Page 61 of The Omega's Fake Mate

“They were out of date when my grandmother was still alive. I couldn't sell them anymore,” I explained. But Nick had already moved on to something else, namely the lists taped to my fridge with magnets.

“It's good to know you still make lists for everything.”

“Not everything,” I protested.

“C'mon.” He shot me a look and recited the title of the topmost list. “List of cars I will never buy.” Then he went on to, “Titles of books left to review,” and, “People I will not lend books to anymore.”

“Those are all important lists. Especially that last one.”

“What did those poor people do?” Nick asked as he moved away from the fridge. Obviously, my lists could not hold his attention any longer.

“They're book abusers.”

“Book abusers?”

“People who dog-ear the pages or perform similarly heinous crimes.”

“Oh.” For only a second, guilt flashed across Nick's features.Oh no.What had he done? Before I could ask, Nick flopped in the chair in front of my desk, looking intently at my laptop. Too late I realized that I still had my work-in-progress open. “Were you writing?” he asked, leaning in. “Oh. Wow.” His eyebrows shot up. “You were writing somethingnaughty.”

No point denying that now when Nick had the evidence right in front of him. Nothing for me to do but own up to it. After the night we'd shared in Crystal Bay, there was no reason to be shy. “I was, until you interrupted me.” And I was still not sure exactly why he had come, but I was glad for it anyway.

“And here I thought you were writing a book about underprivileged omegas.”

“I tend to have more than one project going at a time.” Tonight, I'd been in the mood for something a little more spicy. Especially since I couldn't get Nick out of my head. It was impossible to focus on anything more serious when all I could think about was whether or not I could keep him by my side.

“I see.” Nick's eyes flew over the lines. “You didn't get very far.”

“No.”

“Do you write stuff like this a lot?” His eyebrows were still raised, as if he couldn't quite believe what he'd discovered. What, did he think I was too tame to write what he'd just read?

Time to prove him wrong.

“Come down with me,” I told him and led the way to bookstore below us, where I turned on the light and showed him a row of shelves in the back area. This was where I kept all the romance and erotica novels. “This is my pen name,” I said, pointing to the back of one of the books, which read: “An Alpha's Lost Love by Z. C. Silver.”

Nick stepped up beside me to pull the book from its shelf, and then he scanned the row of books beside it. “But that's like twenty books,” he said, surprise evident in his voice. “You wrote twenty porn books?”

“They're not porn books, they're romance,” I corrected him. “Did you ever finish reading the one I gave you?”

Nick's eyes grew even wider. “You wrote that one too?”

A little laugh escaped me. Nick looked just too cute in his confusion. He seriously hadn't expected me to be writing anything remotely raunchy.Still waters run deep, my friend.“It's my latest,” I said. “Not even published yet. What do you think? Is it gonna do well?”

“It might!” Nick said with some enthusiasm as he regained his composure. “I mean, I don't know much about books, but I... liked it. What I've read so far. I haven't finished it.” At this, he looked aside as if a little ashamed.

“It's fine. You don't need to be a super-fast reader. I'm just glad that you enjoyed what you read.”

He gave me a soft smile as he placed the book back on its shelf. “I've always liked your stories and if you hadn't given me that one... I might never have asked you to be my pretend boyfriend.”

“And what a tragedy that would have been,” I tried to joke, even though I meant it.

“How does the story end?” Nick asked. For a moment, I wasn't sure whether he was talking about the book or us. When I looked at his face, it seemedhewasn't too sure either.

“I wouldn't want to spoil it for you. You have to read it.”

Nick stepped away from the shelves and took my hands. “At least tell me if there's going to be a happy ending,” he said, peering into my eyes.

My heart beat faster, feeling his absolute attention on me. “It's a romance novel.”