Page 10 of Knot Her Beta

Kyle shakes his head. “The man’s got the patience of a saint.”

From his spot on the couch, Grady lifts his head at the sound of his name. He raises his glass in our direction.

I raise my bottle of sparkling water in return. He’s been quiet today, more withdrawn than usual, though he’s made an effort with each person who’s approached him. When Dominic sat down beside him earlier, Grady set his cane aside and straightened his shoulders to give the Alpha his full attention.

As Jared heads toward them, Holden appears in the doorway, a dish towel thrown over one shoulder.

“Ten minutes until food,” he announces, and a cheer goes up from the room. “And I made those lemon bars you all pretend you don’t like.”

“That’s because I actually don’t,” Blake calls from the couch, a grin splitting his bushy beard.

“You ate six last time,” Quinn reminds him, and everyone laughs.

I leave Kyle to his window, watching, and move along the perimeter of the room.

Nathaniel catches my eye as I pass. “Glad you made it, Em.”

“I wouldn’t have dreamed of missing it,” I reassure him and watch as Jared gets pulled into the conversation he planned to save Grady from. “Or should I say, I wouldn’t dream of missing a meal cooked by Holden?”

“Truer words have never been spoken.”

Blake squeezes Quinn’s shoulder as he unfolds himself from the couch. “Holden needs a taster. You up for it?”

She scrambles to her feet with the enthusiasm only a seven-year-old can muster. “Do you think he baked brownies, too?”

“When does he not bake brownies, too?” Blake says and lets her take his hand as they disappear into the kitchen.

Chloe sinks into his abandoned spot with a groan, one hand on her round belly, before she prods Dominic. “If you want to talk work, find someone else. Leave my bestie alone.”

A look of contentment steals over Nathaniel’s features. “I have been summoned.”

“Because you know so much about contracts?” I say dryly.

“I just need to distract my bondmate.” With a wink, he saunters off.

A hint of fresh linen and sun-warmed cedar reaches me a moment before the fine hairs on my arms rise with awareness, and my pulse trips.

I turn to find Leif standing at that same unhurried distance he’s been keeping since we decided to take a break. His broad frame is relaxed in a simple navy button-up with the sleeves rolled to his elbows, revealing forearms corded with muscle. His face is calm, the familiar lines around his mouth neither deepened with worry nor lifted with expectation.

His hands slide into his pockets. “Wasn’t sure you’d come.”

He speaks with an easy familiarity, as if weeks of careful distance haven’t passed between us. As if we haven’t been trading brief acknowledgments across the docks and words in passing, while both of us wait for the other to give way.

I let out a breath that borders on a laugh. “It’s not hard to catch the water taxi on a Saturday.”

His head turns toward Kyle, who has finished his first beer and is well into his second. “Might be hard to catch it on the way back.”

I lift one shoulder in a shrug. “Wouldn’t be the first time I’ve bunked down at the Homestead.”

The inches between us might as well be miles. I could reach out and touch his shoulder, the same way I’ve done a hundred times before, but my arms stay at my side.

Leif’s gaze searches mine for a long moment before he takes a slow step forward, as if he’s worried I’ll spook and run. “I miss you.”

The words come soft enough to get lost in the crowded room while my stomach swoops.

Not because I doubted it.

Because I’ve missed him, too.