“Reynolds does everything Dad says. Dad wanted Reynolds to settle down with a nice society omega, he does. He thinks he’s making his own path in the company, but he doesn’t jump without asking our dad if that was high enough.”
“That sounds…pleasant.” I wrinkled my nose.
An older couple stopped in front of us, and the beta lady beamed at me. “Congratulations dear.” She reached out to touch me, but I flinched back into Colton.
“Ma’am, please don’t touch her. She doesn’t like strange smells.” Colton neatly slid his body in between me and the older lady.
“Of course, of course.” She shook her head. “Where are my manners? Just lovely to see a pregnant omega glowing.”
“Thanks,” I said faintly.
I waited until they were out of earshot to ask, “How did she know?”
Colton shrugged. “Youareglowing. You’re not really showing, but your scent is different.”
We walked further down the pier and stopped at an ice cream stand. I got an ice cream cone with strawberry, and Colton got chocolate chip cookie dough.
“So your dad really didn’t like it when you courted Quinn.” Colton and Quinn had told me as much before, but hearing about how his older brother was the perfect alpha son made it worse.
“He thought I’d never get an omega if I bonded a beta first.” Colton shook his head. “I said he could keep his lousy company if that’s how it was.” Colton chuckled and licked a bit of ice cream off his spoon.
Desire flushed over me at the dart of his tongue. He’d put his tongue inside me when we were in Vegas and once hadn’t been enough, not nearly enough.
“I walked out and quit. He thought I was bluffing. Two months later, he called me, apologized.” Colton took another bite. “Begged me to come back, and I told him only if we had Quinn over for family dinner.”
I laughed. “And he agreed?”
“Of course he did. I might not be the obedient son, but I get results. They lost a quarter of a million dollars just in the two months I had left.”
I sucked in a breath and choked on a strawberry. “Oh my gosh.”
I swallowed hard, and Colton gave me an amused look. “You’re alright?”
“Yeah.” I coughed again. “That’s a lot of money.”
“Exactly. Dad thought I wouldn’t walk away from the company, but I don’t care about that if I have Quinn.”
Three more people stopped to look at me, but Colton growled and kept us moving.
“So what about now?” I glanced at him. “I know I should consider moving to Texas but…”
Colton was already shaking his head. “Nah, don’t worry about that, sweetheart.”
My heart flipped at the soft drawl in his voice.
“Quinn and I’ll buy a house here. We can also add on to the cottage if you’d like.” He shrugged. “It’s up to you.”
“I have some money saved,” I started. “But I wanted to give birth and stuff before spending it on something major like renovations.”
“Darlin’,” Colton put his hand on my forearm. “I’m loaded, okay? You don’t have to worry about money. You say you want renovations on the cottage plus another house so we could all have our own space, you just let me know.”
I swallowed hard, getting a flash of Dante’s snarl accusing me of using him for money. “You don’t have to do that.”
“I’m gonna.” Colton laughed. “I’ll work remote most of the time. Most of what I do is on accounts and sales. I already travel for the job, so I’ll just travel when I have to, and when I don’t…” He shrugged again, his chambray blue shirt pulling against his shoulders. His shoulders were broad and thick, and looked like he spent his time wrestling cattle, not data.
“You don’t have to live with us, darlin’.” He looked over at me, his blue eyes wide. “I don’t want you to feel pressured. Quinn wants me to bond you now, and I want that too,” he held up his hands. “Don’t get me wrong. But I want you to feel treasured. I know you think it’s just because of the peanut.”
He nodded at my stomach, and I grinned, my heart so full all at once. He made it sound so simple, so easy.