Page 44 of The Omega's Secret Baby
“Touché.”
I licked my lips. “You know, I’ve been told some things today. About the rumors flying around in town.”
“Oh. Yeah. I don’t care about those. The only reason I care about them is because they hurt Jake. That’s all on me.”
“No, it isn’t.” I rubbed his shoulder. “They’re children. If it wasn’t for the rumors, they’d find other reasons to be mean to each other. Jake’s a smart kid. He’ll learn not to listen to that crap. And people will latch on to some other topic soon enough. In fact, I think we can speed that process up.”
“Oh?” Eli looked intrigued.
I smiled. “We won’t be as much fun to talk about when we’re not a secret anymore.”
Eli’s eyebrows shot up. “You want to go public?”
“What do you say I take you to the finest restaurant in town right now?”
“Won’t they be booked out?”
“You forget that you’re talking to the richest bachelor in town.”
“Oh, are you a bachelor?”
I leaned in so I could speak into Eli’s ear, and feel the shiver that went through him as my breath hit his skin. “Well, I’m not married, but am I taken?”
“I think you might be.” Eli ran his hand into my hair and pressed our lips together. One moment, two, then he broke away again. “Are you really serious?”
“You don’t think we should? Look, I know you have your reservations, and that I’ve hurt you before. We’ve both made mistakes, and yet here we are.” I inhaled, trying to get the words right in my head before I could say them, but there were so many of them. So many things we’d always left unsaid between us. “You know, when we first met, I was instantly attracted to you. I couldn’t think about anything but how much I wanted you. It was intense. It still is. But I used to think that wasallit was. Physical. My whole life I’d been warned that one day, I’d run into an omega who would drive me crazy and seduce me.”
Eli grimaced. “I know exactly what you’ve been told.”
“I’m sorry.” I cupped his face. “But you have to understand that this was what I believed growing up. So when I met you, I thought I knew exactly what was going on.”
“You thought I was trying to seduce you? To get at your money or something?”
“No, no, not like that. My mother would probably have said that, but I never thought you had any ill intent. But I figured what was going on between us was just this alpha-omega connection I’d been told about. Just our bodies reacting to each other. Some chemicals in our brains.” I exhaled and dropped my hand, gazing into Eli’s eyes. “I was young, and I was stupid, and I wasn’t expecting to fall in love.”
“You…” Eli looked like he wasn’t sure whether or not to believe what he was hearing.
“You didn’t know that I loved you?”
Eli licked his lips. “You didn’t say.”
“No, because I was stupid. Thing is, I didn’trealize. Not until after. When I was already married and Danielle… just couldn’t measure up to you. Nobody could.”
“I…didn’t know you felt that way.”
“No.” I ran my hand into his hair, playing with a single strand. “You couldn’t have known.”
He shook his head ever so slightly. “I just wish I had.”
“I know. I wish I could go back and do things differently, but we don’t have that choice. All we have is right now, and all I’m wondering is if we could start over. What do you say? Are you willing to give us another chance?”
Eli opened his mouth and closed it again. His eyes searched my face, and I wasn’t sure what exactly he was looking for, but then he said just one word. “Yes.”
It was all I’d wanted to hear.
I pulled him toward me and crushed our lips together, claiming him as mine. He made a small, appreciative noise and heat rose underneath my skin. Nothing had ever felt so right.
I was completely lost in the moment. We both were.
