Omega In The Office - Aria Grace Page 0,4

you might want to take a look before I start bringing people in for tours and signing contracts.”

“Just make sure you tell people that there’s construction still going on.” I glance at the computer screen to see what he has up. “Also, year-long contracts only.”

“I know, geez.” Leon carries a plate piled with hot food in and sets it beside the laptop. “Just look at them and tell me what your instinct says.”

For just a moment, we lock eyes. The depth of his gaze and the flutter of those impossibly long lashes has always captivated me, but it’s been worse since I got home. No. That’s not quite right. It’s been worse since I discovered what he’d been doing to earn money while I was away.

The thought of those other alphas pawing at him lights an angry fire in my chest. I’m not sure who I’m more upset at though. The alphas or myself for failing my twin so badly.

Leon breaks eye contact and returns to his stove on the patio. He’s going to make some alpha very happy someday. That thought turns sour, and my stomach becomes a queasy mess. I don’t like the idea of letting Leon go. I’ve never even tried to imagine my life without him in it.

Forcing my mind back to the present, I return my gaze to the computer screen and frown as I flip through the files Leon has open. There are only five. We will have fifteen empty units ready for renters once the electrical work is finished.

I look up at him again. “Is this all of them?”

“The only ones with clean backgrounds and credit,” Leon confirms. “Well, that and they had to be willing to sign the year-long contract. There are a few more potential tenants if we drop the pet restrictions.”

I wince at that thought. We just put new carpets in all the units. There’s also freshly planted grass seed in the courtyard and new landscaping. We might revisit the pet issue eventually, but for now, I’m not really keen on the idea. I don’t have anything against animals, just people who don’t housetrain or pick up after their pets. And there will always be at least one person who decides to ignore the rules. Always.

“Right, that’s what I thought,” Leon continues, as if reading my mind. “So those five are the best I can do right now.”

My brow furrows deeply. “What’s this one? Wheelchair access?” The rental application I’ve clicked on doesn’t contain a whole lot of extra detail about the person who submitted it.

“Yeah, so...” Leon switches off his propane stove and carries his plate inside. “That applicant reached out to me a few days ago and asked if we could accommodate a wheelchair. I said ‘maybe’ and asked him to submit an application anyway. Then, when I was filtering through people and the pile just kept getting smaller and smaller, I decided to check his info before I brought the idea to you.”

I rub the back of my neck as I try to think of exactly what we would need to do to provide access for someone in a wheelchair. “Okay…”

“I know what you’re thinking, and I already looked into it.” Leon crunches into a piece of bacon. “The first-floor apartments are already pretty accessible. We just need to add some things around the lip of the front door so he can go in and out freely. He’s got a standard wheelchair, so he shouldn’t have trouble getting through the doors. So, really, the only thing that really needs to be done is adding some support bars in key locations. Which, we can have someone come out and make sure they’re installed properly for not too much.”

I exhale heavily. “If that’s all we need to do, then there’s really no reason to turn him down. We can’t really afford extensive remodels though, and I don’t want to promise him something we can’t deliver.”

It’s like there’s a weight on my chest as I speak. Something’s got me on edge, and I have no idea what. I haven’t even met this guy, I’ve barely read his name on a computer screen, and I’ve already got some serious reservations about him.

Candor Mead. Twenty-six. Alpha. Previous addresses are all out of state. Nothing weird came up on the background check. Good credit history, all accounts are current. Plenty of references. He looks like the perfect tenant, actually.

At least until I get to his employer.

“He’s unemployed,” I muse as I look back