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It’s like when he’s with me, the entire world falls away.

He leans down and brushes a kiss against my forehead.

I feel a twist of disappointment as he pulls away from me, but I swallow it down. Now isn’t the time for those sorts of feelings.

“You ready to check out?”

“Yeah,” I say, nodding and trying to get my racing heartbeat under control. “Yeah, I’m ready.”

“Thank you,” I tell him as we walk out of the store.

“No need to thank me,” He says, flashing me his usual charming smile. His smile falls when his phone buzzes in his pocket. He takes it out and winces. “We should get going to my agency, they want to get the interview done soon.”

My hands squeeze around the couple bags I’m holding and I take a deep breath. “Okay, let’s get started.”

“Hey,” he says, his voice soft. “It’ll be okay.”

“You’ll be there with me, right?”

“If you want me to be.”

“Yes please,” I say, nodding eagerly. “I don’t want you to leave me.”

“I won’t leave you, ever. I promise.”

CHAPTER 12

JAX

As we walk into my agency’s building, to my surprise, Olivia takes my hand in hers and squeezes it. I remember when we first met and she didn’t want anything to do with physical contact with me. A warm feeling sparks in my chest at the thought that she feels safer with me.

I squeeze her hand back, looking down at her.

“How’re you doing?” I ask her as we step into the elevator.

“Fine,” She says, her jaw clenching.

“Oh no,” I say, my voice dropping.

“What?” She asks, turning up to look at me.

“Sound the alarms! She said she’s ‘fine’, the world is gonna end,” I tease.

She just rolls her eyes at me, letting out a small huff.

“Seriously though, how’re you doing?”

“I mean, does that matter? I don’t think that’s gonna change anything.”

“It matters to me,” I say softly, lifting her hand and kissing the back of it.

She pauses, looking at her hand in mine before letting out a deep sigh. “I’m just not used to talking about my shit, you know? I like leaving it in the fucking past.”

“I get that,” I murmur.

“But I have to do it. I’m not gonna withhold information that could be important for helping other omegas.”

“And remember, I’ll be right by your side. I’m not leaving you, okay?”