Chapter Fourteen
Altan
Being a lawyer in Pleasant meant that most of my cases were small civil suits and minor criminal cases. Our law enforcement consisted of Holt and his deputies. He was a fair and decent sheriff, and in my time as a lawyer, I’d met some doozies.
I woke already feeling like I was going to lose the day. We’d stayed up until after closing with Hema and walked her home. Not that I regretted a single minute of that time with her, but I still had work and things to do, and those things were hard to do when you felt like death warmed over.
I showered and dressed in a navy suit and tie with a gray shirt. Going through the motions, I prepared coffee and ate the breakfast Orin made even though he was falling asleep at the table.
“Couldn’t sleep?” I asked, thumping him on the back of the head.
“Dreaming about her. I’ve got it bad, man.”
“We all do. We just have to be patient. Go back to bed. You’ll need your energy.”
He got up and made his way to the hallway.
Our bedrooms were on the first floor, the entire upstairs comprising the omega suite.
Its door stayed closed and, thanks to Sovann, the rooms were clean and ready, stocked with everything an omega might need to nest. We built it with a faceless future omega in mind. Blind faith.
Our real omega was so much better than my fantasies.
“I’m headed out,” I shouted and heard something from Sovann in the office.
He worked strange hours, sometimes, if he was in the middle of an edit.
He didn’t work a ton, earning a good amount doing freelance editing.
I always called him lucky his hours were so flexible, but with our other domestic tasks, he also worked his ass off.
He would be Hema’s comforter. I would be her safety. Orin would be her rock. We would be whatever she needed.
But first, we had to earn her trust.
Though we’d seen her only hours before, I craved another encounter. On my way to the flower store and eventually court, I stopped by the café and picked up two coffees and a pair of cinnamon-crunch muffins.
When I got to the flower shop, there was a line. Her place was busy and I was so proud of our omega.
She’d come here and built a business on her own, and it was blooming, pun intended. I waited my turn, which took almost a half hour. Good thing I was still early for court and it was only a hop and a skip away.
“Good morning, Altan.” She glanced down at the coffee in my hand.
I let her squirm for a moment. “Coffee and a muffin?” I put them on the counter.
“Thank you.” Her cheeks filled with rosy heat. “I didn’t have a chance to stop this morning. I was going to, but there was a line at my door already. I was running a little later than usual.”
“That’s fantastic, Hema. You’re doing so well.”
Oh, boy. Her perfume pulsed with sweetness. She liked the praise. Good to know. And since I’d been at the end of the line for her early rush, we were all alone.
“Thanks. Did you need something? I don’t have an update on the wedding flowers yet.”
“I actually wanted to order a delivery for my legal assistant. Tomorrow is her birthday, and I wanted to get something nice but professional. Ideas?”
She got to work, flitting around, pointing out several sprays until one caught my eye. A polka-dot vase with some white and yellow roses. Marney, my assistant, was an older woman, talented and precise. “This will work. Don’t you think?”
I valued her opinion.
“Yes. I love this. Very professional but cute. Good choice.”
We wrote up the card, and she promised to deliver it the next day to the office. She did the deliveries herself but chatted about hiring someone if the orders kept drumming up. I hoped they did. Seeing her in this shop, doing what she loved, made her absolutely glow.
A happy, flourishing, omega.
If she chose us, it would be because she wanted us. It was then that I realized she didn’t need us. Not our income or our financial security. Not for her sense of self.
That would make her loving us even more special.
“I guess I’d better get to court. So many small-town criminals to defend.”
She giggled. “I mean, I’ve heard some gossip. Are you telling me Pleasant isn’t always pleasant?”
“I’m telling you that sometimes people pass through and vandalize or speed. Once in a while, there’s a neighborly dispute or a land struggle. Not exactly felonies.”
Another laugh. This one reached right in me and tugged. The last thing I wanted to do was leave.
But life called. “I’ll see you later, okay?”
“Yeah. Maybe so.”