Page 30 of Manny's Surprise Baby

“Okay, but let’s say he doesn’t click with me and I don’t want to hire him. Are you really just going to leave?”

“I agreed to a week.”

Moving closer, he looked perplexed. “But, if we get along okay, why do you need to leave at all?”

“I just do.”

It was impossible to explain why I didn’t want to stay and why I didn’t trust him, without also having to tell him about my past. How I’d been used by alphas for their own pleasure, until I couldn’t stand the sight or smell of another alpha. It was only after being at the compound for a while that I’d even come to the point where I could be in the same room with an alpha without wanting to claw their eyes out.

“I understand.”

My chest tightened at his agreeable response. He didn’t understand anything. But he seemed willing to accept my response. If I’d been a more trusting person, that would have made me open up to him. But I’d been fooled one too many time by charming, seemingly harmless alphas only to find them brutal, selfish pigs once they had me alone and vulnerable. For all I knew, maybe he was only behaving now because Emily was in the house. It was disturbing how different people were when they thought no one could see or hear them.

“Well…” He grimaced. “Thanks for saving me some dinner.”

I shrugged. “I like cooking.”

“I hate it.”

“Brad cooks.”

He frowned. “Awesome.”

I laughed. “He’s a good guy.”

“I feel like you’re setting me up on a blind date I don’t want to go on. Next you’ll tell me he has a great personality.”

“He does. Better than mine, that’s for sure.”

“I like how you are.” He sounded sincere.

I squinted. “You could barely stand the sight of me only a few days ago.”

“You were pretty mouthy when I first met you.” He bit his bottom lip. “You seem more mellow now.”

“I think it’s the other way around.”

He lifted one shoulder. “Maybe we’ve simply come to understand each other a little better.”

“Maybe.”

“I’m glad,” he said softly. “I see no reason why alphas and omegas can’t be friends.”

“They can be. I just prefer not to be around alphas. It’s my own thing.”

He sighed. “I want to ask why. I want to know why.” He frowned and turned his back on me. “But I know it’s none of my business, and you wouldn’t tell me if I asked.”

“No. I wouldn’t. It’s not information you need to know.”

“How do you know this Brad guy?” He changed the subject abruptly.

I hesitated. “Through a mutual friend.”

“Does he talk a lot? I don’t like it when people rattle on and on.”

“I don’t know him that well. But he has impeccable references and, like I said, he has way more childcare experience than me. I get along with kids, but I’ve really only been doing it for a little over two years. Even then it was very casual.” I’d found that, while at the compound, I’d had a gift for relating to some of the omegas and their kids. But it had been very organic, and I still wasn’t sure how I’d fare in an organized manny position. I’d bonded easily with Emily because her situation mirrored my own in many ways. How I’d do with other families, I had no idea.

“Emily isn’t going to care about his credentials.”