Jumping off the fence, I jogged to the house and inside. In the mud room, which doubled as a laundry room, I found him a long-sleeved shirt in the basket of clean clothes sitting on thedryer. When I returned, I called his name, and when he looked up, I held the shirt out to him. “Put this on. You’re starting to burn.”
After brushing the dirt off his knees, Ben walked over to me. His allure used to get to me, but not anymore. I didn’t know if I’d gotten accustomed to it, or if Angus’s bond with him had negated it over time.
“Thanks,” he said, slipping his arms into the sleeves.
I pulled out a tube of sunblock I kept in my pocket. “Let me put some of this on your nose. It’s getting red.”
Ben stood still while I applied it to his face. Belatedly, I realized I probably should have let him do it. He was watching me with solemn eyes, and I saw uncertaintythere, but I couldn’t stop mid-task and hand him the tube without looking awkward. So, I continued until I’d completely rubbed the lotion in, enjoying doing it for him a little too much.
“I probably would have just gotten more freckles,” Ben said, looking up at me. “So, thanks.” He smiled briefly before stepping back.
“I think your freckles are cute,” I said, having obviously lost possession of my both tongue and my sanity.
At Ben’s answering wide smile, I couldn’t regret it, though.
“Colt!” Angus’s voice rang out from the front of the house. When I looked that way, he raised his hand and waved me to come inside.
Pocketing the sunblock, I nodded to Ben and headed for the house just as I saw Maddox in the distance walking along the fence line.Good. He’ll be around to keep an eye on the three omegas.We all feared that any moment an unmarked car would pull up carrying unwanted government visitors, although Trey wasn’t in any danger. The government had redistributed him to Bertram.
“Have a good lunch?” I asked Angus when I met him at the door.
“Yeah. I brought you some salmon and rice.” Angus didn’t move, forcing me to scoot past him into the house. His close proximity didn’t go unnoticed by my cock.
“That was nice of you,” I said. I also wanted to tell him that he smelled nice, but I kept that to myself.
“Come and eat it. I want to have a talk with you.”
A feeling of dread settling over me, I followed him into the kitchen. He was barely using the cane, it now being more an assurance of stability than something he needed to walk.
We sat down at the kitchen table. I opened the container of food and dished some out on the plate he’d provided me with.
“It’s still hot,” I said.
“I warmed it up for you,” Angus said. “But it’s fresh. I didn’t order it until we were almost ready to leave.”
I took a bite of salmon and rice. “It’s delicious. Thanks.”
He smiled back at me, and for a few seconds, our eyes locked. He’d had his hair cut and his beard and mustache trimmed that morning before meeting his friends, and he looked fantastic. The contrast of his light blue eyes and coal-dark hair was striking. I wondered what had happened to all the gray. Had the hairdresser colored it out? I couldn’t imagine Angus asking someone to dye his hair, but maybe he was trying to impress someone.
I looked back down at my meal, suddenly not hungry anymore. Clearing my throat, I bit the bullet and asked, “What did you want to talk to me about?”
Angus was silent so long, my eyes rose to meet his again. He had a look on his face that I’d never seen before—uncomfortable and, maybe, regretful?
“I wanted to apologize to you,” he said gruffly.
My heart sank. Even worse than telling me he regretted what we’d done in the past would be his telling me he wassorrywe’d done it at all. Like I was some kind of victim in the situation. Hell, I’d been the one to start it all!
“You don’t have anything to apologize for,” I said.
“Yes, I do. I should have been honest with you.”
Did he mean he should have told me he didn’t want to bring sex into our relationship? Oh, Gods, had he never wanted to do it at all but given in to me because I wanted it?
“Why do you look like you’re going to throw up?” Angus asked, frowning.
Desperate to change the subject, I blurted out, “Did you color your hair?”
Angus looked taken aback. “What? Did I—no! Why would you ask me that?”