Page 85 of The Alpha's Second Chance Mate

“Just wanted to let you know that I’m headed to Atlanta for a night or two with Cole.”

“Oh, nice. What for?”

I explained about Trent and Cole having to sell one of their businesses to get funding for the pack finances and pay off the loan shark.

“Good,” Stormy said with a sigh. “I hate that he has to do this. Do you think he’d mind if I checked into their stuff for them? It’s kinda my thing.”

Stormy had worked as a forensic accountant for an accounting firm before Marcus died. She’d been pretty good at it, too. When I mentioned it to Cole, he grinned.

“By all means,” he said. “I’m getting sick of looking at numbers. Have at it. I’ll text Farrah and have her give Stormy the passwords and paperwork.”

“Did you hear that?” I asked Stormy.

“Sure did. Actually, it’s kind of exciting. I haven’t done any work in months. I’m starting to get the itch again. You two enjoy yourselves.”

As I ended the call, Cole pulled into a gas station outside town.

“You need to fill up?” I asked.

He huffed. “What’s a road trip without gas station snacks, woman?”

I giggled. “True.”

We loaded up with candy bars, bags of chips, an energy drink for Cole, and a massive slushie for me.

“So,” Cole said as we got back on the road, “wanna talk about everything?”

I swallowed my mouth full of chocolate and glanced at him. “It’s like you read my mind.”

“I want to get everything out on the table. Make sure we’re both on the same page and know where this is going. I don’t want any secret worries nagging away at either of us.”

“You really have grown up,” I said, glancing at him appreciatively.

He nodded. “Went to obedience school. It did wonders.”

“Very funny.”

We shouldn’t have any secrets right now. They were a path to heartache. But after what Gaige told me, I felt a very deep neednotto mention what I’d heard. That probably meant I should say something.

“So, uh, my ex is engaged,” I said, blurting the words out before I could think.

Cole was silent for a moment, then nodded. “That sucks, I guess. Um.” Cole licked his lips. “You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to, but… do you still love him?”

“I don’t think so. A lot has happened. What Perry did was pretty shitty. Besides, it wasn’t really possible for me to give my heart to someone.”

Cole ducked his head. “Ouch. True, but ouch.”

“I was with Perry for a while, but looking back, it really was for the best that we ended things.”

“What I want,” Cole said, “is to make you and Ashton happy. I know I stayed with you the other night, and it was the best night of my life, but I don’t want you to think that I’m jumping right in. I didn’t take that as an invitation, and I still won’t. Not until you’re ready.”

“I appreciate that,” I said. “Honestly, it’s way too soon for us to think about moving in together or anything that serious. I don’t want you to think I won’t be open to it at some point, but right now everything is still sort of raw and new. Does that make sense?”

“Totally. I get that. It’s been a long time, and we’re not the same people we used to be. We need to get comfortable first.”

“That’s what I want, too.” It was immensely relieving that we were of the same mind. “We can do that without living together.”

He nodded, took a gulp of his energy drink, then glanced at me with a boyish hesitance. That look rarely came out. After all, Cole was the big, bad alpha, powerful and always assured of himself. Every time I saw that vulnerable look, it was a bit jarring.

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