Or how good he smelled.
Zinn had barely survived having his heart broken and shredded the one time he’d fallen in love. He would never give anyone that power again.
“Thanks for the offer,” he said. “But I’m fine.”
Chapter Twenty
Calder
Calder pretended to go about his business, conversing with customers and supporting his employees in the bakery’s dining room, but he spent the better part of the afternoon keeping an eye on Zinn.
The omega was hiding behind practiced smiles and forced cheerfulness.
Zinn faked his brightness when picking up the phone in the kitchen. Faked a laugh when the delivery guy teased him about something. Faked his assurances to Lolo that the bag of sugar wasn’t too heavy for him to carry.
Just as he’d been faking when he told Calder he was fine.
Calder didn’t like it. Lately, he’d felt like Zinn was finally beginning to trust him, opening up more every day. Their recent interactions had been—dare he say—playful.
That was why Zinn’s distress this afternoon was so unsettling.
When the omega had walked into his bakery twenty-five months ago, eyes wide and determined, a protective instinct hadflared inside Calder. He’d hired him on the spot. And his desire to care for him had only strengthened over the past two years, even as Zinn threw up walls and defenses that would have made a bricklayer proud.
The omega rarely spoke about himself, deflecting and turning conversations toward other topics whenever personal questions arose. It took months for Zinn to let it slip that he was from Warburton Province, and that was the only thing Calder knew of his history.
Still, each day he was more charmed. Despite knowing little of the man’s backstory, Calder had learned enough to assess Zinn’s true nature—his keen mind, his strength of character, and his inherent goodness.
And ever since the omega had discovered his passion for cake decorating, Calder had watched him grown more animated and joyful in his work. There were long stretches of days where the melancholy behind his eyes seemed to leave.
Except now it had returned.
With a vengeance.
Calder tried to give Zinn space. He moved in and out of the kitchen, popping in briefly to check on the progress of the cakes. He wished Zinn would tell him what was wrong. Other than vaguely alluding to a rough morning.
It wasn’t only that Calder was curious. His inner alpha was going crazy, demanding that he fix things and make the omega happy. Zinn’s sugar maple smell, laced with upset, went straight to his core. He’d nearly growled in the kitchen.Growled!He hadn’t growled over an omega since…
With a frustrated exhale, he retreated into his office. He’d been in denial for months, even though his heart had known from the beginning. The evidence was clear in his body’s restlessness, in the way his blood heated whenever he caught Zinn bent over the ovens. The other day, when Zinn sprayedflour across his cheek, Calder had barely stopped himself from licking his thumb to wipe it off.
He wasn’t merely charmed by the omega. Or protective of him. Or harmlessly flirting. He was attracted to Zinn. HewantedZinn. It had come on so slowly, and he’d been out of the game so long, he just…hadn’t realized it was happening.
Sinking onto the office couch, Calder admonished himself. Zinn had his whole life ahead of him. Not to mention that he was an employee. Calder could support the omega and protect him, but anything more?
Hepffted. He had never felt more like a foolish old man, even though he was only thirty-eight. He needed to find someone his own age, someone with fewer secrets and—
“Papa! I’m going to kill Jordie!”
The door to the office swung open and Ked stomped in, tossing his backpack onto the floor before flopping into the chair in the corner.
Calder picked up the backpack and hung it on the rack, grateful for the interruption of his endearingly dramatic fourteen-year-old. “What did he do?”
Ked huffed. “He forgot to come to the field!”
Calder grabbed a bottle of water from the mini-fridge and handed it to him, recalling that Jordie was supposed to pick his brother up after soccer practice. “He didn’t show up?”
Taking a noisy swig from the bottle, Ked flailed his hand in a circle. “No, he did. But he was fifteen minutes late!”
Accustomed to his son’s theatrics, Calder maintained a neutral expression. “That doesn’t seem like such a big deal.”