Chapter 49

Shirley

Keith and I don’t talk much on the way back - mainly only to discuss the dropping temperatures or when he scolds me for slapping his hand when he tries to change the radio station. Again, it’s another enjoyable encounter that has me feeling mixed up inside. However, it also leaves a small smile on my face.

Only, my smile seems to fall as we pull into his driveway and I notice two figures walking up to the door.

“What is she doing here?” Lily calls out the second we step out, not shy about voicing her disdain while Ron stands quietly at her side. Her question makes me want to shake my head, but I keep myself calm as I close my car door. As much as she hates me, just imagine if she found out that I’m -

“She’s staying here,” Keith replies. And welp, consider the beans officially spilled.

Lily takes the news like a slap to the face. I can see even from where I am that her mouth is hanging open and her cheeks are turning redder.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Lily comments, but Keith ignores her. In fact, we all ignore her.

When we finally reach them, Lily is absolutely fuming as she glares at me, but when I do nothing in response, her head turns to Keith as she shoots him a look while he unlocks the door. Once we’re in, Keith continues down the hall with Lily rattling off hushed words right behind him and Ron slowly following.

Oh, he’s never going to hear the end of this, I think to myself as I eventually join. When I reach the end of the hallway, I find they’re all on their way to Keith’s office, but he stands outside the doorway as he gestures Lily in without a single word.

She makes sure to give him one last snide look before she goes, her brother trailing behind her. However, Keith doesn’t immediately follow. Instead, he looks toward me.

“I have a meeting with Lily and Ron for the rest of the afternoon,” he informs me. “I’ll see you later.”

I nod to him, but say nothing else as I don’t want my voice to trigger Lily into a full on meltdown. But my actions are enough to give Keith the confirmation he needs as he then steps inside his office and closes the door.

Alone again, I decide to just go back to my room, firing up my laptop as I settle onto the bed. However, as I begin to work, I find within the hour that I’m already yawning and rubbing my eyes.

Staying up late and the busy mall really did a number on me and I can’t help but notice I’m not just tired, but exhausted. I can barely see my screen because my eyes are so foggy. Deciding to take a break, I push my laptop away and immediately lean back on the pillows, taking a deep breath as the scent of the home begins to fill my nose again.

I tell Cicy to keep her relishing to a minimum just as I drift off to sleep.

~

Golden eyes. At first all I can see are golden eyes in the midst of darkness as a scent overcomes me, practically making me feel pinned against a wall. But then the darkness begins to dissipate about the gold, revealing the area around them. A nose, cheeks, beautiful lips that are something turned down in a frown or other times lifted in the smallest hint of a smile.

But I feel captured mainly by those eyes, wanting to dance within the gold as if I can wade through it like honey. I want to put my hands against the side of the breathtaking face and brush my fingers against the skin and tell them to just keep looking at me.

Just keep looking at me.

But soon, the darkness begins to grow again, covering everything that it just unveiled - piece by piece. With each section that it hides, a strange tapping accompanies the inches that disappear - all of it being swallowed up until there’s only those eyes again. But then the tapping gets louder and before I can even blink - the gold disappears too.

I jump as my eyes spring open, revealing that I’m not surrounded by darkness, but in a dimly lit room.

A dream, I tell myself as I look forward. I’d been sleeping…and it was just a dream.

But the longer I sit with that thought, the more I begin to realize what had been at the center of my dream. Golden eyes…and there’s no mistaking whose they had been, or whose scent I had been breathing in. Keith’s…it was all Keith and I have no idea why.

Still trying to wrap my head around it, I hear the tapping again, causing my head to snap up as I look around the room. Only, I soon realize that it’s not just some eerie sound, but that someone is gently knocking on my door.

Jumping up, I go to the door and pull it open.

“Hi,” I say, my heart racing on its own accord as I stare at Keith. Seeing the man I’d just been picturing in my dreams makes me feel strangely embarrassed, even if I know he can’t read my thoughts.

“Did I wake you?” he asks.

Yes.

“No, no,” I try. “You’re fine.”

Keith nods. “I came to see if you’re hungry. There’s dinner ready in the kitchen.”

Dinner? As if on cue, my stomach rumbles at the thought of food, making me realize that I’ve failed to eat anything all day.

“Um, yes,” I reply. “Dinner sounds lovely.”

From there, Keith turns from the door, seeming to suggest that I follow him. And I do, trying to keep my legs steady as I sweep away my wavering emotions. It doesn’t matter that I was just having odd dreams about the man in front of me…that this whole situation is still strange. This is all perfectly normal.

I’m still telling myself all of these things as we reach the kitchen, finding the display that has been laid out that smells absolutely heavenly.

“Wow,” I say as I continue to take in the perfectly cooked roast beef. “This is impressive. Do you have a private chef or something?”

To that, Keith hums before he gestures for me to take a seat. I do as he suggests before he begins to load food onto a plate.

“I’ll have you know that I’m perfectly capable of cooking for myself,” he replies, finishing up before he hands the plate over to me.

“A man who cooks?” I ask as I take it, then set it down. “Be still, my beating heart,” I tease him, feeling my stomach roll as I detect the slight flirt behind my voice. Where the hell did that come from?

“Yup, I clean too,” Keith responds, thankfully unbothered by my words. His reply even makes me release a small chuckle before I take a forkful of food and pop it in my mouth.

“This is actually quite good,” I tell him, my eyes growing wide as he sits down across from me, a slight smirk reaching his lips.

“I guess I’ll take that as a compliment - even if you seem surprised,” he states.

We both continue to eat and I’m growing more and more impressed with his cooking skills as I also taste the side dishes he made. However, as I chew another bite, I find my eyes wandering around the room before they land on his office.

“How did your meeting go?” I ask.

“Fine,” he responds.

I nod, knowing he likely won’t offer any more info. So instead, I change the subject.

“I thought we were supposed to have a company meeting today. Did something happen?” I ask.

“Well,” Keith begins. “After everything that happened last night, I figured it was best to cancel.”

Oh.

For some reason his response brings a slight frown to my lips as I look off at the office again. However, I soon shrug, looking down at my food as I push some potatoes around with my fork.

“I get that,” I begin quietly. “Kind of a shame, though. I could have used the distraction.”

Not that the shopping spree and nap I took weren’t good stress relievers, but in times like these - I find that work helps above everything else.

The rooms grow quiet again, and both of us don’t say much else as we continue emptying our plates. Once I’m done though, I glance over to find he’s already standing and taking both of our plates.

“Shouldn’t I be doing the dishes?” I ask as I see him heading toward the sink. “You cooked, after all.”

But Keith brushes me off as usual. “Like I said, I clean too - and I have no problem doing it.”

I shake my head at him, but don’t say anything else - knowing it won’t do either of us any good. So instead, I just help a little by bringing over a few dishes for him to rinse before I step away.

“Well, I guess I’ll get out of your hair…” I begin, not wanting to intrude on his life more than I already have for the day. “Thank you for dinner.”

I then turn my back and begin to walk toward my room. However, I only manage a few steps before I hear Keith’s voice and stop.

“Thanksgiving is coming up,” he begins, causing me to look back to find he’s staring at me. “Do you have any plans?”

What a weird and random question to ask…

“No,” I reply.

“If you wanted, you could go home for the holiday,” Keith then says. “I can give you the time off.”

Immediately, I shake my head. “Oh, no. That’s okay. I’m fine staying here and just spending it alone working. Really.”

At my response, I see Keith pause for a moment, his hands resting on the counter as his gaze sweeps over me.

“I planned on spending it alone too,” Keith states, and I give him a nod. “But - if you’d like - we could spend it together.”

Together.

Together?

He wants to spend Thanksgiving together? My lips slightly part as the question begins to echo through my head. However, before I can actually work through any of my thoughts, I feel my lips already moving.

“That would be nice,” I tell him. And because I’m not sure what possessed me to respond so impulsively, I’m already turning away, finally heading back to my room as Keith doesn’t interrupt me again. However, once I close the door behind me, I lean against it.

I just agreed to spend Thanksgiving with the Alpha.