Page 25 of They Love Me Knot (Starsfalls Omegaverse #2)

Daphne

I ’m back to work, calm, collected, and refreshed.

I pull my shirt out to unstick it from my back and fan my damp hair in the hope that it will dry quicker.

So, I’m not totally collected after my morning, but I am more clearheaded now that I went home and showered so I don’t have to worry someone will realize I’m a mess from being fucked in our storeroom.

Anicka returned with more flowers just after Poppy and I finished unloading the ones she brought back. We spent all morning unpacking and watering everything.

During our lunch break, I went home for a quick shower, ostensibly to clean up after getting sweaty from moving heavy things around.

That aspect of the job isn’t uncommon, but I don’t normally shower mid-day.

I was thankful that neither of them questioned me, and Anicka even offered to let me take a longer lunch break, but I showered and ate within the usual hour.

Now I’m back at work, clean and underweared. I was sad to wash Feliks off me, but it felt more awkward to walk around at work like that .

I trim the leaves off the gladiolus I’m prepping for more promposal orders and let my mind wander.

It goes straight to Feliks, of course, as it has been since this morning, picturing his tattooed muscles when he took his jacket off, his grin when I talked about floriography, his brown eyes looking up at me from between my legs…

“Are these ready?” Poppy asks.

I jump, finding her standing next to me.

“Uh, yes. Those are ready, and I’ve almost finished with the zinnias,” I say, letting her take the pile of clean-stemmed gladiolus.

“Great! I’ll bring you the Queen Anne’s lace next,” she says.

I agree, and Poppy hustles off, coming back with several big bunches and setting them on the table next to me.

My nose twitches as the dewy, comforting scent of the Queen Anne’s lace flowers curls around me.

I determine not to slack off for the rest of the day. No—for the rest of the week—to make up for my extended breakfast break this morning.

I get so in the zone, having found the perfect rhythm of grab, cut leaves, trim stem, that I don’t hear Anicka calling my name. Her words only penetrate my flow when she’s right in front of me.

“There you are,” Anicka says hurriedly. “We just received a large order for a business party this Friday. I think we’ll be able to manage it in time, but could you take care of the planning?”

“Yes, of course,” I say, pleased that she trusts me to fulfill a large order on short notice.

“Great, the customer is here now. We’ve worked with this business before, but it’s a different person than usual.

He doesn’t know what he wants and has never chosen the flowers for an event before, so he’ll need some hand-holding.

Leave those flowers, Poppy can finish them up,” she says, gesturing for me to come to the front of the shop.

I follow her out, wiping my hands on a towel, trying to remove some of the clinging scent of the herbal flowers that seems to be all I can smell.

After turning the corner past the filler flowers display, I stop abruptly.

A dark-haired alpha in a crisply pressed suit faces away from us, looking at the honeysuckle flowers.

I watch, mesmerized, as he lifts an elegant hand and slowly strokes the edge of a pink petal. My mouth goes dry at the sight, but it has the opposite effect on another part of me.

Finally having sex after months of being celibate may have given my omega the impression we’re on the prowl for more.

I wonder if this alpha would get messy, or if he would remain as polished and in control in the bedroom as he appears to be out of it. My pussy gives an interested throb, slicking the way for us to find out.

The alpha turns at Anicka’s approach, his bearded jaw in profile, light glinting on the gray hair at his temples. His light blue eyes snap to me immediately, following as I dart over to hide behind Anicka.

I stay behind her as she explains our event packages and introduces me as the one who will help the alpha with his order.

I’m so thankful I went home and got underwear, otherwise this alpha would smell just how ready I am to help him.

I need to corral my omega. We’re not hunting alphas.

Sexy betas with big muscles and tattoos are on my hunting permit though. I don’t see any of those around, so we need to stop wasting our slick on this distinguished alpha.

No matter how much he looks like he’d be a great daddy.

Anicka finishes up her spiel, and gestures again that I’ll be taking care of him, only to finally realize that I’m not standing next to her like a normal person. She looks back to find me hiding behind her, and I quickly grab a notepad off the counter and step forward.

I hope that plays it off like I just moved away for a second to grab something, at least for Anicka. I don’t really care what this alpha thinks, as long as he doesn’t complain about me to her.

Ugh, I have to act normal and professional while my omega is panting after him.

And he’s still tracking me with his eyes. I worry that he’s not just interested in fingering the flowers.

Anicka leaves us to it, returning to working through our avalanche of promposal orders.

The alpha and I stand in silence, staring at each other. He seems content just to watch me, and it’s making me tongue-tied bearing the brunt of his undivided attention.

Eventually I unknot my tongue (I don’t want my tongue involved with any knots) and get this consultation started.

“So, what’s the event we’re decorating for your work, Mr….” I trail off uncertainly, realizing I don’t know his name.

Did Anicka say his name when I wasn’t paying attention? Shit, why did I have to try to address him by name. I don’t even usually address people formally like this, but I was trying to set the tone for a clear separation between client and worker, no funny business allowed .

“Alister. You can just call me Alister,” the alpha says smoothly, holding out his hand for me to shake.

I raise my own since I don’t want to seem rude at work, and he hasn’t done anything offensive for me to be standoffish anyway.

I try not to look at his fingers as I reach for his hand, willing my omega to stop picturing what it would look like to have him stroke my petals.

I almost don’t notice as he shakes my hand, because as soon as his large hand enveloped mine, a sense of calm enveloped me like I crawled under my weighted blanket.

I watch, almost from a distance, as he moves my arm, content to let him maneuver me however he likes if it will make me feel like this. I have no worries, no cares, and no more concerns that an alpha is so near.

Alister stops shaking my hand but doesn’t let go, and neither do I.

He watches me for a moment and smiles. I smile back blissfully, enjoying the break from thinking.

When he strokes a finger across my pulse, an answering heat awakens in my core.

With that one simple motion, my body is suddenly on fire, burning from the inside out, but I don’t feel out of control. Alister’s steady hand is keeping me contained, and all I have to do is wait for his direction, happy for him to take charge.

Except he lets go.

Alister releases my hand and steps back, staying at a respectable distance.

I blink, unsure what to do since he’s given me no command.

“Shall we go over my needs here or is there somewhere more comfortable we can go?” he asks in his deep, smooth voice.

I nod readily and say, “Yes, let’s go somewhere private.”

It takes me a moment to realize I’m supposed to move, but when I do, I jump to it, hurrying around the counter.

“This way,” I say, leading him to one of our small consultation rooms.

I feel like he’s close enough that we’re practically breathing the same air. But when I subtly glance at him, he’s several paces back.

It must be something about his alpha that makes his presence seem so large.

Alister follows me into the room, and I close the door behind us, turning to face him.

There’s only a table and chairs in here, but this was the closest place where we won’t be disturbed.

Hopefully we can make it work. The table seems sturdy, at least enough to hold up to me leaning over it. I trail my gaze over Alister’s powerful body. Well, it can probably handle him bending me over it.

Alister pulls out a chair and looks at me expectantly.

I guess we’re starting off on the chair.

I sit and he pushes my chair up to the table, walking around to sit across from me.

I squint at him in confusion.

Alister rests his hands on the table and leans forward. I lean in too, eager to see where this is going.

“Can you offer some suggestions for arrangements? I’ve never done this before, so I’ll have to rely on your expertise,” he says.

I picture the many arrangements we could make.

“What are your favorite flowers? We could start with those, since I’m sure you have great taste,” he adds.

My heart drops into my stomach, and I flinch. As my heart returns to my chest, it races and makes me shaky.

The calm Alister had blanketed me with is ripped away, replaced by my usual thoughts.

I think back over what I said and feel some small relief that everything I told him when I thought we were coming in here to fuck also applies to planning an event.

The fine lines between Alister’s eyebrows deepen as he watches my reaction. “Is something wrong?”

There’s nothing to do except forge ahead and get his order done quickly.

Now that he doesn’t have me under his spell, I’m just as eager to get away from this alpha as I am all the others. No matter how much he tempts me by wantonly splaying his large hands on the table.

I take another quick peek at his hands before getting down to business.

“Nope, nothing, just thinking about which of my favorites are in season,” I say.

I pat my apron and pull out my phone and the notepad I fortuitously tucked in there. Normally we use a tablet for placing orders, but I can make this work without it since I “forgot” to bring it with me.

I show him pictures of the popular event flowers we have in stock, describing the type of arrangements we can make.

Alister watches me for a moment but doesn’t press me about my change in attitude. I breathe out a sigh of relief when he looks down at my phone.

“They all look great,” he says. “I’m afraid I don’t have a good eye for decorations, so I’ll defer to your judgement.”

I behave professionally for the rest of his visit, and we get everything planned out, with Alister agreeing to basically all of my suggestions.

Before I know it, it’s time to say goodbye.

We stand and I wait awkwardly for him to go out the door first, not wanting to feel his presence bearing down on me again.

Alister extends his hand to me, and I hesitate but still can’t think of a reason not to shake. I brush my hand against his quickly and pull it back before he can get a grip on me, subduing me like he did before.

“Thanks for choosing Queen of Hearts! We’ll contact you on Thursday to confirm everything before we deliver your flowers on Friday,” I chirp in my best customer service voice.

“Thank you, Daphne. I enjoyed doing this with you. I’m not normally one for party planning,” he says, voice trickling over me like honey, drawing me back into his trap, except it felt like freedom when I was in it.

I let out a high-pitched giggle, like Alister is just so attractive I’ll laugh at anything he says. My stupid laugh is partially fake and partially from nerves, but it successfully breaks the moment.

“I’m sure you could have picked out something nice on your own. Let’s check you out,” I say, trying to hurry him along.

“Up front,” I add when he smiles.

Alister holds the door open for me, and I escape our non-fuck room.

At least this time he walks next to me.

I quickly ring up his order, and he pays the deposit, fingers brushing mine as he hands me his black credit card.

When I give it back, his pupils dilate, and his hand stays on mine .

“You’re welcome to stay and enjoy the party. We’ll have plenty of food,” Alister says in a low voice.

His tone and the promise of food make several parts of me flutter in excitement.

“Won’t it be strange that I don’t work there?” I say breathily.

“Not at all. We’ll have several teams there, so no one will question a face they don’t recognize. It’s not meant to be a business function anyway, just a party for people to enjoy,” he assures me, stroking the pulse point on my wrist.

I desperately try to reason this out.

I still think it would be weird to go to his work party. It’s also not much of a party if I don’t know anyone and everyone’s just standing around eating.

On the other hand, I love eating. And Alister will be there.

No wait, that’s one of the cons.

I’m still avoiding alphas because they’re untrustworthy, and they don’t care about who you are as a person, just that I’m an omega, and they’re so handsome, and dominant, and big everywhere…

“Say you’ll consider staying at least,” he proposes, interrupting my train of thought (which I think went off the rails somewhere).

“Oh-okay,” I say, unsure what I’m agreeing to.

Alister grins, the delight making him appear several decades younger, although it also highlights his age as the fine lines around his eyes deepen. His smile draws my attention to his sharp teeth, and I unconsciously tilt my head to the side, exposing my neck.

I’m happy I made him happy. I know if I obey him, he’ll make sure I have a good time.

“Here’s my personal number in case you want to get in touch before then. About anything,” Alister says, finally releasing my hand to pull out a business card.

He writes his number on the back in an elegant script, adding the command “call me” at the end.

I accept the card and hold it to my chest like it’s everything my heart has been longing for.

“See you soon, Daphne,” Alister says.

I watch him walk to the door, and he looks back at me with one last smile before leaving.