Chapter Twelve

Zhang

The carnival was super fun and a great distraction. On some level, I thought we should be talking about serious things, but on another, this weekend was a step out of time. Making my demand to be marked even worse.

Everyone knew an alpha who was knotted was not responsible for anything he did, and it was totally unfair to do what I did. The most amazing part was that he hadn't acted resentful or angry as he had every right to do. Nor had it come up in conversation, so I should probably just be grateful he was being so nice about it. Fortunately, only alphas usually did the marking, and I hadn't been so bold as to ask to mark him back. So, only one of us bore the evidence of our night together.

And today, Franklin had loaned us his car for our excursion, and on the way back, we talked about ordinary things like the weather and his work. Shane was extremely successful, and as he drove, I googled him in my phone. Not only was he the winner of so many competitions I couldn't count them, he owned not one but a chain of gyms and had quite a large staff.

"They do a great job, you know?" He steered along the highway with a casual ease I envied. High-speed traffic was not my favorite thing. "But it's all dependent on my name and my achievements, so if I stop winning or goddess forbid have a career-ending injury, I can't predict what will happen to everything." He changed lanes to let somebody in a rush pass us. I admired that. Many alphas considered a bumper hugger a challenge.

"Surely if it's up and running, it will continue even when you choose to step back from competition?" Image after image of Shane wearing medals and big shiny belts and other winning symbols clicked through my search. "And as a shifter, you won't have the problems humans do of sagging the second they stop exercising so much."

"No. But my latest win is always a big part of our advertising campaigns." He waved a hand in the air. "Anyway, you don't want to hear all this. Tell me about your job."

I snorted. "I work for an insurance company. And until recently, it was an okay job."

"Okay how?" he asked.

"Okay pay. Okay responsibility level. Okay coworkers. All the ordinary stuff."

"And I take it since you said until recently that something changed?" Still focused on the road, he managed to catch that.

"I got a promotion."

"Wow." He held up a hand for a high five. "Not just okay anymore, right?"

Boy did we think differently about things. I almost slapped his hand with mine, but we already had one elephant in the room. I didn't need to add dishonesty to it. He was a very ambitious person, and I lived for my hammock.

I swallowed hard. "I didn't want the promotion, never asked for it. It doesn't pay much more and has greater responsibilities. Plus, my current job I can shut off when I walk out the office door. Supervisors at our company are always on call. Insurance never sleeps. Not entirely."

"As an employer, I am vastly curious how they can do that. Do you get paid for being on call?"

"As in, it's supposedly included in the supervisors' compensation package."

"So no." His grip on the steering wheel tightened. "That's illegal as hell in most states."

"Oh, it is in ours, too. But somehow those who complain or report any company issues have a tendency to have poor work performance immediately thereafter and are soon former employees."

He seethed. "That is not even just a state matter. OSHA has whistleblower protection that may apply in some of those cases. Why do you stay?"

I shrugged. Why did I? Because it was "okay"?

We pulled into the parking area at the inn, and he shut off the car. "No need to talk about this now. You probably are trying to get a break from it all, and I'm making you think about something that has you worried."

"No, you're fine, but you're right that it's been on my mind and that I want to have a clear headspace to make a decision. Avoidance probably isn't healthy though."

Getting out of the car, he came around to my side and opened the door then reached in to help me out. Instead of letting go of my hand, he used it to tug me into an embrace and bent to kiss me with those full lips, his scent going right to my head. When we stopped, he moved me to his side and kept one arm around my waist. "Long-term avoidance is a problem. A weekend is a healthy getaway. I have an idea. Want to take a nap?"

"With you?" I batted my eyelashes for heaven's sake. What was this alpha doing to me?

"Unless you want me to leave you at your door?"

"Oh no. I would much prefer to cuddle with a big strong alpha than sleep sprawled out on my king-sized bed in solitary comfort." I tipped my face up for another kiss then let him guide me up the stairs to his room. His room had been straightened and the bed made. My cheeks heated as images of what we'd done in here flooded my mind. The bedding must have reeked of sex. But if you were going to play matchmaker, I supposed you hoped that would be the case.

Lying next to him while his breathing evened out, after a quick cuddle that had turned into both of us getting a blow job, I was determined to stay awake and not miss a minute of our time together. But I'd missed most of a night's sleep and spent the day in the sun at the carnival, and my traitorous eyes closed as I drifted into dreamland.