Page 59 of Dream Mates (Into The Parallel Omegaverse #2)

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Spencer

M y phone rang and I gave Grace a kiss, grabbed my glass, then stepped back from the tasting bar in the old restored barn at the farm and distillery Brennan had suggested.

“Wes, I’m so very sorry for allowing her to be injured.

I should have canceled my meetings and gone with her when she decided to leave the conference hotel.

” My voice went rough. “I let my own bias against super colliders cloud my judgment and convinced myself that being in the same town was enough.”

Guilt coated me. The bruises on her wrist made me angry. Some alpha felt that it was okay to push her, and I wasn’t there to protect her. Because I’d put my meetings, my comfort first.

“Are you done?” Wes snorted. “Spence, you didn’t allow her to be injured.

Grace is an adult. One who wasn’t raised like us and would absolutely resent any actions we’d take that she might see as us attempting to quell her independence.

She doesn’t think you failed her in any way and that, my friend, is what’s important here. ”

I watched as she sipped the contents of her glass. True. “I should have been there.”

“You were down the street. No one blames you. Is she okay? What is she doing right now?”

I looked back over at the tasting bar in time to see her nod and point to a bottle.

“I do believe she’s buying more overpriced bourbon than we could possibly need.” The converted barn was rustic, charming, and filled with liquor to try, food to taste, and items to buy. Soft music filled the room, and a late afternoon breeze wafted in from the open doors.

“You’re bourbon tasting? Not wine tasting?” He laughed.

I took a sip. It wasn’t bad. I didn’t have an issue with bourbon or whiskey, I simply preferred red wine.

“Brennan likes this place and asked us to get him some. I figured that Grace would enjoy the chance to see the animals, tour the distillery, and have a sunset picnic,” I replied.

“She isn’t all right emotionally. It has her more shaken than she wants to admit.

I’m not sure what’s going on here–there are too many coincidences. ”

“Genetics are weird. I mean, this just proves there’s a multiverse and there’s another Grace.”

No.

“As I have told you before, while there is a multiverse, we are not in it. If he’s not one of the omegas my father protected, then who is he?” I wondered.

We were missing something.

“An asshole, obviously,” Wes snorted. “But yeah, I saw the video of what happened in the coffee shop. While that alpha grabbing her made me angry, the professor weirded me out. So did some of the kids. Jett’s doing background checks on them.”

“She’s unsure if she wants to press charges, but we did upload the video and file an incident report with campus police,” I told him. “While she says she’s physically fine, I worry, and have half a mind to have a doctor come to the hotel.”

I was so glad that not only did Grace have the foresight to ask Riley to get the footage, but that Riley had been able to do so quickly. Jett getting background checks wasn’t a bad thing either. I hope we got that genscan soon.

“I know you’re taking good care of her,” Wes assured. “Every time I hear from her she sounds so happy.”

“For the most part she has been quite happy–making friends and contacts, and learning new things.” This trip had been productive for me as well.

Like the meeting at Strauss. One of their chemicals was just what we needed for a new quicktest. Not to mention my speaking engagements help raise money for my company’s after-school science programs.

Still, she’d been injured, and I hadn’t even known. Had Wes? Evan felt her strongly. But then omegas who were bonded to each other usually did.

That was the real reason why, once, packs were discouraged from taking multiple omegas.

Not because of omega jealousy, or fairness given the ratio of omegas to alphas, as they wanted us to believe.

It was because of alpha jealousy at how omegas could feel and love each other so deeply.

Not everyone saw it as a beautiful thing.

Personally, I loved how Grace and Evan made each other happy.

If I’d been bonded to her today…

“She does miss you,” I told Wes.

“I know. I miss her, too. But I’ll see her soon enough–and I’m glad you get to have your romantic trip to the science fair.” He chuckled.

“We’re having a lovely time.” Those dinners, those walks on the beach, they were everything.

“I’ll let you go, have fun. If you’re planning on bonding with her, go for it. She’s already yours, you know. You’re doing fine, Spence.” Wes ended the call.

I rejoined Grace, wrapping my arm around her. Giving me a brilliant smile, she melted into me, fitting so perfectly.

“So, what are we getting? A case of everything?” I teased, accepting a new glass.

“Did you want a case of everything? Because we can do that, sir.” The young woman on the other side of the counter grinned.

“I got two cases of the stuff Bren likes, and a case of this.” Grace held up a bottle of peach bourbon.

The woman behind the counter poured some from an open bottle and gave me a glass. I took a sip and winced at the sweetness.

“Do we need an entire case?” I asked her. They probably only sold it by the case.

“Yes. I also made a custom case–two bottles for each of you based on what I think you’d like. Except for Riley. They had bottles from the year she was born, and we’ll save them for when she’s old enough to drink it.” Grace looked quite pleased with herself.

“You made a case for us, that sounds delightful.” I gave her a squeeze. If anything, it would be entertaining. “Why don’t we pay for the four cases you bought, arrange for them to be sent to the hotel, and go have our picnic.”

“This was such a great idea,” Grace sighed, laying against me, as the sun set, painting the sky with pinks and oranges.

“It really was.” We sat on a blue checkered blanket under a light-festooned tree by a creek, the remains of our picnic feast around us. The food was surprisingly good.

The company had been even better.

I leaned down and stole a kiss, warm and sweet.

“Mmmm, I want another.” She pressed her lips to mine.

Oh, I couldn’t wait to get her back to the hotel.

If I was certain that we had privacy here, I wouldn’t wait.

But just because I couldn’t see anyone didn’t mean they weren’t there, ready to take pictures our pack didn’t need to be public.

I was already certain other guests at the farm had taken photos of us.

Though Grace making me feed baby goats wasn’t incriminating.

Yet it bothered me.

It never had before. It was part of being in the public eye. My father always tried to shield me from it. It was part of why he’d become an academic. But the moment two teenagers formed a pharmaceutical company and landed national and international contracts, Elaris and I became media targets.

Elaris loved it and knew how to use it strategically and artfully. I just accepted it and tried not to ever do anything that I wouldn’t want my mother to see on the evening news.

Somehow everything had changed.

It was one thing if I was at a conference, dinner, or meeting for work.

However, I wasn’t. I was with Grace, sharing a private moment.

Seeing her face light up as she pet horses then tossed hay at me.

Chasing her across a garden and then catching her and twirling her around. Holding her as the sun set.

Those moments were for me alone.

The bugs were out in full force, and I swatted one on my arm–I’d taken off my suit jacket and rolled up my sleeves.

“Shall we go before we get eaten?” I asked her.

“I suppose. Let’s go in the hot tub when we return to the hotel?” She started cleaning everything up and putting it back into the picnic basket.

“Oh definitely. Perhaps wear that swimsuit you wore yesterday? The yellow polka dot one?”

It was a ridiculously tiny bikini, that for some reason she found amusing.

Grace grinned. “If you insist.”

I grabbed the basket, and she got the blanket. Arm in arm, we returned to the barn to turn in our picnic items. The sun had fully set, but the parking lot was busy, since they had outdoor dining in the evening.

“I don’t know who you are or what you think you’re doing, but you need to stay away from my family,” a female voice commanded.

A sharp-featured woman, probably in her early fifties, marched over to us, her brown eyes narrowing in the dim parking lot light. There was something a bit familiar about her. Like I’d run into her before at a conference or meeting. Which was entirely probable.

“Why are you here, Dr. Ellington, if that’s even your name?” she sneered.

“I’m here for the PIIP Conference, Dr. Thorne .

” Grace rolled her eyes. “Who do you think I am? What did you do to the professor’s poor daughter that you are so sure that I’m not her?

Though I’m not. I’m not the professor’s.

I’m not Barrett’s. All I am is a mathematician who made the mistake of having coffee with someone I met at a conference. Apologies for existing.”

Grace did raise a good point. Why did Dr. Thorne immediately assume that this Grace wasn’t the Grace her mate was looking for?

Of course, I could put together a small list–one that didn’t put Dr. Thorne in a very good light.

“How dare you,” she snarled, anger crossing her face. “You’re not her. You can’t be.”

“I know ,” Grace snapped back. “I’m not here to make claims to your family. Believe me, the more I learn about you the more I fear for the professor’s Grace.”

“Please leave us, Dr. Thorne. As you can see, we’re nowhere near your family. We’re just enjoying our evening, and I’d advise you to go home and do the same.” I stepped in front of Grace, shielding.