Page 27 of Omega's Runaway Love
“What about it?” Cadence retorted. “I think it meshes perfectly with my plans for the company over the next few years.”
“Yourplans for the company?”
Cadence nodded. “Yes, mine. Now is the perfect time if you think about it. The world, and brands, are becoming more globalized every day. We’re still a US-only company, and not even all of the US. The potential for growth is there, and I’ve decided to focus on finding new markets while you’re still many years from retirement. It will require a lot of travel, and my mate is more than welcome to accompany me and showcase a new city while we’re there.”
“Do you honestly believe that we’ve neglected expansion?” his father growled.
“I know it,” Cadence responded, voice dropping. “I’ve seen the reports, remember? For several years you’ve focused on maintaining market share in existing cities. It’s a sound strategy in a sluggish economy, but the economy isn’t sluggish right now. It’s time to make a foothold in new areas.”
His father looked ready to argue again, but his papa leaned in, said something and calmed him down.
“Do you really intend to travel while pregnant?” my papa asked.
I smiled. “For as long as possible. I’ll slow down some. But there’s plenty of time before it would become an issue. Besides, it’s a great opportunity to showcase places that are ideal for couples and pregnant people. Massages, relaxation, pampering, and all the good stuff that expectant parents will be interested in. It’s an avenue I hadn’t had cause to explore before.”
Both sets of parents sighed, and Cadence chuckled behind me.
“I take it that this effectively ends the threat of cutting us off?” he warned. “In the end, you got what you wanted, even if it wasn’t how you wanted it to happen.”
My parents relented first. “Fine,” papa said. “But we do expect that Zaya will rely on his sponsorships more if he plans to continue using the family jet. We will come up with an acceptable amount of gifted time, and will negotiate fair payment beyond that.”
I nodded.
“I also have a plan regarding plane use,” Cadence stated before his parents could speak. “Since we anticipated that this could be a sticky subject with Zaya accompanying me on location scouting, we’ve decided that we’ll use a research and requisition system to ensure that the company approves travel before we book it. This will include standard data such as population and traffic density studies, as well as competitor comparisons. Actual travel will be to better understand the area to see what the culture is there and if it could actually support one of our restaurants. I’ll be contacting various departments over the coming weeks to work out who would want to see what data before signing off on a visit.”
His dad stared for a minute, then nodded. “You will get my signoff on your report structure as well.”
“Of course,” Cadence replied.
Our parents seemed to settle into a state of mild annoyance.
“There is one more thing,” Cadence said.
“What is it?” his papa asked.
“Zaya and I have decided to live here, in this house, or we’ll find another house along this stretch of beach if we’re not allowed to remain here.”
My parents looked on the verge of arguing, but his spoke first.
“You can stay,” his papa said. “We need more expansion on the west coast, so this will be a good base while you test whether your plans are viable.”
My papa sighed, but didn’t refuse.
Cadence kissed the back of my neck. “Is there anything you wanted to add, omega-mine?”
I shook my head. “I think you covered everything.”
He nodded, then turned back to our parents. “We’ll let you know about plans for a wedding soon. We’re still deciding when and where we want to have it.”
There were some soft grumbles, but I was happy that my alpha had effectively made it clear that we weren’t going to let them steamroll us. I knew they’d be grumpy for a while, but once they realized that everything did end up as they’d wanted, and when grandchildren came along, they’d see reason.
*
I laughed as a pregnant omega who lived several doors down, Beau, struggled to get into the correct pose. Granted, he’d admitted that the pregnancy yoga he did with me the day before was the first yoga he’d ever done.
I stood, walked over, and helped him into position. Then I returned to my own mat.
“Itakeit last night was goodfor you?” I teased. “I wasn’t sure you would be back.”
