Page 14 of The Omega's Surprise Baby
“No. It's only...” I momentarily lost the ability to speak when he laid his fingers around my arm to raise it to eye level. His touch didn't bother me. No. It was the opposite. His fingers were warm and calloused and sent a thrill through me. I wanted him to touch other parts of my body with those fingers.
I swallowed past the sudden dryness in my mouth.
He let go again, and I exhaled.
“Wait,” he said, and then he left the room before I could so much as nod. I stood rooted to the spot, wondering how he was getting to me like this. It was ridiculous. Maybe it had just been too long since I'd met an alpha who wasn't an ass.
Shane came back only a moment after he'd left, carrying both cream and a small spray bottle in his hand. I shot him a questioning look. He answered it with a smile. “Disinfectant and ointment. I have two children in the house. I'm prepared to deal with all sorts of scrapes.”
“Super-dad in action,” I joked as he reached for my arm again to apply the disinfectant. I tried not to hiss as the spray hit my skin. From the corner of my eyes, I saw the cat glance at me, judging me.Little shit.
You're next,I thought.
When Shane was done disinfecting my wounds, he unscrewed the ointment, and that felt much better.Much, much better. I told myself that it was just the cream that felt nice on my abused skin, rather than Shane's gentle, caring touch. But who was I kidding?
This was so totally worth getting scratched up.
You're an idiot.
“Okay, you're all fixed now,” Shane said, withdrawing.
“Thank you.”
Shane smiled at me. “No big deal.”
The moment we were done, Conner came back into the room. “Eli said he's coming over to look at the cat.”
“Great,” I said, pretending like I hadn't totally forgotten all about the cat for a moment. Jesus. I really had to be careful around this alpha.
6
Shane
Things were not exactly goingas planned. Only an hour before the rehearsal dinner, I was walking around Oceanport taping 'Do You Know This Cat?' posters on lamp posts. Conner had insisted it couldn't wait any longer. Both he and his best friend were tagging along now, dressed like little gentlemen in the suits they were going to be wearing to the dinner.
Eli came over to our place and patched the cat up as best he could. Told us not to worry. It wasn't a deep wound, apparently. As soon as he'd said that, Conner had been on me about finding the cat's owners.
“No, we can't wait. They have to be worried!”
And now here I was, running around town when I should have been getting ready for my cousin's rehearsal dinner. That's just how life was with small children. At least they kept me on my toes. Kade had offered to go in my place, but there was no way he could be late for the dinner, so I'd refused.
Eli had stressed that Jake couldn’t be late either, but the boy couldn't be talked out of coming along. Eleven years old, but all alpha already. He was a good kid, though, and a good friend to my son.
They both hung back behind me, talking. Probably about something I wasn't supposed to hear.
I slowed my step a little bit. Yeah, I was curious. Sue me. But it was so frustratingly hard to get anything out of Conner.
He hadn't always been that way. I was not the only one still struggling to get over Ron's death. Not by a long shot. That was one more reason I liked Jake. He'd made my kid laugh again almost as soon as they got to know each other. He was Conner's confidante now. I was a little sad that it wasn'tme, but it was good that Conner had someone. And if I could just overhear scraps of conversation every now and then...
“I think my dad kind of likes him,” Conner said in a hushed tone of voice.
I bit my lower lip. There was no doubt who he was talking about, was there? Was I really so obvious? Or was Conner that observant?
“Gross,” Jake said, and I had to contain the laughter that wanted to burst out of me.
“Yeah, it is kind of gross,” my son agreed.
“Ugh, my parents are being gross all the time too.”
