Page 6 of Alpha's Sunflower Smiles

I was staying a while longer. I looked around my shop and smiled to myself. I always felt at home here, surrounded by my own designs and in my safe space. Some of my customers told me that Sunflower Smiles was like a home and they felt as if they were coming to visit an old friend, not going shopping.

I liked that. I’d designed it that way deliberately.

In my opinion, people didn’t want just another sterile shop with no soul where they could go, look around, pick up something else mass-produced by a machine…

Yes, I loved my crafts and maybe I was one of the few people who still thought it, but quality showed. I made everything with love, and that was what people were buying from me.

There was a click beside me and I looked round, startled.

Ronnie was a young man I’d recently hired to photograph my products and he’d done a wonderful job. He was starting to photograph more than just the products, though.

“What was that for?” I asked.

He smiled. He had a bashful look on his face and his alpha, Ty, stood behind him and engulfed him in his huge arms. I wanted to grin at the way Ronnie instantly relaxed back into him, but didn’t. I didn’t want the young man to think I was laughing at him.

Ronnie fiddled with his camera. “I just wanted to capture it.”

“What?”

“That look.”

I was baffled. “What look?”

In answer, he lifted his camera so I could see the back of it, where the screen showed the photograph he’d just taken. It was me, standing behind the counter and looking out at my shop with a daft smile on my face. Not the most flattering picture ever. He could have warned me and I could have sucked my stomach in, for a start.

Still, it was done now and Ronnie seemed happy with it. I gave him an approving nod. He was such a timid little thing and I wanted to give him all the encouragement I could. If I told him to delete the photo, he would have felt bad.

Ty glanced at the picture and said, “I’ll add that to the website. It’s a good shot. It’s exactly what customers will get when they walk in here.”

Ronnie nodded and I felt the familiar hope inside me. My new website. That was exciting, wasn’t it? I’d never thought to put my things online before, only opened the shop, but I’d been told that everything was happening online these days and I had to move with the times.

Well, I could do that. And it meant there was a world of people out there, all wanting me to make them something special.

“What’s that smile for?” asked Ty.

I looked at him. He was looking at me.

“Oh, was I smiling?”

“Yes.”

“I was just thinking about our new website. I can’t wait for it to get going. It’ll be fun, won’t it?”

Ty chuckled. “I’m not sure a business website is meant to be ‘fun’ but I take your point. Shall I email Richard to arrange a time to come and show you the finished product?”

“Yes, please, that will do nicely.”

Ty jostled Ronnie. “Are you all finished?”

“Yes, I think I got everything.”

He had. He’d taken pictures of absolutelyeverything. I was sure we couldn’t possibly use half of them, but he’d seemed happy. It had been wonderful to see him coming into his own. Ronnie was really making great progress. When I’d first met him, he’d been so shy he’d hardly managed to say a word to me. I knew that his new-found confidence was mostly down to his partners showing him how valued he was, but I liked to think a bit of it came from me and this job. It would make the payment worth it.

Ronnie scurried around, packing up. I didn’t offer to help because he never said yes, since a lot of the equipment was delicate and expensive and he didn’t want people touching it. Instead, I glanced over at Ty, who was watching him closely.

It was wonderful to see two people so much in love. Ty was a large alpha and he was protective of Ronnie, always touching him and holding him and making him feel looked-after. Ronnie soaked up the attention like a desert flower soaking up water. It was lovely to see.

A part of me thought it might be lovely to experience, too.

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