Page 9 of The Omega's Surprise Baby
“Hey, I'm the alpha of the house, I'll listen to whatever I want. Just be glad it's notThe Spice Omegas.”
Conner tensed, his lips forming a thin line. I had no idea why he was taking my joke so seriously.
“Lighten up,” I said. “I can stop listening to Kade if it bothers you that much.” I'd never known my kid had such a severe dislike for pop music. He'd never complained about Ron singing all day long—and for all that I loved that man, he'd not been very good at it.
It occurred to me that maybe, it wasn't the music that bothered Conner. Maybe his problem was that he didn't want another omega to sing in this house.
“Conner,” I said, making the boy look at me. “You have nothing to worry about, okay? Our guests are going to leave again in a few days and our lives will go back to how they were.”
“I know,” he said, although he didn’t seem entirely convinced.
We finished the rest of his homework without many more words exchanged.
* * *
Once I'd gottenboth Conner and Mary into bed that day, I took a beer out of my fridge and went to sit on the porch. Only, someone was already there. I spotted Kade sitting on the bench with his guitar, looking out at the road. He turned his head to me when I stepped out of the house. “Hi.”
“Hi,” I said, trying not to let my surprise show. I could have sworn both he and Nick had retired to the guest room. I eyed his guitar. Had he come out here to play?
“Don't worry,” he said with a small smile when he noticed what I was looking at. “I'm not going to play the guitar and wake up your kids, I only...” He stopped and licked his lips as if suddenly unsure whether he should continue speaking. He didn't seem very much like a pop star, sitting on my porch and searching for words, but that made it easier for me to relax around him. He was just a normal guy, wasn't he? A normal guy who happened to have a great singing voice, stunning eyes and an amazing stage presence.
Yeah, totally normal.
“You don't have to tell me,” I said, taking seat beside him.
“It's no big deal, really,” he said, but didn't elaborate. Instead, he looked up at the sky. It was a cloudless night and the stars shone bright. “You don't see skies like this in the city,” he muttered.
A smile tugged at my lips. “Even small-town life has its perks, I guess.”
“I grew up in a small town,” he told me. “I didn't like it very much.”
“Oh? I'm sorry to hear that.” The small-town experience definitely wasn't for everyone. Personally, I found cities too big and busy and impersonal, but to each their own. “Where are you from, if you don't mind my asking?”
“You really don't know?” He raised an eyebrow at me, eyeing me intently. Just like earlier that day, I felt like he could X-ray me with those eyes of his. There was something about the way he looked at people that fascinated me. When I was caught in Kade's gaze, I felt like I couldn't hide anything from him. It was at once thrilling and nerve-racking. Thrilling because I knew I had his full attention, and nerve-racking because I could never be sure what he was seeing.
I held my hands up. “I really don't know.”
He tilted his head to one side, as if I fascinated him as much as he intrigued me. “You watch my videos on YouTube, but you haven't googled my name?”
I chuckled at his puzzlement.
“And here I thought you were afan,” he complained in mock offense.
My lips crinkled in amusement. “Never said I wasn't.” I cracked the beer in my hands open and took a swig. Then I offered it to him. “It's the last one in the house, but I'm willing to share.”
He hesitated for only a moment before taking it. “Thank you,” he said, raising the still cold beverage to his lips. “So you haven't... done any sort of research on me at all?”
“I haven't. I promise that's the truth. My cousin asked me not to google you, and I owe him a lot.” And I was glad now that I’d kept my promise to Dean, that I hadn’t let some media scandal taint my perception of the omega in front of me. He was worth getting to know with an open mind.
“Your cousin Dean?” he asked.
“Yes. The happy groom.” I took the beer from him because I needed another swig if we were going to be talking about weddings.
“You don't sound happy,” Kade noted.
I shrugged. “I have mixed feelings about weddings, or rather, about attending weddings, but I'm happy for my cousin.”
Kade nodded, as if he understood. I wasn't sure if anyone couldreallyunderstand what was going on in my head, but Kade didn't seem to require an explanation. How much did he know about me, anyway? We'd already established that I hadn't done any research on him aside from watching some of his performances, but what had my cousin toldhimabout me before getting here?
