“Honestly? Because I don’t want to lose how much I love cooking. For me, the kitchen has always been an escape and from there it grew into providing for my community. I like making comfort meals and seeing the same people all the time. I don’t think I’d like running a kitchen that was serving new people every night.” As he says it, I grow a new appreciation for who Callum is and what he’s about.
“Ah. So you didn’t like me because I’m not a townie,” I surmise.
He arches a brow at me, it has no heat, in fact it’s down right playful.
“What about you? Why aren’t you just doing freelance work?”
I blink at him a few times and realize I’d never considered it. The corporate ladder was my measurement of success, not what made me happy.
“Honestly? I never even considered it. What would I do when I needed to take time off for my heats?”
Callum shifts in his chair, clearing his throat.
“You’d work for yourself, you’d make the rules.”
“You would be so good at it, Maisie,” Birdie says from across the table. “Just picking which clients you’d like to work with. You wouldn’t have to deal with Alphas who treat you like your work is less than because you’re an Omega.”
“Maybe. I’ll think about it.”
As I ponder my career path, and what the next month of my life is going to look like—it’s no big deal—our server comes out with our main dishes.
Callum pours the new bottle of wine, giving me my glass first, then Birdie, lastly him and his brother.
“Oh, a toast,” Graham says, holding up his glass. “To seeing about a coo.”
None of us can stop the laughter that falls out of us, and surprisingly, the rest of the evening is more enjoyable than I ever thought a dinner with Callum could ever be.
It’s late as we walk back to the hotel room. Graham and Birdie totally look like they’re about to dip off into an alleyway and do the dirtiest of things together and I can’t help but to miss the Heather Beag, and the two Alphas who have made this trip amazing.
“I know I’m not as charming as my brother. Thanks for sitting through dinner, anyway.”
I peek up at him from my lashes, tugging my jacket tighter around my body.
“You know, I say the same thing about Birdie. She’s more carefree, sometimes reckless, but at least she’s living her life.”
“You don’t think you are?”
“I think I am now,” I say softly, wondering if the words are going to bother him or not.
“Scotland will do that to ya. So will Greer and Lain, they’re the best men I know.”
He doesn’t go on about how I’m eventually leaving and to not break his friends’ hearts, which I’m grateful for. I can’t help but to sneak a glance at Callum’s imposing form, but the moment I do, I stop paying attention to the cobblestones, and the tip of my toe has me falling forward and landing right on my knee.
I hiss in pain and groan from embarrassment. I’d been very careful with my wine consumption. This had nothing to do with drinking and everything to do with finding this Alpha attractive and being blindsided by his looks.
“Fuck. What hurts?” Callum asks, getting down on his haunches, his large hands already on my body, inspecting me.
“Just my knee.” I’m wearing pants for a change tonight, but I can feel the sting of having scraped the skin.
Birdie and Graham are too far ahead of us, almost like they were speed walking to the hotel.
“Come on, I’ll carry you back.”
“Oh, I can walk,” I tell him, letting him hold out a hand for me to get up off the ground. “I probably just need some ice. There is ice somewhere in this country, right?”
“Aye, we’ll get you your ice.”
He doesn’t even joke back, like he’s concerned I’ll need a hospital visit over a scraped knee.
