Page 10 of Such a Feisty Omega

“Looking for someone?” I asked as I approached him. He turned and I got the best gift, a genuine smile, though it disappeared as soon as it came. He seemed determined not to be happy. I would’ve loved to get to the bottom of that.

“I was, but I found him, or he found me. Good evening, Julian. You look lovely.”

Heat rushed to my cheeks and to other parts of my body. “Thank you. You look devilishly handsome.”

He chuckled low and deep, tugging on my heartstrings. “Devilishly, huh? We’ll see how naughty we can get later on, but let’s go eat. You’ll need your strength.”

Goddess, that promise sent shivers down my spine.

We went in and, to my surprise, Andreas had made a reservation. It wasn’t a fancy place, but it had soft lighting and private tables spaced out enough so that no one felt crowded. I hadn’t dined there before, but I had passed it several times driving around the city.

The waiter went over the specials, and we decided to start with the bruschetta. Andreas ordered a glass of wine but I asked for water.

“Should I change my order of wine?” he asked. “The last thing I want is to make you uncomfortable if it’s an issue.”

“I don’t personally have an issue with drinking. I’ve seen the repercussions of alcoholism in my life and in my work. It’s a choice I made a long time ago. Please, enjoy your wine.”

He flagged down the waiter and asked for water instead before returning his attention to me. “You said in your work. What do you do for a living?”

I was nervous, but Andreas seemed completely cool and confident. He looked me in the eye. Really listened to me as I told him about my work as a nurse, but I left out the specifics. My work was heavy, and sometimes I waited until I knew people a bit more before sharing all of that.

“That’s admirable, but I bet there’s a lot of heartache that goes along with it. I imagine you get attached sometimes.”

No one else got that. They thought there was no way I could get attached to a child who wasn’t mine or was only in the NICU for a few weeks or days, but my heart got invested as soon as I laid eyes on the little ones. Being brought into this world and in a new place was hard enough without adding medical issues or feeding or breathing problems.

Then again, he simply meant patients. He didn’t know he was speaking of the precious babies.

“My patients mean a lot to me.”

He nodded. “Oh, I wanted to let you know that Rhys reported back once he got home. He told Jabez he’s okay.”

I had to admit, it was the update I wanted. I’d let go, thinking I would never know unless I saw him at the club again, but I was happy to hear it. “That’s great. He was with someone not kind. He deserves better.” I paused. “Tell me about yourself, Andreas. You work at Cuffed, that I know. What else?”

“I more than work there, actually. I’m an owner. There are several of us.”

“Oh.” I reflected back to the conversation from the break room and how the guys were talking about the elusive owners. And here I was, sitting across from one of them. “But you were monitoring, right?”

“No. I just happened to be on the floor. I didn’t see the abuse your friend endured or I would’ve stopped it. We try but we can’t see everything.”

“I’m sure you would’ve stopped it.” Those weren’t just words; I felt like he would. He might be strong and had a powerful presence, but it was in a way where he was a protector, not an abuser.

We ordered steaks and talked more about his work at the club and my nursing, but I felt like we were only scrapingthe surface. Like there was a big part of Andreas that he was purposefully holding back. I respected it, of course. I wouldn’t pressure him. Some people were more private than others. He would tell me in time.

At least, I hoped we’d reached that level of trust because as the night went on, I was falling for Andreas. Hard.

We planned to go to the club in a few days, when we were both free. And this time, I agreed to let him pick me up.

Chapter Eleven

Andreas

I tried not to let it be such a big deal, but after his preference to drive himself before, I was very pleased that Julian agreed to allow me to pick him up for our evening at the club. I appreciated his independence but wanted to spend as much time with the omega as possible. He had a busy working schedule as a nurse, and, of course, I had the club in the evening and sometimes during the day as well as my son and all being a dad entailed.

I so enjoyed our dinner together, and it half killed me not to go in when Julian invited me, but I had Roger again for a babysitter and unlike Lilianne, he did not sleep over. Funny, I’d always thought if I did stay at someone’s place for obvious reasons, she’d be fine with my not coming home. I had a long talk with Roger before letting him sit with Reed that night, and I’d promised to be home at a decent hour so he could get a good night’s rest before an early exam.

Besides, while a night in a hot omega’s bed was great, there was nothing light and unimportant about Julian’s company. I wanted to take our time a bit and spend at least one evening together at the club. Reed came first, and I would be fine with someone who was not perfect for me, but not if they found my kink repugnant. It was a big part of myself, and giving it up meant shutting down a very important piece of my soul. And a partial alpha did neither my son nor a potential partner any good.

For me, the club was an investment, a great place to exercise my skills as a contractor, and where I could let free a part of me that needed an outlet.

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