Page 12 of Alpha's Sunflower Smiles

Richard and I both looked at Pete in surprise. He’d sounded very alpha as he’d said that, in the sort of voice that alphas used when they meant business. I tried not to shiver. Men like me didn’t hear alphas sound like that very often. Mostly we heard alphas growling if they were angry, but Pete didn’t sound angry.

Richard was the first to recover. He said, “It’s not your responsibility.”

“I want to do it.”

“Why?”

Pete took a breath. “Because I’m the one who said it was insecure in the first place. I’m the one who worried Wilfred. I want to fix it.”

Richard glanced at me. “Are you sure he wasn’t shaking you?”

“Yes. He was helping.”

“Then it’s up to you, I guess.”

I looked into Pete’s eyes and they were fixed on me, and they looked so sincere that I couldn’t help but fall into them. His voice was deep and captivating.

“Let me do this, Wilfred. I want to keep you safe.”

And that’s what did it for me. I’d have let Pete do anything after that.

“Okay.”

Chapter 6

Pete

I’d just heard back from the company that was going to replace Wilfred’s back door and I wanted to go and tell him that they’d be there tomorrow.

I may have got just a tiny bit carried away, asking them to check the security of the whole place and paying for the best door and the most efficient locking system they had. Wilfred didn’t need to know that, though. All he needed to know was that the door would be replaced tomorrow and he would be safe in his workshop.

It felt good to know that he was protected and even better to know that I was the one protecting him. We might be only friends at this point but he was important to me and my instinct was to look after him. It settled me.

The door chimed as I entered the shop and I was already smiling as I entered and the familiar smell of the place greeted me like an old friend.

Unlike Wilfred, who usuallydidgreet me like an old friend and wasn’t there to do it this time.

I stood in the doorway, almost as though I wasn’t sure what to do from here. This had never happened before. Wilfred was always behind the counter, ready with a big smile, or pottering about putting his crafts on the shelves, ready with a big smile…

The smile was A Feature.

I hadn’t realised until then how much I’d been banking on seeing that smile today. I felt my good mood teetering in the balance and looked around, double-checking he wasn’t hiding somewhere. He wasn’t. There was nowhere to hide.

I closed the door behind me and moved across the shop. Richard had made it clear last time that the workshop was out of bounds but a horrible fear lodged in my gut that Wilfred would be out there, alone, unprotected or injured and no customers would find him. I’d find him, though.

I’d keep Wilfred safe and looked after.

Just as I reached for the handle, I heard the first sound.

It made me pause.

It was a low moan. Exactly the sort of moan that someone might make if they were being pleasured. The moan was followed by the wet sounds of kissing.

I liked to think that I was a rational man but something in me snapped. I lost it.

Throwing open the door, I stormed out into the workshop, furious that anyone would bring Wilfred back here and—

Okay, my problem was that the someone who’d brought him out here wasn’t me.

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