Page 17 of The Omega's Beary Merry Christmas

I went through the shops with her while Bert got his parts. He met up with us halfway through our quest, insisting on buying us hot cocoa from a street vendor. Natalie ordered one topped with cookie crumbs. I didn’t see how that could be good, but she drank it all down—at least the parts she wasn’t wearing as a hot chocolate mustache.

It was a lovely outing, but, once again, guilt started to creep in. I also found myself wanting to reach for Bert’s hand more than once, to hold it. To have him there as more than just the guy letting us stay in his house—but as something more.

Chapter Ten

Bert

I hadn’t attended the fair before, but seeing it for the first time through the eyes of Conrad and especially with Natalie made the whole thing worth it. Seeing her visit the shops and get her passport stamped was maybe the most fun I’d ever had. Several times during the day, Conrad’s and my hands brushed, and my bear’s thrill overwhelmed me.

I’d never smiled so much in one day.

After lunch, I saw Conrad and Natalie enthralled in some kind of craft for Santa, so I took the opportunity to walk over to Rudy’s house with my parts and toolbox. With only a few tries, I had the furnace going and I could feel the temperature rising as I finished up. I also fixed the hot water heater and stood back, nodding at my work.

Damn it. Maybe I shouldn’t have fixed it. Now, there was no excuse for Conrad to stay with me.

I would simply have to convince my mate to stay.

How I was going to do that? I didn’t know.

I put a call in to Rudy and told him that everything was fixed. He asked about Conrad, and I skirted the subject. The last thing I needed was Rudy telling me how to make a move on my mate.

Still, maybe I should’ve told him because I had no idea how to let Conrad know how much I needed him. How much I wanted this all not to be a vacation or a trip. How I wanted both of them to stay and be mine. That I would move mountains to have that happen.

Off the phone and pretty damned pleased with my handyman skills, I walked back toward my house, something in the air catching my attention.

Something more than my mate.

Inside, the smells of vanilla, sugar, cinnamon, and butter saturated the air. “What’s going on?” I asked, taking my boots off at the door. Before they could answer, I paused there, looking down at the line of shoes at my door. My boots. Conrad’s boots. Natalie’s boots.

I glanced up at the coatrack. My jacket, barely worn. Conrad’s puffy coat. Natalie’s purple puffy coat.

Their scarves. Their hats.

Something settled in my chest and my bear’s mind at the scene. It was something so trivial in the scheme of things. Coats and boots lined up together. But, to me and my bear, it was everything.

“Bert?” Conrad’s voice brought me back to the present. I reached out and touched his jacket, branding this moment into my memory in case it was all I got with my mate.

“Yes?” I strolled into the kitchen. Natalie was hard at work on something, so intent her tongue was out.

“You asked what was going on and then you…you disappeared on me. Is something wrong?”

I shook my head. “I’ll tell you in a minute. So, what is going on?”

“Cookies!” Natalie shouted with her fist in the air.

“Oh, did you make my favorite kind?” I asked, sidling up to Conrad who was sliding some hot ones off the cookie sheet and onto the rack. I’d bought those things a while ago. Never had used them.

My mate paled. “I hope so. What kind are your favorite. If not, I can…” He stammered for something to say.

“Conrad”—I chuckled—“any kind you make is my favorite.”

He let out a long exhale and smiled, beaming up at me. “You had me worried.”

“Why?” I asked. Natalie got down from the stool where she had been perched, decorating the cookies, and headed towardtheir room, saying something about sharing the cookie with her stuffed animals.

“Because you’ve been so kind to us. Natalie is smitten with you, and we kind of took over your life the last couple of days. The least I could do was make you cookies you like.”

“I would gobble up anything you made me.”

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