Everyone cleared the place in seconds, leaving me standing there looking like the Swedish Chef.
“You can’t just stop me mid-batch, my love. Cookies must be baked.”
He kicked at something on the floor.
“What are you trying to prove, Lucas?”
“You don’t like them? I thought they were your favorite. Here. Try some of these. They are dark-chocolate chunk.” I wiped my hands on my apron and offered him a cookie from the eight thirty box.
He took it and took a huge bite. I held my breath, waiting on the verdict, not about the cookies.
“I think I like this one the best. Although, the ginger ones did help my stomach. Just when I thought I was out of the morning sickness threat, it came to get me.”
“Good. I can make more of those. I have tons of ginger, powdered and candied, and dehydrated. This is just a basic mix, so I’ll make more of those.”
While I fidgeted, Harrison crossed the room and grabbed my arm gently. “Lucas. Look at me.”
I couldn’t. I couldn’t look into those green eyes and see less than what my heart wanted. No matter how famous I was, when it came to Harrison, I was like glass.
“I can’t,” I admitted, shoulders slumped and the beginnings of tears forming in the corners of my eyes.
“Yes, you can. Look at me.”
I pushed out a weighted breath and lifted my head.
He chuckled, the low rumble making my desire for him bloom. “This is a hot look for you.” He tugged on the white apron tied around my waist.
“It is?” I looked down and saw the same apron I wore every day.
“Mm-hmm. So how long have you been up?”
I checked my watch for some ridiculous reason, probably because my nerves were electrified. “I haven’t been asleep yet.”
“When I drop you off for the night, I expect you to get some sleep. You don’t have a lot of time to sleep before this baby comes. Six months passes in the blink of an eye.”
I reached out on a whim and trailed my thumb along his bottom lip, loving the softness of it. “When my hot omega brings me home, I hope not to get any sleep at all.”
Harrison opened his mouth and took my thumb into it, first with his teeth and then sucked on it, circling his tongue around it. Every part of me came alive with that simple action. I couldn’t resist pulling him to me and taking his mouth, pouring everything I had into that kiss, to show him that he owned me, that I wanted to own him. Harrison reached behind me and pulled me flush with his body with his hands on my ass. I left his mouth for a few seconds to kiss his neck right under his ear, the place that made him moan my name. My already-hardened cock pressed against his as my hips rocked toward him over and over.
“Wait!” I pulled back quickly.
“Wait? What? What are we waiting for?” Harrison was as out of breath as I was.
“You need to open that box. That was the next delivery, and you ruined it.”
With an exasperated look, he turned and pointed to one of the bakery boxes. “This one?”
I nodded. I knew what was in that box.
Harrison opened it slowly, while I circled my arms around his waist and continued kissing the back of his neck. He pulled out a tiny cookie and sampled it—dried cherries and almond this time. “I changed my mind. These are the best.” He moaned while he ate. There was something about my omega eating my food while I worshipped his body that burned deep inside me. I could spend the rest of my life like this, feeding, loving, and protecting my mate and our young.
“Not the cookies. Look at the envelope taped inside the box.” I stopped to make him open it.
“Lucas? How did you get this done?” Holding the marriage license in his hand, he turned his head to the side and pulled my head down to meet his with his hand tangled in my hair. His mouth was hungry and not for anything I could ever cook.
I pulled away but kissed him softly between each word. “I. Have. Connections.”
“I can see that. You really want this? You really want me? How will this ever work? Won’t you become really famous one day, and one trip will become two, and before I know it, we haven’t seen you in months and TMZ has you making out in Paris with some guy and I’m here—heartbroken and alone?” A tear streamed down his face, and he rubbed his belly, comforting the child inside.
There it was—the truth of the matter. Harrison didn’t care if I was famous. He didn’t care about the money or any of that.
He wanted what any of us wanted—someone to love whom we could trust not to leave.
That I could do.
“Harrison, listen to me. I know you won’t trust me today or even tomorrow, but if it takes a lifetime, I will earn your trust. I won’t leave you any more than I have to, and you’ll never need to worry about me coming home because I think you are my home.”
Chapter Eighteen
Harrison
Married.
I was married.
Sort of.
Kind of.
Mostly.
Legally.
Lucas whisked me off to the town clerk, Nan, who also was a justice of the peace. It turned out the license he had was legal only after I signed it in front of her. It was still amazing he’d managed to pull off that feat. She was all about rules, and I was pretty sure my not being there was a broken rule even if I came back to sign it, since she stamped it and all.
It was five minutes, in and out. Far from the romantic weddings of the movies but that worked for me. The way Lucas was beaming, I was pretty sure it worked for him as well.
Warren signed as our witness, along with Mrs. Hart who was there to get her tag renewed. She was a gossip, so I was pretty sure the entire town knew of our nuptials before we even got back to the restaurant to pick up his car.
“You’re coming back with me, right?” I asked. I still wasn’t even sure where all things stood. We’d gotten married, we’d both admitted feelings, yet we both agreed it was a test run. Lucas had promised me a real wedding five times on the way over. He said that as soon as I was sure, he would throw me the wedding of my dreams. All I had to do was let him know it was time. Little did he know that my dream wedding was a whirlwind romance, and in many ways that was exactly what this was. In other ways it was nothing like it.
“Should I check out of the hotel,” he asked as I pulled in beside his truck. Warren had already phoned the producer and said Lucas was sick and would not be in that day, privately telling me love sick counted. He seemed almost as excited as I felt and far less nervous. Of course, he wasn’t the one getting married.
It was adorable seeing the big strong self-assured alpha just a wee bit off-kilter, knowing that to him what I said mattered. That, to him, the ball was in my court. Not that I could turn him down. Not for long.
“Yes, please.” I cupped his cheek, wishing the stupid gear shift wasn’t between us.
“Done.” He opened his mouth and nipped my thumb. How was that hot? Because it had me wanting me to climb over that shift stick and onto his lap. “Do you want to come with or wait at home, or what do you want?”
“I want your knot.” My voice deepened. The things he did to me.
“Not here, I presume.” He quirked an eyebrow, my response very much to his liking from the way he bit the bottom corner of his lip.
“No.” I leaned in closer, whispering, “Inside of me, silly alpha.”
He groaned in response, his body falling back against the seat.
“You did that on purpose.”
“Of course I did.” And, given his response, I planned to do it again and again and again.
“Hotel, it is.” He leaned across the seat, stealing a quick kiss. “Meet me?”
“Try and stop me—husband.”
That earned me another groan before he climbed out of the truck and got into his car. We were at the hotel in only a few minutes because—Mapleville is about that big. He was at my door before I’d managed to unbuckle the seat belt.
“Thank
s.” I took his proffered hand after he opened my door.
“Anytime.” He pulled me into a hug before pulling back and shutting the truck door. “This doesn’t have a back seat.”
“This I know.” It was an ancient truck. Of course it didn’t. But it was gorgeous and ran beautifully so it was perfect in my eyes.
“We need a minivan.” He nodded before taking my hand and attempting to lead me to the hotel entrance.
“You did not just say that.” I kept my feet firmly planted. A minivan. As if.
“Babies require gear.”
I knew in the back of my mind that I was going to need to get a new vehicle for the baby. But a minivan? That never once crossed my mind.
“An SUV?” I counter offered.
“Minivan.” He nodded before heading toward the door with me in tow. This time I allowed it. Maybe minivans had gotten cooler?
“I thought you wanted to get lucky,” I teased.
“I already did.” He squeezed my hand just as we entered the lobby.
We couldn’t get through there fast enough and before I knew it, I was pressed against the closed door inside his room, his body was flush against mine, his lips owning mine. It wasn’t enough, and I began to yank at his clothing as he held.” He spoke between his kisses, his mouth never more than an inch from mine.
“Naked. Do it naked,” I pleaded.
“How can I say no when you beg me so freely.” He pushed my coat over my shoulder before removing his own, and slowly, one article of clothing at a time, divested us both of our clothing, stopping only long enough to kiss my belly before opening my pants. If that was what begging earned me, I planned to do it often. “Bed,” he commanded.
Yes, please.
I climbed on the bed not even pretending to be coy. He could see from the precum glistening on the tip of my very erect cock that I wanted him more than my next breath.
He crawled across the bed, settling himself between my legs, allowing his body to rest on mine, taking off only a little bit of his weight before worshipping my mouth with his as I shamelessly moved my hips, trying to finagle him where I wanted him most.
“Don’t worry, husband. I won’t make you wait,” he whispered against my ear as I caught the breath he stole from me. He lined himself up with my hole and, before I could raise my hips to meet him, he entered me slowly, filling me completely.
Our rushed need to merge calmed to a gentler lovemaking as we kissed and moved together, enjoying the moment for all that it was. We didn’t know where this was going. Not really, but it was going someplace amazing, of that I was sure.
As we came and his knot grew, there was no place on the planet I’d rather be than right there, connected to him both legally and physically. I still didn’t know how this would all work out, but I knew in that second it would, and that was all that mattered.
Chapter Nineteen
Lucas
Five months later...
For the second time since we’d left the house. Harrison had to go to the bathroom. My sweet omega was always peeing, morning, noon, and night, but at the same time was constantly thirsty.
We stopped to fill up his water bottle at the hallway fountain.
“Vivian told me that if I have heartburn all the time, that means the baby will have tons of hair. At this rate, I’m giving birth to Sasquatch. Seriously, water gives me heartburn. I don’t get it. I get rid of the nausea and am hit with the burning chest.
I slipped a ginger candy from my pocket and gave it to him. He said the other stuff was too chalky and made him sicker than the original heartburn.
“‘Do you have lasagna in that pocket, too? ’Cause I’m hungry again.”
I pulled him in for a kiss before we entered the office. “No, but that should help.”
Harrison reached out and trailed his hand across my groin. “Nope, just made me hungrier.”
Along with his regular stomach hunger, Harrison was hornier than ever since the third trimester had hit. If I wasn’t up in the middle of the night cooking him a better version of whatever he saw on Pinterest, I was taking care of his other needs.
I never knew life could be so good.
Hand in hand, we went into that place and took a seat.
Doctors’ offices made me nervous in general, but this office in particular made me almost mad with anxiety. Diagrams with body parts all over the place and magazines on being good parents made me queasy.
“You’ve got to calm down, Lucas. You’re making me nervous, and when you make me nervous, my blood pressure shoots up, and the doctor is going to come unglued if my blood pressure is too high.”
He placed his hand over mine, which was shaking out of control.
“Sorry, this place gives me the creeps. What’s taking so long?”
The receptionist apparently heard me and replied, “Dr. Allie just got back from her hospital rounds. She’ll be with you in a few seconds.”
I smiled and nodded, but my leg never quit bouncing.
Harrison looked over at me, belly stretching his T-shirt out. “So, what was different this morning? With the French toast? Or did you think I hadn’t noticed?”
I pulled my lips together, trying not to smile. “It’s not a big deal. You didn’t notice.”
He squeezed my hand. “But I did. So spill it.”
“Fine. I bought new Madagascar vanilla, and I put it in the batter. And I added some cinnamon I ordered in from Sri Lanka. Did you really notice or was I just being grumpy?”
He stroked his beard and leaned over to whisper in my ear. “Nope. I tasted it just like I tasted you last night. I’m getting better at those things.”
“You’re great at everything.”
He rested his head on my shoulder. The last few months had been hectic but so worth it. We’d built on to his grandfather’s house—a nursery and a bigger kitchen. Harrison had built a special cradle and crib for our baby while I basically moved my entire life down to Mapleville.
I kept in touch every step of the way and made sure he knew I was coming home for him.
“She’ll take you now. Right through those doors.”
A nurse waited on the other side and escorted us to what was labeled the Ultrasound Room.
“This is it. Just a little wait for the technician. Dr. Allie will be right in.”
Harrison sat on the horrible little paper-topped bed. This place was almost worse than the waiting area. “Hey, did I ever tell you why I don’t like famous people?”
I cringed at the term. “Not really.”
“My mom died during childbirth, you know that.” He’d told me about it before the last doctor’s visit, but the doctor had assured us that the cause wasn’t genetic, and there was no reason why Harrison couldn’t have a normal, healthy delivery. “But my dad left me with my grandfather so he could go to California and be a big actor. He said he’d come back for me when he was big and famous. He did get famous, but he never came back. Died of a heart attack in his fancy hot tub some years back. Flat broke. He had a wife and other kids. Never even sent me a birthday card.”
“I’m sorry that happened to you.” I put my arm around his shoulders, and he nuzzled my chest. “But now you know I’m not like him. Have we gotten to that point?”
He nodded, still plastered to me.
“Okay, gentlemen, what do you say we find your baby today?” A perky redhead burst into the room and made a motion for Harrison to lift his shirt up. She put some kind of blue sheet under the top of his pants and then told him the gel would be cold.
She pointed out ears and toes and then asked us the big question. “Would you like to know the sex?”
I told Harrison he could make the decision.
“Yes, please. I’d like to at least know that. I have no idea what I’m doing otherwise.”
“Let’s see what we can find.” She moved the contraption around his belly until she apparently found something. “Oh, well, looks like a girl for you. Congratulations.”
&n
bsp; Harrison looked up at me and, with tears in his eyes, said, “I already know her name.”
“You do?”
He nodded.
Chapter Twenty
Harrison
Ever since we found out Luca was coming into our life, I wouldn’t help but buy all the things I thought a little girl might like. As a rule, I wasn’t into gender stereotyping and planned to let her decide what she did or didn’t like, but that far from stopped me from buying every adorable unicorn dress and frilly headband I saw.
I could still see Lucas’s eyes when I said I wanted us to name her Luca after him. I think that was the first time he allowed himself to believe what we had was real on both sides, and ever since that moment, I made it my mission to have him knowing it on a daily basis.
We weren’t two guys being married so we could make our child’s start better, we were two guys married because we wanted to be—in all ways.
I wasn’t upset we rushed the nuptials, because it did two things. It forced us to face our feelings, and it did give us a best-case scenario media-wise. According to the stupid television shows all about celebrities, which I found myself watching more and more, and needed to stop because there was nothing healthy about that, we were in a whirlwind romance filled with love and a beautiful baby on the way. They actually got it right. Go figure.
“Hey, boss, what else do you need?” Jaxon called into my workroom where I was doing pretty much no work.
“A hand?” I asked, and he laughed. He thought it freaking hilarious that I was the size of a house and getting off my bench required assistance from time to time.
It kind of was.
“Isn’t this your mate’s job?” He helped me stand, amusement dancing around his face.
“He’s out of town for the show.” Which sucked. How I could go from living alone just fine to being miserable because my husband was out of town for a few days was beyond me.
“I thought they wrapped up the season and were taking a break until the baby came.”
True. They had taped the entire season. I still didn’t fully grasp the concept of the show. It was a cross between reality television, with Lucas starting a new restaurant in a small town, and a scripted cooking show with recipes and such. Not that I ever thought reality television wasn’t scripted to an extent, but these segments didn’t pretend not to be, which was the weird thing to me.
Tasting His Omega Page 7
