by Staci Hart
But on inspection, I knew the real reason was this: Tess Monroe was a mystery to me, and I wanted to unearth the answers to all my questions. Like why she was so averse to adventure. Or why she wanted to do the same thing, day in and day out. I wanted to know what it had been like for her all these years, taking care of her dad, living without her mom.
I couldn’t imagine life without my mother. She was the brightest, boldest fixture in my life, a constant support and constant love. And I knew one day, she would be gone. I knew that someday, she would leave this world. I knew that my youth was a gift, that as I grew older, so the stakes would rise. Now was the time when tragedy rarely struck. My family was healthy, whole, happy, but the years would wear that away. It was only a matter of time.
And Tess had already done the unimaginable—survived loss at an age when her biggest problem should have been which lip gloss to wear. She’d taken on the responsibility of her household when she should have been sneaking out to go to parties.
It was no wonder she was cautious. If I’d lost in the ways she had, I wouldn’t be so free.
I heard her before I saw her, talking to Kash at the top of the ramp, and a rush tore through me.
She came.
“There’s some stuff I need. I mean, Mrs. Bennet wanted me to get the … uh … the old … um, Luke said there were more rain boots! Yes. Rain boots,” she rambled. “And I, um, I was just going to see if I could find them.”
Kash laughed. “Right. Boots.”
“Yup! So if you’ll excuse me, I’d better get those for her before she starts to worry. You know how she is.”
Another chuckle. “Sure. Don’t get lost in there. And tell Luke to be a gentleman, or I’ve got a shovel that wants to give him a little smooch.”
The loudest, most awkward cackle burst out of her. “Oh my God, whatever, Kash.”
I caught sight of her, the slanting light at her back and her face cast in shadow. And then the darkness swallowed her up.
My eyes had adjusted, and I could see her silhouette as she walked tentatively through the room and toward me, hands slightly out.
“Luke?” she whispered.
My relief was palpable. Because she’d come to me when I asked. She wanted to see me again, and I wanted to see her. Well, eventually—I wasn’t seeing much in the dark.
I snagged her hand and pulled, my smile widening at the little yelp of surprise that left her before she was in my arms.
And then our lips were too busy to make a sound.
She was stiff for a moment of hesitation, long enough to convince me she was going to push me away. But with a sigh, she melted into me like hot butter. Her arms wound around my neck, her lips parting to grant me all the access I wanted. She tasted like champagne, sweet and lush, her lips soft and pliant. But after a second, she broke away.
I smiled down at her, regardless of the fact that she couldn’t see me. “I’ve been thinking about that since you walked out the door last night.”
“Me too.” I could hear something else under the words. “But …”
“No buts. I want to see you again. I’d like to see all of you again. Do you want to see me?” I asked, my tone light and my chest aching.
“Might be kind of hard to see much of anything in here,” she hedged.
“Simple question, Tess. Do you want to see me again?”
A pause, heavy with her thoughts. “Yes, but—”
“I said no buts. Tonight. Meet me in the dahlias at ten.”
Another pause, this one laced with hope.
“Come on,” I coaxed, my desperation expertly masked. “For old times' sake.”
A little laugh. The weight of her hand on my chest sparked a flash of desire that didn’t want anything but a yes from her lips.
“All right,” she said. “For old times’ sake.”
And before she could change her mind, I kissed her to occupy those wayward lips of hers.
I was so preoccupied with those lips that I didn’t hear my dad until my tongue was deep enough in Tess’s throat to taste her toothpaste. We popped apart when he entered and flew apart like shrapnel when he flicked on the light.
On his face was a mild smile, and in his eye was a roguish gleam.
“Oh, hello,” he said genially, as if he hadn’t known we were back there.
I made a face. Tess looked like someone had a rifle pointed at her.
“The, ah, rake broke. Just needed to grab a new one.”
Tess swallowed hard and put the most ridiculous smile on her face I’d ever seen. “Thanks, Mr. B!” she said with an awkward wave before bolting past him and into the greenhouse.
He and I shared a look.
“I don’t think she’s ever called me that before. Any idea what she thanked me for?”
“Not a clue,” I answered with a triumphant smirk. “But a word of advice: when it comes to Tess, take what you can get.”
12
CURIOSITY KILLS
TESS
The bell over the door did not stop ringing all day.
Ivy and I were slammed in the back. We had run out of our prepared bouquets within an hour. Twelve orders for bouquet deliveries had hit us before lunch. Jett had been called in to run the counter. Kash had been tasked with cutting flowers and carting them up to us. And Luke had been in and out with deliveries nonstop.
Seeing him sent a simultaneous thrill and worry through me. Today had not gone as planned—not only had I not clarified last night’s intentions, but I’d kissed him and agreed to see him tonight.
His lips were apparently the antidote to my willpower. And they were as convincing as a politician on the campaign trail. He’d asked me point-blank if I wanted to see him again, and the honest answer was yes, even though I shouldn’t want to.
I’d tell him tonight. I’d meet him and tell him that was it. Simple, so long as I could avoid kissing him again.
Kash set two massive buckets—one of cosmos in shades of purple, pink, burgundy, white. The other was full of roses—delicate peach eglantines, buttery crown princess, vibrant colettes.
“Can you grab us some more snapdragons?” I asked, not looking up from my hands as I tied another bouquet bundle.
“Madame butterfly or chantilly?”
“Chantilly. Oh, and some celosia. Yellow, red, and pink, please.”
“You got it,” he said amiably before heading back to the greenhouse.
The brown paper crinkled as I wrapped the bouquet and gathered up the dozen I’d made, three sets of monochromatic bouquets in four colors—peach, yellow, white, and cotton-candy pink. I giggled over the top of them at Ivy.
“Ridiculous!” she said on a laugh, her hands flying over the arrangement she was working on for delivery.
I hurried to the front. The storefront was busier than I’d ever seen it, even in its heyday. Mrs. Bennet saw me coming and excused herself from the customer she was talking to.
“Here, let me help you, Tess. My, these are just beautiful,” she said, her voice sweet and touched with awe. “You are an artist, my dear.”
“I learned everything I know from you.”
She blushed, tittering. “The bunny tails in these bouquets! I never would have thought.”
“Don’t give me too much credit,” I deflected. “They just happened to be what was in reach. We might clean out the greenhouse today.”
She laughed openly at that. “That would be a sight I’ve never seen before.”
“I can’t believe how many people are here,” I said with a shake of my head. “We’ve sold twenty market bouquets today, and I’ve got twelve more here that I suspect will be gone before dinner.”
“It’s all thanks to you. I … I don’t know how I’ll ever thank you, Tess.” Her voice quivered, then broke.
And when my hands were free, I pulled her into a hug. “Mrs. Bennet, we would do anything for you and for this shop. All we did was spruce it up so people would notice it again.”
“You kids are too
smart for this old lady. I never would have imagined to do all this.”
I leaned back to look at her. “Oh, you would have. You’re the most creative florist I’ve ever known, and I know a few. In fact, I was wondering … would you help me with the next installation?”
Her flush deepened. “I can’t do much anymore, Tess.”
“Why? Don’t tell me you’ve got dementia. I’m not ready for you to lose your marbles.”
A laugh, touched with sadness. “No, not yet. Though when I do, I can only imagine the conversations you’ll have to endure. I doubt losing my wits will stop me from talking, and if you ask Mr. Bennet, he’ll tell you that’s my superpower.”
A woman said from behind us, “Oh, these are beautiful. Are those zinnias?”
I moved out of the way so she could reach the bouquets we’d just loaded. “They are.”
“What a beautiful monochromatic bouquet. I’ve never seen anything quite like it. Are you the florist?”
“She is,” Mrs. Bennet said proudly. “She designed the installations too. Did you see them?”
“That’s why I came in,” she admitted. “I swear I’ve walked by this shop a thousand times and never knew it was here. Looks like I’ll be getting all my flowers here.”
“Well then,” Mrs. Bennet said, “we’ll see you again soon.”
The second she turned to head to Jett at the counter, Mrs. Bennet grabbed my hand. “You! You, my sweet Tess, are a godsend.”
“Takes one to know one.” I kissed her cheek.
“You and Lucas are a good team, Tess. You ground him, and I think he loosens you up a little.” Her smile was coy, and she shifted, bumping me with her hip.
My cheeks caught fire as I laughed her off.
“He’s a good boy, Tess. I promise. Now, go! Shoo! Go make more witchcraft back there with our flowers.”
“And you keep hustling, Mrs. Bennet.”
She beamed, turning for a customer as I bounced to the back again.
Could she be right? Could it be me who’d inspired Luke’s newfound purpose?
But I brushed the thought away, laughing at my self-importance. He was here for the shop, for his family. I had nothing to do with it. Of that I was certain.
Ivy sighed, running the back of one hand across her forehead. The other hand reached for the small of her back and pushed. “This is madness. Jett just gave me three more orders!”
“Well, we’d better get started then,” I said with an unstoppable grin on my face as I reached for the orders. “You should sit,” I suggested. “Or if you need a break, I can handle it for a bit. Rest your feet, Ivy.”
Another sigh, and she pulled up a stool. “Oh, that feels nice,” she said once she was sitting.
I chuckled, making a recipe in my head for the orders. The table was covered in buckets of flowers, harvested in droves by poor Kash. Hibiscus and begonias, dahlias and ranunculus, orchids and snowberries.
“So are you going to tell me what the hell happened with Luke last night? Because we have been too busy to talk, and I’m busting at the seams to know.”
“You’re busting at the seams anyway,” I teased, choosing a vase from the shelves under the table.
“Ha-ha, Tess. Don’t you dare deny it again either. He’s been looking at you all day like he eyes a ham sandwich.”
I filled it with cold water from the farmhouse sink, scooped some preservative in. “You’ll be happy to know I told him about the kiss.”
Her mouth popped open. “You’re kidding. I didn’t think you actually had the stones to do it. I was going to have your headstone engraved with, Here lies Tess—He should have remembered.”
I shook my head, laughing.
“So what did he do? God, just spill it already.”
“He kissed me and promised me he’d make it up to me.” My eyes were on my hands as I chose a variety of dahlias and a couple of the big ranunculus.
“And did he?”
“He did. Twice, right over there.” I jerked my chin in the direction of the shop. “And once over there. Oh, and another time there.”
This time, her jaw came unhinged and hit the table. “Don’t toy with me, Tess. You don’t want to be responsible for putting me into preterm labor, do you?”
I shot a smirk at her.
“Oh my God. Oh my God,” she hissed. “You did not!”
I still didn’t answer, just kept on smirking as I snipped stems and filled the vase.
“You slept with Luke Bennet.” She whispered his name, glancing around like someone might be listening. “I think this is the most spontaneous thing you’ve ever done in your whole life.”
“Other than kissing him the first time.”
“Yes, other than that. What does that mean? Are you guys, like … dating?”
A laugh burst out of me. “God, no. I might be crazy, but I’m not stupid, Ivy. It was a one-time thing, a fling. For fun. To rewrite what happened before. I’m being adventurous like everyone loves to accuse me of not being.”
She eyed me with no small amount of skepticism. “You. A fling. With Luke.”
“Yeah. What’s the big problem? Literally everyone has had a fling with Luke. Why not me too?”
“Because you don’t know how to have sex without feelings.”
“Please. Luke and I are exactly wrong for each other. But man, that boy knows how to kiss.” I sighed, smiling at the flowers. “If there’s one person in the world to fling with, it’s a guy like him.”
Her suspicion deepened. “And what does Luke think of it being a one-time thing? Because I saw the way he was looking at you, just like I saw you follow him to storage.”
I kept my eyes down, saying matter-of-factly, “I’m telling him tonight.”
A bawdy ha shot out of her. “Oh, Tess.”
“What?”
“You’re going to meet him tonight, alone, to tell him you don’t want to climb him like a jungle gym ever again? Right. Sure. Whatever you say,” she said lightly.
“It can’t ever be anything more than that. You said yourself, I can’t have sex without feelings.”
“Which is exactly why going to see him tonight is a mistake. Unless you really do want to fling again.”
I frowned. “Of course I want to fling again—I’m not dead inside. But I shouldn’t. Honestly, I shouldn’t have last night, but I don’t regret it one bit.”
For a second, she watched me, her eyes assessing and sparkling with an idea. “Then do it again.”
My eyes narrowed. “Just like that?”
She shrugged innocently. “Sure, just like that. Maybe it’s time you learned to fling. Maybe you should exercise your wildness on Luke. I mean, he’s the perfect candidate.”
“What’s your angle, Ivy?”
“No angle,” she lied. “Look, you don’t have to decide now. Wait until tonight.”
Not gonna lie—the thought of flinging another dozen times sounded like exactly the right thing to do even though I knew it couldn’t be more wrong. And as suspicious as I was of Ivy’s intentions, I was happier that she’d told me what I hadn’t realized I wanted to hear.
She didn’t think I could fling. Which sparked a hot desire to prove her wrong.
“Tonight then. I’m a hundred percent sure the wild lifestyle is not for me, but a girl can dream, right?”
Ivy laughed. “I don’t even know who you are right now, but I love it.”
Holding my hands up in display, I said, “It’s the new and improved Tess.”
An undeniably masculine and outrageously cavalier voice said from behind me, “What if some of us like the old Tess?”
I turned, smiling up at Luke. His dark hair was windblown, his smile bright against the tan of his skin. His T-shirt stretched tight over the expanse of his chest, around the curves of his biceps.
It was ridiculous really. Nobody should be allowed to be that hot.
And I had to somehow figure out how to walk away from all that hotness. Suddenly, I understood ev
erything Ivy had just laid on me.
“Man, the store is crazy,” he said, beaming. “Mom’s out there hustling flowers like it’s her full-time job.”
“Well, it kinda is,” I noted.
“So much for retirement,” he said on a laugh.
“I think we all knew she was never gonna retire.”
I didn’t realize we had stepped toward each other until I could smell the sunshine on him. He must have been driving with the windows down. I wondered if he was going to get a sunburn on his left arm, and I fought the impulse to go get the sunscreen out of my bag for him.
Ivy cleared her throat. “We’ve got some more orders ready for you. They’re in the cooler.”
He blinked at me and stepped back, looking to Ivy. “I’m on it. Haven’t seen this much action in forever.”
Ivy snorted, and I shot her a look, taking up my station at the table again as Luke loaded a box with orders. When he stood, the weight of the box in his hands engaged all those muscles he possessed, the veins on his forearms visible from across the room.
“All right, girls—don’t get into any trouble.” He flashed a hotshot wink at me as he passed, and somehow, even that was sexy. A wink.
I wondered absently if I should get my head checked. Surely, something had to have gotten into me.
Besides Luke.
I laughed at my hands, and Ivy gave me a look.
“Seriously, you are giddy. Giddy,” she said. “Don’t get me wrong—I don’t hate it. But you don’t like … smell burned toast or anything, do you? Because if we need to get you a CAT scan or something, I think that can be arranged.”
“I’m fine, Ivy,” I said on a laugh. “God, a girl can’t even get any around here without the third degree.”
“Considering you make most guys wait three dates before hooking up, I don’t think I’m being unreasonable by asking.”
“Three dates is not that many. And I’ve known Luke most of my life. You act like I got some strange in a gas station bathroom.”
“In Tess-land, it’s basically equivalent.”
I rolled my eyes at her, but I was laughing again. I couldn’t help it. The whole thing was too crazy for words.
