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CAMERON

A stripe of late-morning sunlight fell across Jamie's sleeping face, warming my heart as much as it warmed his skin. I stayed still and traced the path of golden freckles on his neck with my eyes. We’d been there for two days and they were heaven. I didn’t even mind being stranded in the sad excuse of a motel while the local mechanic sorted out my car issues because it was the perfect chance for us to get to know each other better.

Every time Jamie looked at me, he grinned like I was his whole world. I was pretty sure I did the same when I looked at him.

As the light in the room brightened, Jamie stirred and instinctively reached across my chest to feel for me. Nothing could possibly be better than being the first thing he reached for in the morning.

His eyes blinked open and locked on me. "You’re awake."

"Hard not to be when someone's kicking like a rabbit." I kissed his nose and tightened my arm around him.

Jamie chuckled, a low and happy sound as he nuzzled closer. "I’m definitely as horny as a bunny."

“I can attest to that, not that I’m complaining or anything.” I inhaled deeply, breathing in the scent of him. "So, what do you want to do today?"

Jamie propped himself up on one elbow, looking down at me with a grin. "Um, continue to not think about my family or having to explain anything to them."

I knew what he meant. I wasn’t looking forward to that conversation and certainly not facing his father or the psycho alpha Jamie had been betrothed to. Fated mates had a claim that usurped any other agreements, but that didn’t mean Northpaw would take the loss easily. Then again, maybe he’d already moved on to his next omega.

I stretched out my arms above my head and sighed. "I saw a flyer in the lobby for a waffle place nearby. You wanna check it out?"

He sat up with hair rumpled and a completely serious look on his face. "That’s a joke, right? Of course I want waffles. And for the record, you never have to ask. The answer is always a hard yes."

Well, damn. When he put it that way, waffles sounded pretty good to me too. “Well, then, get your sweet ass outta bed and let’s get going.”

The air outside was cool as we strolled down the quiet streets. The town was small and old, with peeling paint on the storefronts and wildflowers growing between the cracks in the sidewalk. It felt like the kind of place people stayed in forever.

At the diner, we slid into a booth with sticky seats and a Formica table, but Jamie was practically salivating. “It smells so good in here.”

“Cinnamon rolls.” A server appeared at the table with a carafe of coffee. “Should I bring you one?”

“Yes, please!” Jamie dumped half the sugar dispenser into his cup as he glanced at the menu. “And waffles with…strawberries.”

I ordered a veggie omelet and orange juice for both of us. Not that he needed any more sugar.

"Are you drinking that or making candy?" I asked, raising an eyebrow as I eyed his mug.

He grinned and poured in some cream. "If only candy were this simple, I would. But who wants to drink something bitter in the morning? It’ll ruin my palate for the cinnamon rolls and waffles."

That was some backward logic if I ever heard it. “You might want a few bites of my omelet too. Protein and veggies aren’t bad words, ya know.”

He shrugged. “I’ll have a salad at lunch. Breakfast should be sweet enough to jumpstart your day.”

If that were true, he was about to jumpstart his month.

The waffles arrived a few minutes later and they were bigger than his plate. He pushed the cinnamon roll to the center between us and waited until he’d eaten all his strawberries to dig into the center of the roll. “I like to start in the middle since that’s the best part.” He stopped with his fork stuck in the gooey dough and looked up at me. “Unless you want the middle.”

I chuckled. “It’s all yours, sweetheart. But I think we’re gonna need to go on a run today to burn off some of these calories.”

“Okay.” He dug out the gooiest part of the pastry and shoved it into his mouth. His eyes practically rolled back in his head as he enjoyed it.

“Good?” I couldn’t resist cutting off a piece for myself as he moaned almost orgasmically.

“Mmmm…”

We ate slowly and enjoyed every bite of the food and the company. It was so easy to imagine doing this every morning. It had only been a few days, and I was already completely addicted to the omega.

Back at the motel, we lounged on the bed with full bellies and not much else going on. I’d responded to a few client emails but told them I was on location for a few weeks, so I didn’t have anything pressing. It was the first time in a long time that I was just present in the moment.

Jamie flipped through channels on the TV and paused on anything that looked like it was made before either of us were born. There weren’t a ton of options, but that was fine with me. I was perfectly content to lay with my head in his lap, watching him more than the screen.

This. I wanted so much more of this.

After an hour of midday sitcoms, we decided to stretch our legs and go for a walk. We wandered into a little park that had a large field of grass and swings from the playground creaking in the distance.

Jamie dropped down onto a bench and pulled me with him then rested his head on my shoulder. "It’s kinda perfect here," he murmured, lacing his fingers with mine.

I pressed my cheek to his hair and sighed. "You tryin’ to make me forget we're on the clock?"

“Kinda.” He laughed softly, then sighed. "What if Roderick doesn’t let me go? His family has a lot of money and power."

The idea of him with anyone else was unthinkable. "Fated mates trump money or contracts. You don’t have to worry about him. "

"I hope not." He looked up at me with complete trust. "I know you’ll take care of me."

Clouds started to cover the sky, and we didn’t want to get caught in the rain, so we headed back to the motel, quickly stopping at a deli for salads and sandwiches we could eat for dinner if we didn’t want to go out again.

The mechanic working on my car left a message that he got the parts he was waiting for and should be done with the work before the weekend. That was great news, but it also meant our little bubble of solitude would be bursting soon. We needed to take full advantage of the peace we had in that little motel room, because once I took Jamie back to his family home, we might not have peace for a while.

I handed Jamie a pair of stiff shoes and a little pencil. “You ready for this?”

“I guess.” He looked at the pencil and frowned. “What do we do with this?”

“Keep score.” I chuckled and led him to lane 4. “You’ve really never been bowling?”

He shook his head as he made a face at the shoes. “I don’t think so, but if I did, I can understand why I repressed the memory.”

I smiled and kissed his cheek. “I’ll try to make it a memory you don’t need therapy to unlock someday.”

The bowling alley wasn’t modern or fancy, but it reminded me of the place I went to as a kid, so I was excited to teach Jamie how to bowl.

Jamie pulled my too-big jacket tighter around him and gave me a look that was somewhere between incredulous and amused. It hadn’t been either of our first choice for date night, but neither of us wanted to spend another night locked in that dingy little room, so here we were.

“Ready to have your ass handed to you by a rookie?” He stretched his arms over his head as if he were preparing to run a marathon. “I’m feeling lucky tonight.”

Brat . “Oh, you’re gonna get lucky tonight. Just not sure it’s gonna happen on this lane, sweetheart.”

Jamie glanced around, his eyes bright with mischief. “There aren’t many people around. I can be quiet…”

Okay, now that was funny. “You definitely can not be quiet. I’m sure every person in the motel would attest to that.”

His jaw dropped and his cheeks flushed. “Really? Do you think people can hear me?”

Was he joking? “Uh, yeah.” I laughed out loud. “You haven’t noticed the banging on walls?

“I guess I thought they were having fun too?” He lifted one shoulder and then seemed to be over it. “Oh, well. They’re probably just jealous.”

“Anyone who has seen you is definitely jealous that you’re mine.” I pulled him to my chest and gave him a quick kiss.

“Aww.” He rested his head on my shoulder for a second and then sighed. “Okay, enough with your distraction attempts. Show me how to win this game so I can claim my reward.”

“And what reward would that be?” I walked to the wall of balls and picked one that felt like it might be a good fit for Jamie. “How does this feel?”

He took the ball and bounced it in his right palm. “It’s fine. And my reward will be your knot.”

I raised an eyebrow at that. “You get that twice a day anyway. It’s not much of a reward.”

He scoffed as if offended by such a remark. “It’s the most precious reward I could ever ask for. Besides, if you win, you get an extra-long blow job. The way I see it, no one will leave a loser tonight.”

I liked his logic. “Let’s get to it, then.”

He stuck his tongue out at me and started setting up the game. The way he bounced around and hummed as he moved made my heart full of joy. It was like every worry he’d previously had about our looming trip back to his family was forgotten.

The first ball I rolled ricocheted like a drunken pinball, and Jamie cackled so hard he nearly toppled over. “Remind me to get you a set of bumpers,” he choked out, dramatically wiping his tearing eyes.

I glared at the lane as if it had insulted my honor. “It’s all part of my strategy.” I clenched my jaw as I waited for my ball to emerge from the return. My second throw knocked down half the pins, but it was still a pathetic showing.

Jamie took a few practice swings that I thought might result in a broken window or my skull, but then the ball skated down the center of the lane and dropped every damn pin. “Strike!” He turned back to me, shrugging like it was nothing. Punk .

A competitive fire stoked inside me as I wondered if I’d been played. “Okay, show-off. One lucky throw doesn’t mean anything.” I lined up for another shot and focused on the path I wanted the ball to take. Only three pins went down, but my second throw was a spare…along with a sliver of my dignity.

By the third frame, it was clear I’d lost my childhood skills and Jamie had been downplaying his lack of experience. But we had a great time, which was all that mattered to either of us. Every time I looked at him, something light and soft cracked open inside me, and I felt nothing but gratitude for my time with him.