Page 48 of Tinsel Time Treasure
“You ok?” I asked, noting the way his hands shook.
He let out a sarcastic laugh. “I… kinda got used to it not being so bad when I was pretending to be in the hotel.”
“What do you mean?”
There was a moment of silence as I drove, then he let out a shuddering breath. “There were flowers for me at work today.”
I sucked a breath through my teeth.
“The card said ‘Welcome back’,” he continued. “Unsigned, of course. Plausible deniability and all that. But…”
I reached across the center console and took his hand.
Justin let out a soft sigh. “I didn’t want to push my luck after that and leave too soon.”
“What did your boss have to say about the flowers?”
“He was apoplectic,” Justin replied. “He’d actually wanted to toss the flowers before I could see them, but I’d insisted that I know about everything so that I could document it.”
I squeezed his hand. “I see both your points.”
“They did go into the garbage as soon as I took a couple photos though. I made a show of walking them outside and dumping them.” He chuckled. “The sound of the vase shattering was quite satisfying.”
I smiled. “How hard did you throw it?”
“I wanted to go a bit harder, but didn’t want to risk pulling a muscle in the middle of a workday.”
“Good thinking.” Then I paused. “Did you have dinner?”
Justin sighed. “No, my stomach has been in knots all night.”
“Think you could eat something now?”
“As long as it’s small.”
“Ok.” I looked for an open drive-thru and pulled in.
A few minutes later the smell of hot food wafted through the car, mingling with Justin’s soft scent.
I wanted this to be my life, him and I—just without the threat of another alpha hanging over his head.
Chapter 19 - Justin
Itook a deep breath as I enjoyed the final few minutes before I had to get out of bed.
Max’s scent filled his apartment, and the longer I stayed with him, the more I found I needed it. It was warm and masculine, but it wasn’t sharp like that of so many other alphas.
I sighed as another smell started to overtake Max’s: coffee.
We had to get up at an absurd hour to ensure that I got to Kaleb’s apartment before the asshole was likely to be there, and coffee helped both Max and I function through it. Still, as I padded out to the kitchen, it took all my willpower to keep from burying my nose in Max’s neck.
The scent of coffee was nice, but his was damn near addicting.
“G’morning,” he mumbled, sliding over a coffee mug.
“Hmm…” I replied, accepting my dose of wake-up juice to start adding cream and sugar.
“Want me to come get you for lunch today?”
