Chapter Nineteen

West

It was after four in the afternoon, and I hadn’t seen my mate since very early that morning. When we started dating, Alex delegated things to others or rearranged his schedule to meet mine, but for the last couple of weeks, we’d been ships passing in the harbor.

He came. I went.

I was busy. He was busy.

The only time we saw each other was at night, when we both collapsed into our bed.

I didn’t like it and, furthermore, I hated the way my mind instantly compared this relationship to the deteriorating one I had with Emile.

“West?” Alex called from downstairs.

“I’m up here.”

“Hey, beautiful. I brought you something.” He revealed a bouquet of peach-colored roses. “You were napping. I’m sorry.”

I tried to get up but was wider and broader than all outside. “I woke up a few minutes before you got home.”

He came over and sat behind me, using his strength to help me to a sitting position. “If you’re tired, I completely understand but I was hoping I could take my lovely omega on a date tonight. I made a reservation.”

I paused, almost crying. Shame on me for thinking that Alex was anything like Emile.

“That sounds great. Is it fancy? I don’t have a lot of things to wear.”

Alex chuckled. “First of all, you would look good in anything you wore. But second, your alpha took care of that. There’s a bag right outside the door with a new outfit just for tonight. Reservations are in an hour. Do you think you can get dressed that fast?”

A night out with my alpha. Hell yeah, I could. I didn’t bother answering him Instead, I showered and got dressed in record time. Alex picked out a dark-gray button-down and some black slacks with a stretchy waistband.

“There you are. You look stunning.”

I slouched. “I look like a whale.” Climbing down the stairs, I felt his stare and it wasn’t a happy one.

“Didn’t we talk about those disparaging comments about yourself?”

I scoffed. “You talked. I listened.”

“But you’ve been so good. This is the first time I’ve heard one of those nasty comments in weeks, and then today you’ve been a naughty omega twice. Twice.”

“I’m sorry. It’s tough getting used to this body.”

He hugged me tight. “I can’t imagine but I don’t like you calling my mate names. He’s too precious to me.”

“Maybe you’ll have to punish me later.”

Alex pursed his lips. “I think it’s time to give you that spanking you earned a while ago and a few extra swats for tonight.”

I intended to come back with something smart but my stomach interrupted the conversation. If I could go one hour without being hungry, that would be fantastic.

“Food is in order. I’ve got two wolves to feed. Come on.”

The place wasn’t ultra-fancy like some of the restaurants he’d taken me. The atmosphere was quiet, too, I supposed, since it was a weekday.

We ate together and held hands but something was on his mind. My stomach tangled in knots over it.

“I wanted to talk to you about something, West. And I owe you an apology.”

Not what I expected. “I can’t see how but go on.”

“I’m so sorry for these last few weeks.” He moved his chair closer and took both my hands in his. “I haven’t been home as much as I wanted or you needed. That was wrong of me.”

I nodded. “I have missed you.”

He leaned in and swept a gentle kiss over my lips. “I have missed you so much. This morning, I decided enough was enough. I was sitting there, ordering things for the club and balancing texts and had other screens open, and I realized I was at my breaking point. So, I did some finagling. I delegated a bunch more tasks to other people. I gave myself a firm schedule at the club and will cut back at work, too. None of that or the income is as important as you. This way, I will be free to have more time with you and eventually more time with the baby. Actually help raise my family instead of being an absent father.”

Tears ran down my face. Happy tears. Relieved tears. “Are you serious? You did all of that for me?”

His smile would light up the world if it weren’t for the sun. “I would do anything for you. Don’t you know that by now?”

“I do.”

We shared an embrace. He wiped away my tears while the waiter served us one of each dessert.

Because we were celebrating.

“How about a movie?” Alex prompted once we were done. We’d overstayed our welcome at the waiter’s table, but I knew my mate would compensate the young man enough for three tables. “There’s that new drive-in. They’re showing some Hitchcock movies.”

“Hmm, not sure I’m in the mood for horror.”

He leaned in. His mouth barely grazed my earlobe. “Then we can sit in my car and not watch the movie at all. I’m sure we will come up with some way to pass the time. Besides, you love movie theater popcorn.”

I did.

“You just want to get lucky in a movie theater.”

He chuckled low and deep, running his hand along my inner thigh. “You have no idea. Come on, it’s a little fantasy of mine.”

“Race you to the car.”