Page 43 of The Omega's Fake Mate

“Oh.” Conner looked at his feet, then he held a bag up to me. “I brought sandwiches.”

I almost had to laugh. How could I be mad at Conner when he tried to console me with sandwiches?

“Any tuna in there?” I asked.

“Yes!” He beamed, handing the bag to me.

“Thank you.” I reached in and grabbed a sandwich. Come to think of it, I really hadn't had a chance to eat yet. Noticing that there was a second sandwich in the bag, I gave it to Conner. “You know, you'd have more money to buy books if you spent less on sandwiches.”

He shrugged. “It's all right. My dad and Kade never really mind giving me book money. Besides, I'm not here to buy anything today.”

“Oh, you're not?” I tried to fake a sad face, but I'd never been a great actor. Good thing I really cared about Nick, or I never would have been able to fool my parents.

“All right, boys,” Mrs. Fawnston said, stepping past me. “I gotta get going. There are candles waiting to be made.” Before leaving, she shot me one last meaningful glance. “Don't wait until it's too late, Zander.”

With that, she was gone.

“What did she mean?” Conner asked.

“That you're too curious for your own good.” The boy really didn't need to know that I was faking a relationship with his dad's cousin. Biting into my sandwich, I went to sit in the chair behind the register, but found it occupied by my dog. Well then. Betty had earned her rest more than I had. I turned to Conner again. “What are you doing here if you're not looking to buy? Hiding again?”

“Kind of? I don't know. My family is being stupid. Everyone is being stupid.”

That was a sentiment I could sympathize with. I'd certainly had days like that when I was Conner's age, and even now sometimes.

“You can hang out for a while if you'd like to,” I said. “Provided you've walked your dog.”

“I have!”

“Good. You can read, but be careful with the books.” I knew he would be. Otherwise I'd never give permission.

“Really?” He looked as if I'd just given him tickets to Disney World. “Great!”

“Get to it before I change my mind.”

He didn't need to be told twice.

For a while, everything was quiet in the store. Conner was busy scanning my shelves for all the books he wanted to read, and I picked up the copy ofThe Mating Rituals of Homosexual Penguinsthat still lay on the table next to the register. I should probably put it back, but I'd started paging through it whenever I had some down time in the store, and it was actually quite interesting.

The silence didn't last forever, though. I'd only just gotten absorbed in my reading when Conner spoke up.

“Mr. Kerner? Could I ask you a question?”

I peered at him over the top of the book. “What do you want to know?”

“Just um...” Conner shifted his weight from one foot to the other. I put my book down, intrigued. It wasn't like Conner to be this nervous about asking a question. Finally, he got the words out. “Is it true that all alphas want their omegas to have their babies?”

I felt my eyebrows go up higher than they ever had before. Where did that come from? And wasn't this the kind of talk Conner should be having with his parents rather than me? Running a hand through my hair, I shook my head. “It's very difficult to make any statement that applies toallalphas,” I tried to dissuade Conner.

“Then just tell me about your experience,” he pressed on.

“I'm sorry. I don't have any experience with that. Honestly, I think I'd make a fairly poor parent.” I was too absorbed in my work, in my books.

Funny then, that one of my books was starting to become my reality.

“I don't think you would be a bad parent,” Conner said.

“That's only because you're not as difficult as other children.”