Chapter 24 #2
“And you’ll still be just as sexy to us,” Cade promised. He knelt down, and even though this baby was barely even starting to form, he pressed a soft kiss to my stomach. “You tell that mama of yours that she’s going to be beautiful. Just wait till you see her. I hope you have her same green eyes.”
“Or her daddy’s dark brown,” Beck said, puffing up a little like he was for sure the father.
For a moment, I worried as I looked over at Drew. I was afraid he’d be upset, but I should have known better. My sweet alpha looked just as happy as they were. We all knew he couldn’t possibly be the father, we hadn’t reconnected at that point, but that didn’t seem to bother him in the least.
“Well, he won’t have these dashing good looks of mine,” Drew tacked on with a chuckle, “but I bet I could still teach him to play a little football.”
Just hearing them planning this future like we weren’t strangers mere weeks ago, was everything I didn’t think I’d find.
I’d gone on so many dates that I couldn’t remember half of them, and almost all of the ones I did remember were terrible. Most packs trying to find their omega presented their lives like it was some kind of collection of trophies. It was full of ego and arrogance and talking a lot about themselves.
They focused only on what they could provide or show, not who the woman or man was they were trying to tie themselves to.
That probably worked for a lot of omegas, but for me, I wanted the connection, the intimacy, the trust.
Somehow, I found that already.
Beck’s phone went off. He looked down at it, then back up at me, and I saw a flash of guilt there, which caused the conversation to fall away.
“There’s just one more thing we have to talk about,” he admitted.
“May as well rip off the Band-Aid. I can handle it,” I urged him. I’d rather have everything laid out so we could move past it.
“The board was fighting tooth and nail for us to stay. In an attempt to avoid the blackmail that I most definitely dug up on them all… I gave our story to a local journalist. I said that we found our omega. I kept everything hush-hush as best I could, but she’s nagging for more.
With a new office opening up, and a pack that’s as successful as our business is, I have a feeling we won’t be able to hide you for long, sweetheart. ”
That was it? Pictures?
I wasn’t under any illusion that my successful bachelors and I wouldn’t end up in an article here and there. Just like they were before we met.
Because, yes, I stalked them online when I found out who they were, curious what they showed the world.
“Here I thought this was going to be something terrible,” I said, shaking my head.
“Avery’s a photographer. I can have her come take some photos of us, and then we can just post them ourselves and get ahead of the game.
It’s not like we can avoid it, you’re right about that.
Honestly, some exposure couldn’t hurt Rockwood Valley.
We’re still recovering from the Artisan Fair finally opening up. ”
“Just like that?” he asked, raising an eyebrow. My alpha looked stunned. He clearly thought this was going to be an issue for me.
Spencer took my hand gently, his eyes full of honesty. “I’ve seen other companies come out as a pack, and the comments can be vicious. I would avoid reading them. It’ll be full of jealous women who wish they could have snagged themselves a pack like us.”
They looked uncomfortable having to say those words. If anyone else had said it, I’m sure it would have been full of bragging attitudes. My pack talked about themselves with a blunt honesty instead of the arrogance I hated. That was how I knew I’d found good ones.
“Oh, that I’m a gold digger?” I laughed. “I’m sure it won’t be original. Nor is it going to be a reflection of who I actually am.”
Beck moved then, pulling me into his arms so I was forced to wrap my legs around his waist. He kissed me. Not a gentle one, but the possessive kind, like he was devouring my mouth until I was breathless and my head was spinning.
Our scents swelled around us, making the others groan, and he pulled away with a chuckle.
“How did we get so lucky?”
“I was just thinking the same thing. Now put me down. We have to get back to work. All we have is a week to turn this place around.”
“Yes, ma’am,” they all said at once, Cade even giving me a silly salute.
I picked up a paintbrush and headed for the pantry.
That was my project today. I needed to be able to store food and supplies in here, though ‘pantry’ wasn’t a generous enough word.
It was as big as a walk-in closet and had places for appliances, too.
It was going to be an incredible amount of space.
I still couldn’t believe we snagged this place for such a deal.
Footsteps followed me in and Cade gave me a wink. “The alphas were busy arguing about where they were going to start, so we figured we would hang out with our omega. Our hands are yours, what should we do first?”
“Oh, I get to be a bossy omega?” I teased. “This is perfect. Start by clearing this whole thing out. I need bare bones.”
And just like that, they did my bidding. They also didn’t argue when I jumped in, not wanting to stand back.
Maybe I was going to enjoy this whole pregnancy thing. It was kind of nice being able to boss my pack around a little.