His Redemption (Complete His Series)

Azalea

“One more thing, you have a present coming this evening by courier. They are bringing it to the front desk of the Inn. See you tomorrow, Azalea,” he said in a sexy tone. The sound was traveling straight to my abdomen and making me feel very warm. Present? Why would he send me a present?

“Goodbye, Liam,” I said with a small smile on my lips. I hung up, knowing that I would never get back to work if I didn’t.

A guest came in, so I got to work checking them in before making my way back to the kitchen. As I entered the kitchen, I could smell the marinade for the chicken Amy was planning to make for dinner.

“Mmmm. Are you grilling that tonight?” I asked her.

“That’s the plan. What are you up to now?” she asked, placing trays of meat into the fridge.

“Think I am going to make a caramel mousse cake. Feeling pretty good right now.”

“Would this be the result of certain men staying over in your bed last night?” she questioned.

“I don’t know what you mean,” I said, trying to feign ignorance. I did not really want to talk about it yet, and I still hadn’t had time to process all of yesterday’s events.

“Oh, you know you are not getting off that easily. I’ve known you for what, like two and half years now? You have never once shown interest in any man that has come through this Inn. Not every John who does nothing but stare at you when he is here. Then this handsome stranger from your childhood shows up, and you get all flirty and secretive.”

“First of all, John does not stare at me! We are friends, that’s all.”

“Yea, no. That man is head over heels for you! When you aren’t here, all he does is ask where you are and when you are coming back. He doesn’t even show up on your days off.”

“That is just not true, Ames. We have good food, and he likes the atmosphere here. He does not come here for me!”

“Whatever, you are avoiding the real conversation here. Lea, you went on a date yesterday! The only ‘date’ you have ever been on was taking Abi to baby reading time at the library when my husband forgot to come to pick her up!”

I blushed a little; Amy wasn’t wrong. This would be the very first time I have ever shown any type of romantic interest in anyone. “Okay. I’ll tell you what happened, but I have one condition!” I said to her.

“Anything!” she said excitedly.

“You only get to ask two questions when I am finished. No more. I’ve barely had time to wrap my own head around what’s happening.”

“Oh, Lea,” she said as she came over to hug me. Once she let me go, she continued, “I am sorry. I was so excited about your date and a little worried about this guy just popping up. I never even thought about how crazy it must be for you right now.”

“It’s okay, Ames. Maybe telling you will help me sort out my feelings a bit,” I said with a small smile. She nodded and let me begin.

“Well, he is from my childhood. We sort of grew up together but didn’t really spend much time together. I was more of a loner, you could say. I left our hometown before graduation for my own reasons. So, when he saw me last week, he was just really surprised. I guess he never really noticed me before then, either. Well, we reconnected, and he has been really sweet. When he asked me to go out with him, some part of me said to give it a try. I don’t really know how to explain it, Ames. He makes me feel safe and protected.”

My explanation was a little weak, but it was the best I could come up with. It was much harder to explain this to a human who knows nothing about wolf ways. But I couldn’t tell her anything. Humans were forbidden from learning about wolves unless they were the mate of a wolf or they found out on their own.

“Awww. Lea….” she cooed at me. I stuck my tongue out at her.

“Well, first we went to the coffee shop in town. After he put the waitress in her place, it was so amazing. We talked. He asked me questions about myself and actually listened. It was nice. We were there for a while, too. Then he told me we had another place to go. We walked out to the sports complex, and he had this little dinner picnic set up with a movie screen. He actually made the dinner too. We ate and watched a movie. He brought me a blanket, somehow knowing I would get cold. Afterward, he walked me home. We had a moment on my doorstep, and then he left.”

“Okay, but that does not explain why he was still here in the morning,” she said. I gave her a pointed look. She threw up her hands and said, “I am just saying, that is not the end of the story.”

I sighed. “So I freaked out a little bit. I thought I saw someone outside the window when I got into my apartment. So, I called him. I hoped he hadn’t quite left yet and didn’t know who else to call. He came back immediately. And I was still scared, so he stayed the night. That is all, though!” I told her. “Okay, two questions, go.”

“Alright, question one: What do you mean ‘we had a moment on my doorstep’?”

“You would ask that,” I said, scrunching my nose. “Well… he… kissed me,” I finally finished.

Her eyes grew wide. “What?!” she almost screamed. “He kissed you goodnight? Oh my gosh, Lea, that is so cute. Was that your first k**s?” she asked excitedly.

“Is that your second question?” I asked in response. I began pulling ingredients from the cupboard.

“Arghhh, girl. You are killing. Fine, yes, yes. That’s my second question!”

“Yes, it was,” I told her.

“Lea! What! That is amazing! How was it? How long did it last? What did he taste like? Did it take your breath away?”

“Woah, woah, woah. You asked your questions! Calm down. I am a woman; I can k**s people.”

“Sorry Lea, it’s just I am married with a kid. There is no romance or excitement in my story anymore. But this is basically a fairy tale. Not to mention he is drop-dead sexy. I don’t get why he is still single.”

“Maybe he just never found the right one,” I said. It is not like I could tell her that I messed up his chance at a second-chance mate by not rejecting him correctly. Just then, I heard the buzzer for the front desk.

“Okay, someone is out front. Can you get the mixer for me? I want to get started when I am back. And we are done talking about Liam, my date, and him spending the night.”

“For now,” she said with a smile. I rolled my eyes and left the kitchen.

When I got to the front, a courier was waiting with a small box. “Hi, can I help you?” I said to him.

“Are you Azalea?” he asked.

“Yes, I am. Is this for me?”

“Yes, ma’am, it is. Just need a signature here,” he said, handing me a clipboard. I signed the slip and handed it back. “Oh, and it comes with this,” he said, giving me a small envelope.

“Thank you,” I said. I grabbed the small present box as he took his leave. I sat down in the chair behind the desk. I opened the envelope first. Inside was a card. I opened it and read:

Azalea, I hope that you will accept my gift. I thought that this might help us communicate a bit more. This is yours, and it is completely paid for. My number is already programmed into it, so you can call or message me anytime. I hope that you will. Looking forward to seeing you again, Liam x

I looked at the little box. What did he send me? I began to open the wrapping paper; inside was a plain white box. I opened the box to discover a cellphone inside. Did he send me a phone?

“Hey, do you think you could whip up some biscuits to go with the chicken tonight?” I heard Amy calling as she walked into the reception area. “What is that?” she said, noticing me holding the box.

“Um, it’s a cellphone,” I told her, still a little shocked.

“Who sent it to you? Let me see,” she said.

“Liam sent it to me,” I told her, handing her the box.

“Lea, this is like brand new. I think it just came out a couple of months ago. He sent you this?” she said.

“Yea. His note said he thought it would help us talk more.”

“Wow, that’s a really nice present, girl. You should probably call him and thank him,” Amy said, handing me back the box.

“Yea. I am going to do that right now.”

“Then do you think you have time for some biscuits?” she asked sweetly.

“Sure,” I laughed. “I can do that. We can save the cake for tomorrow.”

“You’re the best,” she called as she left back to the kitchen.

I pulled the phone from the box and turned it on. It started up and on the screen was a picture of us from last night. It was while we were watching the movie. I was sitting in his lap, and he had his arms wrapped around me. The movie screen was casting a light glow across us, and we were both smiling. It was a beautiful picture. How he took this, I do not know.

I pressed the little phone button in the bottom corner, and the contact list pulled up. Like he said, his number was right there. I pressed his name, and it started to call him. I brought the phone to my face and waited for him to answer.

“Hmmm ‘lo?” I heard his low voice say. It sounded like he was asleep.

“Oh no, Liam, did I wake you?” I asked worriedly. I looked over at the clock, realizing that it wasn’t even dinner time yet. “Wait, were you sleeping?”

“It’s okay, beautiful,” he said. I heard him yawn before he continued. “Just taking a nap. Have some things to take care of late tonight. But I am always available when you call.”

“I just wanted to thank you. This is a lovely present. But I can let you go back to sleep.”

“No, kitten. It’s okay. I promise. I am glad you like it. I thought it might be easier to talk or text if you had your own phone,” he said happily.

“Well, thank you, Liam. It’s lovely. I will have to have Amy show me how to use it, though. I’ve never used a cellphone much before.”

“I thought as much. You can call me by just pressing number one on the dial pad. I will always answer. And you can also send me text messages whenever. I downloaded a couple of reading apps as well. They will allow you to read books right on your phone.”

“You can do that?” I asked, a little amazed.

“Yep. You can use your phone however you like.”

“Wow, thank you, Liam.”

“Anything for you, Azalea,” he said sweetly.

“I should probably go….” I paused. “Please be safe tonight, Liam,” I begged. If the Alpha was going to handle business personally late at night, it had to be something serious.

“Don’t worry, beautiful, nothing can hurt this big, bad Alpha,” he said with a chuckle. I could imagine the cocky grin plastered across his face.

“If it weren’t serious, you would be sending warriors. So, just be careful,” I said sadly.

“I promise, Azalea. Everything will be fine. I will see you tomorrow for dinner, promise,” he said in a more serious tone.

“Okay. See you then,” I said before hanging up.

I sighed. Now I would be worried about him all night. Sometimes the realities of being a werewolf were not pretty. I made my way to the kitchen to make Amy some biscuits. After dinner, I would have her show me how to use this thing all the way.