Page 21 of Priceless
“No.” Laura snorted. “You’re lucky they’re even looking at you.”
It looked like Frank was going to say something else, but I didn’t let him. “Saturday night. I’m going to the wedding. Let me know when they’re going to be here.”
Then I walked out, and I didn’t look back.
8
GARDEN RANUNCULUS
(PERSIAN BUTTERCUP)
MEANING: ATTRACTIVE; BEAUTIFUL; FASCINATION
MICAH
________
Iclicked through the various photos on the website of Ocean’s business. Her work was fucking beautiful, and the pictures of her staff all looked joyful. I’d looked into her business because I couldn’t help myself—anything and everything to do with Ocean fascinated me, and until I could see her again, I wanted every scrap I could get.
Entendre. The flowing script dragged across the screen. Navigating to the section about the business itself, I sucked in a breath. A picture of Ocean was on the page, and she was fucking breathtaking. Wind in her hair as she sat on the beach smiling at something off camera.
I wanted to be the one messing up her hair just like the breeze, and at the same time I wanted to be the one brushing the hair back from her face so I could see those eyes.
Reading the little blurb had me smiling, and then laughing out loud as I realized what she’d done.
At Entendre, we do more than create beautiful flower arrangements for your events. We create stories. Flowers and plants have a language—otherwise known as Floriography—and whatever message you want to send with your flowers, we’ll create, combined with the aesthetic you want to achieve.
Entendre. As in double entendre.
My Omega was fucking clever.
Leaning back and closing my eyes, I tried to remember the flowers at the gala. Other than the basics everyone knew, like roses and daisies, I couldn’t claim to be any kind of expert. Was I out of my mind to be searching images of flowers to match what had been there?
Maybe.
But I was desperate.
I wasn’t the only one either.
Cam was locked away in his office, working on things that weren’t needed for weeks and months. I’d already drawn enough to make my fingers ache, and it didn’t solve the restlessness. The last time I’d seen Everett he’d been in the gym, pounding away on the treadmill and drenched in sweat like he’d been at it for a while.
I definitely wasn’t the only one suffering while we waited for a response from Frank. It hadn’t even been a whole day. I had no idea how I was supposed to make it the entire weekend.
There. In a list of common flowers, I caught sight of one I recognized. Big and almost fluffy with the amount of petals. Peony. All right. Shortly after that, I recognized a couple more. Petunias, and I knew there had been orange lilies in the arrangement.
I looked for a while longer, but didn’t find more. This would have to do until I could ask her. So what did these flowers mean?
Another search had me both chuckling and realizing I was in way over my head. I’d heard of floriography over the course of my design career, but I’d never given it much thought.
My skills were in painting and drawing. I’d dabbled in graphic design for a little while before I turned my attention to fashion and other practical designs, but my heart still rested with the traditional art. That’s what I recognized. This was Ocean’s heart.
I didn’t know shit about flowers, but if it was something Ocean loved, I’d gladly learn everything about it. Turns out even the color and sub-type of flower affected the meaning.
And orange lilies meant…
I shook my head, thinking I must have misread the screen in front of me. But no. The list of interpreted meanings was very clear. Dislike, hatred, passion, revenge, and desire. Desire felt like an afterthought in this list.
Petunias brought more of the same. Anger and disdain. Resentment. Peonies were listed as anger, bashfulness, and shame.
