Chapter Six
LYRIC
I need some sugar.
After pulling another plastic bag open, I yank out a Red Vine.
Chase opens the door and slides in as I’m devouring the sugary hit. “Geez, three bags in one day. You’re gonna be bouncing off the walls.”
Swallowing quickly, I lick my lips to catch the last of the sugary goodness. “Sometimes you just gotta live on the edge, Chase.”
He turns the engine over. “Ain’t that the truth?” He reverses out of the lot, out onto the road, while flicking the radio back on. “Driver picks,” he says, but then doesn’t change the station. It’s the same ’80s rock we were listening to on the way down here.
“You’re weird,” I mutter.
He twists to face me briefly, his lips turned up slightly in the corners. “I’m many things, Starlight.”
“So, you and Rip, huh? You guys competitive with each other?” I ask, trying to work something out.
His face is blank, like he’s completely in the dark. “Rip and me? No, not at all. Why would you think that?”
I shrug. “I have a theory.”
He rolls his shoulders. “Okay, detective. Hit me.”
Bringing my hands together, cracking my knuckles, I sit taller in the seat. “You and Rip… you had a thing for the same girl. You liked her first, then she met Rip, and he took your girl. Or, you met at the same time, but he won her over you?”
His eyes widen like he’s having a heart attack at the thought, then he glares at me. “Fuck! What? Hell no. Why would you think that?”
“You were weird when Rip asked for my number. There’s history. With you two, and a girl, maybe? I just figured that’s why the weirdness.”
He bursts out laughing, making me rethink the situation.
Have I read it completely wrong?
“Oh, Starlight, you don’t know how to read me at all. Do you?”
I grimace. I really don’t. “So no girl thing?”
“No! No way. No… fucking… way. The women Rip likes are… not my type.” His body physically shudders as if the thought repulses him.
I rack my brain, trying to figure out what the hell was going on between them. “Then why all the weirdness? The attitude when I gave Rip my number?”
He glances at me sideways like he’s trying to decide how to play this.
“I think you’re funny. I think you’re intelligent.
I think you have no damn filter, and I like that about you.
I think you’re gorgeous. But that’s not important, Lyri.
Rip was able to get something I want without having to work for it.
I know you and he aren’t going to be talking to each other romantically, in any way, but it stung when he got what I want so badly, so easily, especially when I know I’m going to have to work my ass off for it. ”
I sit, stunned.
Chase, Hallmark, with the face and body of a damn god, wants my number.
“But why? I’ve been nothing but all over the place with you.”
“I know, that’s only ’cause you want me,” he quips, then smirks.
I roll my eyes. “There you go, Hallmark. Making yourself out to be an asshole again.”
He turns to me briefly before glancing back to the road. “I’m enjoying our day, Lyri. I think our Rip encounter means something. I didn’t intend to go on a drive with anyone to the Valley today, but seeing Rip has put some things into perspective for me.”
I sit back, taking in his pristine suit. The way his strong hands grip the steering wheel.
What would those hands feel like against my skin?
Jesus, Lyri, get a grip and focus on the conversation.
“Oh yeah, like what?”
“I work too much.”
I purse my lips. “In the mysterious family business.”
“Yeah… I need to get out more. Spend time with people I care about.”
“People like Rip?”
His eyes meet mine. “Him, and to take a chance on new people, too.” He winks at me.
My insides shake, seeing him so in control of himself. He knows what he wants, and he’s going for it. I just wish I knew what life was throwing my way.
The song changes on the radio.
His voice filters all around me.
I feel like I’m transparent.
Like Chase can see me.
Like he can see right through me.
I know I’m tense while Chase taps along, bobbing as if he’s loving the catchy tune. “I like this song,” he gushes, then hums along with the melody.
My heart races as my palms begin to sweat. “Can we turn this off?” My voice is raspy, almost broken, while my breathing rushes through my nose.
He turns, his eyes wide in what seems like shock, but he quickly switches it off. “Hit a nerve? Remind you of an ex or something, Starlight?”
My stomach knots as I turn in my seat away from him, my arms folded across my chest as I focus out the window on the aquamarine Pacific Ocean waves crashing against the sand.
They roll into the shore tumultuously, unlike the atmosphere in the truck right now.
An arctic blast filters through the air.
The pickup is blanketed in a deadly silence with no other sounds but the dull whooshing of the tires on the asphalt and my harsh breathing.
The entire ride is spent with me sulking.
This is not how I want my last moments with Chase to be.
But that damn song’s ruined everything.
Just like that band ruined my life.
Chase pulls closer to Love and Lavender, and I can’t help but feel regret for my actions. He will probably never want to see me again after this. To be honest, I don’t blame him. I wouldn’t want to see me either. I’ve been up and down like a damn yo-yo with him.
All because he makes me feel.
Makes me want something I don’t want to have, and it scares me.
Chase exhales forcefully as we pull up in front of my store. “Lyri, I’m an asshole. Can I make it up to you?”
I can’t help but turn to face him, letting out a small laugh. “No. What? It’s me who should be sorry. It’s just that song, that band, they meant something to me. And… it doesn’t matter, but I shouldn’t take it out on you. That’s not fair.”
He narrows his eyes. “Well, then, seeing as this is all your fault, and I’m completely in the clear, I think you should make it up to me.” His lips turn up slightly. “By having dinner… with me.”
I raise my brow. “That was the most insulting way of asking a girl out I’ve ever heard.”
Chase’s cheeky grin lights up.
My knees go weak when he flashes me his pearly whites.
Damn him.
“So… dinner?”
He’s still trying.
Even after my tantrum.
Chase is a glutton for punishment.
I know I can’t refuse him. “Okay, dinner. But I want flowers, really pretty ones,” I tease.
“Challenge accepted. Right now, I need to get my mother’s flowers from the best florist in Laguna Beach before I head back and have my head removed by my father. Hell, it’s why I came all this way in the first place.”
My eyes widen. “Wait! Where did you come from?”
“Our offices are in downtown LA, but I live in Beverly Park.”
My eyes widen.
Oh crap!
He’s rich.
Filthy rich.
Beverly Park is only for the wealthiest of the wealthy. I know, because I grew up there.
He needs to be with a socialite, a celebrity, or hell, a freaking princess from some European country for all I know, not some nobody florist from Laguna Beach.
“Holy crap,” I mumble under my breath as he slides out of the truck, then he rounds it, coming to my side.
I step out as he takes my hand. “Don’t let it stop us from having a good meal together, Lyri. You have a spark in you that I want to see shine bright.”
“Huh? What does that even mean?”
“I think you’re cool.”
“Oh, I see. But shouldn’t you be more interested in… I don’t know… like Kylie Jenner or something?”
He lightly chuckles. “No. We didn’t get along.” My eyes burst out of my head as I gasp. “Oh God, Lyri, I’m kidding. She’s not my type.”
Placing my hand on my hip, I glare at him. “You like messing with me, don’t you?”
He slyly smirks. “Yes… and it’s been the highlight of my day.”
“I don’t know whether to be flattered or insulted.”
He leans in so close I can smell his intoxicating aftershave.
It sends all my senses into overdrive. My heartbeat races up a notch as I stare into his eyes.
They’re the color of the blue muscari flower, which is known for bringing hope and new beginnings, as well as symbolizing deep trust, dependability, and steadfastness.
I don’t know what’s going to happen with Chase, but a new beginning with him could be something nice.
And if the color of his eyes is exactly like a flower that represents deep trust, then who am I to ignore what my profession tells me?
I’m a florist, and his floral eyes are telling me that he is someone I can trust.
“Definitely flattered, Starlight.” He leans closer, enough for me to open my eyes wider in shock as I think he’s going to kiss me.
My heart hammers in my chest like a jackhammer.
My muscles tense as I pucker my lips, welcoming the connection, when he suddenly diverts, shutting the truck door behind me.
He pulls back, winks at me, and heads toward the shop.
I take a second to simply breathe.
A moment to gather myself.
If he’s going to play hardball, he doesn’t know who he’s going up against.
Because I can play right back.
Chase strolls inside my store, and I can’t help but admire his toned ass as I follow. The little bell on the door dings, and Rory peeks up at us, her eyes widening. “How was the road trip?” she calls out.
“Entertaining,” I reply.
“I bet it was,” Rory mumbles under her breath as Chase turns to peruse some of the arrangements.
I move in behind him while he leans over, glancing at the price tags.
I press my body against his, rubbing my chest purposely into his back, pointing to the bunch next to the one he’s currently looking at.
He tenses all over.
He knows what I’m doing, but he does nothing to stop me.
“I can do these for a marked-down price.” I angle my breasts so they rub against his arm. He clears his throat as I continue, “They’re going to be marked down tomorrow morning anyway.”