by Aiden Bates
Austin snorted. “You know exactly what it means, Cody. Most wedding planners that I’ve met have been highly strung, kind of unpleasant people. You’re pretty calm. You’re creative. Why are you doing this?”
Cody thought about it for a moment before answering. “I used to be in corporate consulting. It was fine. I mean it was hard work, and it was grueling sometimes, but it was my job and that was just the way that it was. I did the job in front of me and I shut up about it. Then one day I came up here, I was consulting to one of the manufacturing plants, and I fell in love with the place. I loved the scenery, I loved the history of the place, I loved the people. So I quit my job, bought a condo, and I figured out what I should do with the rest of my life.
“As it turned out, I figured out that I could plan weddings the same way that I’d planned projects in the old place and everyone would wind up happier as a result. It’s worked, for the most part.” He took a bite of his samosa and asked the question he’d been dying to ask all night. “So I’ve got to know. Are you really not looking for an alpha?”
“Wow.” Austin looked down and toyed with his food. “That’s kind of personal, don’t you think?”
Cody hung his head. “I’m sorry. That was a conversation I wasn’t meant to hear.”
Austin waved a hand. “But you did hear it, and now you’re curious about it. That’s normal. So you already heard that my brother promised his old prep school buddy that he could ‘have’ me. I wasn’t exactly on board with that.”
“So I gathered.” Cody chuckled.
“Oh my God, the guy’s got a personality like a stick in a bucket. Just nothing, I’m telling you. Anyway, if I wanted a claim I’d have gone back and accepted Kirby. But that’s never been something I wanted. Like I never sat around and dreamed about my future alpha, or thought of names for my future kids. It’s not like I’d have gotten to name them anyway, right?” He put his fork down. “I mean at the end of the day, omegas have nothing whatsoever to gain by getting claimed. Some guy controls them, they risk getting pregnant, and their life is pretty much over.”
“I’m pretty sure it’s supposed to be a more equal relationship than that. Symbiotic or something.” Cody’s insides felt cold.
“Okay, maybe that’s what they tell you, but it isn’t a symbiotic relationship. It’s awful. I don’t know any omegas who are happy. They’re all being controlled by their alpha, all of the time. They’re expected to focus on the house and kids, no matter what they’re good at, so screw any intellectual or artistic pursuits. Like they gain nothing.”
Cody squirmed. “I was always told that omegas wanted to be claimed. That there was some kind of ache inside of them that could only be soothed by a claim.”
Austin laughed, but he hid it behind his hand. “No. Sorry. Like I said, we get nothing from it. It’s like lifetime imprisonment. Why would I want that?”
“I never thought about it like that.”
“You’re an alpha. You wouldn’t.” Austin made a face. “And I guess you really don’t have to. Appreciate that you’re trying, but that’s not how this agreement works.” He smoothed his face out into a friendly, peaceful smile and gave Cody a wink. “Business, remember?”
Cody’s mouth went dry. “Yeah. Business.”
Chapter Three – Contents
The problem with making an agreement to have business relationship with Cody—a strictly business relationship—was that Austin was going to have to deal with Cody on a regular basis. That shouldn’t have been a problem. Austin thought of himself as a pretty social guy. His job kind of demanded it. With Cody, it was different. Austin couldn’t stop himself from wanting to wallow in that campfire scent, or to feel those plush lips on his own.
None of that would ever happen, and Austin knew it. Cody was a nice guy, the flower of chivalry blossoming right here in upstate New York. He’d stepped in to help Austin when Austin hadn’t seen any way out other than calling the cops on his own brother. It would be fantastic to have a friends-with-benefits kind of thing with him. He could picture that easily, imagine sitting at the table in his house up the street and laughing over coffee in the morning.
He wanted that.
He refused to be ashamed of it. He was an omega, after all. He had needs. They might not be the same needs that everyone else kept telling him that he had, but he did have needs. He needed sex, sometimes. He needed companionship. He needed that friendly face here and there, someone to share parts of his life with. Not necessarily forever, but sharing for a few weeks or months or even years would be just fine.
He wanted it to be Cody.
But wanting Cody in that way, any kind of romantic way, was ridiculous. He barely knew the guy. Cody had been chivalrous. He’d helped him out, and he smelled good. That wasn’t the basis for a friends with benefits arrangement. That wasn’t even the basis for calling them friends. They had a business arrangement that happened to be mutually beneficial. That was all.
So when the contract arrived that same night, along with a menu from Sabrina, he forced himself to be relieved that it came in a brusque email. He signed the contract, and he scanned the menu. He made wine recommendations within three different price ranges, since Cody hadn’t given him a budget, and sent Cody a second email giving him quotes on the wine with his ten percent discount. He didn’t care if the client got the full-price quote, after all. If Cody got a little extra profit for saving him from Adrian, that was only a good thing.
The next day Kristi, not Cody, called him back and placed an order for the mid-point wines. They would be picked up in a few days. Austin went ahead and pulled the necessary amounts, boxing them up and putting them in the warehouse room reserved for special orders. Whenever Cody or whoever was ready, the wine would be waiting for them. Until then, he had a job to do.
Jamie came in on Wednesday, and that was a good thing. Sales tended to pick up as the holidays approached, both on the wholesale and retail sides, and Austin needed all of the help that he could get.
Cody came in with a short, dark-haired woman that he introduced as Sabrina, the chef and caterer that he was working with. Austin had expected her to resent him, at least a little bit. After all, Austin had only been involved because she wasn’t able to handle one aspect of catering for Blue Bells Weddings. On the contrary, though, she turned out to be very enthusiastic about meeting him.
“I’m so glad that Cody met you and was able to work something out to deal with the wine.” She put a hand on his arm and laughed. “I’ve always gone with relatively safe choices, you know, picked out from a basic book. It’s been okay, sure, but I’m sure there were mistakes.”
Austin couldn’t help but smile at her. “Well, I’m not sure what’s come before, but if you haven’t had customers complaining I’m sure it worked out okay.” He helped them load up the cases of wine onto hand trucks and into Cody’s SUV, and he figured that was the end of it.
Sabrina had other plans. They came back into the shop and took a printout of the bill, and then Sabrina spoke up. “Listen, Austin, I had a couple of questions for you. First, I was wondering if you would be willing to make an arrangement with me just like you made with Cody here.”
Austin lifted his eyebrows. “Um, sure. I’m never going to say no to new customers, but don’t we already kind of have that?”
She laughed at him. “I don’t only work for Blue Bells. I do my own catering work outside of what I contract for with him.” She jerked a thumb at her colleague. “I would love to be able to add that extra touch and bring my offerings to the next level.”
Austin relaxed. “Well, sure. I hadn’t thought about that. I’d be more than happy to make the same kind of arrangement. Send me over a contract and I’ll sign it, no problem.”
“The other thing is that I’d like for you to come by the shop and do a tasting. I know you know your business, and that’s great, but I think we’ll work even better together if you know what the food tastes like—you know, the way I cook as opposed to the
way Bob at Rain Flower Catering cooks, or the way the guy at the hotel up the road cooks.” She had to crane her neck to meet his eyes, and that couldn’t be comfortable, but she did it.
Austin tilted his head to the side. “I’m not opposed. I never say no to decent food.” He forced a big grin. He didn’t want to have dinner in some caterer’s shop with a petite little chef. He wanted to go out to obscure little restaurants with Cody, damn it.
“Well, I’m catering a thing at the museum on Friday, so maybe Saturday? I know you’re busy during the day, but maybe Saturday night would be okay.” She bit her lip and held her breath, just a little bit.
“I don’t mind switching hours with you, boss.” Jamie nudged Austin with his elbow. “I can close, no problem.”
Now Austin was on the spot. He had no excuse not to go. “I guess that settles it,” he said, holding out his hand to shake. “Shoot me an email with the time and the address, and I’ll be there with bells on.”
He forced himself to find reasons to look forward to the meeting as the next few days passed. He knew that Sabrina would be a good cook; two minutes with his laptop and a search engine turned up plenty of reviews that proved that. He could look more than forward to trying out whatever it was that she would whip up for him.
It was a change of pace for him, too. He typically spent his Saturday evenings in the shop. If he was lucky enough to be with someone, he might get to see them after work, but the shop tended to stay open late on Saturday nights. He wouldn’t mind changing things up a little bit, seeing something besides the inside of the shop for a few hours.
Maybe it would do him some good to get out and meet some new people, too. Maybe he should expand his social circle. Maybe that would help break him out of his funk.
Everything was going fine until Adrian stopped by on Friday, with Kirby. Kirby had aged well, Austin had to admit. He was still as dull and dismissive and covetous as ever, but he looked good doing it. He watched Austin with his pretty hazel eyes, all but salivating as he let Adrian do almost all of the talking.
“You’re coming to dinner with us tomorrow night.” Adrian pressed his lips together and glanced around the store, lips twitching. “I’m pretty sure I gave you very distinct orders to have this place closed up and on the market by now.”
Austin just smirked at his brother. “And I’m absolutely positive that I pointed out that you have no right to give me orders. Or to expect orders that you do give obeyed.” He grinned, a tight, u-shaped grin that had no humor to it. “As much as I would love to meet up someplace public and let you embarrass yourself further, I can’t meet up with you tomorrow night. I have plans.”
Kirby rolled his eyes and turned halfway away from him, arms crossed over his abdomen. “He’s your family. Cancel whatever party you were going to and do your duty.”
“Exactly.” Adrian nodded at his friend and gave him a proud smile before turning back to Austin. “You have a responsibility, and you have a place in this family. You need to remember your place.”
“I have a business meeting, boys, and I agreed to it days ago. I didn’t build up a business like this by cancelling meetings at the drop of a hat so my brother could come along and berate me for hours at a time. I’m going to that meeting.” Austin put his feet up and settled in.
“Austin, be reasonable. This isn’t a business; it’s a hobby, a way to kill time. You’re out of time to kill. You need to remember that your first responsibility is to your alpha and then to your children by him. You have no other priorities.” Adrian smacked his hand on the counter.
Just then, Jamie came back from his break, reeking of recreational herbology and unwashed jackets. He looked at the two alphas and started to giggle. “Dude,” he said. “You need to seriously chill out. Whatever’s got you worked up is going to give you an aneurysm. Want to try a wine tasting?”
Adrian walked out of the store, face red and hands clenched into fists by his side. Kirby hesitated for a moment before following. Austin thought for a moment that he might have something to say, or might even want to try some wine, but in the end he chased after Adrian.
When they were gone, he and Jamie burst into giggles. “That was awesome,” Austin told the older man. “I honestly don’t know when I’ve last seen Adrian reduced to silence like that. When’s the last time I gave you a raise?”
“I don’t know. I never look.” Jamie shrugged. “Are you going to plan another wine tasting sometime soon? Those are always popular.”
Austin got through his Saturday all but vibrating with anticipation. He couldn’t wait to get to the dinner. Not only would it slightly expand his social circle, but also it would piss off his brother.
He handed the reins over to Jamie with only a slight pang, and then he drove down to Sabrina’s shop in Marcellus. Her shop had once been a church, and the bones of the old place still remained. Inside, it was all modern and clean. Sabrina let him in and showed him to a tasting room, really just a little dining room right off the kitchen. It had been set up for three people, not two, and he blinked at the arrangement. “Are you also giving a tasting to a potential client?” he asked.
“Huh? Oh, no. Cody’s coming by too. Figured it was as easy to feed three as it was two.” Sabrina grinned and shrugged her shoulders. She gestured to the table. “Take your pick of seats, he should be along in just a minute.”
Austin frowned and sat down. He would probably have dressed differently, at least, if he’d known that Cody was coming.
He shook his head to clear it, like a child’s toy. That was foolish. He shouldn’t be thinking that way about Cody. He shouldn’t dress any differently for Cody than he did for Sabrina. He looked professional, if not particularly sexy, and that was enough.
Cody showed up ten minutes late, shoulders tense as always and lips set in a grim line. Austin shook his head. If Cody didn’t want to be there, why had he come? Surely he couldn’t think that Sabrina’s virtue was somehow in danger. Cody might be chivalrous, and handsome, but he hadn’t done what he’d done out of any particular affection for Austin. Austin needed to remember that.
Cody sat down across from Austin, his campfire scent tickling Austin’s nose, and the meal got underway. Sabrina brought out the first course, a salad, and after two bites Austin came up with a list of five different wines that would go well with that combination of dressing and greens. It wasn’t hard. He did it all of the time. It was something he loved to do.
And Adrian and Kirby wanted to take it away from him?
“How did your event at the museum go last night?” Austin asked Sabrina. “Was it successful?”
Sabrina paused with her fork in the air to consider. “I think it was reasonably successful. It was a cocktail party, so the food wasn’t necessarily at the front of anyone’s mind. It paid well, which is why I took it, and I got to give out more than a few business cards so I’m hoping that it turns into a few new leads. We’re doing okay, don’t get me wrong, but I don’t think any small business owner is ever going to sit back and say, ‘Hey, I’m really content with where I am, I don’t want any new business at all.’”
“Right?” Austin lifted his water glass in a kind of toast. “Especially if it’s business that can even out our revenue, or that won’t require us to bring on more staff.”
Sabrina got up to grab the next course, and Cody turned to Austin. “Speaking of new staff, I’ve been dying to know. What’s with the stoner?” His shoulders had lost some of their painful, stiff look.
“Who, Jamie?” Austin snickered. “He’s a good guy. He’s got his little ways, sure, but he’s not bad. He’s just high. A lot. The till is never light, though, and he always shows up to work on time.” He took another bite of his salad.
“Yeah, but he doesn’t fit in to the idea of a high-end wine shop, you know?” Cody leaned forward. His eyes looked a little bit darker, but that was probably just a trick of the light. It had to be.
“You’d be surprised.” Austin ducked his head, but lifte
d his eyes to meet Cody’s. “The customers like him, and he really knows his stuff. He just doesn’t have a drop of ambition in his body, bless his heart, and so he’s perfectly happy just talking wine with people and meeting new friends all the live-long.” He shook his head. “We complement one another pretty well, actually. He keeps me from getting too uptight, and I keep him from losing all sense of time and space.”
Sabrina set out their next course, a risotto with mushrooms. “I can’t see you being at all uptight, Austin. You’re so laid back and calm that you’re practically on the floor.”
Austin glanced at Cody before he responded. “You would be surprised.”
***
Cody couldn’t believe that he’d let Sabrina talk him into going to her tasting. He’d hoped to avoid having to directly interact with Austin again. If he couldn’t avoid that direct interaction, he’d hoped that he could keep his interactions to a minimum. He didn’t want to have to be around his sun-warmed grape scent, to have to hear his enthusiastic laugh. He definitely didn’t need to hear his flirty little drawl.
So of course he’d said yes after a little bit of needling from Sabrina.
It wasn’t that Austin wasn’t amazing. Every minute, every second spent in his company just reminded him that Austin was everything that he’d ever wanted in an omega. He was smart, he was independent, and he was driven. He was also someone who was very much supposed to be with someone else, and Cody didn’t have the right to muscle in there.
Austin didn’t want to be with that “someone else,” or at least he said he didn’t. Cody didn’t believe that for a minute. Austin was strong and independent, sure, but how long would he be able to hold out against his own twin brother? He’d been so eager to avoid that scenario that he’d run off to Syracuse and risked certain frostbite and blizzard. He wouldn’t be able to hold out now that his brother had found him again.
Besides, Cody had promised himself that he wouldn’t ever get involved with someone that he’d have to see once things went south again. Austin was a business colleague. They weren’t partners, but they had a business relationship. They had a contract, for crying out loud. Cody couldn’t go there. He’d never be able to force himself to work with Austin again once Austin chose someone over him, or once he’d chosen someone else over Austin, or once one of them decided that the job meant more to them and the other one got pissy about it.
