her place.”
“Romantic.”
Second guessing myself, I ask, “Should I have done something more casual?”
He looks thoughtful. “No it’s probably better to start the courting somewhere she’d be comfortable and at ease than going somewhere crowded.” He’s right, though I’m more worried that she’ll be uncomfortable around me.
When I told her my plan for our date, she looked excited.
My hands are full with the bags of supplies for dinner but I manage to reach up to knock a couple times on her door.
It’s a couple minutes before the door opens.
She looks a little flustered, was she not ready yet?
I’m on time. I actually waited in my car down the block so I wouldn’t be early.
My mouth goes dry as I take in the vision before me.
She’s in a long-sleeved black sheer top with a black undershirt, high-waisted skirt that flows out to just over her knees, giving a glimpse of her thick thighs that are covered in semi-sheer black tights.
Her hair is curled lightly, more so than its normal wavy texture.
Her hazel eyes are bare of any makeup other than mascara, and her plump lips have a gorgeous shade of red on them.
Everything she’s wearing compliments her pale skin.
“Hi,” I croak out, internally face palming myself. “You look amazing.”
She gives a shy smile. A shy smile when she looks like sex on stick. I will never understand women. “Thank you, so do you.” She gestures for me to come in. I look frumpy next to her in black slacks and a navy dress shirt.
I head to the kitchen, placing the bags on the island.
Knowing the layout of the house helps since I’ll be the one cooking tonight.
Guess us being the landlords comes in handy for once.
The island is all cleared off other than the envelope that she suddenly moves out of the way to the other side of the counter.
I decided to prep some of the cooking—mainly the sauce—ahead of time so it wouldn’t take long for me to finish cooking our dinner.
“What do you need?” she asks and I list off the types of pots and pans I’ll need for the meal.
Once I have everything laid out, I begin cooking the chicken and pasta.
Thea is seated at the island, and so far it’s been small talk as I set up.
“How are you feeling?” I ask as I start cooking at the stove, my back turned away from the island where she sits.
“I’ve been okay. Nothing really of note regarding the whole heat thing so that’s good.”
“And everything else?”
Thea glances to the envelope at the other end of the counter. “I’m still working through things but it’s good to be getting to know you and your pack.” She changes the topic. “So I take it by this date you enjoy cooking?”
I laugh lightly as I stir the veggies. “Yeah I find it relaxing. Me and Micah are the best cooks in the pack.”
“Really? I can’t see him being much of a cook.” Yeah he’s firmly in grumpy asshole category for her. He really needs to pull his shit together.
“I’d say he’s better than me. He hasn’t done much cooking though in the last year and a half.” I put the finished veggies in a bowl.
“Why?”
Well, I walked into that, but she should know of our ex. It’s only fair. I don’t say anything as I finish plating everything and turn the stove off. Handing her a plate, I place one in front of me and remain standing on the opposite side of the island so we face each other.
“We had an ex that left her mark on all of us. For Micah, part of that was he lost his interest in cooking. I don’t know the details beyond that.”
She looks contemplative, but her scent sours a little. I shouldn’t have brought it up. I don’t want her to be upset. “Were any of you bonded to her?” she asks.
“No we never got that far. We courted her for nearly six months. It didn’t feel like that long since for most of it was long distance.”
She doesn’t say anything and instead starts eating. I’m thankful for the reprieve. After her first bite she lets out a groan. “Wow this is so good Ben.”
Smiling at the compliment, I murmur, “Thank you, I’m glad you like it. It’s a comfort recipe for me.”
A few minutes pass of us eating in silence. I can tell she wants to ask more about our ex. However, I’m surprised when she asks, “So what made you want to start the lodge?”
“When we moved up here for Liam’s residency at a local hospital, we rented a place closer to it but were looking for land to build our pack house.
All of us were in agreement we didn’t want to live in a big city.
Liam was lucky he found a hospital that had a program he was interested in and a location we all loved.
When we found the land, it was a lot more than we planned to buy but it just felt right.
When we started planning the house, the lodge idea just came to me as I kept thinking how beautiful it was here with the lake right there.
It kind of just spiraled from there,” I explain, remembering how busy we all were back then, before continuing.
“Before the lodge I worked with Eli and Micah managing our real estate company. I basically approached the lodge idea like I would a new property for that business. I researched and put together a business plan. I wanted the pack to see it as another revenue stream since it would’ve been a huge investment to start. ”
“They obviously got on board. It’s always been clear to me how much you love it.
The care and welcoming vibe it has says a lot.
I think everyone who works at the lodge sees it and feels it.
More bosses should be so passionate and caring about their staff and the work environment,” Thea says sincerely.
“Why does it seem like you have a story behind that comment?”
“Behind what?”
“The boss comment, did you have a bad one?”
“Not just one,” she laughs it off. “Basically everyone in management and the executive suite were awful.”
“What did you do for work before?”
“I did marketing in corporate. I started there out of college so it was my first job in my chosen career. The first couple years my confidence in my career was low.” She shrugs.
“It just took a while to build. It’s not like my bosses gave positive feedback either.
It was always just adding more and more work.
I know now how toxic it was there and I get mad at my past self for how much I gave to that place that just didn’t care about me at all. ”
I reach over and squeeze her hand. She gives me a tentative smile before continuing, “With the suppressants, I started them when I presented as an omega in the middle of college. I presented late at nineteen. It just made sense to go on them, finish school and deal with it later. Unfortunately, at the start of my senior year my mom passed away from cancer. My parents were both betas, and I was adopted as a baby. They were bonded.” I raise my brows.
It’s not common for beta couples to bond.
“My dad, I don’t know how he did it but he held on nearly another year.
He saw me graduate and a month later he passed.
I wasn’t surprised, but you know he was my dad so it still wasn’t easy.
That was the first time I took the suppressants when I should have had a year off.
I just didn’t have it in me to deal with my heat for the first time after losing both of them within a year. ”
“You don’t have to explain yourself,” I say, squeezing her hand in reassurance.
“I do. I know Liam judges me for taking them for so long. I get it, after the second round I should have come off them. I felt so pressured to not miss work for my heat. By the time I should’ve gone off it was clear at my job how much they looked down on the omegas who took their heat leave.
The snide comments made about them happened more than once while they were out.
I didn’t want them to do it to me. I know it’s stupid to let that determine something so important.
That’s why it was a recurring issue with me and Connor.
That and the bonding were the only things we ever really fought over. ”
“I’m so sorry you had to work somewhere like that. They should be reported.”
She laughs at that. “Yeah they probably should be, that’s the tamest I could say about them.
You should have seen the way they were when the stalking started.
It was about a month into it when I finally quit.
Connor even came storming to the office to help.
Another flower delivery came with a creepy note and I had told them over and over again not to deliver anything to my desk and they kept “forgetting” about it.
It just got too much. We made a scene and in the end I didn’t care for once.
Later that day when me and Connor were sitting in a local park, I felt so free.
Like a constant weight was suddenly lifted off of me. ”
“What did you do after? Did you get another marketing job?”
“No, Connor convinced me to take time for myself. That I deserved it after being at that hellhole for so long.”
“He sounds like a great man.”
Thea gives me a watery smile. “He was.” She then tries to laugh it off. “Sorry I didn’t mean to ramble and dump all that on you.”
“Hey, you don’t have to apologize. I want to know about your life before you came here, the good, the bad, and everything in between.” I squeeze her hand again. It’s the only physical contact we’ve had and it’s like I’m trying to pour everything I want her to know into the action.