AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I don’t drink coffee,” he admitted. “Tea, cocoa, cider.”
“Ahh, so you’ll be one of the ones wanting some of the Cedarwick’s famous blend as well, aren’t you?”
“It’s my favorite,” he admitted.
“I knew you had good taste,” I said with a smile, “which brings me to my next question. What are you doing tomorrow night?”
“Fish fry.” It was going to be hard work to get answers out of this man. Good thing I’d never shied away from a challenge. And despite not knowing him well… or at all, I liked the alpha a whole lot already.
“What about the night after?” I asked, only to be met with a shrug of his shoulders. “Perfect, then I’ll be taking you out to dinner. Come on, you can look at the stove if you want now.”
“What?” the alpha barked, the sharp sound doing things to my insides before he quickly regathered himself and stomped up the stairs to come join me where I’d turned back to the house.
“You and I are going to dinner the day after tomorrow,” I said firmly, before adding on at the last second, “unless you really truly don’t want to share a meal with me.”
“Are you asking me out?” he asked with a growl.
“So what if I am?” I countered, leaning a hip against the kitchen counter and setting the mug down.
Sure I wanted to thank him for his generosity, but there was something more that I couldn’t quite put my finger on, similar to the way I felt when I was with Jack if I was honest.
The two of us stared at each other, the tension growing between us. I wanted to know more about the kind hearted man in the flannel. Not just because I wanted to know who put that caution in his step, but because I wanted to see him smile at me like he did at the diner yesterday. I wanted to earn his trust and confidence.
Not for the first time since meeting him I wished I could truly smell him, if only just to know how he was feeling. The only thing I picked up from him were severely muted wood tones.
“Okay,” Boone agreed after a moment.
“Fantastic, I’ll need your number please.”
He passed his phone over without a word and I was surprised that it didn’t have a lock screen on it, just a photo of him and Jack standing next to some kind of cabin in the background. I quickly dialed my own phone number then saved off my name while he opened up the old wood burning stove, closing and opening up different vents.
“Don’t use this until it’s cleaned, or the whole place might catch on fire. I’ll call someone, get them out to look at it,” Boone said. “It’s a little outside my scope.”
“It’s okay,” I assured him, passing him his phone back. I guess there’d be no more pie testing for me until then. “Really, Boone you didn’t have to do any of this, I appreciate you stopping by.”
He nodded, taking a deep breath in before letting his shoulders relax. “I wanted to. Is there anything else you want me to take a look at while I’m here?”
A laugh escaped me. “That list is way too long, honey. I need to decide what to do with this place first, which probably won’t happen until I sort out the orchard and Fall Festival. Trust me, when I’m ready to hire someone to fix up the place you’ll be the first one I call.”
“Not looking for a job,” he replied, the bass of his voice deepening.
“I know, I know,” I assured him, hustling him out of the place before he could find another thing to fix, which was basically everything. “But if the work needs to be done, then I’d rather hire someone I trust.”
His sharp inhale of breath was the only indication from him that he’d heard my statement. But the truth was, I did trust him already, which was a little strange for sure, but something about him, despite his size, made me feel safe and I found myself feeling protective of him.
“If you change your mind, I’ll be next door for a few hours.”
“Say, do you have any extra two-by-fours?” I asked, an idea floating through my mind. I’d been wanting to work outside and enjoy some of the fresh fall air but there was just one teensy tiny little problem I needed to clear up first.
“I do,” he answered with a hint of suspicion. I had a strong feeling that he had no idea what to make of me. That was a reaction I got fairly often, especially as an omega who preferred to handle things on my own when I could.
When I offered no further explanation he went to the back of his truck and pulled out three boards, laying them on the ground and raising an eyebrow as if to ask if that worked.
“That’s perfect. Thank you,” I said excitedly, waving as he drove off.
My mind was already working on the possibilities so I ran inside with more than a little spring in my steps. I’d spotted some old boxes in one of the bedrooms and went right for them.
Ripping off the first, I sneezed as a cloud of dust rose in the air. With watering eyes I made my way to the window and opened it, taking in a few deep breaths of fresh air before going back to the box. Inside were old video tapes and a few pictures. I smiled as I flipped through the old Polaroids. Each one showed my grandparents’ pack smiling back at me. Even the grumpy old alpha managed a smile or two mixed in with the looks of adoration he cast down at them.
