My chest tightened, my heart squeezing at the expressive twists of her face. Damn, she was stunning.
I reached across the table for her hand, forgetting my place. It wasn’t a date. It wasn’t the beginning of something. I was teaching her how to flirt so she could have sex with someone else.
Fuck.
I changed the path my hand was taking and grabbed my water, downing half of it in an attempt to cool my body. This woman was more capable of flirting than she realized. She thought she was turning men away, but anyone who didn’t see how amazing she was didn’t know where to look.
But it was my victory that she was sitting there with me. I was the lucky one.
“You’re the expert. What’s a good date that will let me get to know someone, see if he has a sense of humor, and not take me away from my jobs or my daughter?” Casey asked.
Expert. It was funny she thought I had any sense of what the hell I was doing. Self-serving prick was more like it. But if it meant I got to spend more time with her, I was going to fake it all the way home. “This time of year, things are much quieter around here. You’re not going to have the events of summer to try new things. So you’re left with the normal everyday stuff. Unfortunately, there aren’t a ton of options.”
“I know! That’s the problem,” she blurted.
I chuckled. “I get it. But the good thing is it gives you a chance to do something you’re comfortable doing. You’re not going to be presenting a side of yourself that isn’t real. I know you’re interested in something temporary, but it’s better if you see each other for who you really are instead of pretending to be someone you’re not.” Do as I say and not as I do, said the pot to the kettle. I was an asshole pretending to have good advice for her when my sex life was just as dormant as hers.
“That makes sense,” she said, looking contemplative instead of skeptical. “Just because I haven’t had a lot of luck with men doesn’t mean I need to hide everything about myself.” She stared off for a minute, her mind working through something.
I wanted to ask her what was going through her mind, but I kept my mouth shut. I took a bite of my sandwich and chewed slowly. Casey did the same, the far-off look still in her eyes. We ate in silence for a few minutes, half of my sandwich disappearing before Casey looked at me again.
“Having lunch with someone is good. It gives me the chance to talk to someone. As a reporter, I like to talk to people. Lunch is less intimidating than dinner. But it also feels boring.”
“It’s economical. Everyone needs to eat lunch. You can start with a lunch break, then move on to something more significant. If you have a chance for that. Or an interest in it. I think that’s what people do. Meet for coffee to see if there’s a connection, then move to something more serious.”
“I hate all of this,” she mumbled.
“Everyone does.”
She looked up at me with a doubtful smirk. “Not you. You seem right at home flirting.”
I leaned back and inhaled. “Part of it is my job. I work in sales. People come to me when they know they’re ready to buy something, so I’m not talking anyone into something they don’t want, but I’m still selling. In order to do that effectively, I have to talk to them. Find out who they are, what they’re really looking for, what makes sense.”
“That’s true. The first time I was in your shop, I heard you talking to that woman about flowers and what they mean. It was…”
She trailed off with a grin that had me leaning in.
“It was seductive.”
She looked up as she whispered the word, her gaze hitting mine and knocking me off balance. I leaned back in my seat, my breath and heart working harder to keep me upright. My dick thickened, all of me wanting to take advantage of the desire lighting her eyes. The spark between us.
We were two lonely people, hurt and broken by the people we were supposed to love forever. But in that moment, with her dark brown eyes locked on mine, her mouth parted slightly as her gaze dipped to my lips, the world fading around us, we were just two people. Two people with a connection neither of us expected.
A crash in the kitchen snapped us apart. The sound was loud after the entire restaurant had faded away while I was lost in Casey’s eyes.
She leaned back, as if she had leaned closer to me, drawn in the same way I’d been. She chuckled, pulling her bottom lip between her teeth. She looked away, then picked up a fry and popped it into her mouth.
What the hell just happened? And how can I make it happen again?
Casey hurried off not long after our moment, claiming she had to get to work. I didn’t argue with her, and I didn’t do any of the other things I wanted to do. Like ask her to come back to my place. Or ask her out on a real date. Or tell her I’d break her dry spell and mine if she wanted.
I kept my mouth shut tight and waved when she took off down the sidewalk the opposite direction from my truck.
I was not going to get pulled back into a relationship with a woman who wasn’t interested in the same things I was. My ego couldn’t take it. And neither could my heart.
Blossom & Grow was quiet when I made my way back. Gail and Carson were a two-for-one package who wanted to work at the shop. They started working for Andre over the summer, expanding his business with their knowledge and skills. Best friends and roommates, the two of them worked well together. Their jobs with Andre were part time, and they were looking for more work. They approached me with an offer I couldn’t pass up and took them on as part-time employees in Blossom & Grow. Their knowledge about landscaping and planting had proved to be invaluable in the few weeks they’d been working for me.
“How was everything while I was gone?” I asked, directing my question to both of them. They were equal partners in everything they did.
