Chapter 6 #3
He dumped the grocery bag he was carrying on the side table and headed for her office.
She was sitting with her chin cupped in her hand, staring at her computer monitor.
He came all the way up to her and kissed the top of her head.
She blinked at him for a second, then nearly bonked his chin as she jumped to her feet.
“Oh, wow, sorry. I was a million miles away.”
“No need to be sorry for that. You okay? Is it the party?”
“No, that’s pretty much squared away.” She wrapped her arms around his waist and went up on her tiptoes to give him a proper kiss. He hummed his pleasure and pulled her in tighter for a minute, before letting her loose and pulling back a bit so he could see her face.
“The blog?”
“No, that’s just the normal amount of annoying that work always is, except for when it’s not.”
He smiled at that, understanding the joys of working a job you love.
“What would help? Can you put me to work on something? Or I can take you out to dinner? I stopped at the store and got steaks and potatoes. We can have them tonight, or freeze the steaks for later. It’s no Snickers bar, but they’d probably go a ways towards making you feel better. ”
“Steak and potatoes sound perfect. I’ll even volunteer to man the microwave for the potatoes.”
“Oh no, this is my deal. If you’re done with work, you can hang out and keep me company, though. Or go take a hot bath and I’ll bring you some wine.”
She kissed his chin. “I’ll come hang with you.”
“Want me to grab one of your aprons?”
“Sure, you can borrow one if you’d like.”
He rolled his eyes at her. For some reason, he loved her colorful aprons. Rather, he loved them when she was wearing them. At least he’d gotten her to smile.
He took her hand and led her to the bag he’d left in the living room, then on to the kitchen.
The glass of wine came first, one for each of them.
He kept quiet as he unloaded the groceries and pulled out the large cast iron skillet.
It wasn’t until he was cranking the pepper mill over the steaks that she spoke.
“My mom called a while ago.”
Ah. She hadn’t spoken of her family much. She’d called her parents, and her brother and his wife, when they’d first mated, but when he’d asked if she wanted to go out for a visit, she’d said she’d rather wait until the pack was a little more settled.
“What did she have to say?”
“That she knew Brenda was coming out here to see if she wanted to join our pack, and I better not be immature and sabotage her with the alphas. Or words to that affect, though it took her a good five minutes to say it all.”
He just looked at her. “Seriously?”
She nodded. “Yep. I told her I was an adult and perfectly capable of acting like one, and Myra, Adam, Joe and Jen were all perfectly capable of deciding on their own who should join our pack.”
Jonas couldn’t hold back a snort. “Yeah, they’re perfectly capable of siding with you, whether you ask them to or not. And it’s none of her business if they do so.”
“Well, I decided she didn’t really need to know any of that.”
“Probably a good call.” He finished seasoning the meat and put both steaks in the large pan, then went to kneel in front of her chair. Her legs opened to invite him in closer. “I hate that you don’t have a great relationship with your family. What the hell is wrong with them?”
“It’s not a terrible relationship. It’s just not great.”
“Yeah, but you being you, the person that you are, that’s terrible.”
She blinked at him. “I guess I followed that.” She sighed.
“I just…they never really got me. They think my brother’s the greatest thing ever.
And he is pretty awesome, I love him. I was worried that they’d be awful to his mate when he found her, but they embraced her.
They just find me vaguely disappointing. ”
“Again, you being you, I just don’t understand that. I mean, do they not know you at all? The things you’ve accomplished with your business? The roll you’ve played in your pack?”
She raised her eyebrows at him.
“If you don’t think Myra’s bragged on you, you don’t know your best friend very well.”
“Heh. Well. It would almost be easier if they were awful, then I’d just walk away.”
“That’s why it was so easy for you to move to St. Louis.”
“Yeah, I missed my brother, especially when he mated and started having kids, but I Skype with them and go visit once a year or so.” She kissed him. “Go start the potatoes, I’m fine.”
He gave her a playfully fierce look, then got up to do as she’d said. He needed to feed her. He poked holes in the potatoes and got them into the microwave, then flipped the steaks.
“Your brother is third in his pack?”
“Yes. I think you’ll like him. I know we need to go out there so you can meet everyone. Or invite them out here. I kind of don’t want my parents in my space, though, so I’d rather go out there.”
“If that’s what you want, that’s what we’ll do. How did you leave it with your mom?”
She blushed. “I told her I was about to start a meeting and had to go.”
“There’s nothing wrong with that.”
“I should be strong enough to just tell her that I don’t want to talk about Brenda and if she has nothing else to say, we’re done.”
He pulled her up and into his arms. “Baby. She’s your mom, and as much as you tell yourself that you shouldn’t care that she’s not as impressed by you as she should be, which is the truth, it’s not so easy to stop wanting her approval.”
“You’re pretty smart. And you have awesome parents. I already love them.”
“They love you, too.”
He left one arm around her and pulled her to the stove, opened the microwave and turned the potatoes. “You might feel better once we go visit. Instead of worrying about it.”
“Possibly.”
“Or we can just pretend they don’t exist, you can block your mom’s number on your phone, and we can hang out with people we like and respect, and who return the favor.”
She gave him a wan smile. “I’m not quite there, but I’ll keep that as a plan C.”
The microwave beeped and he turned the stove off. “Let’s eat. You’ll feel better, for sure.”
“I’m already better, just being with you. But steak definitely won’t hurt.”