Page 68 of Packed Up In Vegas

“If I have my way, that’s the only way you’ll feel until we all die.”

I turned my head, drawing him down for a kiss as the first stars winked awake in the sky. I didn’t know what to do with a future like that stretched out in front of me, but if the days ahead were anything like today, I was going to be the happiest omega to ever live.

Amir had brought Callie home late, so I let her sleep as long as she needed, waking early and getting as much work done as I could in the meantime. When Callie finally made her way downstairs, looking sleepy, beautiful, and content, she floated straight across the kitchen to where I was sitting at the table and draped herself against my back.

“Good morning.”

“Good morning, sweetheart. Did you have fun last night?” I took one of her hands hanging in front of me and brought the back of it to my lips.

“Mhmm.” She nodded and slid into the chair next to me. “We’re going out today?”

“If you still want to, yes.”

“Yes, please. I’m feeling so fancy with four men to take me out on the town.”

“Would you rather eat breakfast here or go out? There’s no wrong answer.”

“Could I have a tiny breakfast here and we get something out when I’ve worked up an appetite?”

“I’m fine with that. I’ll be here when you’re ready to go. No rush.”

Diego was the first of the pack to join us, immediately moving to put together some toast and fruit for Callie while she sipped her orange juice.

Once Callie was fed and dressed, I popped her in the car. “I know if you’re staying with us you’ll have plenty of time to explore everything the city has to offer, but it sounded like you saw so little on your vacation, and I can’t let that stand. Take your pick between the gondolas, zip line, or Ferris wheel.”

“I’ve wanted to go on the gondolas forever. I know they’re super cheesy, but they’re so cute.” She looked so sheepish as she said it, and I wanted to immediately grant her wish.

“Gondolas it is.”

The trip into the depths of the city was pretty short, even with traffic. I parked as near as we could get to the Venetian, but Callie still wilted going from the car to the hotel, instantly perking back up when she stepped into the air-conditioning.

“You’d think for how long you’ve lived in LA, you’d be a little better with the heat.”

Callie pouted. “I can’t help it that I still have the blood of a Seattle girl.”

“I’m only teasing, sweetheart.” She let me take her hand while we walked, making our way into the Venetian.

“I asked Jerry if we could go on them, but he said they were a waste of money.”

Just hearing that made me wish her ex were still around simply so I could wallop him with the gondolier’s pole and then drive the boat over him. “Nothing that makes you smile is a waste of money.”

I was indeed rewarded with her beautiful smile when we got onto the gondolas. She leaned into me the whole ride, grinning as we were serenaded in Italian in a little boat beneath a fake sky. I didn’t do a lot of tourist things in the city, but with Callie I loved every second of it.

“I was on the real gondolas on a high school trip,” she told me, “and I have to admit, the inability to get sunburnt on these boats here is a huge perk.”

“You and I can be sunburn twins if we ever go to Italy.”

“I’m sure one of the others will bully us into wearing sunscreen to avoid that fate.” She snuggled into my side, a soft rumbling from her buzzing against the arm I had looped around her.

“You’re purring,” I pointed out.

She snuggled closer as the boat spun around at the halfway point to head back, our gondolier singing his heart out. “I’m happy.”

Those two words got my purr going as well.

The tension leaked out of my body bit by bit. She was so sweet and pleased next to me that when she drooped as we arrived back, I immediately paid for another round just to bring her smile back.

“You’re way too cute,” she commented.

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