Page 69 of Silas's Sweetheart

As if Popi sensed he was deciding to run—run fast enough his own stupidity couldn’t catch him—he moved to prevent him from escaping. “You’re being silly. Do you think it’s going to embarrass me to know what things my boys like in the bedroom? Don’t be silly. You’re all healthy alphas with appetites that need filling.”

“Oh gods, Popi no.” He held up his hands, trying to ward off the situation he’d caused because he’d been a daft ass, thinking this was a good idea. Now all he wanted was to run and hide, to pretend he’d not been this stupid crazy over an omega to be in this situation in the first place.

Popi took hold of his hands and dragged him to the bed, encouraging him to sit on the edge. “Now listen to me, I might be an omega but that doesn’t mean I don’t know what an alpha’s needs are. Yours are as valid as any alphas in this house. So, talk to me about the things you’ve done to attract Ziggy. What you like. Then we can move forward from there.”

Silas’s back molars ground together as he met Popi’s gaze, one that held a determination he would never escape. “I liked to order all different meals to see what he liked best when we were alone in the office… after…”

Popi beamed at him. “How lovely. What else?”

“He likes… pretty…” he swallowed to get rid of the dryness in his mouth. “Underwear.”

“Do you mean lingerie?”

No escape.

No escape.

No escape.Silas nodded, glad there was no mirror for him to witness the furious heat filling his cheeks.

“I always wondered about doing a male range of lingerie but your dad didn’t think there’d be a big market for it.”

“I’m not sure about that, Popi.” Maybe distracting from this conversation was for the best.

Popi’s expression turned thoughtful as he waved off what Silas said, continuing on. “You could create a range…” he tapped at his lips. “You could work with one of our designers, make it specific to Ziggy. Could you imagine if the silk held some of Ziggy’s designs?”

Silas, who intended to fob Popi off, stared wide eyed at him as he felt a buzz of excitement. The thought of seeing artwork on silk, when he considered how much of the silk outfits covered Ziggy’s tattoos, was mesmerising. Then he blinked when it fully registered what Popi had said. “What designs are you talking about?”

“Why, Ziggy’s. The boy is very talented. He sells his tattoo designs as well as creates them for his own skin.” Popi’s brows arched. “Didn’t you ask him about them?”

“I…”—the lie withered on his lips at the light in Popi’s eyes, challenging him to utter it—“no, I didn’t.”

“What did you talk about?”

The inward cringing as he held Popi’s gaze was real. “We never talked about things outside of work,” he admitted.

“Silas! Shame on you. Are you telling me you know nothing about Ziggy except what he’s capable of at work and when he’snaked?” Silas gave a jerky nod. “I thought I’d brought you up better than that!”

“I’m sorry.” What else could he say? He was sorry. Sorry he ever thought that Ziggy didn’t deserve more than he gave him. “But aren’t I here now, suffering to make it better? Doesn’t that count?” he pleaded, despising the look of disappointment Popi wore.

Popi sniffed and a sheen of tears made his eyes glitter, causing Silas to feel like utter crap for being the one to put them there. “You’ll need to do a lot more than that to win that boy's heart. Lucky for you, I’m here to help.”

He sniffed once more, and that stopped Silas from uttering any kind of protest. “What do you want me to do, Popi?”

Silas was careful not to spend too much time looking directly at Ziggy, who sat next to Bowie. Their heads were bowed together as they whispered about something his wolf side could not pick up. Once Popi had worked through his tears and forgave him, they had set his plans in motion. Silas did his best not to think about them, when they brought back how foolish he had been. He was moving forward and if he had to make a fool of himself to claim Ziggy, then so be it. As long as that didn’t involve him crying in front of his brothers like Taylin. He drew the line at that.

The designer he’d commissioned to make samples of printed silks using Ziggy’s artwork, which he’d bought from Ziggy’s website, which Popi had directed him to, was already making progress. That was step one. Step two was getting Ziggy to open up about himself. Popi had every right to be upset when they’d done many sexy things, but not once had Silas asked anything personal.

Step three was to do things that would be construed as a date. That would be trickier on the ranch, but Silas had some ideas about that and was going to use Cassidy and his chickens to help.

He’d had several calls with Ethan about what was going to happen when they arrived later today and if he’d been shocked that Silas was using a cabin and sharing with Ziggy, he acted like he’d not noticed. That was step four. Share space so Ziggy couldn’t walk away without giving him a chance. This had been Popi’s idea, and he hoped it didn’t backfire.

As there were sixteen of them, two of which were mated couples—yes Silas could have easily arranged it so that the PA’s shared with each other, but he wanted nothing to look suspicious—he used Ethan to make it appear he had sorted the pairing for sharing cabins.

The one thorn in his side was the asshole lounging back, smirking at him. Jupiter was going to get a dose of ranch life with a raccoon and not Silas’s sweetheart. No, that would never happen.

“You ready for country life?” Silas asked Jupiter, all teeth and attitude. His brother liked to wind Silas up over having Ziggy as his PA any chance he got. Or that was how it seemed to Silas.

Jupiter’s grin spread like damn sunshine. “You bet. All those cowboys in…leather chaps.” He licked at his plump lips as if preparing to eat something tasty.

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