Page 55 of Knight With Benefits

I pushed myself up from the floor, my knees protesting how long I’d been resting on them as I worked. My first step was hesitant, but I forced myself to take another, although I couldn’t prevent the way I startled again when another round of knocking came from outside.

The heat radiating from Carl’s massive form told me he was close before he moved ahead of me, striding toward the door. Something about his posture gave me the feeling he was heading into battle, and the tension in my chest eased. I would have answered the door myself, but the little box I’d shoved my worries into was leaking, and I was glad he was there to do it instead.

“A&G Mechanics, we’re here about the walk-in?”

There was a pause as I caught up to Carl, his long legs having brought him to the door before I reached it, and he looked back at me for confirmation before stepping over and opening the door wider. Two men stood outside wearing pale blue uniform shirts, their sizes making me think one was an alpha while the other was likely a beta.

“Yes, please, come in. Thanks for coming.”

The smaller man replied to my greeting while the one I was sure was an alpha eyed Carl. I’d grown so used to his size and appearance it took me a second to remember others were likely intimidated by him, his almost shaved head and thick beard adding to the leather vest he always wore to make him look like someone to avoid.

Carl backed away until there was enough room for the workers to comfortably pass him before crossing his arms over his chest. It was clear from his stance he had no plans to move further, and while part of me wanted to roll my eyes at the display, more of me appreciated having his presence while I was facing strangers. He’d helped me see I shouldn’t judge all alphas for the actions of a few, but I was still leery of them.

I showed them to the missing door, the control panel on the wall beside it blank. The realtor had flipped on the breaker long enough to prove it worked, but it had been off since, the missing door making it impossible to see if the cooler worked properly or not.

“This model is no longer made. The company was bought out by Gecker, but we should still be able to find a door that fits. Give us a little while to check that everything else works, and then I’ll call our parts department.”

Groaning internally, I nodded and walked over to Carl, not sure what to do with myself as I waited. I probably should have gone back to the flooring, but I didn’t want to leave Carl alone to stand watch.

“Are you having trouble with the measurements for the wall?”

He gave me a confused look before shaking his head.

“No, I was just trying to plan out how many pieces of two by fours I’ll need, and how many cuts I’ll have to make to leave as little waste as possible. If I make the opening a couple inches wider it reduces the wood and drywall I’ll need, but it will leave less shelf space for you.”

Shrugging, I tossed a glance at the workers as their voices carried to us, the technical jargon making it seem like they were speaking a different language.

“That’s fine. It’s going to take a long time to fill the shelves anyway. My budget will likely be tapped before I can think about buying things like books.”

The expression that crossed his face flashed by so fast I couldn’t place it, but it seemed closer to frustration than anything before he pulled in a deep breath and settled back into something carefully neutral.

“What if you did something like a used book drive? Bring a book to donate to the community shelves and get a free cookie, or a discount on your meal, or something. I’m sure there are plenty of people with books sitting around that they don’t read anymore, and who can resist free cookies?”

His green eyes sparked as he gave me a cheeky grin, and I couldn’t help laughing.

“That’s actually a great idea. I wouldn’t have thought of that. It would fill the shelves without costing me more than a few dollars to make the cookies, and it’ll get them to try my baking, which would hopefully turn them into a paying customer. I could make it an ongoing thing until the shelves are full. Put signs on the doors and by the register.”

My mind took off with the idea, turning over the little details I would need to hash out, but I liked the thought of it. It brought the two things I loved and wanted the community to have together the same way I hoped my café would.

“When will your sign be here? Hanging it and getting the boards off the windows will let people know this place is coming and start building some buzz.”

My brain froze, all thoughts coming to a halt as my mouth refused to release the words. I stared up into his expectant expression, my cheeks heating the longer I stood there without answering.

“I, umm, I—”

“Okay, I reached out to our parts department, and they said we do have a door to one of these old models. You also need new coils since the ones this system used are no longer within regulations, and the compressor is reading as too weak for a cooler this size. There are a couple spots of rust on the panels, so you might want to consider replacing those too.”

As relieved as I was for the interruption, the way the beta rattled on left my head buzzing. I’d hoped the cooler would be an easy fix, slap on a door and call it good, but it seemed like I was about to lose a significant chunk of my savings.

“Without replacing the panels, how much would the repairs be?”

There was a black ring at the edges of my vision, my heartbeat so loud I wasn’t sure he’d understood me since the words sounded garbled to my ears. I watched the beta check his tablet, the rasping of my breath drowning out his response as the black band grew thicker until warmth wrapped around my shoulders. The rumble of Carl’s voice pulled me back from the void trying to swallow me, and I blinked to try to focus on what was going on around me.

“When can the work be done?”

It was pure relief to have Carl take over, asking the pertinent questions while I tried to put myself back together. A portion of my mind was berating me for not being able to handle this myself, for letting the alpha step in when it was my business and my money at stake, but I was too relieved to listen to that part. I needed a moment, and it was better to have him there to help while I sorted myself out than to have the two workers staring at me and waiting while I had a mini meltdown.

“Sure, let me walk you out to your truck.”

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