I gritted my teeth. “If you don’t tell me, you won’t be bringing those shelves in.” My gaze flicked to his name tag. “Jeff.” I smiled to soften my words.
“Miss Quinn?—”
“I understand you’re under pressure from the Shifter Lord to do as he bids, but I think it’s worse if you return to him with a truck full of shelves than it is for you to tell me how much these are. Don’t you think?”
The second man stood like a statue, a blank expression on his face. Jeff flicked a glance at him, but his partner stayed silent. Finally, Jeff blew out a breath and pulled out his phone. He scrolled to something and turned the screen to me.
I made a mental note of the price. “Thank you. I’ll move the plants off the shelves.”
“No need, ma’am. We’ll take care of everything. Just tell us where everything goes.”
The two men had the shelves installed in less than half an hour, and just as they were finishing up, another truck pulled up. A woman hopped out and waved when she spotted me.
“Evie Quinn?”
I stifled a sigh. Was this what it felt like to be a female main character in a billionaire romance? Completely bowled over and helpless to do anything? “Let me guess. You have a delivery from the Shifter Lord?”
To her credit, the woman winced. “I do.”
The other delivery guys nodded and headed out the door with little fanfare.
“I’m Jennifer Markham. There’s a truck full of pots out here for you.” She pointed over her shoulder. Jennifer was tall, dark-haired, and lean. She wore adorable floral overalls, a white tank, and scuffed leather boots, and her hair was done in a long, thick braid she’d slung over one of her shoulders.
The sigh escaped me this time. “Do you have prices for everything?”
She opened and shut her mouth before a rueful laugh escaped. “Like a bulldozer, isn’t he?”
I grinned. “Have you ever delivered pots this early to a random woman before?”
“No, but I redid his landscaping and didn’t sleep for a full month because he kept me on call at all hours of the night.”
“For a landscaping job?” I couldn’t keep the disbelief from my voice.
Jennifer laughed. “Yes! That man has serious opinions about salvia.” She grimaced. “And sometimes those opinions come after midnight.”
We grinned at each other. Jennifer peered through the window. “I don’t get downtown too much, but this looks like a cool store. What kind of events do you do most?”
I opened the door and let her in. “All kinds, but we get the most requests for weddings. Fredericksburg is a popular place to get hitched, and we get good word of mouth from there.”
Jennifer’s jaw dropped. “Holy smokes. All these plants are yours?”
I nodded. “It’s easy enough having cut flowers in a cooler, but I want people to know I have a green thumb twenty-four hours a day.”
She laughed. “Smart.”
I let her browse for a bit before she came back, holding out her clipboard. “Gotta have you sign. Shifter’s orders.”
Once I handed the paperwork back, she jerked her head toward the truck. “Come on out. I stacked everything I had. You can pick whatever you want up to twenty pots.”
I followed her out and meticulously sorted through everything, and when I was finished, I insisted she write up an invoice for me with the prices and taxes, so I could write Caelan a check. When I saw the total, I sucked in a gasp.
“I’m the potter,” Jennifer said with a chuckle. “And that’s the wholesale price. I’m not sure what Caelan did, but from the last delivery truck and mine, I’d guess your shop took some damage. It’s none of my business, but I’d let him pay for this one.” She winked. “Because I’m very expensive.”
“A potter and a landscape designer?”
“Blame the economy.” Jennifer shrugged. “I have a touch of plant magic, and my parents convinced me it’d be a terrible idea to skip college to be a potter full time. As much as it pained me to listen to my parents, I went to college for landscape design and sell ceramics on the side.”
She rolled the truck door down and hopped off the tailgate. “Unfortunately, my parents were right. I sell enough pottery to keep the shop lights on and pay a few bills, but the vast majority of my income comes from resident and corporate landscaping.”
