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  “I hope you’re going to do something about this, Chris,” Michael said grimly.

  “You’re damn right I am,” Chris growled back. “No one comes into this town and threatens one of my people. No one.”

  Alli stared in utter shock at the words written with such venom on his wall. Who…why…how? Until Michael had arrived, no one had known his preferences. No one.

  Well, maybe Chris. But Alli really, really doubted that Chris was responsible for this. Alli had never seen the deputy so furious. His eyes were hard, jaw clenched, his hands fisting and releasing. Not to mention the line that sounded like something from a bad movie.

  “All right,” Chris suddenly barked. “Barry, you get enough pictures?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Alli half-expected Barry to salute.

  “Good. Get them developed, stat. And Barry?”

  Barry froze mid-step.

  “Don’t take them to the drugstore this time, huh?”

  Mark snorted. He suddenly found a speck in the corner fascinating when Chris turned his steely glare on him.

  “This one gets done by the books, boys,” Chris ordered. “When this guy is caught, I don’t want anything screwing it up.”

  “You’ve got it, boss.”

  Chris suddenly sighed. He rubbed his hand over his face, looking weary as he studied the destruction around him. “I guess I’ll have to call the sheriff. He needs to know someone’s making trouble.”

  “Wait. Sheriff?” Michael shook his head in confusion. “I thought you were the sheriff.”

  “No, unfortunately. The good sheriff, however, prefers to spend his time doing God only knows what. I haven’t seen the man in going on near two weeks. He calls in every few days, so I know he isn’t dead. He’d just rather let me do all the work.”

  “You do a good job, too,” Mark declared. The staunch support of his coworker seemed to have penetrated the hard shell Chris had donned and the man quirked a tiny grin.

  “Thanks,” he replied dryly. “Just wish it were a bit easier. And paid better.”

  Alli patted Chris’ shoulder and wandered past. The drawers of his desk were hanging open and he reached over to check them.

  “Don’t touch, Alli!”

  Alli jerked backward at the snapped order.

  “Sorry, sorry.”

  Chris shook his head. “It’s okay. Let us record everything first, huh? Then you can check and see if there’s anything missing.”

  They spent the next two hours wading through the mess. Mark’s pencil flew across his yellow legal pad as he took notes frantically. Chris kept muttering curses as he poked through destroyed items and smashed furniture.

  The entire time, Michael hovered behind Alli. The bear shifter never got farther than a few feet away.

  Alli was grateful. Extremely. For the first time in years, Alli wasn’t facing disaster and heartache by himself. There was someone to lend him strength, someone to catch his elbow and steady him when he tripped, someone to hug him when the despair threatened to overwhelm him.

  It hurt, looking around Flora. For so long, the store had been all Alli had. It wasn’t the financial loss that made such an impact—Alli didn’t need the money. The store was more to give him something to do than a source of income. But it was his home, more so than the house a few blocks away. These plants and flowers were his friends, his comfort. Seeing the pure hate, the way his sanctuary had been invaded—it hurt deeply.

  Alli bit his lip, staring blindly at a clumped-up mess on the floor, unable to process the implications. He didn’t know what to think, where to start…

  “Come on, baby,” Michael murmured. “I think you’ve had enough. Let’s get you home. We can finish this later.”

  Chris heard the words and looked over. He nodded his agreement.

  “I’ll drive you.” Chris kept his voice low, seemingly aware that Alli was about to break. “Mark, keep at it, huh? Call me if you find anything else.”

  “Sure thing.” Mark gave Alli an encouraging smile as the two men escorted him from the store.

  This time, Michael didn’t put Alli in the back of the car. Chris didn’t say anything when they both climbed in the front seat, Michael pulling Alli close until he was practically on Michael’s lap.

  Outside, the sun hadn’t even come up. Alli caught a glimpse of the clock on the dashboard. Great Heavens, he had an entire Friday to get through yet. Alli wasn’t sure he was going to be able to make it. He just wanted to go to bed, curl up and pull the covers over his head.

  He didn’t get his wish. Pulling to a stop in front of Alli’s house, Chris cut the engine and followed them inside. When he motioned for Alli and Michael to sit, planting his own butt in a chair facing them, Alli groaned aloud.

  Let the interrogation begin.

  “So, who around town hates you this much?”

  Alli bit his lip, cheeks heating with a mixture of embarrassment and shame. “Do you want the whole list?” he asked sadly.

  “Hush, baby,” Michael soothed. “I think you have more friends than you realize.”

  Chris sighed. “Sorry, Alli. He’s right, you know. Just look at Mark and Barry. Sascha. Lucas.”

  “I can’t tell you how many people waylaid me when I started to show interest in you,” Michael revealed. “They all wanted to look out for you.”

  “Maybe, but I also have a lot of people who want to string me up by my toes,” Alli pointed out.

  “Why don’t you start at the top,” Michael encouraged. He wrapped his arm around Alli’s shoulders. Alli couldn’t help snuggling closer, soaking up the comfort being offered.

  “Well, there’s Miss Patti.”

  “True.”

  Even Chris couldn’t deny that one. Miss Patti thought Alli was the devil’s spawn, ever since that incident with Pookums. Alli had been walking by, Pookums’ leash had broken and, well, the car hadn’t killed the insufferable fluffy creature but it had come darn close. All the witnesses swore it was an accident, a freak occurrence. Alli knew better—it had, after all, been a Friday. Miss Patti gave him the evil eye any time they crossed paths. Alli didn’t protest because while most people thought she was just being a cranky old woman and overreacting, he knew better.

  “Lester,” Alli continued with his list.

  “Wasn’t your fault the man got struck by lightning.”

  “Sort of was,” Alli argued. “I was the one holding the pole.”

  “I’m not even going to ask,” Michael said.

  “Probably best,” Chris concurred. “But it was an impressive light display, I’ll say that.”

  A Friday. Again.

  “Constance.”

  Chris winced. “Yeah, she probably wouldn’t mind if you vanished.”

  “No kidding.”

  And he still felt guilty about that one. It had taken weeks for the poor woman’s eyebrows to grow back. He still didn’t know what had made the pan burst into fire like that—the stove hadn’t even been on. After that incident, Sascha had banned Alli from his kitchen. It was probably a wise move. Far too much that could cause destruction in a kitchen.

  “Molly, Mason, Mr. Pritchard, Carter, Carter’s dog—”

  “Enough,” Michael interrupted, giving Alli a little squeeze.

  “Michael’s right.” Chris reached over and patted Alli’s knee in sympathy. “While there might be a few people around who don’t like you, most of them are harmless. They settle for glares, evil eyes, and warding signs.”

  Oh, yeah. He’d forgotten about the local coven. He hadn’t meant to screw up their ritual. Honestly.

  That incident had almost sent him running back home, banishment be damned. No matter how accidental, setting loose a demon was never a good thing. Well, not a chaos demon, anyway. Luckily, there had been a Hunter not far away who’d been able to take care of the thing. Alli had never found out what the coven had actually been trying to summon. He just knew it wasn’t what they’d gotten.

  Witches could hol
d a grudge really, really well.

  “I feel I should point to the warning again, anyway,” Michael said. “While it sounds like you’ve got a few enemies, most of them have specific reasons for disliking you.”

  “Right.” Chris nodded. “And most of those reasons have absolutely nothing to do with your lack of interest in women.”

  “What about that guy at Emmaline’s?” Michael asked.

  “Who?” Alli scrunched his nose, trying to remember that day.

  “You know, the guy. The one with the big scowl who kept staring at us together.”

  It took Alli a moment, but he finally dredged up an image of a big, ugly guy who’d looked like he’d had indigestion. “Him? Dang. How did you even remember that? That was, like, forever ago.”

  Michael shrugged, flushing. “I didn’t like how he looked at you. Bruce felt he was a threat.”

  “Good enough for me,” Chris declared. “I’ll see if anyone else noticed him. It’s a start, anyway.”

  “What, just like that?” Alli asked.

  “Not like I have much else to go on.”

  Chris slapped Michael on the shoulder and ruffled Alli’s hair. Alli glared, so not in the mood for the deputy’s antics at the moment.

  “I’ve got work to do,” Chris said. “In the meantime, I’m expecting you to look after our little florist.”

  Chris said the last with a stern glare at Michael. Michael nodded back soberly.

  “You can count on it. No one’s getting anywhere near Alli.” A low growl rumbled through Michael, deep and menacing, powerful enough to send ripples up Alli’s spine. Good ripples. Damn, but that sound shouldn’t be so hot.

  Chris left soon after. A silence fell over the room, heavy and thick. Alli hated how awkward it felt but didn’t know how to fix it.

  “Who’s Bruce?” he finally asked.

  “My bear side.”

  “You named your animal half?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Bruce?”

  Alli tried to hold back the giggles, but it just came out sounding like he was choking on something. Or maybe swallowed a really sticky piece of food that was restricting his breathing. Either way, it was a very weird sound.

  Alli quickly lost the battle and the strange sound morphed into laughter. The deep belly, tear-inducing kind. And if it had a touch of hysteria to it? Well, Alli figured he could be forgiven.

  “It’s not that funny,” Michael muttered.

  “You named your shifter half,” Alli said again.

  Michael shrugged. “It’s me, but not really. Besides, it’s not that weird. Most of my family does it.”

  “Hate to break it to you, but your family sounds to me like a very strange bunch.”

  Michael didn’t argue that one.

  “I suppose it does make a bit of sense,” Alli mused, pursing his lips. “But Bruce?”

  He started laughing again. Michael crossed his arms over his chest and glared. “What’s wrong with Bruce?”

  “Nothing,” Alli assured him. “Absolutely nothing.”

  Since Alli was still laughing, he didn’t think Michael bought it.

  “Batman’s real name was Bruce,” Michael argued. “It’s a good name.”

  “Never said it wasn’t.”

  “Then stop laughing.”

  “I can’t.”

  Michael’s lips twitched.

  Seconds later he was howling right along with Alli. It wasn’t long before they both collapsed together on the couch, their legs entwined, Alli pressing up against Michael.

  “Mmm, I like this,” Michael said quietly.

  “Like what?”

  “Cuddling. Piles.”

  “Oh?”

  “Yeah. Must be a shifter thing. My brothers and I used to sleep in one giant heap growing up. Mom gave up in grade school trying to keep us in separate rooms. Dad was pretty philosophical about it, although he did mention that it tended to be more of a wolf thing.”

  Alli hummed absently at the story, not quite sure what the sound meant. Michael ran his fingers though Alli’s loose hair, gently working out the snarls. The mood eased, turning more serious. Alli soaked up the comfort eagerly.

  “How are you holding up?” Michael finally asked gently.

  Alli shook his head, eyes on the floor by his feet. “I don’t know,” he admitted. “I think it’s still kind of surreal.”

  “I suppose it is. Come on, why don’t we try to get some sleep?”

  “Oh, no, I couldn’t,” Alli protested. “I have to open the store at—”

  “Baby, there’s no way you’ll be able to open Flora today,” Michael admonished. “That mess is going to take days to clean up. The insurance company will want to send someone out to take a look. Not to mention reordering stock, putting displays back together, repotting…”

  Michael cut himself off, obviously reading the distress on Alli’s face. Michael sighed and stood, grabbing Alli’s hands and pulling him to his feet.

  “Come on, bed.”

  “I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep.” Alli protested some more but still let Michael lead him down the hall.

  “You should at least try.”

  Weariness suddenly swamped Alli, not physical but mental. A vision of the store flashed into his head. He knew a lot of people didn’t like him, he’d long ago accepted that. Not like it was anything new. But that someone could hate him that much…

  “Shh, Alli,” Michael crooned. “Stop thinking. Just come and lie down with me.”

  “With you?” Alli asked hopefully. “You’ll stay?”

  “Until this bastard is caught, I’m your new shadow,” Michael said with a little grin. Alli latched onto that small sign of his Michael with a tight grip. He didn’t like this new, serious, hard version of his almost-lover. Alli wanted his playful, teasing Michael back.

  “I guess I could.” Alli gave in, careful to hide how much the idea appealed to him. As much as Alli cared for Michael, he wasn’t quite ready to give the man that much power over him.

  “Good. Hungry?”

  Alli shook his head. He noticed for the first time that Michael had stripped down to the waist. Alli obediently held out his arms while Michael pulled Alli’s shirt over his head. He had thought about fighting Michael, but it seemed to ease the bear, taking care of Alli.

  Minutes later, Alli found himself swathed in covers, tucked up tightly next to Michael. Alli wasn’t sleepy—his mind was racing too much—but he had to admit, it felt marvelous, letting his bear comfort him.

  Michael stroked Alli’s forehead with one hand, brushing the hair aside, back and forth in a gentle, soothing rhythm. Alli let his head fall deeper against Michael’s shoulder. Michael’s other arm tightened around Alli.

  Alli would have said it was impossible, but his eyes slowly grew heavy and he eventually drifted off into a restless sleep, held close and safe.

  Chapter Nine

  Michael was making coffee. Again. He figured it was a bit like his mother’s impulse to cook something when she was anxious, an automatic action to try to set the world right. At least, his world.

  Michael just couldn’t get those damn words out of his head. Every time he blinked they were there, waiting on the inside of his eyelids to flash their bloody hatred at him. The viciousness of the destruction at Alli’s store had him on edge. It had Bruce on edge, too, and that was hard to do. Bruce was a herbivore—patient, easygoing. It took a whole hell of a lot to make him growly.

  He was growly now. So was Michael. He wanted answers, but none were forthcoming. So he made coffee. Maybe it didn’t make a whole lot of sense, but it worked. Sort of. At least, Michael figured, until the caffeine hit his system. Then he’d get all jittery and worked up again.

  So long as Alli was tucked up, safe and within reach, Michael could handle feeling a bit out of control.

  Shuffling feet sounded in the hall and Michael’s mouth tipped into a smile. A second later Alli came into view, disheveled and sleepy. Then Michael f
rowned, not liking the dark circles bruising the pale skin under Alli’s darker-than-usual eyes. Michael crossed the kitchen, dropping a kiss on Alli’s forehead and handing him a mug of coffee at the same time.

  “You get much sleep?” he asked. Alli had been pretty restless during the night, but since Michael had never slept with the man before, he didn’t know if that was normal or not.

  “Hmm?” Alli blinked, looking adorably confused, and Michael had to steal another quick kiss, this one on the lips.

  “Yum,” he declared. “Coffee and Alli. The perfect combination.”

  Another dazed blink. Michael swallowed a laugh.

  “Come sit down,” Michael urged. “Wake up a bit and I’ll take you out for breakfast…well, lunch now, I guess.”

  The green numbers on the microwave declared it was nearly one in the afternoon. Considering they hadn’t made it to bed until nearly sunrise, Michael figured they’d done pretty well.

  They sat in companionable silence, sipping coffee while Alli slowly rejoined the land of the living. It took nearly fifteen minutes for Alli to wake up and the fuzziness to clear from his eyes.

  Alli shoved his mug away and studied Michael from under his lashes, tilting his head in contemplation. “You’re still here.”

  Michael frowned. “Where else would I be?”

  Alli shrugged, looking away. “I guess I kind of thought you’d take off. I mean, last night didn’t exactly go according to plan, and that’s kind of normal for me. I’m a lot of work and—”

  “Alli?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Shut up.”

  “Excuse me?”

  Oh, look at that indignation. Cutest thing ever.

  Michael chuckled. In one smooth move, Michael scooped Alli up and settled the skinny man on his lap. Then he did what he’d been wanting to do since Alli had appeared in the kitchen.

  Michael tried to keep the kiss gentle, his hands lightly stroking, but it didn’t last for long. The instant Alli opened up, Michael groaned. He thrust his tongue with more force, dueling playfully with Alli. Michael slipped his hands up under Alli’s shirt, thumbs stroking up and down on the smooth skin. Alli made a small sound of pleasure that went straight to Michael’s dick. Alli pressed close and wrapped his slender hands around Michael’s neck, angling his head and licking along the corners of Michael’s mouth.