Page 10 of Maple Sugar Mix-Up
“It’s fine, it’s fine,” Beth laughed. “Vicki has been in bed for an hour. I thought I’d call in case you need an out,” she teased.
I glanced at Jace, hoping he hadn’t heard. “Thanks, Beth. I’m good. I’ll be home later and I’ll tell you all about it,” I promised.
“Take you time,” she sing-songed. “Goodnight!”
I hung up with a chuckle.
“You’ll be home later?” asked Jace. “Isn’t this…?” He gestured around.
“Oh, sorry that would be confusing,” I said. “No, like I said, this was my grandmother’s place. Mom didn’t have the heart to sell it after Nana passed. We’ve just sort of been holding onto it. I come here to write sometimes. It inspires me.”
“I like that,” Jace said with a smile. “So… where do you live then?”
“Just outside of town. I heard the roads might be bad tonight, so I decided to start off here in case I needed to crash.”
“Good idea. Speaking of the roads, I should probably call that tow truck,” said Jace. I waited while arranged for a tow. Unfortunately, it seemed like the roads were already getting bad and it was going to be a couple of hours.
When he was off the phone we stood awkwardly in the living room for a moment.
“Have a seat?” I offered.
And then we were sitting on the couch… just as awkwardly. I adjusted how I was sitting and my hand brushed against the remote for the TV. Well, that was better than nothing, so I turned it on. To my delight, one of my favorite movies had just started.
“I love this movie,” said Jace.
“Hey, me too!”
We exchanged a smile and settled in to watch.
Chapter Four
Jace
I never should have offered to drive Ashton home.
My initial plan was to be aloof and unavailable for the whole date. Brief answers, no small talk, no politeness… Make the dinner as short as possible, maybe even a little awkward, so that the omega would cut his losses and run.
Of course, the moment I arrived and told Chelsea I was waiting on a date she insisted on making things a little fancier for me. I thought I could hold out, until I saw a shy-looking omega heading my way. Some alpha-thing in me kicked into high gear and Icouldn’tbring myself to be a dick to him. Just because I didn’t want to date didn’t mean I had the right to make his night bad.
Ashton was charming and smart and made it impossible to stick to the plan, even if I wanted to.
Then, I had to go and offer to give him a ride. I guess a part of me just didn’t want the night to end. I wasn’t sure how much authors made; I knew some of the big ones were making serious money, but I knew a few people who did it just for pocket money. In fact, I had briefly dated an omega who said he was an author, but earned even less than I did. Of course, he had also worked as a bartender to pay the bills. But that left me with no way to gauge Ashton’s income.
Not that it mattered, I was sure it had to be more than me.
So, why wouldn’t my car stall? Bad enough I couldn’t afford dinner – Chelsea had graciously put it on my running tab while letting me act like I was paying – but now I couldn’t even do something simple like drive an omega home.
Some alpha I was.
I wasn’t sure how I ended up sitting on a couch with Ashton. But suddenly I was waiting for a call from the tow company and sitting way too close to the omega who had wrapped me around his finger in just a couple of hours.
For all of my bravado about how I didn’t want to date until I was sorted out financially, Ididwant to be with someone. I wanted an omega. Not just to take care of, but as a partner. A friend. A lover. Someone to laugh about my broken-down car with. A guy I could watch cheesy movies with; sit side by side reading with. I tried – heaven knows I had tried more than once – but as much as friends insisted omegas didn’t care who brought home the bacon, I always managed to find the ones who did.
Ashton got up for a glass of water and offered me one. It turned out to be a bad idea, seeing as the coffee table was rather small. We both had to scoot closer to the middle of the couch to put our glasses down.
We both leaned forward at once and our knees brushed. Ashton muttered an apology and turned to smile at me, while giving me space to get my drink.
“It’s fine,” I said. “Here.”
