Chapter Ten

Bert

I hadn’t attended the fair before, but seeing it for the first time through the eyes of Conrad and especially with Natalie made the whole thing worth it. Seeing her visit the shops and get her passport stamped was maybe the most fun I’d ever had. Several times during the day, Conrad’s and my hands brushed, and my bear’s thrill overwhelmed me.

I’d never smiled so much in one day.

After lunch, I saw Conrad and Natalie enthralled in some kind of craft for Santa, so I took the opportunity to walk over to Rudy’s house with my parts and toolbox. With only a few tries, I had the furnace going and I could feel the temperature rising as I finished up. I also fixed the hot water heater and stood back, nodding at my work.

Damn it. Maybe I shouldn’t have fixed it. Now, there was no excuse for Conrad to stay with me.

I would simply have to convince my mate to stay.

How I was going to do that? I didn’t know.

I put a call in to Rudy and told him that everything was fixed. He asked about Conrad, and I skirted the subject. The last thing I needed was Rudy telling me how to make a move on my mate.

Still, maybe I should’ve told him because I had no idea how to let Conrad know how much I needed him. How much I wanted this all not to be a vacation or a trip. How I wanted both of them to stay and be mine. That I would move mountains to have that happen.

Off the phone and pretty damned pleased with my handyman skills, I walked back toward my house, something in the air catching my attention.

Something more than my mate.

Inside, the smells of vanilla, sugar, cinnamon, and butter saturated the air. “What’s going on?” I asked, taking my boots off at the door. Before they could answer, I paused there, looking down at the line of shoes at my door. My boots. Conrad’s boots. Natalie’s boots.

I glanced up at the coatrack. My jacket, barely worn. Conrad’s puffy coat. Natalie’s purple puffy coat.

Their scarves. Their hats.

Something settled in my chest and my bear’s mind at the scene. It was something so trivial in the scheme of things. Coats and boots lined up together. But, to me and my bear, it was everything.

“Bert?” Conrad’s voice brought me back to the present. I reached out and touched his jacket, branding this moment into my memory in case it was all I got with my mate.

“Yes?” I strolled into the kitchen. Natalie was hard at work on something, so intent her tongue was out.

“You asked what was going on and then you…you disappeared on me. Is something wrong?”

I shook my head. “I’ll tell you in a minute. So, what is going on?”

“Cookies!” Natalie shouted with her fist in the air.

“Oh, did you make my favorite kind?” I asked, sidling up to Conrad who was sliding some hot ones off the cookie sheet and onto the rack. I’d bought those things a while ago. Never had used them.

My mate paled. “I hope so. What kind are your favorite. If not, I can…” He stammered for something to say.

“Conrad”—I chuckled—“any kind you make is my favorite.”

He let out a long exhale and smiled, beaming up at me. “You had me worried.”

“Why?” I asked. Natalie got down from the stool where she had been perched, decorating the cookies, and headed toward their room, saying something about sharing the cookie with her stuffed animals.

“Because you’ve been so kind to us. Natalie is smitten with you, and we kind of took over your life the last couple of days. The least I could do was make you cookies you like.”

“I would gobble up anything you made me.”

He blushed a thousand shades of pink and ducked his head. “What happened earlier? When you were staring at the boots and the coats? You went somewhere.”

I nodded. This was my chance. My chance to let him know how I felt. I had to get it out of me, or I might explode. “I was thinking how nice it is to see more than just my jacket and boots at the front door.”

His gaze darted toward the door, and his blush intensified. “I see. But there’s something else?”

I chuckled again. “You already know me so well. Yes, there’s one more thing.”

“What is it?” He moved closer. So close I could reach out and touch him. Pull him into my arms. Show him instead of telling him how I felt. One pull.

“I fixed the furnace and the water heater at Rudy’s house.”

Conrad busted out laughing and leaned forward. I caught his usual gingerbread cookie smell, but now it was intensified. He was turned on. Attracted to me. I wondered if he knew what that scent did to me. One look down would confirm it. “That’s all? That’s what has this worried look on your face?” He reached up and gently touched my cheek. I leaned into the small gesture, letting my bear growl a little, vibrating my chest in the process.

“No. No, that’s not all. I fixed the furnace.”

My mate sobered. “I know, Bert. I heard you. You fixed the furnace. Does that mean something you’re not telling me?”

I nodded. This was it. Time to be the alpha. “It means that Rudy’s house is now fit for you to stay in. You and Natalie are free to go over there for the rest of your stay. It means…” I choked up. “It means you are going to leave and, for the love of the gods, I don’t want you to.”

Conrad’s features softened. His deep eyes assessed me as he cocked his head. “But we’re all settled here. Natalie wants to spend Christmas here—with you.”

“And you, Conrad?” I asked.

“That’s what I want too. Come on, you’re so grumpy when you’re worried. How about a cookie? Cheer you up.”

“You’re staying?” I confirmed.

“I’m staying. We both are.” He turned to get one of the snickerdoodles and then back to me. “Let me?” he whispered. If it wasn’t for my shifter hearing, I might not have heard the question. But I had. Loud and clear.

I wondered if somehow he knew what this meant. Feeding his alpha from his own hand. He might as well have marked me right there in the kitchen. He honored me with his offering. “I won’t bite. Yet.”

He slowly brought the cookie toward my mouth, and I opened. The scents of cinnamon and sugar tickled my nose and my mouth watered, waiting for the taste—of the cookie and him.

I bit down, taking more than half of it at once. The sweetness hit me first, followed by the warmth of the spice and the comforting vanilla. “You’re an excellent baker, Conrad.”

“Thank you.” He giggled. “You’ve got a little something.”

He rose on tiptoe to brush some sugar from my lips, but I took the moment and grabbed him to me. “Conrad, if you don’t step back, I’m going to kiss you.”

He gasped. “Then what are you waiting for?”

I wrapped my arms around his waist and covered his lips with mine. He relaxed into the kiss, opening his mouth to give me entrance. We angled naturally, deepening the kiss until footsteps coming down the hallway had him jerking away.

I chuckled low and deep.

Natalie walked up and got on her stool. Yeah, it was her stool at my counter now. “Daddy, I need some milk.”

Conrad swiped his fingertips across his lips. “Yeah. Milk. Okay. Milk.”

I ate three more cookies while I watched Natalie get milk and drink it down almost as fast as it was poured. Good girl. She would grow tall and strong.

She played at the counter while I helped Conrad put the cookies into containers.

“Bert?” he asked, bumping his hip with mine.

“Mm?” I asked.

“How would you like to continue that conversation we were having earlier…later on?”

I leaned down, glancing behind me to make sure Natalie wasn’t paying attention, and grazed my lips against his reddened ear. “Omega, there is nothing I want more.”