Page 29 of The Pack Next Door
Thankfully, he and Jace were cleaning up the kitchen.
“Tomorrow.” I pointed at both of them. “We get up at sunrise. Be ready to take Maggie to the plant nursery.”
“And Briar,” Jace said, leaning against the kitchen counter.
Stuck in a car with my mate, breathing in her scent? That was a car crash waiting to happen, and yet I would make it happen. The wolf stiffened inside me, making clear I would have no choice. Whatever it took to get Briar to accept us as her mates, we needed to do it.
“And Briar, if she wishes.”
“Still left us with the dishes…” Maddox muttered as I went upstairs, but I didn’t rise to the bait. Instead, I went and showered, scrubbing off the day’s grime, only to find my knot partially inflated. What had happened wasn’t enough for me. What it needed, what I needed, occupied my mind and my dreams until I woke the next morning.
“Oh, look who’s here!”I was fairly sure Maggie knew exactly what we were to her daughter. That sly smile indicated as much, but she turned to Briar and then gestured to us. “The cavalry has arrived.”
My mate had to look up at me then, and even as she squinted against the sun, I saw her pupils expand.
“Well, if the guys are here, perhaps they can take you to the nursery,” Briar replied. “I don’t know a salvia from a snapdragon. If you have a ride, I could stay here and get some work?—”
My brothers sucked in a breath simultaneously, but I spoke first.
“One is an herbaceous plant that often comes with blue flowers,” I said. “They grow on long spikes.” Her eyes narrowed slightly. “Snapdragons are similar, but they have larger florets and come in a wide variety of colours.”
“Really.”
Briar’s hands went to her hips.
“Sometimes they’re even variegated.”
Her lips pursed, and the need to kiss them until they softened was damn near unbearable, but I remained in control of myself.
“Mum, I have a lot of work?—”
“Not while you’re on holiday, surely?” Maggie said, linking arms with her daughter and dragging her towards our car. “Don’t you have staff to look after things?”
“Staff that have questions that need answering,” Briar muttered. “Decisions I need to make.”
“You’ll have time to attend to them.” I leaned into the doorway, gratified when I had my mate’s attention. “Once the plants are selected, my brothers and I will take care of the garden.”
And you, I wanted to add. Swallowing that back down took more effort than I anticipated.
“Sure. Fine.” Briar shot me a fake smile. “Let’s get this show on the road, then.”
Chapter 15
Briar
I did not want to go to the nursery. I didn’t even want to be in Moon River right now. What I wanted to do was to ring Candy and see if she and Riley had made some progress on developing a heat suppressant, because I was in hell. Mum was supposed to sit in the back of the alphas’ very nice SUV, but Gideon had to intervene.
“We’re not sure where the nursery is, Maggie.” Why did he have to shoot her that perfect smile? All white teeth against tanned skin. “Did you want to ride up front and give us directions?”
Use the GPS, I wanted to shout. Hell, even use an app on his phone to work out where we were going. Instead, she just smiled as he opened the front passenger side door with a flourish, climbing in and leaving me to do the same. I scrambled into the back seat, hoping to get one by the window, but the far door opened and Jace got in on the other side, leaving me boxed in the middle. I looked back over my shoulder to see Mads standing in the other doorway, a smirk on his face. Apparently,I was going to ride all the way over to the nursery jammed between two alphas.
Fuck my life.
I focussed on the small things: pulling my seatbelt over me and clicking it into place, settling against the leather interior of the car, then planting my feet on the floor. Even the fine tremor in my thighs as I fought to keep them clamped together. Anything but the feeling of both men as they sat down beside me.
Shrinking back wouldn’t work. They were too damn big. My whole body stiffened as I felt Mads’ leg press against mine, then I jumped when Jace did the same.
“Everything OK, omega?”
