Page 5 of Room 1212

It would take a few minutes to get all the residents moved over to the dining room and positioned around the tables. Noelle started with Kristoph who was closest to the door, pushing his wheelchair down the hall. Davis, Lavender, and a few others got around all right on their own with canes and walkers, so they followed them down the hall.

When I thought no one was looking, I cracked the book back open and peeked ahead. “Hey!” Betty scolded, throwing one of her stuffed animals at me. Her grandkids kept bringing them for her every time they visited, and her collection was getting a bit ridiculous. The little white tiger bounced off the side of my head. She had a pretty good arm. “No reading ahead without us!”

“Sorry.” I wasn’t sorry, and her cheeky smile said she knew it.

I gave these books a lot of flak about how cheesy they were, but I couldn’t seem to help getting drawn into the stories. This one was about a Highlander who always seemed to be walking around half-naked, in nothing but a kilt, which made it convenient for ravishing this English lord’s heir. They hadn’t been caught by the omega’s father yet, but I had a sneaking suspicion he was going to end up pregnant. That was how most of Jordan Kepler’s books went.

I slammed the book cover shut, catching sight of the author’s photo on the back. Damn. I totally got the appeal of these books now. The sex scenes were a lot hotter when you were picturing him as the star.

“Handsome, isn’t he?” Betty asked, catching where my eyes were focused.

“I mean, I guess if you’re into that flawless kind of perfection. But you know that’s not what he actually looks like, right? He’s been photoshopped so much that I bet you wouldn’t even recognize him in real life. Ha! I bet they even hire a model to pose as him for these pictures! He’s probably old and fat.”

“Hey! What’s wrong with old and fat?” Roger piped up, patting his round stomach.

“Absolutely nothing, Roger, but I would just prefer if they were honest about it, that’s all. But they’re selling the image along with the books. Would you guys buy the books if the author looked like Roger?”

“Hell no,” Betty said, cackling. Roger shrugged but didn’t disagree.

“No offense, Roger. You know I think you’re handsome,” I told him.

He just laughed and waved me off. “No hard feelings, and no need to lie. I’m an ugly bastard, but nobody around here minds because I’m hung like a horse.”

Everyone remaining in the room cracked up. This was what I loved most about working here. The residents had no shits left to give, and sometimes, the things that came out of their mouths were just downright hilarious.

Betty tossed another stuffie at me, this one a gray husky. “Hey, Drew, why don’t you go check out the author for yourself? He’s going to be at The Scarlet Hotel for a book signing on Wednesday.”

“Really?” I asked, a flare of excitement kindling inside me, and my eyes involuntarily shifted back to the author’s photo. “I mean… no, I couldn’t.” Although Wednesday was my day off, and I didn’t have anything planned. To avoid their scrutiny, I busied myself picking Betty’s stuffies off the floor and deposited them back in her lap.

“Yeah! You should go, and then you can take my copy ofWhispered Wordsto get signed,” Roger said.

“Ooh!” Betty piped up. “Yes! I have a few books I would love signed too.”

Noelle came back into the room to get Roger, and I joined them pushing Betty’s wheelchair. “Do you guys want me to take you to the signing? I could drive whoever wanted to go down in the bus if you want.”

“Oh, no, we can’t,” Betty said instantly.

“Wednesday is bingo night,” Roger reminded me. “But if you could take our books, that would be wonderful.”

“Yes, and you can report back to us about the author, if he’s anything like his picture.” She peeked over her shoulder at me. “I wonder if he’s single…”

I narrowed my eyes at her. “Don’t get any ideas, Betty. I don’t need your help getting a date.”

“Yes, I can see that by all the dates you’ve had…”

These seniors and their matchmaking. Many of them had grown up with the outdated mentality that every alpha needed an omega to cook and clean for them, and every omega needed a breadwinner to bring home the bacon. I was actually a wonderful cook under my own merit.

“Are you straight? Is that the problem? Nothing to be embarrassed about. I myself am straight. I’m sure we can find you a nice woman, if that’s the case.” Her gaze drifted over to Noelle, assessing.

Noelle caught the look and shook her head. “Oh, Betty, leave the poor man alone.”

Betty huffed. “Why should I? I just want to see him settled down before I leave this earth. What’s so wrong with finding a life partner? And I know these days that you kids don’t feel the need to have babies right away, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have a whole lot of fun practicing.”

Roger drawled out a long, “Mm-hm,” before adding, “That’s when you can get real kinky. You build a relationship where you can trust each other and explore.”

By this point, we had entered the dining room, and I was grateful to deposit Betty at her spot beside Lavender. “Here you are, Betty. Have a wonderful dinner, and I’ll see you when you’re done.” I put the brakes on so she wouldn’t roll away from the table—or chase after me, telling me about her grandson who was my age—then I headed for the kitchen where I would help out with distributing the food and cleaning up afterward.

“Wednesday!” she shouted at my retreating back. “You’re going to meet Jordan Kepler!”

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