Page 42 of The Alpha and the Baker

“I know.” It was a simple reference to a children’s cartoon, and yet the way it lit up her face made it so worth it.

Sometimes it felt like Felicia was incredibly delighted just to be seen.

Which was… well, I wanted her to always feel that way.

“But what I was thinking was… I could come and do this again. Not every day, obviously, but I could swing by when I have to go shopping at the market, grab our stuff and store it in your fridge, then help with the rest of your shift.”

For some reason, nerves coiled in my belly. Even though Felicia and I had been having a great time, I still felt a bit too big and bulky in her small space. I would have used the term a bull in a china shop if my wolf didn’t take offense to it.

Felicia stood bolt upright, staring at me with wide eyes, before motioning for me to follow her into the back of the bakery. Had I accidentally insulted her or committed some grand faux pas?

I kept my questions to myself until Felicia stopped all the way in the back corner by the rack of flour.

“Are you serious?” she whispered like she was afraid one of the ladies out front would overhear. I didn’t really understand the secrecy, but I kept my voice low as well. I wished I could read her emotions a little better, but all I got was shock. Her scent was sharp and full of adrenaline.

“Of course. I wouldn’t offer if I didn’t mean it. But if you?—”

“You’d really wanna do that? Haul yourself here at the ass-crack of the morning just to help me? I can’t afford to pay you a livable wage.”

Ah, that’s what was going on. She was so used to doing things on her own that she couldn’t fathom why I’d even offer.

It saddened me a little, but it also made my alpha instincts rise.

I could provide for her in a way so many had failed to do.

I thoroughly believed Felicia could do anything, but I wanted her to know she didn’t have to do it alone unless she wanted to.

“I don’t need to be paid, sweetheart,” I said, taking her hand.

It was so much smaller than mine, yet so strong.

The muscles in her hands had been honed through years of bringing culinary joy to so many people.

“Pardon me if this is presumptuous, but I did assume I would be spending the night beforehand. You know…” I gave her a little wink to lighten the mood, grinning when she flushed slightly. “For convenience. ”

“Convenience, sure,” she teased. There was an uptick of happiness in her scent. It was a bubbly, fizzy sort of sensation that tickled my nose and made me smile.

“And if you’re willing to go into teaching mode, I know several young ones in the pack who would love to learn a thing or two here.

I’m pretty sure Polly mentioned something about it to me in passing.

It would probably have to be an occasional weekend during the school year, but I can name at least three off the top of my head who would be thrilled. ”

It wasn’t quite what I expected. Maybe a smile and a laugh, or maybe a gentle refusal about the young ones, but instead tears began to well up in the corner of Felicia’s eyes.

“Whoa, hey, sweetheart, are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” she murmured, her voice warbling slightly.

“It’s just…” She paused and took a couple of deep breaths.

I wanted to pepper her with dozens of questions, asking exactly what was going on in her head, but I pushed back that instinct and waited.

“I’m just realizing that I’m really not alone. ”

“Oh, Felicia.” I pulled her into my embrace.

I didn’t know if my heart was breaking for her or celebrating with her, so I let myself hold her until we both figured it out.

“I promise you, as long as you want to be in our lives, the McCallister pack has got your back. Even if you and I don’t work out, you’re in for life. ”

“I… it’s hard to wrap my brain around. Two weeks ago, it was me against the world. Two days ago, you ran away from me like I had a gun with silver bullets.”

“I know, I know,” I said, patting her back. “And again, I’m sorry I let the panic win. I should have stayed and talked with you.”

She shrugged as much as her arms would allow with how she was clinging to me. “I understand it. I just dropped that on you. I didn’t realize shifters had such scary enemies. If I’d known about the hunters, I never would have sprang it on you like that.”

“Eh, hindsight is twenty-twenty.” I let go of her and cupped her face, brushing away her tears with my thumbs. “You know I don’t blame you one iota, right?”

She nodded, tilting her face just enough to the side to kiss my palm. “Yeah, I know. You’re pretty easy-going for a wolf. Most of what I read online said that your beastly side makes it so you had to constantly stay in control of your anger.”

“You read all that and you still drove out to a pack’s territory all on your own?”

She smiled softly at that, looking only slightly chagrined. “Yeah, I suppose I’m lucky how that all turned out.”

I leaned forward to kiss the top of her head. I’d never been huge into PDA, but with Felicia, it was just so hard to stay away from her. Whether I was ravishing her, comforting her, or just playing around, I wanted to be in constant contact with her. “I think I’m the lucky one.”

“Maybe we’re both lucky.”

We continued to hold each other until duty called and we had to separate. Still, I found time to give her a quick kiss, nothing more than a little kiss, but I put a lot of meaning into it.

“If I manage to get my orders increased a bit more, I could pay one of the young ones minimum wage for a short shift every week. Preferably Sunday mornings, because those are always crazy with the church crowd.”

“Sounds perfect. I assure you, your orders are gonna pick up with all the birthdays and celebrations we have in the pack.”

“You know, everyone doesn’t have to shop here just because we’re dating, right?”

I shrugged. “We’re a loyal bunch. Now that the whole pack knows you’re a safe person and you deliver quality work, you won’t be able to get rid of us.”

“Maybe eventually I’ll get that, but right now…”

“It’s okay.” I pulled her close for another quick squeeze. One day, I’d be able to go more than five minutes without touching her when we were in close proximity of each other, but today was most certainly not that day. “You take as long as you need.”

“Thanks, Cas.”

“Of course.”

We separated, and I went to watch the front as she busied herself with some custard.

It wasn’t quite seven in the morning, and the bakery had already been open for an hour.

I definitely wasn’t a night owl, but I also didn’t get up at the ass-crack of dawn unless it was my day to drive to the market.

“Shit!” Felicia hissed quietly from the kitchen. I wouldn’t have heard her without my enhanced hearing, but concern still flashed through me, and I hurried to the back.

“Everything okay?”

“I don’t have enough dates for some of the stuff I was going to make today,” she muttered, chewing on her thumb. “It’s not a huge deal, but I was looking forward to making a play on devils on horseback with goat’s cheese.”

“Hey, I actually know a vendor at the public market that sells the best medjool dates. If you want, I can go grab a bunch.”

Cue the wide eyes. “You’d do?—”

“I promise I will never offer to do something if I’m not ready, willing, and able to do it with a happy spirit,” I said. I got the feeling that gentle repetition was the key to getting through to her.

“Okay. Right. I’ll get used to that, I swear.” She took a deep breath, then leveled me with what I was beginning to think of as her “business time” look. “Yes, would you please grab me those dates? I need at least two pounds.”

“I would be happy to. Anything you need me to do before I head out?”

She shook her head, then stood on her tiptoes to kiss my cheek. I loved that she was just as eager to touch me as I was to have my hands on her at all times. “No, but thanks.”

“All right, I’m gonna head out. Be back in thirty minutes?”

“Perfect! I’ll get the batter started.”

I had no idea what devils on horseback were, but I liked dates and goat’s cheese. Felicia had yet to make anything unappealing, and I was excited to taste whatever she created.

Somehow, I made it out to my car without kissing, hugging, or otherwise getting all up into Felicia’s undercarriage.

I whistled happily to myself as I headed to the market.

Never in a million years had I thought I would date a human, but I had to admit, it was going incredible so far.

Granted, we’d only been officially dating for a few hours, but whatever.

If I couldn’t be ridiculously optimistic during the honeymoon phase, when could I?

Normally, I arrived at the market much earlier and got a good parking space.

Now, though, I had to drive around the farthest parking lot for about fifteen minutes before finding a spot.

I’d forgotten what it was like not to show up as soon as it opened.

But even the annoyance of wasting gas by driving in circles couldn’t touch my happy mood as I parked and headed toward the market, reusable shopping bags in hand.

I liked to pretend they were in my car because I was always prepared, but really, I’d bought about twenty of them when the state got rid of plastic and stashed them in the trunk only to forget about them until the last moment.

Eventually, they’d all be gone, disseminated among other pack members, and then Chris would gather a whole bunch to put right back into my trunk.

He was a brilliant beta.