Page 2 of Not Looking
“Is that my Spud?” boomed a familiar voice—Jim, the sales manager.
I laughed as I turned to see Russy running toward him.
“Who’s a good boy?” he asked as Russy sat and waited for ear scratches.
“That’s right,” Jim praised, reaching down to provide the scratches. “You’re a good boy.”
Russy let out a happy noise and stood, tail wagging.
“Hey, Jim, how ya been?” I asked as I stopped a few steps away.
He grinned. “I’m good! You?”
“Doing good. Keeping busy.”
He nodded, and something blue on his gray mustache caught my eye.
“Hey Jim?”
“Yeah?”
I ran my thumb over my own mustache. “You’ve got a bit of something…”
He mirrored my motion, then laughed as he inspected whatever came off on his thumb. “Frosting,” he explained, then sucked his thumb clean.
“Got a cake in the break room?” I teased.
“Of course!” He grinned. “It’s my retirement party.”
I blinked. “Wait… retirement?”
He cocked his head to the side. “You didn’t know?”
I shook my head. “Nope.”
“Friday’s my last day,” he stated. “And my Miles, he can’t wait. He started planning a vacation as soon as I mentioned it. We’re leaving for two weeks—maybe longer—on Monday. He rented a motor home, and we’re going to take a road tour of a few states.”
“Is the vacation for you,” I asked, then winked, “or him?”
Jim burst into laughter. “A bit of both. It’s the first vacation that we’ve taken without the kids or grandkids since before we mated, and we decided to cross off some bucket list places.”
“Well, have fun then.”
He grinned. “We will.” A pause. “And what about you? Any alpha catch your eye?”
“Naw. At this point, I’m a confirmed bachelor. It’s just me and Russy.”
“You’re not that old.”
“I’m thirty-seven,” I shot back. “Not many alphas out there looking for an independent omega with only a few childbearing years left.”
“You know what they say,” he replied. “Love will find you when you’re not looking.”
I snorted. “If that were true, I’d have a man and a couple rugrats. I stopped looking over a decade ago.”
He shrugged. “Their loss.”
I smiled. “Maybe, but I’m happy enough. I’ve got the shop, my cabin in the woods near the lake, Russy, and family.”
