Page 34 of Claiming Their Omega

Chapter 11

Hendrix

I have a bit of trouble sleeping that night, thoughts of Grace plaguing me. I wake up before my alarm and slap it off, and while I’m used to getting up early and usually wake up before my alarm anyway, this morning feels different.

Grace Whitmore is in my house. Our house.

Even in my bedroom, I can still get a faint whiff of her scent. Or maybe that’s just my imagination. Last night at dinner it had felt like it filled the entire room. Grace’s scent is both sweet and refreshing, not at all cloying or overpowering, but it sure as hell overpowered me. I felt like I was drowning in it.

And goddamn, honestly, I want to drown in it.

I force myself to get up and start my day like usual. We all have to be up and at ’em pretty early. Cade’s the earliest, going out to milk the cows at four in the morning, then he comes back in and sleeps another couple hours. We’ve volunteered to take turns on it but he likes his alone time, just him and the cows and the soft pre-dawn. Good for him, I say.

I get dressed and head downstairs. The moment I hit the landing, Grace’s scent wafts through my nose. I feel like I’m losing my sense of balance. I want to follow that scent until I can bury myself in it and never come out again.

I grip the banister and take a few deep breaths. Unfortunately that does fuck-all to get rid of the scent in my nose and only makes it worse.

Get a fucking grip, Hendrix, fuck’s sake.

Grace is going to be in the house for weeks. I have to get used to her scent and her presence. We don’t know how long this whole fake-courtship thing is going to take. Honestly I don’t even know how we’re going to get out of it.

From what I know, when an Omega is courted by an Alpha or pack of Alphas, either the courtship works out or the Omega goes back to the ORD facility to wait for the next presentation and try again. It could be that if there were other Alphas interested the first time who the Omega didn’t choose the ORD could contact them and let them know the Omega is available again, see if there’s an early start to a new courtship.

But I’m not sure how Grace is gonna get out of this one.

Still, she’s always been smart. It’s one of the things I like about her, even back when we were teenagers and I really shouldn’t have been crushing on my best friend’s little sister. Grace going to New York City to work in a shiny office wasn’t too crazy of a surprise when you thought about how smart she’d always been. Destined for bigger and better things than our small hometown.

The point is, I’ve got no idea how long she’s gonna be here. I need to stay in control.

I head into the kitchen to start the coffee maker, and that’s when I get hit with a wall of scent so strong I nearly bowl over.

Goddammit. Of course she’s up and in the kitchen already.

Grace is pressing various buttons on the coffeemaker while scowling at it like it insulted her mother. I grin, watching her. The admittedly fancy machine was my idea. Jesse wanted to know what the hell was wrong with boiling a kettle like our grandparents used to do, but I like a nice espresso every now and again, sue me.

Jesse said fine, as long as I was the one to operate it, so that’s my duty in the mornings.

I lean against the doorway and watch as Grace, oblivious to my presence, keeps trying to make the damn thing work.

She has no idea she hasn’t hit the power button. The thing’s off.

I walk up behind her and reach around her, caging her in a little as I get my hand to the back of the coffee maker and flip the ‘on’ switch.

Grace squeaks in surprise and jumps a little. I grin. “You know, I hear these things work better when they’re turned on.”

Grace glares up at me. “Lots of things do. I just—the button was in a weird place, that’s all.”

I nod sagely. “Lots of people have trouble finding the button that turns things on.”

She flushes, which is adorable, then lightly elbows me in the stomach, which is a little less adorable but still amusing. “Yeah, I’m sure you speak from experience there.”

“Hey now, I would like to inform you that many people can attest to my ability to find the button very fast and press it expertly.”

“Uh huh. But can you then press all the other buttons to actually make the coffee come out?”

I playfully bump her with my hip to move her out of the way. “I’ll show you how to make a proper cup.”

“Right. I’ll take a step back so it doesn’t blow up in my face.”

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