Page 8 of An Omega Fox for Walker (Beartastic Summer of Love #4)
Fennec
I’d slept better the night before than I had in a very long time.
Since before the accident. Maybe the best sleep of my life.
I’d left the window cracked, letting some of the night air come in while I slept.
I loved to hear the noises of the night, but more than that, I wanted my fox to have as much exposure to the elements as possible.
I’d made a fool of myself the night before in front of Walker.
I’d had things to do and better do them now?
What a silly fox I’d become in front of him.
It was all to save face, of course. He was a strong, powerful shifter, or so I’d imagined in my head, and clearly had no problem shifting.
If I told him I was some lame shifter who’d lost his fox somewhere in the midst of trauma, his reaction…
well, I didn’t even want to imagine his reaction.
Disbelief? Empathy? Sympathy? I’d had enough of all of those things for a lifetime.
One long, hot shower later, I decided to get dressed and walk to the main area where breakfast and coffee would be served.
Even though I’d slept well, not a morning went by in my life that didn’t include coffee.
Part of me hoped to see Walker again, but some part of me didn’t.
Taking a look in the mirror, I noticed the dark crescents below my eyes had lightened somewhat, and I had a bit of a glow I didn’t see before. Huh. Must be the mountain air.
I dressed in a light sweater and my favorite worn jeans, hoping I’d brought some nicer things. I had no clue that I would be in the presence of such a handsome man.
Oh well, he probably wasn’t available, and I was only here a week. Too bad.
I’d taken a few steps out of my room when I saw Walker coming toward me with a smile on his face and two steaming cups, one in each hand. Goddess, I wished this man was mine.
“Good morning, Fennec,” he said, walking over. He stopped in front of me, wearing a plain navy-blue sweatshirt and some jeans. “Did you sleep well?”
“I did. Like the dead, actually. What’s all this?”
Walker sighed and looked down at the cups. “A peace offering? I wasn’t maybe the friendliest yesterday and I showed up as my bear and well, I thought we could have a do-over. I’ve been told I can be a little gruff sometimes.”
I took one of the cups. “First, there’s nothing to forgive. Your bear is beautiful.” The heat of a blush crept up my cheeks. I didn’t say anything about the gruff comment. Everyone could be a bit of a grumpy butt sometimes.
“Thank you. Um, should we walk and talk? The view is lovely today.”
Maybe my ego was getting the best of me, but I had a sneaking suspicion that Walker wasn’t talking about the mountains. Lucky me. “It’s so great out here. I already regret not booking a longer trip.”
“Yeah. How long are you here for?”
“A week,” I answered without thinking twice. I wondered why he was so interested to know how long I was staying. “You got my coffee right,” I said. “How did you know?”
He growled so softly, but it shook me to my core. “I took a wild guess.”
“You did well. I like a little coffee with my cream and sugar.”
“Shall we take a walk?” Walker asked, waving his hand out in front of him.
“Sure. Sounds good. How long are you staying?” I asked, trying to extend the previous vein of conversation. I wanted to know how long he would be here and to be honest, how long I had to get him to make a move on me. That was, if he wasn’t taken. I still had to find that out.
“Awhile. Undetermined, actually. I had a lot of vacation time racked up at work.”
“This place is fantastic. What a great way to use up that vacation time.”
“I thought so too.”
We walked around for a while. His voice soothed me and for a moment in time, I forgot all about the accident and my fox choosing to hide himself from me. For a moment, I could just be me.