I Stole the Alpha's Car (18+)|✔️

Chapter 28

And as my thoughts turned back to my idea, his tantalizingly male musk calmed me.

"You're nervous?"

Dwayne's voice knocked me out of my reverie. "Hmm?"

"I promise, you've got nothing to worry about. I'll be perfectly happy if we have a nice dinner and nothing else."

"So, you're not planning on harvesting my organs?"

He sputtered. "What?"

I grinned, teasing him, "That's what you were talking about, right? You're taking me out to your secluded home in the woods. If you had some kind of ulterior motive, it'd be organ harvesting, right?"

Dwayne chuckled. "Yes. That is exactly what I was referring to. Glad you caught on."

Squeezing his hand, I watched as the driveway curved, leading to a large, Victorian style house and several outbuildings.

Dwayne pulled up to a detached garage, parking in front of one of the large, roll-up doors.

As I stepped out, I was struck by the tranquility of the land. We'd driven a ways from the resort and the town, and away from their bustle, the only sounds were calls of birds and the rustle of the wind through the leaves.

I felt an ease that I hadn't realized I was missing. Being in Baltimore, surrounded by people, I'd gotten used to the constant noise and energy. Returning to peace was a gift I didn't know I needed.

"What do you think?"

Looking around me, I tried to take in everything. The house looked old, but well maintained, while the garage and most of the other outbuildings looked new. They were situated in a clearing, with a mown lawn surrounding the house and long grasses stretching back away from the road.

"This is... amazing. How long have you had it?"

"About seven years now?" Dwayne came up beside me, surveying the scene. "The property came up for sale, and even though the house was a complete wreck, I saw a lot of potential in the place."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. Renovations took forever – we had to redo all of the plumbing, most of the wiring, and all of the floors, but I'm really happy with the results."

I glanced up at him. "Wanna give me a tour?"

"Love to. Let me just get the brussels sprouts in the oven."

"Ooh, sprouts?"

Dwayne placed a hand on the small of my back and led me toward the house. "Yes, tonight's side dishes will be roasted brussels sprouts and cilantro lime rice. Oh," he added, "and also this Mediterranean chickpea salad – one of our Elders, Georgia, finally gave me the recipe. I think it's amazing, but I'm curious what you think about it."

I smiled, amazed. "That is quite a menu – you really weren't kidding about your cooking skill."

Dwayne shrugged, "Well, you can't live off of takeout forever. Plus, it's relaxing to come home after a long day of dealing with resort problems and pack problems and just do something that's methodical and simple."

We reached the door, and Dwayne unlocked it, holding it open for me.

Whatever I'd expected for Dwayne's house to look like, this wasn't it.

Instead of bachelor-pad grunginess and dive bar décor, my first impression of his home was of woodsy warmth.

Leading the way to the right, I followed him through a large, open living room, through a short hallway and into a respectably sizeable modern kitchen.