Page 24 of Knot My Secret Santa

“Really? How fascinating. I’ve never met an Omega who came from a Beta family.” Olivia leaned back against the cushions. “My mother was very much an Omega and that was how she raised me and my sisters. I was the youngest, a little bit of a wild child, and it wasn’t until I was twenty-five that I met Lloyd. My family was terrified of this big American Viking who talked about beer all the time, but our connection was immediate, and I couldn’t be happier. In fact,” she hopped up and retrieved a box from one of the shelves. “Lloyd has a keepsake box from our first months together that he keeps in here. Pictures, ticket stubs from concerts, a matchbook from the first bar he took me to, a pair of my panties!”

We giggled, and I listened to her stories and saw that dreamy look in her eyes. I had guessed one of the reasons she was nesting in the closet was for some peace and quiet. I planned on adding sound proofing and calming paintings. But now I saw this was a place where precious memories were stored. She missed those days when she and Lloyd first got together. I was going to have to help bring back those feelings of first love and romance with what we did in the space.

Yet even as we discussed what she needed for her nest, the fact I hadn’t started nesting nibbled away at the back of my mind. I didn’t question that I was in heat, but no space had felt right to me. Not at Nathaniel’s apartment nor my own tiny home. I hadn’t even felt the urge to hunker down in any place.

What did that say about me?

CHAPTER SIXTEEN – Nathaniel

I had forgotten how gregarious Lloyd was, and it seemed his son was going to be exactly like him. As we visited one of his breweries, Lloyd talked to everyone. Not just talked, he knew their names, about their families, and all the events in their lives. Everyone was enchanted by Henry who showed a big group of us how he could roll a barrel. It was an empty barrel going on a very slight down slope, but that boy was going to grow up to be a big man like his dad.

We had lunch out and walked down by the harbor. Lloyd had to take Henry to his office as the boy fell asleep after chasing seabirds, and I did a little shopping downtown. With my mind always coming back to Avery, I couldn’t resist buying her a little something. Then something else. Until both my hands were holding bags when Lloyd picked me up later in his SUV.

I put my purchases in the back and sat in the passenger seat, buckling my belt. Henry was in the back singing to a stuffed walrus, but Lloyd smirked at me and continued to smirk at me as he started to drive.

“What?” I narrowed my eyes.

“You, my friend, have a lady in your life,” he chuckled, sounding way too pleased about that possibility.

“I don’t,” I huffed and refused to look his way.

Lloyd snorted a laugh. “Come on now, Nate. I have a wife who I think is very sexy. I buy her stuff fromthatstore all the time, and I know you went tothatstore because I see you tried to hide the pink bag between your other ones. Unless you’re shopping for yourself, and then it’s none of my business.”

Fuck. I’d hoped I’d hidden it well enough. Well, it wasn’t like he needed to know who it was. “Maybe there’s a lady in my life, but it’s nothing really to talk about.” How much would Lloyd gossip to my architects? Would they whisper about my private life if they suspected I had a girlfriend? I worked my jaw from side to side. I never had to worry about that before.

“Yeah, whatever you say, brother.” He let out another loud laugh. “No man buys a woman lingerie if he isn’t serious about her. That stuff is way too expensive to give a woman who might be seen in it by other men later.”

I shot him a look. Avery would never… No, Avery wasn’t my girlfriend or any such thing. But dammit, now I was thinking about another man looking at her with the pretty panties on and I was ready to rip off the imaginary bastard’s head.

“Look at you.” Lloyd continued to grin, ever so smug. “You’re ready to head into battle for her. When is the wedding? You’ll have it here at the harbor, and you’ll let me run the bar for you. Only the best ale for the great Nate Donner. My gift to you.”

“Stop planning my wedding,” I grumbled at him. “There’s nothing happening of the sort.” Lies. It even grated on me to say those words out loud. After last night with Avery, I realized I was falling fast and hard, and it was going to crush me to have to let her go once her heat was done. “It’s just a lovely woman with whom I’ll be spending some time this holiday.”

“Blah, blah, blah.” Lloyd rolled his eyes at me. From the behind us, Henry started to sing blah, blah, blah to his stuffed toy. “Why are you here in Bellingham when you have a lady waiting elsewhere for you? You haven’t done any work. Your team is more than capable, and we both know it. Even that new intern, Avery, right?” I nodded. “Liv is greatly taken with her. I talked to my wife while Hen was napping, and she adores Avery. They’ve been having a great day while you and I…” He trailed off and slowly turned his head to me, his eyes wide with his sudden realization. “You went tothatstore forher.”

Shit. “No. Absolutely not. She’s my employee.”

Lloyd totally ignored my denial. “Damn, man. You’re in a pickle now. Young lovely Omega under your employ. What does she say about that? She sounds like she has a solid head on her shoulders, but being an Omega, and since you two are compatible—”

This could not go on. I had to stop any possible rumors. “Lloyd, it’s not Avery. She’s here on her first job, and I was the only one available to come to offer support if she needed it. I’m glad to hear she doesn’t, but she’s still an intern. She has a cousin who lives in town who is her chaperone, so she isn’t alone with me. They have a room together and I have mine. I wouldn’t ruin my business like that.”

“Will that escort be joining us at dinner this evening?” Lloyd turned up the street leading to his house. “Just need to know to add one to the reservation at the restaurant.”

“No, I don’t believe so. Avery’s cousin, Stella, is a bartender. You and Olivia will be there as chaperones.” Though, now I thought maybe Avery should text Stella and have her go to dinner with us so there would be other witnesses to us having an official escort.

Lloyd didn’t say anything else as we drove to his house and parked in the drive. I’d hoped he dropped the whole idea, but when he stepped out, he gave me a weighty look before grunting and getting Henry out of his car seat.

I sent Avery a quick text asking if Stella was able to join us for dinner. Lloyd would have no trouble adding another chair to the table wherever he was taking us. We went inside and could hear the women laughing upstairs.

“Liv! We’re back,” Lloyd yelled and helped his son remove his coat and boots.

Olivia and Avery appeared at the top of the stairs. Their cheeks were pink and their smiles wide, but Avery’s, God help me, hers was stunning.

“My darlings!” Olivia hurried down the stairs. She scooped up Henry and covered his face in kisses before giving a more deep one to Lloyd. “Come and see what we did today. You won’t recognize your closet anymore. Avery is pure magic.” She glanced at me. “Nate, you give her a raise and never let her go.”

I swallowed hard. I knew she meant in terms of business, but my mind was elsewhere.

Removing my shoes, I followed everyone up. Henry chattered on about the birds as both of the women encouraged him to tell them all about his day. We came to the master bedroom and Olivia handed Henry off to Avery as she took Lloyd’s hand.

---