Page 71 of Her Second-Hand Mate

“I worked on it in therapy with Vera, coping techniques and stuff. She has me doing squats instead of biting my nails whenever I get the urge. My butt muscles will get butt muscles of their own pretty soon,” he said and shook his head in mock disbelief, and I guffawed with my mouth full.

“You know, I think I preferred it when you talked less,” I deadpanned, and he laughed until his eyes were wet, and I felt myself flush with ridiculous pleasure.

“This is the first time I made you laugh like that,” I blurted out and, when I felt his gut twist, regretted it immediately. His face betrayed nothing, but he wasn’t laughing anymore.

“What should we do for lunch?” I tried changing the topic, knowing I’d replay that laughter in my head in bed before I fell asleep.

???

“Are you ready to go home in the morning?” he asked me as he pushed his empty plate away.

I was still working on my risotto, which was insanely good. I didn’t even know I liked seafood. Gabriel was asleep in his stroller. The sea air was doing something to him. He was calmer than I’d ever seen him, and he slept much better, too.

“I can honestly say I’d like to stay longer. I wasn't expecting to like it this much,” I admitted.

“If you want, we can stay. I’ll mind-link Elliot to hold down the fort for one more day.”

“That’s nice of you to offer, but we have the meeting with the contractors tomorrow, and I have to mail my letter and the photos Anthony took of Gabriel, and frankly, I’m tired of the human smells,” I smiled, but he kept analyzing my face as if he was trying to figure out if I was serious or just polite.

“What worries me is you offering to take an extra day off,” I joked.

He nodded, “I’m working less these days, and I’m learning to delegate. I realized I was trying to prove something by working myself to the bone.”

“Like what?”

“Sometimes I think I was trying to convince the pack that what happened didn’t break me.”

I was taken aback by how forthcoming he was being today.

“It sort of feels like what my Father did after my Mother... both with work and with Eden. It felt like he was trying to convince everyone, including himself, that he was still a strong Alpha.”

“That’s exactly what it was for me. There is so much pressure to be strong, to show no weakness. And in my case, the behavior came from a place of shame, which is even unhealthier.”

“I’m glad you’re doing better, Dominic,” I told him, and I meant it.

???

“Are you, like, freaking out about having left Gabe for the first time?” Charlotte asked with a teasing smile as we waited for our entrees.

“Hank asked me the same thing on the way here! I’m really not. Maybe it’s because Dominic’s so good with him and takes care of him whenever he’s home. The only thing I worry about is losing track of the time and my breasts getting all blocked up,” I shrugged, and Grace shuddered.

“Don’t even remind me. Those early months are brutal.”

“Does Tyler sleep through the night now?” I asked her.

“I wish. He still wakes up to nurse at least once, depending on how many teeth he has going at the time,” she said, and it was Mira’s turn to shudder.

“Let’s not turn this into a mommy lunch,” she begged. “I veto the pup talk, do it in your free time.”

“You’re right,” I cleared my throat. “It’s Charlotte’s fault!”

The culprit looked at her empty plate, “I just don’t want to talk about my life.”

Lynn nudged her with her leg, “Tell them.”

Charlotte tilted her head up to the ceiling and sighed with her whole body. “Noah keeps pressuring me to do more with him.”

Silence fell over the table. In the background, we heard the clinking of cutlery and the murmured conversations of the other guests in the restaurant, but all of us at the table were weighing our response. Margaret was the first one to speak.

---