Page 27 of Ronen (Sweet Alps Legacy #1)

Chapter Eighteen

Ronen

“Thank you, so do you,” I said, when he was settled in the driver’s seat. He was wearing a cobalt blue sweater, dark jeans, and his cowboy boots, which looked like he had cleaned and shined them. Sadly, he’d gone hatless tonight, his thick auburn hair gelled and styled.

It had taken about another two weeks before either of us had a night free at the same time.

Mason was already scheduled to work some night shifts, and after being off for a week on medical, didn’t feel right about asking someone to switch with him.

He could have pulled the boss card, but I had to give him credit for not doing that.

I was in the same predicament, having scheduled some nights for myself, plus I had inventory and a deep cleaning of the library to do.

This was our first official date, though there had been a ton of texting and flirting that had happened leading up to tonight.

Mason was funny, and sweet, and I found myself truly liking the man, and even looking forward to our date. Though that had more to do with just being able to spend more time with Mason. I hadn’t been joking when I said I wasn’t good on dates.

I liked the chase, the exhilaration that led to being caught. Once an alpha had piqued my interest enough that I let them catch me, the trouble would begin.

Because I got bored very easily, and when the excitement of the chase was over, I pretty much was too. Moving on to something else that caught my interest.

Maybe if we just skipped the dating part, that wouldn’t happen.

“I’ve never seen this truck before.” I commented.

He pulled onto the highway. “No? I’ve had her for about six months now. The Bronco is technically a work vehicle, and I needed something that was good for hauling hay and feed.”

“Is she named after a dessert too?” I asked, running my hand over the supple leather seat.

Mason grinned at me, and my heart started that annoying pitter patter thing it did whenever he smiled at me.

“Cherry pie,” he told me, amusement in his voice.

“Because she’s red?”

“Well, yeah,” He turned left at Main Street and I wondered where we were going for dinner. “Look when I get a theme going, I stick with it, just so you know. ”

“Noted,” I said seriously, but a small smile tugged at my lips.

“So, you live next to your parents?” he asked, conversationally.

Nodding, I told him, “Technically, yes, but as you saw, I’m far enough away I have my own space and freedom.”

I had built my house about two miles from my parents’ large A-Frame cabin, carving out a place in the woods on our land.

The drive split off to the left once you reached my parents’ place, and that’s where my house was.

The two houses were concealed from one another with tons of trees.

It was my own little piece of peace, but still close to my family.

Most of the Sinclairs lived on our land, which encompassed about a hundred acres, with my grandmother’s mansion basically in the middle, and my uncles scattered close by.

They too had put enough distance between each other and my grandmother that they were close, but not that close.

Rory and Becca had built a house not far from Rory’s parents, and my cousin Logan was planning to start on his house this summer.

We drove a few more minutes in silence, but it wasn’t awkward, surprisingly. It was nice, actually. Neither of us felt a need to fill the silence. The radio was on low, but I couldn’t tell what song was playing unless I used my shifter hearing.

“I made reservations at Mamma Mia’s,” he told me, breaking the silence. Glancing over at me, he said, “I guess I should have asked if you like Italian food.”

“I love it, and I enjoy the food at Mamma Mia’s. It’s quite good.” My hand rested on the seat between us, and when Mason placed his hand next to mine, palm up, it seemed only natural that I placed my hand in his. He didn’t say anything, but his eyes were warm, his smile soft.

“Good. Phew, that would have been awkward.”

“Don’t worry,” I teased, “I was raised with enough manners that I wouldn’t have complained. At least, not on the first date.”

“Does that mean there will be a second date?” Mason inquired, navigating us easily through traffic with one hand. “Since you’ve stated more than once how you feel about the term dating. Or dates, in general.”

Tilting my head, I pretended to put some thought into it. “We’ll see how tonight goes. I’m open to you changing my mind about it. I don’t even know what you have planned.”

“It’s a surprise.”

“I don’t like surprises,” I told him, my eyes narrowed.

Really, I wasn’t lying. Not knowing where we were going tonight had driven me mad all day. How was I to know how to properly dress for the evening if I had no clue what the plan was?

Maddening.

Mason nodded, “You know, somehow I thought you would say that.”

After a minute of silence, I demanded, “Are you going to tell me what your nefarious plans for me are?”

“Nefarious,” he laughed, “quite the word choice. Don’t worry, I have nothing flagrantly wicked or evil planned.” He waggled his eyebrows at me. “Unless you’d like something wicked and evil.”

“Perhaps,” I tapped my lips with a finger, “we’ll see how dinner pans out and I’ll let you know.”

I liked flirting with Mason, even though he had made it clear we needed to keep our clothes on. We had the last couple of weeks, and now I was hoping for some action. The naked kind. What was the point of having a fated mate if you couldn’t get some dick when you needed it ?

Mason laughed, the sound rich and deep, and filling the space of the truck.

“You do that. Honestly, I have dinner, and a movie planned. Nothing spectacular, and a bit lowkey and chill. We can talk during dinner, and then if we run out of things to say to each other–nice things–” he amended, giving me a look that said it needed to be stated, “we have the movie to not talk to each other.”

“What if I don’t like movies?”

“Who doesn’t like movies?” he sounded deeply suspicious of that. “That’s just crazy talk.”

“Fine, fine,” I sighed, deeply aware of our fingers still tangled together. “But I expect candy, a drink, and a bucket of popcorn. To be clear, it is my popcorn. I’m not sharing so you’ll need to get your own.”

“Oof, popcorn and snacks?” Mason turned his blinker on to turn into the restaurant’s parking lot. “I said a movie. I didn’t say anything about extras.”

“Those are the terms of my deal.”

“That boy has heart eyes every time he looks at you, Ronen,” Gigi’s voice near my ear startled me and I nearly jerked my hand out of Mason’s. He gave me an inquiring look, as he expertly maneuvered the large truck into an empty space.

“Sorry,” I told him, trying my best to not turn and glare at the bothersome ghost with the worst timing ever. Heart eyes indeed. “My muscles jumped. Does that ever happen to you? It’s very annoying.”

“Yeah,” Mason turned off the engine, glancing around the parking lot. “Glad I got a reservation; this place is packed.”

“Probably because it’s Valentine’s Day,” I reminded him. “Well, tomorrow is but it’s a Sunday, so I would imagine most people are celebrating tonight. You’re lucky you got a reservation at all.”

He stared at me, his wide eyes shocked. “I had no idea it was Valentine’s. Now I feel like a putz. I should have bought you roses or something.”

“Ew no, thank you, though,” I wrinkled my nose at the thought. “Besides the fact that they jack the price up to an astronomical amount for a made-up holiday, they aren’t my favorite flowers, so no need to spend that kind of money.”

“Really?” Mason seemed skeptical, as he climbed out of the truck. I waited for him to open my door after he did some kind of strange hand signal that I interpreted meant I was to wait and not open my door. “I thought all omegas liked roses.”

Holding his hand out to me, he helped me down from the high seat, even though I was tall enough to get down on my own.

There was something sweet and chivalrous about the gesture, and I found myself not hating it. No other alpha had ever done that for me before, though I had grown up seeing my dad do the same thing for my papa. It caused some kind of odd warmth to start in the middle of my chest and spread outward.

“At what point did you think I was like other omegas?” I teased, as we walked towards the restaurant. “They’re pretty and all, but no.”

Mason held his hand out to me once more, in the same manner he had in the truck, and I slipped my hand into his easily. Staring at our clasped hands as we walked, I realized our fingers fit perfectly together.

“What is your favorite flower?” he asked.

Hesitating for a few seconds, I said, “Don’t laugh…but it’s petunias. ”

“Petunias?” He sounded incredulous, and maybe on the verge of laughing.

“I said what I said.”

“Well, not an ideal flower for a bouquet.”

“No,” I chuckled, “definitely not. You could show up Monday with some half price chocolate, if you really want to make it up to me.”

“That I can do. What’s your poison?” He held the door open for me, and we found ourselves immersed in a throng of people. “Milk, dark, white?”

“I was kidding,” I shook my head at him, as he gently pulled me behind him, cutting a path to the hostess stand.

“Shhh, I’ll just bring you a mix.” He decided, and I rolled my eyes, while he relayed our reservation to the hostess. She grabbed two menus and instructed us to follow her to our table.

“Not white,” I declared, as he held my chair for me.

He settled into his seat, smiling at our server as he took his menu from her.

Flipping my own menu open, I looked at the mouth-watering options. “It’s way too sweet and doesn’t have any cocoa solids. Which means it also has barely any caffeine. I say it’s not even real chocolate, but alas it is. But just no.”