“Hello, sweetie. I’m so happy to see you. Hi, little baby. I missed you too.”
Badger wriggled and twirled around, not knowing whether he needed me to rub his head or his butt. After sniffing at Lothair’s legs, he made a fluffy donut with his lanky body and spun in circles as I did my best to pet him everywhere.
“Lothair, this is Badger. The best dog in the world. He belongs to my pops, but I’m his second favorite.”
“I can see that.”
“Badger, this is Lothair.”
Lothair stretched out his hand. “Can I?”
“Sure. He’s a slut. Rub his ears, and he’ll love you forever.”
Grinning, Lothair bent over and combed through Badger’s long fur. “He’s gorgeous.”
“And spoiled!” came my great-grandfather’s raspy voice. He walked down the stairs toward us.
Lothair shot up, spine straight. I’d never seen him so scared before, not when he was jumping on motorbikes, or tumbling down cliffs—not even racing through the city streets to escape a lunatic. He looked terrified.
“Mr. Harbinger, sir,” he stammered.
Badger seemed to pick up on the tension because he sat at our feet, gazing up at us on high alert.
My pops looked Lothair up and down. “Mr. Courtemanche,” he said in an equally formal tone. Then his tanned, wrinkly face split into a mischievous grin. “Welcome to the family, Lothair.” He slapped Lothair’s arm. “This is great. My friends at the club won’t believe me.”
“It’s not public yet, Pops,” I reminded him.
“Oh, I know. But it’ll come out sooner or later. You’d better brace yourself, Terrance.”
Lothair’s smile was strained. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Harbinger. Terry told me a lot about you.”
“I bet. I bet.” My pops leaned in conspiratorially. “Did you visit old Conrad? Learn anything interesting?”
“Um. We have. Yes. Thanks for that.”
“Good. Did you meet his omegas?”
I gulped, remembering the scene in Conrad Roche’s garden. “Um. We only saw them briefly.”
“The youngest one was with them at a party last week. Highly pregnant. Gorgeous young man.”
Lothair gave me a bewildered look.
“Pops…”
Before I could come up with a suitable way to end this line of conversation, my pops grinned and whispered, “I’ve heard there’s this club called Priapus where alphas like you can go and meet boys. Maybe you can try that.”
I gaped.
Pops winked at Lothair and turned to the house. “Come on. They’re all nervous as hell that we have a celebrity guest. They’ve been insufferable all day. Let’s get this over with.”
Lothair let out a squeaky sound that might have been a combination of a sob, laughter, and a hiccup.
I caught his hand and squeezed.
“One down, six more to go,” I murmured.
Once the door closed behind us and we were in an enclosed space with my boisterous family, Lothair seemed suspiciously calm. He must have been employing his acting skills.
