“And right after that, you come back here smelling like him. I mean, you smell like alpha, not omega. Do you know how weird that is?” Susan lifts her eyebrows. “I mean, you don’t even look like an alpha—you’re kind of slender. Narrow shoulders, pretty. Of course, Rick comes in and sniffs, and I try not to laugh at his expression when he smells you.”
Felix winces, glancing around the shop and out the door. No manager. “He’s nasty.”
“Not the biggest jerk in Meadowfall, but a jerk anyway.” Susan chuckles, but her smile fades. She pulls the store inventory off a shelf, flipping through it. “But back to your secret.”
He groans. “Can we not talk about it?”
“You’re going to have to. How long are you staying here?”
Felix bites his lip, counting the funds he’s been setting aside. “Maybe another three months. More than that, and it’ll be obvious. I guess I’ll borrow off my brother if I really have to.”
Susan shakes her head. “You’re really not telling Kade?”
“I can’t! I—Well, he won’t be interested.” He frowns when Susan rolls her eyes. She doesn’t know all his other reasons. “He didn’t consent to a child, so...”
“Oh, Felix. That’s not how it goes.” Susan drapes her arm around his shoulder, squeezing lightly. “Having a family is all about support. And I’m sure he’ll be glad to know you’re expecting.”
“Oh gods, please don’t mention it in front of him,” Felix says, cringing. “He really can’t find out.”
Susan cocks her head. “It’s not his?”
Felix wants to laugh. He hasn’t slept with anyone else in a while. “It’s mine.”
“Still.”
“Promise you aren’t going to tell,” he says, sticking his pinky out. “Please. No mentions of babies or anything in front of him. Nothing about puking.”
Susan stares warily at his finger. “He really should know.”
“No, he really shouldn’t.”
She sighs, linking their fingers together. “Fine. But if he explodes, and I mean in a bad way, I’m saying it’s your fault.”
“Yeah, everything is my fault.”Felix snorts. That’s probably what Kade thinks, too.
An engine roars outside the store, the sound muffled by the glass doors. They look up at the same time. Felix’s stomach flops. It’s not Kade, is it? “Quick,” he hisses. “Do I smell like puke?”
Susan sighs. Her nostrils flare, though, and she shakes her head. “You’re good.”
Felix nods, gulping some water. He grabs the delivery roster to keep busy, and Susan flips through the inventory, stepping away from the counter. Felix’s neck prickles. He looks up, and he recognizes those broad shoulders through the glass doors, that leather jacket.
The doors trundle open. Kade steps in, looking him over, his gaze hot. Just like that, Felix is hard. He shouldn’t be affected this easily. But he shouldn’t be pregnant, either. And even though he’s been seeing Kade for the past three months, his pulse still races at the sight of his alpha, those mahogany eyes sliding down his chest, to his hips.
The corners of Kade’s mouth quirk up, and he meets Felix’s eyes. “Hello,” Felix says, breathless. “Haven’t seen you in a while.”
“Oh, jeez,” Susan mutters. She steps away from the counter, weaving through the shelves to the back of the store. Abandoning him. Felix makes a face at her back.
“Hey,” Kade says. His voice rumbles down Felix’s spine, and Felix’s pants strain tight around his hips. Kade steps closer to the counter. “Sorry. Had to work on the bike for a bit.”
“You should be at work,” Felix says. “It’s kind of early, isn’t it?”
Kade shrugs. “Didn’t have to go in today. Just dropping by for a project meeting.”
“How is work?”
“Not bad.” Kade studies him, and it feels as though he can read all of Felix’s secrets in one glance. “I’ll drop by to help with your website this weekend. That okay?”
“Yeah, sure,” Felix says, even though they both know it means they’ll look at the site for half an hour, and Felix will be spreading for him twenty minutes later. Things have gone that way ever since the lemonade stand. Felix has no complaints about it. How can he, really, if his alpha has been fucking him delirious?
Behind the shelves, Susan coughs. Kade’s gaze lingers on Felix.
He squirms to ease the discomfort of his pants. It doesn’t help, so he reaches down, and Kade watches him nudge his erection sideways. Felix’s throat runs dry. “I mean, the site isn’t drawing a lot of traffic yet. It did get more clicks after we tried selling cookies, so we should try that again. Perhaps in a better neighborhood.”
“Or even Highton?”
“Actually, that sounds good. Just to revive the business there.” Felix tries smiling, and Kade returns it. Felix’s pulse flutters.
“I’ve got a favor to ask, actually,” Kade says a moment later.
Felix blinks. What could Kade possibly want from him, that he doesn’t already have? “Really?”
“Yeah. Do you still have that watercolor of the bay?” Kade holds his gaze. “I think my dad really liked that one. I showed him a picture of it once. Not sure if I told you.”
Felix bites his lip. He remembers the painting vaguely, a waterscape with a boardwalk outside a restaurant. Maybe he brought it along when he moved. “I’ll look for it when I go home.”
“Thanks.”
Felix grins. “So are you buying anything, or did you just stop by to ask that?”
“Pump eight. Five gallons of middle-grade gas.”
“Fourteen fifty-six.”
Kade hands the cash over in notes and coins, his fingers brushing over Felix’s palm. Felix breathes in deep just to catch his pine-and-cedar scent, and Kade brushes their wrists together, marking him. Felix blushes. Maybe he should question why Kade keeps scenting him, but Kade has also promised his protection. That has to be the only reason why Felix smells like his alpha.
He ignores the lump in his throat, tapping the keys to approve the transaction, before dropping the coins into the register. The register cranks out a receipt. Felix hands it over with Kade’s
