Page 57 of Knight With Benefits

I watched her do another spin before she stepped back over to the dining side of the room. She took a few paces and turned, seeming to measure out the space as she looked around before nodding to herself.

“There’s plenty of room left on this side for the counter and tables, so I think that’s perfect.”

The way she beamed made me want to stalk over and lift her by her plush ass so she’d have to throw her arms around me and be forced to feel what she did to me. Seeing her excited had my bear ready to curl around her and purr for the rest of the afternoon.

“Okay. Are there any other projects you want done this week, so I can order the supplies all at once?”

The loss of her eyes on me was almost a physical blow, and I couldn’t help closing the distance between us. I kept myself from pressing into her space, but only barely.

“I’d really like to get the boards off the windows like you mentioned.”

Two sides of the dining room were solid windows, with a set of double doors facing the street. They’d been covered with plywood for as long as I’d known the place, but somehow one of the panes had a hole in it with cracks radiating to the edges of the glass. I knew how to replace windows in homes, but I wasn’t sure how to go about finding a match for the glass.

“I’ll call a buddy of mine and see if he’s free to come take a look at the broken one tomorrow to get us a replacement. You don’t really want people to be able to see in yet, so we can tape up some paper to block their view while still letting in light.”

Omegas were sensitive to light, and while most preferred dimness in their nest, it had been proven they’d grow ill if they went without sunlight for too long. With the amount of time Gwyn was spending inside the café, getting the windows uncovered would be better for her.

“That sounds good. Once I have the plywood off I can get the siding and trim painted outside, so it’ll finally look like something is coming.”

I hadn’t forgotten the way she’d avoided answering my question about the sign. If I hadn’t known she already had to have a name picked out to file for the business licenses, I’d have thought she hadn’t come up with one yet, so the only other answer I could come up with was that she was embarrassed about something. Either she’d forgotten to order a sign, or it was the name itself.

“The wall shouldn’t take that long. Cutting the pieces and framing it out will take the longest, but hanging drywall is quick and easy. It really shouldn’t take more than a day. Pulling off the plywood will take next to no time, and with this type of window I’m thinking it’s safer for my buddy to do it, so I can either paint the outside, or help with the flooring after that.”

Besides installing everything in the kitchen, the flooring was probably the biggest project left. There was still lots to do, but most of it was going to be smaller tasks, and while I knew she was capable of completing them herself, I didn’t want her to. If she tried to say she wouldn’t need my help anymore before the café was ready to go, I would have to come up with an excuse to stay and help anyway.

“Okay. That should get us through this week, and by the time you come back on Tuesday the kitchen counters will be here.”

I froze for a moment, almost forgetting I had other obligations that would keep me from being by her side every day. My bear rose up, pushing at the surface at the thought of her being alone, where she’d already been cornered when I wasn’t here.

“Don’t you take any days off?”

I tried to ask the question carefully, since I knew how she’d react if she felt like I was trying to tell her what she could or couldn’t do. I did think she should give herself a break, but I was more concerned about the Purists showing up while I was too far away to protect her.

She hesitated to answer, and I watched her emotions playing across her face. She wanted to say no, to insist she didn’t need a break, but she was just as worried as I was.

Reaching out, I placed my fingertips on her arm, wanting to do more but holding myself back.

“I can be here, if you need me. I can get someone else to cover me at the garage.”

The garage didn’t mean as much to me as it did to the others, even if I did like helping them on some of the project cars and bikes that came through, and while I covered two days a week to give Sebastian and Brooke time to themselves, they’d understand if I told them I couldn’t for a while.

But Gwyn was shaking her head even before I finished speaking. Her instinct to not cause ripples with an alpha would keep her from accepting my offer to change my schedule for her.

“No, you have other commitments that came long before me. I should be asking you if you ever take a break. The counters and stuff can wait, or I can finish the flooring myself.”

The look she gave the little section she’d managed to lay made my lips twitch with the urge to grin. Despite buying the kind with a groove that was supposed to be easy to put down, it was still a tedious task that many people didn’t understand until forced to do themselves. As simple as it was meant to be, it could be just as frustrating, and time-consuming.

Pulling myself back to the seriousness of the conversation, I tried to find a way to express my concern without coming off overbearing, since if I pushed too much it would only make her more likely to do the opposite.

“I’m worried by the thought of you being here alone. If one of the people you’re concerned about showed up before David came to work, there would be no one around to notice a woman being forced into a car. Your safety is important.”

I wasn’t trying to scare her any more than I knew she was, but I wasn’t sure my bear could handle knowing she was vulnerable. Last time was bad enough, and that was before knowing there were others who wanted her.

My bear snarled and I had to fight to contain the sound. This woman was driving him feral with her stubbornness, but that didn’t mean I’d take away her freedom and force her to submit the way the alphas she’d described would.

Her brows creased and I held my breath.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

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