by Angie Pepper
Megan bulged her eyes at her sister. “At least some people know how to make a girl feel welcome.”
She came in and tossed aside her light jacket. She was wearing her rudest T-shirt. It was a souvenir someone brought her from Beijing. The city’s name was abbreviated to a B and a J, so it read I-HEART-BJ.
And the girl wondered why she didn’t have a boyfriend. Where to start?
Meenie looked over the pile of Luca’s stuff on the dining table. “You guys could trade me for the big house for a while, if you want.”
Luca and Tina assured her they were just fine in the cottage. Megan helped herself to the open wine and joined the couple in their Scrabble game on the coffee table. They only had one word down on the board, which Luca cleared quickly. The truth was, they hadn’t been playing Scrabble when Megan had knocked on the door, but they’d never admit it.
Luca had finally read Meenie’s crude T-shirt and was having a hard time keeping a straight face. Tina would have apologized for her sister barging in, but he seemed happy enough. Luca hadn’t grown up with any siblings, let alone sisters, so this was still a novelty for him. She was glad he liked it, because Tina could imagine all of them having holidays together, and it was a nice picture in her head.
Luca wrestled the wine bottle from Megan to refill his own glass. “Your sister was telling me you’re in a club Tuesday nights,” he said. “I hope it’s not the kind where you sign over all your personal possessions.”
She gave him the same stink-eye look she used to give other wrestlers in high school, before she knocked them to the ground—sometimes in the cafeteria.
“It’s a group for people who have problems,” Megan said tersely. “Not that I have problems myself. I thought it was a weight loss group, but now I still go because it’s fun.”
“That’s nice of you,” Luca said. “Your self-help group sounds interesting. Tina told me about it. I hope you don’t mind.”
“It’s not a secret, you big dummy,” Megan said.
Tina kicked Megan in the shin. “Behave yourself.”
“I’m sorry,” Megan said to Luca.
Tina asked, “What’s gotten into you tonight?”
“There’s a new guy at group,” Megan told them, and gave the rundown about a guy named Drew, and their strange situation. She had a sweet smile on her face the whole time.
Tina hadn’t seen that kind of smile on Meenie’s face in a long time.
Megan let out a girly sigh, staring dreamily into outer space. “No offense, Luca, but he’s really hot. Way hotter than you.”
Luca was hanging on her every word. “Why would I take offense to that?”
Megan explained that the new guy was way hotter than Luca. She then went on to describe him, in detail. She went on for a while about his argyle socks and how they hugged his ankles. Also about how she wanted to lick his face.
Tina started to get a sinking feeling, based on the details, so she tried to make it clear that Megan should stay away.
“I disagree,” Luca said, then he went on to talk about fate and destiny. He didn’t know Megan’s full background, so he had no idea he was throwing gas on the fire.
Tina tried to focus on her letter tiles and words, letting the other two talk. Megan had a defiant personality—some might call it a disorder—so if Tina put her foot down and officially came out against the guy, Megan would only want him more.
Neither of them were trying to play the Scrabble board strategically, so Tina beat them easily.
Megan had one of her tantrums and tossed the board on the floor “by accident.”
When Megan was in the washroom, Tina whispered to Luca, “She’s a sore loser. Sorry I didn’t warn you about that.”
“It must have been fun growing up with a sister,” he said.
“You can have her.”
“I will. When we get married, she’ll be my sister.”
Tina was stunned. Talking about marriage? Already? Luca hadn’t been kidding around when he’d given her his heart to keep forever.
She nonchalantly said, “My family is all yours.”
Grinning, he pulled her in for a kiss.
They were interrupted by Megan, stomping through on her way to the front door. She saw them kissing and yelled, “At least wait until I’m out of the house!”
“I love you, sis!” Tina called after her.
Megan blew them a kiss on her way out, stumbling as she did. She’d had a lot of wine, so it was a good thing she didn’t have far to go to get home.
As soon as Megan was gone, Tina jumped up and closed the blinds. Then she turned off all the lights, except for the small one in the kitchen.
“Someone forgot to pay the power bill,” Luca said.
“If we keep the lights low, hopefully nobody else will knock on the door.”
“It’s pretty dark in here. Be careful you don’t trip over my cast.”
Tina immediately tripped over his cast. She fell into his lap, laughing.
Chapter 29
Several weeks later.
Tina and Luca rode the motorbike into the hospital parking lot. Luca’s arms were wrapped around Tina, and she was seated in front of him.
Luca had been telling her the bike was hers now, but she felt it was too early in the relationship for such extravagant gifts. They’d only been back together for a few months, just long enough for her to learn how to ride a bike, but by the way things were going, she’d probably relent and start calling it her bike soon. It was her favorite, a vintage model that was a bit smaller than the one they’d taken out on their first date.
The doctors didn’t want Luca riding while his foot was still in the cast. They did say he could go on a few rides, but only if someone else drove. Tina was sure the suggestion was a joke on the doctor’s part, but Luca had called a friend that night to set her up with lessons.
Tina liked riding. She liked the rumble of the engine and the way leaning from side to side for balance felt like her whole body was in the flow of the universe. It was great exercise, too. She might never have muscles like Luca’s, but she was building strength and balance.
Plus she looked really hot in her own pair of black leather pants.
Luca hopped off the bike on his boot side and waited for her to get under his arm. The bad part about taking the bike anywhere was the lack of storage for crutches. People already stared enough as it was, with a woman in front and a guy with a big cast on his foot as passenger.
The couple hopped their way into the waiting room and took a seat.
Luca was excited about getting the cast off. He’d brought along a new pair of boots that laced up, so he didn’t strain the mending bone.
Tina picked up a magazine, and Luca sighed.
She put down the magazine again and turned to him. “What’s going on?”
“My foot is itchy inside the cast. Slide over here and distract me from it.”
The waiting room held several people, all reading magazines, pretending they weren’t listening.
“Distract yourself,” she said. “Read that science magazine.”
“I already read it,” he said. “Back in the third grade, when it came out.”
“Read it again.”
One of the older ladies seated nearby giggled and gave Tina a knowing look.
“I’m bored,” Luca said.
“Only boring people get bored,” she said.
“Pay attention to me.”
“Have you been taking lessons from Muffins about how to be annoying? What’s next? Are you going to climb into my lap and rip up my magazine with your claws?”
“I know how to get your attention.” He hopped off his chair and knelt on the floor in front of her. “Hello,” he said.
“There’s no room for you on my lap,” she said.
The older lady across from them giggled again.
Luca said, “Who do you love more, me or Muffins?”
“Since you’re here right now and he isn’t, I’ll say y
ou.”
Luca turned and explained to the giggling older lady, “If you saw the cat, you’d understand. He’s a fine cat.”
Luca turned back to Tina. He was still on his knees. “Tina, I have a question for you.”
The sound of magazines being flipped stopped abruptly. Everyone in the waiting room was looking their way.
Tina’s cheeks burned, and her pulse rushed in her ears. He was joking around, as usual, but it was close enough to feeling real that she was nervous.
With her voice high and stretched thin, Tina said, “Yes, Luca? What is it?”
He pulled from his pocket a tiny charm for her bracelet.
She leaned forward, eager to see what it was. She was wearing her charm bracelet that day, as she always did, so she was eager to add the new one. But what was it?
“That’s funny,” Luca said. “It looked a lot bigger in the store.” He dropped the charm into her hand. It was a teeny, tiny ring. An engagement ring.
“Luca,” she said.
The older lady giggled nervously.
“Hang on,” Luca said. “Don’t say anything yet.” He reached into his pocket again, and that time he pulled out a full-sized ring. One that would fit on her finger.
It was the second most beautiful thing Tina Gardenia had ever seen.
The most beautiful thing she’d ever seen was Luca’s blue eyes, glistening as he looked up at her and asked, “Will you marry me?”
The word came out of her mouth without even registering in her brain. “Yes.”
She leaned forward and wrapped her arms around his big shoulders.
The other patients, and some nurses who’d approached quietly, clapped and cheered.
Tina knew this wasn’t the way people got engaged. She’d heard all the stories from her newlywed friends. They didn’t do it in a hospital waiting room, in front of a giant mural of ducks flying over a lake.
Some of the worst moments of Tina’s life had happened there in that waiting room. Later, Luca would say it had been spontaneous. He’d picked up the ring the day before and planned to propose to her in a few months, or maybe in a year, but then, that day in the waiting room, he asked himself why he was waiting.
As he pushed the ring onto her finger, Tina’s life folded and rearranged itself. Time was no longer linear, and every moment of her life was happening at the same time. She sensed a future, hiding just out of sight. It was a beautiful future, full of joy, just like her past. The joy had always been there, and it had taken the second love of her life to show her the way.
Or perhaps it was the third great love of her life, if you counted Muffins.
(See the next page for a special note from the author. If you loved Tina's story, you won't want to miss her sister Megan's outrageous story in Romancing the Complicated Girl by Angie Pepper.)
Coming in 2021: All books are set in the Baker Street neighborhood and feature the same set of characters overlapping into each other's stories. The books can be read in any order, or in the order they were released:
January 2021 - Romancing the Flower Shop Girl
February 2021 - Romancing the Complicated Girl
March 2021 - Honey, We Missed Our Honeymoon
April 2021 - Dating the Funny Waitress
May 2021 - Boyfriend Wanted, Must Love Dancing
June 2021 - Handful of Peaches, Peaches Monroe's Diary Book 1
July 2021 - Whole Lotta Peaches, Peaches Monroe's Diary Book 2
August 2021 - Everything is Peaches, Peaches Monroe's Diary Book 3
Turn the page to read the Author's Note about the story behind this book, and series information.
Author's Note by Angie Pepper
Hello, and thanks for reading about Tina and Luca’s romance! Good news: Their story isn’t over. Read more about Tina and Luca in my other Baker Street novels. There will be at least 8 Baker Street books released in 2021 featuring the fun and friendly folks who live and work in the neighborhood.
This book, Romancing the Flower Shop Girl, has its own fun origin story, spanning over a decade.
Way back when, I got the idea to write about a florist falling in love. I would call the book Blue Roses. The main character would start out feeling blue, like the roses, and then... stuff would happen. That’s as far as I got. (It happens.)
Several years and many books later, I was invited to join a multi-author anthology. Each author would write a new story about a hunky hero who rode a motorbike. I had just finished up a large project, and it sounded fun. (I was writing under the pen name Mimi Strong at the time, and that name was known for spicy romance with billionaires, etc.)
I wrote a novella-length version of Tina and Luca’s story, and called it Blue Roses.
The anthology was released, and it was a smash hit. We made the New York Times Bestseller list. It was a fantastic experience.
Fast forward to many years later. The anthology was gone, and the novella had all but disappeared. Trends in romance had changed. The story was now too spicy for the sweet romance reader, and too sweet for the spicy romance reader.
I opened the story with the intention of making “just a few” adjustments. I loved what I had, but it needed more. The adjustments became a full rewrite, top to bottom. I had to laugh at myself. I could have written a new novel in the same amount of time, but... it had been so much fun.
So then I embarked on a great adventure, reworking several other books from my back catalog.
Working with my past self as a co-writer has been one of the most artistically satisfying things I’ve done. The extra years of writing have sharpened my skills, and I am now better able to bring the stories to life.
As of the release of this novel, I am working on even more books to add to a Baker Street series. Several will be released in 2021. I am enjoying every minute of it. I adore the romantic comedy genre.
So, that’s the whole publishing backstory.
As for the story itself, people always ask if my books are based on real life. The answer is yes, but not point for point.
Fun fact: Rory Taylor is based on a real-life friend of mine. My friend loved the idea. She couldn’t read the book, because of the kissing and whatnot, so she had her best friend read it for her and summarize.
One thing in Tina’s life I really connected to was the awkwardness of that age. The partying days of my early twenties had passed, and my friends were moving into adulthood, but I wasn’t ready. Not until I met the right guy, which I did at twenty-eight.
As for Tina’s loss of her first love, I think many of us can relate. Even if our first loves are still alive, those people disappear from our lives along with that youthful part of us. Remembering them is bittersweet.
I eventually threw out all my own keepsakes from those first loves, but I did hang on to bits of jewelry and notes for a long time. I’d take them out whenever I was feeling blue. It never helped me feel better, but people are odd that way. We do what we do. Who hasn’t locked themselves in the coat closet for a good cry in the dark? Just me?
Teenie’s name is borrowed from one of my sister’s friends, Tenille. Once I had Teenie, Meenie came along naturally.
Tina’s sister, Megan “Meenie” Gardenia is featured in Romancing the Complicated Girl, and you can’t miss it. She’s just as outrageous as you’d expect, and you won’t believe what she does.
I have another author’s note in that one with the backstory.
For the record, I think blue roses are pretty cool. If I pass a flower display with blue roses, I always stop to take a look.
I hope you enjoyed your visit to Baker Street, and that you come back for more! The folks are friendly, love is in the air, and there’s always something to smile about.
Angie Pepper
(See the next page for a full list of books and series by me.)
Angie Pepper & Angela Pepper Series Reading Order
Coming in 2021:
Romantic Comedy Novels - released under Angie Pepper
All boo
ks are set in the Baker Street neighborhood and feature the same set of characters overlapping into each other's stories. The books can be read in any order, or in the order they were released:
January 2021 - Romancing the Flower Shop Girl
February 2021 - Romancing the Complicated Girl
March 2021 - Honey, We Missed Our Honeymoon
April 2021 - Dating the Funny Waitress
May 2021 - Boyfriend Wanted, Must Love Dancing
June 2021 - Handful of Peaches, Peaches Monroe's Diary Book 1
July 2021 - Whole Lotta Peaches, Peaches Monroe's Diary Book 2
August 2021 - Everything is Peaches, Peaches Monroe's Diary Book 3
Available in ebook and audiobook format.
To be notified of the new series, releasing through 2021, make sure your email address is on Angela's newsletter list. Sign up on the website or click here.
Current Series:
Wisteria Witches - released under Angela Pepper:
New to Wisteria? You can start reading with any book, but you may enjoy them best in the order they were released.
Wisteria Witches Mysteries - available in ebook, paperback, and audiobook
#1 - Wisteria Witches
#2 - Wicked Wisteria
#3 - Wisteria Wonders
#4 - Watchful Wisteria
#5 - Wisteria Wyverns
#6 - Wolves of Wisteria
#7 - Wisteria Wrinkle
#8 - Wardens of Wisteria
#9 - Wisteria Warned
#10 - Wishful Wisteria
#11 - Wisteria Woven
#12 - Winter in Wisteria
... & other titles to be announced!
Stormy Day Mysteries - available in ebook, paperback, and audiobook
#1 - Death of a Dapper Snowman
#2 - Death of a Crafty Knitter
#3 - Death of a Batty Genius
#4 - Death of a Modern King
#5 - Death of a Double Dipper
Restless Spirits - available in ebook and audiobook
#1 - Date with a Ghost
