Page 38 of Knot My Secret Santa

“Avery,” I said her name slowly as if I might startle her and a dozen more boxes would suddenly appear. I had no intention of making her feel badly, but this was… crazy. “I appreciate your gifts, but this is too much. How about you take a break and we sit down and talk about it as we eat the cheesecake?”

“Mm, cheesecake.” Avery nabbed a fluffy gray afghan blanket from one of the boxes and yanked it free of its packaging. She rubbed it against her cheek and then did so against mine. “So soft. Let’s sit on the couch and eat, wrapped up together.”

I removed my coat and brought over the two containers of dessert. Avery produced two spoons from somewhere and kicked off her boots before sitting with her legs curled to the side. When I took a seat next to her, she draped the blanket over both of us.

“Isn’t this couch comfy? And it has a sleeper bed with extra storage in the arms. You can barely see the little compartments there.” She beamed at me, and I couldn’t help but be warmed by her happy mood.

Carefully removing the lids of the containers, I nodded. “It is very nice. When did you decide to do this?”

Avery took one of the pieces of cake and spooned up a big bite. “Oooh, so delicious!” She moaned as her eyes fluttered with her pleasure. “I ordered stuff earlier today while we were at the office.”

So was it before or after I knotted her earlier? “Had you planned on doing this before?”

She shrugged and replied with another mouthful of cheesecake. “I don’t know.”

How could she not know? This was an intelligent woman who planned everything. This was spontaneous, presumptuous, and strange.

“We can spend the night here and put the whole room together.” Avery nudged me. “You’re not eating your cake. You better get to it, because if I finish mine and you haven’t touched yours, I’m going to eat that one too.”

Spend the night in the office? “Avery, don’t you want to go back to my place or to yours? It would be far more comfortable. We’d have much more room.”

She giggled and gave me an incredulous look. “Your office is bigger than my tiny house. You have way more space in here than there. Your apartment might be bigger, but it’s…” She pursed her lips and then nodded at her own thoughts. “Your office is much more you. Your apartment is just where you sleep and dress. I love this office and all the stories behind it. It helps me feel connected to you.”

Did Avery have some drinks with her friends? I loved the idea of her wanting to feel connected to me, but no one was going to live in my office. If she wanted to decorate a space for the two of us, I could make that happen anywhere. If she didn’t like my apartment, I’d get a new one. I would even move into her tiny house. Though it baffled me how two people would be able to live in such a small space.

She took another bite. As she chewed, her jaw slowed and her eyes grew wide until she stopped altogether. She swallowed as if it was difficult to do so. “Oh God…”

“What? Are you okay?” I twisted on the couch to face her, suddenly terrified she was choking or something. I refused to let anything in this world hurt her. I moved the cheesecake aside and cupped the back of her head. “Avery?”

“The food, drink, soft things, your things, your office,” she lifted her gaze to meet mine. “You. I’m hoarding it all here. Everything in me is screaming I need it all right here.”

I couldn’t tell if she was about to laugh about it or start crying. I wrapped my arms around her. Whatever it was, I would protect her. I would make it better for her.

“Nathaniel,” she gripped me tight. “I’m nesting.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE – Avery

I had thought there was something wrong with me that I hadn’t been nesting. Now I was more concerned that I chose my boss’ office to nest in. No, it wasn’t a choice. I didn’t intend to pick that spot or any space. My Omega instincts said:This is a safe and cozy place that is full of what is best about your Alpha. This is where we need to be.

My embarrassment over my behavior did not outweigh my overwhelming need to be there. I would have slept at the office even if Nathaniel didn’t, but it made it more perfect that he did. The foldout bed wasn’t as big as his king sized one, but neither of us complained as we snuggled.

In the morning, we woke up, created some creaky springs in the bed, and showered. I hoped no one at the office would notice that I wore the same clothes as the day before. I made a mental note to myself to pack a bag of my clothes later today and bring them here. I would bring more blankets too, and….

What was I doing? I couldn’t move into Nathaniel’s office.

Was it possible an Omega could fight against their nesting instincts? I was going to have to do some research today. At St. Anne’s, we were taught that the easiest way to get through heat was to allow fulfillment of our urges. But I had never read anything about an Omega nesting in an office. Surely there had to be other cases where Omegas nested in strange spots.

“It might be a little strange. But look at Olivia. She nested in a closet.” Nathaniel attempted to soothe me as I rambled on about it while we ate breakfast, but there was nothing unusual to me about where Olivia made her nest.

I crunched on myCinnamonChex. “That closet was huge. I also know why she nested there. She wanted peace and quiet, and it smelled like Lloyd and there were all their memories.”

As I did with many of the projects I designed, I talked to the client about what they wanted and why. I got to know them. There were reasons why people wanted things designed in certain ways, and sometimes these reasons weren’t obvious. Of all the people in the world, I should know myself the best. So I chose to nest in Nathaniel’s office, because it was the best of him.

We could move all his stuff to his apartment. Immediately my instincts dismissed that idea. It wasn’t the same. It had to be here.

I repeated to myself for the thousandth time: it was only temporary. Maybe just for the weekend.

The fact I spent all this money on a temporary nest might make me cry later on when I had to pay my credit card bills, but I didn’t want to be anywhere else. Even when Nathaniel suggested I go home that morning to change and retrieve whatever else I might need, I couldn’t make myself leave.

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