Page 18 of Jaded Alpha

“Do you?” I asked. He didn’t really seem like the country type. I was being judgmental, of course. Probably why he wasn’t divulging who he was. People like me.

Great.

“I do. I actually have a great cabin in the mountains, near a lake. It’s where I spend all my time when I’m not working.”

Working. When he wasn’t on stage, being the focus of who knew how many omegas’ fantasies.

Of course, what he did was work. It had to be taxing, being on stage, always on the go, recording songs. I wished he would talk to me about it so I could understand him better.

I nudged him with my elbow. “You don’t seem the type to start a fire and catch dinner in the local river. Just saying.”

“That’s not nice, sweet omega. Everyone has different facets of themselves.”

I chuckled. “Not me. I’m straightforward. I’m a barista. I live with my brother. I work. I go home. I take Sylvia her treats. End of story. No multifaceted omegas here.”

Eddie made a humming sound. “That’s a great way to live. And who is Sylvia?”

We jumped across the stream, and I spotted the two apple trees a few minutes later. Of all the things I told him, Sylvia was the one thing he honed in on. “Sylvia is our elderly neighbor who loves an afternoon latte. I made some special ones for her. Her children don’t visit her, and her husband passed a long time ago. Were you jealous?” I teased.

“No. Yes. A twinge.”

We picked a few apples and hiked to the waterfall. The splashing clear water and beautiful rocks made me want to jump right in, especially after hiking in the warmth of the day.

But I had no swimsuit and no damned clue how to skinny-dip in front of a rock star. He’d seen me naked, but that was in bed. In bright sunshine? Seemed more difficult.

Gods, I was a mess.

“The water is cool, Jamie.” Eddie took off his shoes and dipped his toe in.

“I bet it is.”

I removed my shoes and sat on the edge of the pool. My wolf clawed inside me, wanting to be near my alpha, but there was one big thing in the way. He was a star, and I was only a cloud in the sky.

“Should we eat?” I said, trying to change the subject and get my mind off of my fantasy of Eddie’s body in this cool water. My legs wrapped around his waist as he plunged his…

It was no use. My mate was too damned sexy for his own good.

“Oh, sure.”

The disappointment on his face killed me.

But at the same time, my disappointment in him grew.

I was his mate. The last person he should be hiding from was me.

Chapter Seventeen

Van

Our trip to the waterfall was a bust. Well, not completely, but something had changed since we woke up this morning. Despite the fact that he was my mate, he did not know about my other life, and I had no idea how to go about telling him. It would have been much easier if I’d been open at the start, but when I showed up exhausted and cranky, I couldn’t see past my mood. How long had that been my modus operandi?

Years.

We sat beside that waterfall for a couple of hours, and the warm sun on my shoulders encouraged me to undress and go in. Maybe even shift for a bit, but there was something off about Jamie’s reaction.

Did he regret what had happened between us? Was he sorry about the night we spent together in bed? And the shower this morning… He looked at me so funny over breakfast.

The picnic was delicious as I’d learned to expect from Franklin. Simple, fresh, yummy ingredients that anyone would enjoy. “How can ham and cheese be this good?” I spread my napkin over my lap, feet still in the water, and laid out my lunch.

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