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Given how quickly he dismissed my bond, he was being quite the gentleman—opening and closing the door for me, letting me control the air and radio, and asking me what sights I was interested in seeing. Such a difference from his immediate rejection. I swore the man was going to give me whiplash.
“That’s the mechanic shop.” He pointed to a brown building with four large, white, overhead doors and a little office building attached. It looked pretty active for the small town.
“That’s yours, right?”
“The den owns it,” he said.
“Right, but you run it? And Aydan mentioned that your business is one of the first ones that will need the accounting help since you have the most business.” It sounded like I was on a job interview instead of talking to my mate. Ugh.
“The den owns the business,” he said. “I’m just a mechanic.”
That was not what my brother had said, but I could understand his modesty. We were, after all, driven by our need to provide for our den, not just ourselves.
“Perhaps tomorrow I can swing by and look at the books? See where I can get started.”
A muscle ticked in his jaw. “I suppose,” he said. “I have one of my guys tracking down a new tire for your car also.”
My cheeks heated. He was taking care of me. I loved it.
He continued, “You could start with the diner’s books. That also has a lot of business.”
Ouch.
“Aydan mentioned that the chef, Patrick, is keeping up with his books just fine, but yours needed more help.”
He flinched.
“I’m under strict instructions that come directly from Aydan.”
And now I pivoted away from job interview mode to asshole mode. What was wrong with me? Why did I feel the need to throw his words back at him? He didn’t want me around. I knew that. I tried not to take it personally but, well, it was personal. More personal than any other rejection I’d ever faced.
His jaw tensed again, and I had the strangest urge to cup his cheek until he relaxed under my touch. That wouldn’t go well.
“Okay. Tomorrow then.”
He pulled into the diner, which was across the street from the mechanic shop. It was another place bustling with activity, which was no surprise. Diners were often the heart of a town.
As we exited the car, he flagged down a couple walking along the street and they both broke into a huge smile and jogged over to us. At least someone was happy to see me.
“Cynthia, Carmen, I’d like to introduce you to Corey, Alpha Aydan’s brother.”
I smiled wide and held out my hand. They both shook it. It was such a human thing to do, but I’d had it so engrained in me that in human spaces you act human, and this might’ve been a den-heavy space, but there could easily be a human in the dinner or the parking lot.
“It’s really great to meet you. Aydan’s told us so much about you,” the one named Carmen said.
“Likewise,” I said. “I’m really happy to be here.” Ish. I was happy-ish. Things weren’t exactly turning out the way I wanted them to, that was for sure.
“If you guys aren’t doing anything right now, would you like to finish the tour for Corey? I need to get back to the shop.” And just like that he tried to pawn me off on anyone who would take me. Fabulous.
A man wearing a set of greasy overalls came out of the diner and caught his comment. “We cleared your schedule today, boss. You don’t need to be at the shop. You wanted to welcome Corey and give him a tour.” He turned to me. “I’m Russ, by the way.”
I smiled at him. “I think perhaps Beta Zane doesn’t like to be away from his work for too long.” But he sure likes to be away from me.
Russ’s brow furrowed. “It is an honor to welcome the Alpha’s brother to the den. Zane was looking forward to a day off.”
That muscle ticked again in Zane’s jaw. The playful side of me loved the reaction that we were getting from my ma—from Zane. But I didn’t wish to cause him more stress. He might not want me, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t already starting to care about him.
The entire emotional roller coaster I was on was only getting more intense by the second.
