Chapter 8
CHAPTER 8
D one. June was so done with men and dating. She had tried, earnestly tried with Blake, and it had ended the same—in huge, embarrassing failure. Worse, Erica and Aiden had been witness to it this time. Both had been too tactful to actually comment on her humiliation, but she had felt Aiden’s eyes on her the rest of the day, assessing. If he had merely been analyzing her as a doctor, it would have been bad enough. But she had read the subtext behind his looks. What is wrong with her? She wished she had an answer for him.
The truth was that she was broken now. The part of her that could relate to a man in any other way than as a friend had been destroyed. She was like a reverse superhero. Instead of gaining powers after she fell into the vat of acid, she lost the ability to function like a normal woman.
It wasn’t that she thought she and Blake were a love match. Pretty as he was, he wasn’t her type. The boy had seen Justin Bieber in concert an unironic three times. But he was an attractive male, and she had acted like the lost Stooge, doing her best slapstick routine as if on a hiatus from Vaudeville. He had texted twice since the ill-begotten date, and she hadn’t replied. She just…couldn’t. Because she was done. She was so done.
The office door opened. June checked the time and braced herself for her big brother’s patented whoop of recognition. Junie! It didn’t matter where they were or how much it embarrassed her, Denver would always yell her name in the same way. She supposed she should take comfort in the consistency. And he did love her an enormous amount, even if the effect was like a mastiff slobbering on its most-prized tennis ball.
When Denver’s screech wasn’t forthcoming, June looked up from her work and saw a man. A handsome man. A very handsome man. Staring at her with a smile of approval. She offered up a silent prayer. Lord, I made a vow of eternal maidenhood less than thirty seconds ago. Are you testing me already? Remembering the vow, she smoothed her expression.
“May I help you?” Help you name our future children, perhaps? I like Liam, for a boy.
“I’m Liam Edwards,” he said, and she slid sideways off her chair. He blinked at her in concern while she righted herself and crawled back into position.
“Sorry, I’ve been meaning to have that fixed.” By “that” she meant her entire life, but there was no need to tell him. Let him think she meant the chair, which sat perfectly still and unbroken, the traitor.
He reached into his pocket, set a business card on the table, and slid it to her. She picked it up, wondering if it would read, “International Man of Mystery,” because he looked that sort, dark and broody. It would make sense if he were a spy, and would also be better for her since he would be accustomed to dodging death and danger. Instead it read, “Landscape Designer.”
“Does my landscape look in need of designing?” she asked.
One corner of his mouth tipped. “Your landscape looks pretty good to me. I met your dad and brother last week.”
“My condolences,” June intervened.
The smile grew more solid. “They asked me to drop my card here so you’d have it on file in case the need arises for my services.”
“Do they teach you that in landscape design school?”
“Teach me what?” he asked.
“How to make everything sound like mildly inappropriate innuendo,” she said.
He laughed. “I think it depends more on the ears that hear it than the lips that say it.”
“And now you’re making me stare at your lips. You gardeners are all the same.”
“Have you known a lot of gardeners?” he asked.
“I’ve met a few, in my day.”
He tapped his card, still in her hand, his fingers brushing lightly against hers. “You can keep this on file. Unless you can think of anyone right now who might need me.”
June swallowed hard. It was clearly an invitation to continue flirting, perhaps even give him a signal of her interest. But hadn’t she promised herself never again? She couldn’t take one more humiliation. “Nothing comes to mind,” she said. His face didn’t exactly fall, but the barest hint of disappointment crept into his features. She opened her mouth and spoke again before she could make herself stop. “But it’s an ever changing business, so who knows what tomorrow might bring?”
The corner of his mouth tipped again. “I guess I’ll check back tomorrow.”
“See that you do,” she said, tucking his card in the front drawer of her desk.