Page 28 of The Alpha's Son

“What is this?”

“I know you have a beautiful array of flowers in your garden, and you bake the best chocolates. I couldn’t get you anything baked, because yours are better. So, I needed to find a gift, and this is what I found.”

Darcy frowned as she reached into the bag and pulled out a small bundle of yarn.

“It’s a knitting kit. I didn’t have a clue if you had one, but it’s for a dog. I don’t know if you’ve ever knitted an animal, let alone a dog. I don’t even know if you love dogs.”

She cupped his cheek. “I love dogs. They are my favorite. Thank you.” Darcy couldn’t help it, she felt close to tears at his sweet gesture.

“You like it?” he asked.

“I love it.”

“I’m glad. I’ll give anything to you.”

Chapter Eight

It wasn’t too hard to sneak into his mother’s store. She had Darcy all to herself, doing some kind of yarn stock take.

Darcy had left home early that morning. Joe had hoped to make love to her all morning long, as he had forgotten about his mother’s work and the whole yarn order. He tended to tune out. He didn’t mind Darcy talking about yarn and the patterns she was doing, or even going shopping with her, but his mother was boring. His mate was far more interesting.

He had spent years at his mother’s store. When he was younger, he helped her out, but as he got older, he tended to try and sneak looks at Darcy when he could. Hopefully without looking like some kind of weird teenage stalker, but he couldn’t make any promises. It was hard to not admire her.

Now as he moved between the shelves, he had already seen his mother and he’d snuck right past her. Heading toward the yarn floor, he took the stairs three at a time, and then opened the door, moving inside.

The scent of vanilla was so strong.

He had overheard his mother saying that Darcy would be handling the yarn orders for their online store. She’d be alone, as the other women would be helping at the main stockroom.

Darcy would be all alone.

He didn’t like that and after his father had said he could leave, the only place he wanted to be was with Darcy.

Following the scent, he went straight to her. She stood at the counter, typing into the computer. There were several baskets and he saw the orders. For several minutes, he stood watching her.

She took each basket, scanned everything, and then placed it in a sealed package. The label was printed, and she placed it into the basket to order.

With her back turned toward him, he snuck right up to her, placing his hands over her eyes. “Guess who?”

“Joe?”

He chuckled. “You’re not even going to try and make me jealous by saying another guy’s name?” He let her go and spun her toward him.

“Why would I do that?” she asked. She glanced past his shoulder. “How did you get up here?”

“I have my means.”

She rolled her eyes. “Did you go and see your mother?”

“Nah, she doesn’t have a clue that I’m here. See, I’m super stealthy.”

This did make her laugh. “Ah, yes, super stealthy.” She winked at him.

He wrapped his arms around her waist. “You’re on Internet order duty.”

“Yep. Sorry, it’s all so boring.”

“Not boring at all.” He pressed his chin on her shoulder and watched as she processed the order, packaged it, placed the label, sealed it, and then he still held her as she turned to the large sacks she kept putting the parcels in.