“And yet you asked me out again?”
“What can I say? I’m a glutton for punishment.”
“Apparently so,” she laughed, taking another bite of the mushroom on her fork.
“It’s no big deal. The workshop can be replaced. I just hate that I lost a few things in there that had belonged to my father.”
“I can understand that. Was it his workshop or did you just have some things of his stored in there?”
“It was his workshop, sat beside the house I grew up in.”
“You live in your parents’ house?” she asked.
“Yeah. Well, it sounds weird when you say it as if I live in my mother’s basement or something. I inherited the place after they both were gone.”
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t ask personal questions like that.”
“It’s okay. How else will you get to know me?”
Adriana smiled at this, feeling a twinge of shame at having to dupe him about who she really was. She thought about coming clean and seeing if this might be something more real than just an assignment, but she needed to keep her wits about her and just do her job. This wasn’t about her finding romance. It was an article to be done, and she only had another week or so to deal with this. What happened after that, she couldn’t be sure.
“I feel like I’m going to need a wheelbarrow for you to roll me out of here,” she laughed when they were done.
“You can eat. I’ll give you that.”
“I’m sorry. I guess that’s not very, um, ladylike.”
“Ladylike is a matter of opinion, in my book. I will say that you aren’t like any other Omega I’ve ever met, though.”
“How’s that?” she replied.
Her thoughts centered on how badly she was failing at this. It was one thing to say you’d just go out there and act like an Omega, but it was entirely different to actually do it. Omegas were demure, pliable. That wasn’t her. How could she really do an article justice if she was throwing off the game?
“I don’t know. It’s a compliment; trust me.”
“I guess I will have to,” she told him.
The server brought the check, and she resisted the urge to ask if he wanted to split it. Letting a man buy your meals on every date was an antiquated practice, but she had to try to maintain her role. She was a low-paid administrative assistant and an Omega. He was shopping for a mate. It was his place to pay to play. Ugh. What a ridiculous practice.
“Alright, let’s get out of here. If you don’t mind taking a ride with me, I’d like to show you something.”
Much to her surprise, she didn’t hesitate and weigh the possibility of him being some sort of degenerate. Instead, she accepted and walked out to his car with him. She was surprised to find it was a sleek black Aston Martin, though an older model. It didn’t seem to fit with a man that owned a construction company, but she supposed there was no accounting for taste.
Twenty minutes later, they were pulling onto a remote dirt road and she was rethinking how quickly she’d accepted his invitation.CHAPTER TENDane
“You’re going to love this,” Dane told her, putting the car in park and getting out without waiting for her to exit.
Adriana was already reaching for her door handle when he made it around to her side to open the door, but he opened it for her anyway. She looked a little more than wary when she stepped out and looked around.
“Oh, God. I should have realized. You don’t know me that well, and I’ve brought you out to the middle of nowhere. Relax. I’m not going to murder you.”
Her expression was some strange mix of surprise and relief, though he still sensed a bit of apprehension in there too. He couldn’t blame her, but she’d see why he’d brought her in just a moment.
“What is this place?”
“It’s a part of my clan’s property. We keep it as sort of a nature preserve: undisturbed lands where we can shut out all the hustle and bustle of modern life. It’s like stepping back in time, isn’t it?”
“A bit. I feel like I’ve ventured onto the set of Lost.”
“I can see that. Come on, see why we came here.”
Adriana walked beside him, another oddity about her. Omegas typically walked slightly behind. He found it a bit too old fashioned for his taste and was happy enough to see a woman on equal footing, but he also recognized it as being a little different.
They approached the edge of a dense area and he pointed to a large lake just ahead of them.
“There. That’s where we are going. Watch your footing.”
The air around them was quiet except for the sounds of their shoes crunching along on the narrow dirt path laden with debris from the latest storm. He’d have to get someone to clear off the paths that allowed them to walk freely through this area without fear of doing any harm to the habitat.