Finding His Omega (Sweet Beginnings Bakery Book 3) Read online

  Contents

  Finding His Omega

  Chapter 1 - Gavin

  Chapter 2 - Connor

  Chapter 3 - Gavin

  Chapter 4 - Connor

  Chapter 5 - Gavin

  Chapter 6 - Connor

  Chapter 7 - Gavin

  Chapter 8 - Connor

  Chapter 9 - Gavin

  Chapter 10 - Connor

  Chapter 11 - Gavin

  Chapter 12 - Connor

  Chapter 13 - Gavin

  Chapter 14 - Connor

  Chapter 15 - Gavin

  Epilogue - Connor

  Finding His Omega

  Sweet Beginnings Bakery Book 3

  Leanne Summers

  Copyright © 2019 Leanne Summers

  Cover Illustration Copyright © Leanne Summers

  All rights reserved.

  CHAPTER 1 - GAVIN

  IF SOMEONE HAD asked Gavin what he thought that he would be doing post-graduation, he would not have said icing cakes at a little bakery in D.C. He was an alpha, and according to society he wasn’t supposed to enjoy decorating cakes for a living.

  It’s not that he didn’t like working at Sweet Beginnings, on the contrary he couldn’t imagine working anywhere else. Gavin had just thought that he would use his degree and go the traditional corporate route like his parents, professors, and advisors had thought. In the end that’s not the way that it worked out, and that probably was for the best.

  Two years ago, Gavin had moved to D.C. with his fiancé. At first, his life had seemed like it was finally coming together. His job, his house, and his love life all seemed picture perfect, and it had been great for a while.

  Unfortunately it had been too good to last.

  Within the space of a week, he found out that his fiancé had been cheating on him and that the startup he was working for was going out of business.

  That was not exactly the best time in Gavin’s life.

  He was jobless and friendless in a new city, so, so, far from home.

  Gavin had never baked or iced a cake in his life, but when he saw the hiring sign out front of Sweet Beginnings Bakery he decided to give it a shot. He needed a temporary job and what was the worst that could happen?

  Well, apparently the worst that could happen was accidentally turning the blender on high and splattering himself, his new boss, and practically every surface in the kitchen with cake batter.

  Gavin could still hear Alex cracking up with laughter while Jeff stood in the background with his arms crossed over his chest, completely unamused.

  Somehow, despite that initial blunder, Gavin had managed to keep the job. Before too long, with the help of Alex, Jeff, and another omega named Mark, Gavin became actually somewhat competent in the kitchen.

  Gavin had just planned to stay at the bakery until he got back on his feet, but weeks turned into months, which eventually bled into a year. Now, Gavin couldn’t imagine working anywhere else.

  Sure it wasn’t the most traditional job for an alpha, but the pay was good and his coworkers had quickly become his close friends.

  Okay, maybe not so much Jeff, but the omega was just standoffish with just about everyone and Gavin had learned to not take it too personally.

  Alex and Mark both had young children to take care of so they weren’t in the bakery all of the time, but the two omegas had quickly made Gavin feel at home.

  While they were good friends, and Alex more than made it up to Gavin in pay and flexible hours, two of the main bakers having hectic, child-filled lives sometimes made the shop schedule unpredictable to say the least.

  Gavin was almost done with his orders for the day, when the crashing of a door slamming open made him look up.

  Mark looked frantic when he burst out of the back room just before his shift was about to start. “Hey, Gavin!” He called, his eyes wide.

  Mark had always had a flair for the dramatic, but Gavin had never seen the omega look this stressed before.

  “My sitter just called, Rose is sick and I need to get back home. Do you have a suit?”

  Gavin was thrown for a loop for a second. “A suit?” He repeated and raised an eyebrow. What would he need a suit for?

  “Yes, a suit.” Mark said hurriedly and checked something on his phone. “I need you to go with Jeff to deliver the wedding cake. You’ll have to stay for a few hours but you should be done by the time your shift ends.”

  Gavin paused. Oh, yeah, that. The wedding cake was almost excessively intricate and had been the bane of Gavin’s existence for the past few days.

  He knew that deliveries were part of the job but he hadn’t had to do any so far. Usually some combination of Jeff, Alex, and Mark went.

  Alex owned the shop, Jeff was the longest tenured employee, and Mark was the head of the catering department. The three omegas had been working together for so long they all moved like a well oiled machine when it came to working events. Gavin was more than happy to just stay back at the shop and ice cakes or make pastries.

  Gavin’s reluctance to help with deliveries was kind of silly, but most of the big events that hired Sweet Beginnings were weddings or engagement parties. It had been just over a year, but Gavin was still not quite over it. Something inside him still hurt to see the happy endings when his own world had been upended so suddenly, and the wound from losing the omega that he thought was the love of his life was still so raw.

  Still, this was all part of the job. He couldn’t exactly avoid working the delivery even if a wedding was the last place that he wanted to be.

  “I have a suit, is navy okay?”

  “Navy is perfect.” Mark breathed a sigh of relief. “You’ll have to leave in about an hour to make it on time.”

  Gavin nodded and opened his mouth to speak, but Mark had already begun to talk again. “Thank you so much, I’ll make it up to you sometime!” With that Mark hurried out of the door and Gavin just shook his head.

  Mark would probably forget by the next day, but it was fine. Gavin could manage.

  Gavin felt bad for him sometimes, it had to be stressful to manage one of the most popular catering companies in D.C. while taking care of a young child. Gavin tried to help out whenever he could in order to make life easier for Mark, and also Alex, but Gavin was just one person. He could only do so much.

  Mark did a lot and he did it well, but sometimes it was obvious that the pressure was starting to get to him.

  Today was just one of those days.

  Gavin turned to see Jeff walking into the kitchen. “Oh hey. Mark is sending me with you on that cake order. I just have to run back to my apartment and get my suit. Could you take the danishes out of the oven when the timer beeps?”

  “Oh that’s what he was worked up about.” Jeff sighed. “I saw him run past. Of course, just make sure you’re back in time to help me load up.”

  “I won’t be long, I live just right down the street.” Gavin promised. He quickly washed his hands and headed towards the door.

  The beta manning the counter gave Gavin a bit of a strange look when he hurried out of the shop, but Gavin ignored him. The kid was new, he’d get used to the hectic environment eventually.

  At least Jeff didn’t seem too upset about Gavin helping with the delivery. It was always difficult to tell what was running through Jeff’s head.

  Gavin’s apartment really was only two blocks away, which was actually one of the reasons he had ended up working at Sweet Beginnings in the first place, so it took no time at all to walk home.

  The suit he had was one that he had worn to a friend’s wedding back home, so it should be appropriate enough to go serve some c
ake.

  He wasn’t exactly working up a sweat making danishes, so he was able to get cleaned up, just on the suit, and be back at the bakery with time to spare.

  “That was fast.” Jeff said with a raised eyebrow when Gavin got back.

  Gavin just shrugged. “I told you I lived close.”

  This whole assignment was a little bit nerve wracking. Gavin always got the feeling that Jeff just barely tolerated him, which wasn’t exactly something that Gavin wanted from a coworker that he spent the majority of the day with.

  At first Gavin had taken it a bit personally, then he eventually noticed that Jeff was particularly curt with almost every alpha. That took the sting out of it a little bit, but Gavin still wasn’t particularly thrilled that his first outing was going to be with Jeff rather than with Alex or Mark.

  He was going to make it work though, it wasn’t like Jeff actually hated him.

  Right?

  Gavin shook his head. He didn’t have time to focus on Jeffs potential ill feelings towards himself at the moment. They had a cake to deliver.

  Gavin wasn’t exactly sure what to do. He had observed wedding preparations before but never assisted. Luckily this was Jeff’s forte and Gavin was able to just follow along. It didn’t take long to load everything up into the van and get on the road.

  The venue was just outside of the city, and both the reception as well as the wedding itself were being held at an absolutely gorgeous vineyard.

  This was the exact kind of wedding that Gavin had wanted for himself. Everything was bright and open, and it was the perfect combination of formal yet relaxed.

  When they pulled up, a harried looking woman, who must have been in charge of organizing the wedding, directed Gavin and Jeff to a table beneath the canopy. There they began to lay out the spread of deserts for the party goers, as well as the centerpiece, the absolutely gorgeous five tier cake that Gavin and Mark had spent hours laboring over.

  In all his time working at the bakery, that cake was the most intricate thing he had ever had a hand in creating. It was nerve wracking, the entire time he had been afraid that he was going to mess something up, but somehow he hadn’t.

  The small fondant and icing flowers that wound their way up the side were a perfect match for the flowers that surrounded the cake on the table. All of the work was worth it just for this one moment. Gavin could start to understand why Mark enjoyed deliveries so much.

  Gavin and Jeff were just supposed to stay through the cake cutting in order to make sure that everything ran smoothly, then they could get back to the bakery and close up for the night.

  As much as Gavin was enjoying seeing his work on display, he wanted to be away from this place as soon as possible. There were too many reminders of what he could have had.

  “Wow, that looks amazing. Did you do that?” A voice said from behind, and Gavin turned to see the most gorgeous omega he had ever lain eyes on staring at the cake in wonder.

  The omega had light brown hair that matched his soft brown eyes and adorable freckles that just barely dusted his cheeks. He was wearing a perfectly tailored white suit with a flower pinned to his lapel that matched the cake and the rest of the decor.

  Oh, he must be the groom.

  Gavin immediately shut down the part of his brain that wanted to just stare at the gorgeous omega. He was very, very, taken and Gavin couldn’t allow his mind to wander, it would be completely inappropriate.

  Before Gavin had the chance to open his mouth, Jeff began to speak. “Gavin did. Or at least he did a lot of it.” Gavin could see Jeff gesture at him from out of the corner of his eye.

  “Oh, well.” The omega turned to face Gavin and grinned up at him. “You did an amazing job.” He stuck out his hand for Gavin to take. “I’m Connor, nice to meet you. Thank you again for doing such a good job, it really brings the whole thing together.”

  “My pleasure, I’m glad you like it.” Gavin said and felt himself begin to flush. He was proud of his work, but having Mark tell him how good it looked was completely different from the client complimenting his work.

  Connor opened his mouth to say something, but turned as the harried looking woman from before rushed over to him.

  “Connor! I’ve been looking everywhere for you, we have to…”

  “Sorry mom.” Gavin could hear Connor mutter sheepishly as he let himself be led away.

  Before he was completely out of sight, Connor turned and gave a little wave. Gavin couldn’t help but wave back.

  When Connor was completely out of sight Gavin sighed and felt himself slump.

  This was going to be a long afternoon.

  CHAPTER 2 - CONNOR

  FROM THE MOMENT he woke up, Connor was basically on cloud nine. He couldn’t believe that today was actually happening.

  Today was the day that he finally, finally, got to marry Theo.

  They had been dating since their senior year of high school, nearly seven years now. Connor had known for a while that Theo was the one, but he couldn’t wait to make it official.

  Connor had never expected that his life could be so good. He was getting married to the love of his live, he had the perfect job at one of the best accounting firms in the city, and they were going to have a child.

  Theo hadn’t looked so excited when Connor had told him that he was pregnant nearly a week ago, but that had just been nerves, Connor was sure of it. He hadn’t been thrilled either when he first saw the test result, but the thought of a baby that would be a perfect mix of him and Theo quickly grew on him.

  Connor was nervous too so he couldn’t blame Theo for not being completely on board from the start. Everything was finally falling into place and it seemed almost too good to be true.

  He was technically supposed to stay up in the dressing room until it was time to walk down the aisle, but Connor couldn’t help himself. He had to sneak out and take a look at the venue. It wasn’t like any of the guests would be there early.

  Connor wanted to take a look at everything, but he had immediately been drawn over to the tent where the reception was going to be held.

  He had put in the order for the cake, sure, and the omega that owned the shop he had ordered from had sent him sketches of the planned design, but seeing sketches was one thing, seeing the cake in person was entirely another. It was absolutely gorgeous, and the flowers that wound their way up the side were more delicate and life-like than anything he thought was possible to create out of icing.

  Apparently the tall, kind looking alpha that was there to deliver the cake had helped to decorate it.

  Connor couldn’t help but be impressed. He had a lot of respect for an alpha that was willing to go against gender stereotypes and work as a baker, of all professions.

  That was one of the few things that he and Theo couldn’t agree on. Theo thought that cooking and cleaning weren’t an alpha’s work. Connor had no issue doing most of the household chores, he liked it even, but sometimes he really wished that Theo would help out around the house on occasion.

  Oh well. There were some sacrifices that had to be made in relationships, and Connor loved Theo enough to overlook that one little flaw. He would happily continue to do all the cooking and cleaning if that meant that he got to spend the rest of his life with Theo.

  Connor had wanted to stay and talk to the bakers a little longer, even if the tall omega standing towards the back seemed a little imposing, but his mother had come to drag him back to the room.

  He knew that he wasn’t supposed to be out and potentially getting his suit dirty, but it was just boring to be sitting up in the room unable to help.

  Connor looked around. Parker, his best friend and best man, was supposed to be there suffering through the bordem with Connor. At least talking to him would have been a bit of entertainment, but Parker had been nowhere to be seen the entire day.

  It was odd and made something in Connor’s stomach churn.

  Normally Connor wasn’t so jumpy, but he was just filled with so ma
ny nerves that he couldn’t hold still. Parker wasn’t answering his texts, Theo wasn’t answering his texts, and Connor knew that his brother, Leon, was too busy setting up decorations down at the venue to have time to entertain Connor.

  Connor was just going to have to do something himself, he couldn’t just sit around for the next hour.

  “I’m just going to go get some water.” He assured his mom as he slipped out of the room.

  She just rolled her eyes and didn’t try to argue. “Keep track of the time at least, please. We wouldn’t want you to be late walking down the aisle at your own wedding.”

  Connor wanted to take offense at that, but he did get distracted on occasion and had turned up late more than once for other functions. This was the one thing he really couldn’t show up late to.

  After Connor reassured his mother that he would check his watch, stay clean, and be back on time, he slipped out the door.

  He wasn’t actually going to go wandering this time at least, he’d stay in the house. Maybe just going down to the kitchen and getting a glass of water would help to clear his head.

  Some of the people from the catering company that was providing dinner were in the kitchen, and they laughed at the expression on Connor’s face when he barged in.

  One of the chefs handed Connor a plastic glass with iced water before he even had the chance to open his mouth.

  “I remember how nervous I was on my wedding day.” A tall alpha woman laughed as she handed the glass over. “I couldn’t eat at all the whole morning, everything I tried just came right back up.” She grinned at the expression Connor was sure had crossed his face. “Have fun, and I know it’s easier said than done but don’t stress too much. You’ll never forget today.”

  No, Connor wouldn’t.

  This was the day that his whole life came together. Everything he and Theo had been building together and working towards since they were kids was finally going to be made official.

  It was understandable to be nervous, but he couldn’t let that keep him from enjoying the rest of the day.