Page 20 of Knot My Secret Santa

“I want to take care of you.” His reply was fast and hard, no hesitation. The words were as intense as his gaze. Why was I melting inside again at the way he said that?

“Alright. Then we need to plan out what we’re going to do.” I needed to stay on track. No getting distracted by this gorgeous Alpha demanding I let him take care of me, and after what happened that afternoon, I knew he could most thoroughly take care of my every need. “We’ll both be at work. Since you helped me last Friday, I was fine for a day. And now that we…” We had sex. Incredibly hot sex. “I should be good for at least another day, right? If I feel any urges at work, we can take care of them, but hopefully they won’t happen during the day. In the evenings, it will be easier. I can text you whenever I need you. And this shouldn’t last longer than a week now. It’ll be done before Christmas, and then….”

And then what? What didIeven want out of this?

CHAPTER FOURTEEN – Nathaniel

Eventually I did convince Avery to stay. Or rather, she fell asleep after our dinner and talk and didn’t wake up when I carried her to bed with me. I desperately wanted to keep her in my apartment, wanted her safe and cozy. Yet there was no standing in the way of her when she stated nothing would slow down her life.

We had sex before the sun crested the horizon. I had never woken up with a smile on my face before today. Everything in the world felt right.

Avery went home to shower and change before work. I arrived before her and left her gift on her desk. Today it was a certificate from the local animal shelter stating her Secret Santa had made a donation in her honor. The more I learned about her, the more I realized she wasn’t a ‘stuff’ sort of person. She was a giver, and for some reason, that made me want to take care of her all the more.

I watched Avery opened her gift through the windows of the meeting room as I was on a morning conference call with one of my senior architects and a client. She gasped and smiled, even as a hint of tears glimmered in her eyes. That Omega was the most beautiful thing in the world.

“So, we have a problem.” Lloyd Franklin, my client upstate, sighed into the phone.

I jerked my attention back to the conversation. I exchanged a look with Malcolm across the table as we both leaned forward. “What is it, Lloyd? You were saying how the build is going off just as planned.”

“It’s my wife. She’s gone into heat again,” Lloyd said with a grumble. “Except she didn’t choose to nest in our room or any of the rooms. She’s in my walk-in closet and refuses to move anywhere else.”

I blinked a few times. “Your walk-in closet? That can’t be comfortable.”

“That’s what I said. But she dragged in a futon mattress and blankets and pillows. She chucked out all my shoes to fill those shelves with food. She didn’t do this with the last heat we went through,” Lloyd groaned.

“But you were in a different house then,” Malcolm pointed out.

“What do you need us to do, Lloyd?” I couldn’t imagine an Omega choosing to nest in a closet. If Avery ever did such a thing, I would be picking her up and moving her to another room. I clenched my jaw. Why was I even thinking such a thing?

“Since she refuses to move, I want you to send someone up to help her design something more functional. I mean, there’s only so much that can be done with the small space.” Lloyd grunted. “She expects me to sleep with her, and I don’t want to hole up in a closet.”

Malcolm grinned at me and tapped the table. “How about Noelle’s niece, Avery? She is a whiz working with tiny spaces.” He turned back to the phone. “You remember Noelle, right, Lloyd? She worked with you on your summer cottage by the lake.”

He was suggesting Avery? I gripped the arms of my chair until the pads of my fingers hurt.

“Oh yeah. Yeah, I remember her. Nice lady, lots of energy,” Lloyd replied. “She may have done a little bragging about that niece of hers. Can you send her up? It won’t take more than a few days.”

Malcolm looked at me. I was ready to tear off his head. He wanted to send Avery away from me? Fuck, no. That wasn’t going to happen.

But then something else dawned on me, and a slow smile spread across my face. “I think Avery Bell would be perfect for the task. Yet since she’s an intern, I’ll come and oversee it myself. That way I can check on the rest of the build.”

“You just want to try the new Christmas red ale we just released, Nate.” Lloyd chuckled.

If he wanted to believe that was the reason, I nodded. “Maybe. Or maybe I just want to see how big your beard is now and convince you we should build a room for it.”

Lloyd laughed again. “I’ll have some ale waiting for you. How fast can you get here?”

“I’ll start preparations now. I suspect we’ll leave later this afternoon and we can start tomorrow morning.” I wanted to get Avery away from the office, and this job fell right onto my lap. It seems I would get a Christmas gift this year.

“Thanks, Nate. You too, Malcolm. We’ll chat soon.”

We ended the call and I leaned back in my chair, playing over in my head where we would stay and what we would do in Bellingham. It would be about a two hour drive depending on the traffic. I could get Avery there in time for a seafood dinner tonight and get us a suite with a hot tub and a view. Nothing but the best for her.

“Shit.” Malcolm’s exclamation shattered my fantasies. “I forgot Avery is an Omega. She’ll need Noelle with her. Will you be able to spare her too? I know she’s working on the Feldman project, and the deadline is Friday.”

Dammit. Stupid rules concerning Omegas. “Hmm, I don’t know if I can send Noelle.” I drummed my fingers on the chair’s arm. Fuck. How was I going to get around this? My mind whirled around a thousand miles a minute. “Well, I met her parents downtown yesterday. Real nice folks. Maybe one of them could act as the escort. She also has a brother. Noelle has a big family, doesn’t she?”

“Real big.” Malcolm bobbed his head. “Eve and Gideon Bell, Avery’s folks, are great. I’ve met them several times at parties at Noelle’s. Eve’s a teacher. School’s out in some schools already, so she may be perfect for the job.”

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