Page 53 of The Omega's Fake Mate

“How I met my husband, if you must know.”

My eyebrows went up of their own volition. “You were researching him?”

“Yeah. Well, not him especially, but I was doing a paper on Vinism and he offered to help me with it.”

“That's nice of him,” I said drily.

“Don't be passive-aggressive,” Rhys admonished me. “It doesn't suit you.”

“Fine.” I stacked the dried plates up on the counter. “I'll try not to be. But you need to think this through, Rhys. If you're having children with this man, you're never ever getting out of this life. Not completely. Have you considered that?”

My brother glared at me. “I'm not stupid, you know.”

“That's what I'm counting on.” With that, I put the dishrag down and left the kitchen.

18

Nick

When I came in, Zander was lounging on the bed, the book from last night in his hand, but he looked up as soon as I opened the door.

“How did it go?” he asked.

I shook my head and sat on the edge of the bed. “I don't know what to say to him to make him understand.”

“Maybe this is a realization he has to come to by himself.”

I sighed, frustrated. “What if it's too late by the time that happens?”

The mattress dipped under me as Zander moved on the bed until he sat by my side. “Then we'll be here for him either way.”

“We?” I asked, my heart doing a weird little leap.

“Yeah. I don't like that husband of his, either. Remember how you abandoned me in the living room with the man? I got to hear a lot more than I ever wanted to.Plentyof research material for my book.”

“I'm sorry.” I inched a little closer to him, kind of tempted to rest my head on his shoulder. After the day we'd had, I felttired, but knowing that I wasn't alone in this made it all a little better. Zander was on my side. I exhaled as a bit of the weight of the day fell off me.

“It's fine,” Zander said, and I wasn't sure whether he was referring to the fact that I had abandoned him or that I was sitting so close to him I was nearly sittingonhim. I figured maybe he meant both when he laid an arm around my shoulder. I took it as an invitation to lean on him a little, if only for tonight.

“I didn't stay in the living room for a long while anyway,” Zander continued. “I made up some flimsy excuse to get out of there as soon as I could. Told him I wasn't feeling well after the long car ride. I don't know if he bought it. I'm a terrible actor.”

“You're not a terrible actor. You did fine today. I don't think anyone doubted our marriage.” Closing my eyes for a moment, I let my head fall on his shoulder.

He ran his fingers through my hair in a soothing motion and I nearly purred. He smelled so good—like fresh ink and mountain air andZander, and that odd heat I'd felt the day before came back, simmering just beneath my skin.

“That's because I wasn't acting much,” Zander said after another heartbeat.

Wait, what?

“You weren't?” Slowly, the sleepiness fell off me. If Zander wasn't acting, did that mean...?

I watched his Adam's apple move as he swallowed. For nearly a full minute, he said nothing, and then, “Remember what I told you all those years back when I was calling you from the phone box outside my grandma’s store? I meant that, and I never truly stopped feeling that way about you. I don’t have topretendlike I care about you.”

I sat straight so I could look at him. He grabbed my hand as if to keep me from leaving without giving him a response. Leaving wasn't what I had in mind, though. No, quite the opposite. I only needed a moment to process what I was being told. My heart was beating out of my chest and a thousand thoughts were swirling in my mind, all in different directions.

Zander gave me a small smile. “It's okay if you don't know what to say. You don't have to say anything. But I thought you should know.”

He thought I should know. I could only shake my head. He confessed his love to me so casually, like it was a fact of nature. Maybe it was. Sitting here with him felt natural. I could never really figure out where my place was in life, but right next to Zander, I felt at home. I still didn't know what to say, but I knew exactly what I wanted to do.