Page 53 of Holly Jolly Heat
There were some speculating about our relationship, yes. But most people were just celebrating Michelle being amazing.
"We should tell her," I said. "Show her this. Prove it's not the disaster she's imagining."
"In the morning," Dex advised. "Let her sleep. She's probably exhausted from breaking her own rules."
He was probably right, but I wanted to run back upstairs and show her immediately. Wanted to prove that being herself, protective and fierce and caring, wasn't ruining her reputation. It was enhancing it.
"Tomorrow," Ro agreed. "We'll show her the metrics, the positive response, the fact that her protecting you made her look more professional, not less."
I nodded, but my mind was already spinning.
Tonight had changed things. Michelle had shown her hand, not completely, but enough. She'd revealed that I mattered to her beyond just business.
And the world hadn't ended. Her reputation hadn't crumbled. Instead, people had seen what I saw: an incredible woman who fought for the people she cared about.
Maybe, just maybe, this could work.
Maybe professional and personal didn't have to be separate.
Maybe Michelle was already showing us the path forward, even if she didn't realize it yet.
I finished my cookie and headed to my blue guest room, but I lay awake for a long time, replaying the night.
Michelle storming into frame. Her hand on my shoulder. Her fierce defense. The way she'd stayed beside me for thirty minuteslike it was natural. The way she'd looked at me afterward—scared but trying.
She was falling. Maybe not as fast as I'd fallen for her, but she was falling.
And tomorrow, I'd show her that falling didn't mean crashing.
It meant flying.
SEVEN
Dex
I'd been awake since an ungodly hour, running perimeter checks on the property like I'd done every morning since we'd arrived.
Old habits died hard. Even though Cedar Falls was objectively safe. Low crime rate, friendly neighbors, the kind of small town where everyone knew everyone. But my training didn't care about statistics. It cared about preparation. About being ready for anything.
About protecting what mattered.
And right now, what mattered most was sleeping in a bedroom upstairs, probably already awake and working despite the early hour.
Michelle.
Our omega.
Who still didn't fully believe she was ours, but who'd jumped on camera last night to protect Lucas when trolls attacked. Who'd broken her own carefully maintained professional boundaries because her pack instinct had overridden her fear.
Progress. That was definitely progress.
I finished checking the barn, structurally sound, good security, no concerns—and headed back toward the house. The sun was just starting to paint the sky, and I could see lights on in the kitchen.
Someone else was awake.
I found Bill at the stove, making coffee and what looked like his breakfast burrito prep.
"Morning, Dex," he said without turning around. "Coffee's fresh. Mugs in the cabinet above the machine."
