Chapter Six #2
Chase admires my cleavage, then his eyes quickly shoot back up to mine.
He’s obviously enjoying that I’m playing him as much as he’s playing me.
He clears his throat, then stands taller, while I take a step back from him.
Our bodies are still close together, though, as he turns to face me while holding a box of flowers.
“You think these roses will impress my mother?” His eyes run up and down my body. Is he trying to be seductive?
“I’d prefer Chinese carnations myself.”
“You really do say what’s on your mind, don’t you?”
“Yes, sometimes I mean to. But sometimes it just slips out uncontrollably.”
He grabs a bunch of the yet-to-be-marked-down flowers, dipping his head at me. “So… um… dinner?”
My body comes alive with the thought. “Yeah, for sure. When did you have in mind?”
He checks his watch. “I’d better get some work done tonight. Someone held me up all day…” He smirks, letting me know that even though I stopped him from working, he clearly doesn’t mind as he continues, “But maybe tomorrow night? If you’re free?”
I shrug, trying to seem nonchalant. “Sounds good.”
“Guess I’m gonna get your number after all.”
I roll my eyes. “See? All those dramatics with Rip were for nothing, Hallmark.”
“Dramatics? You make me sound like a teenage girl.”
“You were being a brat.”
He laughs. “Says the woman who lives on a sugar diet.”
“Don’t knock it till you try it.”
He turns up his lips. “You don’t get abs of steel from pounding back corn syrup and flour paste, Starlight.”
I tilt my head, a Red Vine dangling from my lips. “Please. I prefer to think of it as a balanced diet. Sugar and carbs. Potato, potahto.”
He narrows his eyes at me. “Whoa! We got ourselves a comedian over here.”
I park my hands on my hips, grinning at him. “You gonna buy those flowers or just stand there looking pretty?”
He tilts his head. “Naw, you think I’m pretty?”
Rolling my eyes, I grab one of the bunches from him and start walking toward the cashier’s desk while he chuckles to himself.
I step behind with Rory, who’s watching my every move, as I tap the price in and take off a further five percent discount.
Then I throw in some nutrient feeder and an ‘I love you’ balloon.
He raises his brow at me while I shrug. “What? You love your mother, don’t you?”
He pouts out his bottom lip. “And here I thought you were confessing how you truly feel about me.”
My stomach twists at the cute expression on his face. He’s mocking me. I should be annoyed, but in all honesty, I want to spend more time with him. “I don’t do love. It’s an emotion leading to an inevitable pit of despair and endless doom spirals.”
The humor drops from him instantly, his brow rising as he exhales in seriousness. “Okay, that was dark, a little depressing. Nevertheless, it’s good to know. But, it doesn’t scare me off, Lyri. So, for the umpteenth time, can I get your damn phone number?”
I exhale as Rory bounces on her toes, not even trying to hide her excitement. I groan, but pull out one of our complimentary cards and write my number on it.
No name.
Nothing else.
Just my number.
That’s when I notice it’s the card with the printed hearts and the wording in a beautiful script font, ‘With love.’
Damn! I should have thought this through.
That’s the second time in a matter of minutes I’ve handed him something with ‘love’ printed on it.
Good going, Lyri. Way to scare a dude off.
I’m not sure I want anything other than a friend-with-benefits type of arrangement from him anyway. Because giving my heart to someone like I did with Zane? That scares the hell out of me. I just don’t know if I’m open to that kind of pain again.
Chase hands me a wad of cash, which is way too much for the total of the flowers. Maybe he doesn’t understand how this whole money thing works.
“I’ll let you know the details of our dinner date.” Chase starts to walk off before I can hand him his copious amounts of change.
“Wait! Chase, your change…” I hold the bills between my fingers up in the air, waving them at him like a madwoman as he walks toward the door. He peers over his shoulder, flashing his perfectly straight teeth.
The Earth stops rotating.
I’m still dizzy from the momentum.
That look could cause extinction-level events, I’m sure, even a planet misalignment with the amount of gravitational pull he has on me.
“Keep it. I know you discounted the flowers, so I’m paying full price, then adding a tip. Just think of it as me giving back to the community.”
Rory sighs giddily just before I drop my hand in shock. “Chase!”
“See you soon, Starlight.” His thick, deep voice echoes as I watch him walk out the door of my shop, leaving me reeling.
Oh my God, the shape of that ass alone is enough to stop the world turning.
Rory grabs hold of my forearm, staring right at me. “What in the world just happened between you two? I need details, and I mean… every… single… insignificant… detail.”
I place the cash in the register.
My head is still spinning from everything that has transpired today.
“Rores… I don’t even know where to start.”
She bounces on her toes in the way she’s known to do. “Right at the beginning.”
I groan, knowing she won’t let up.
I close the register, face her, and exhale. “So…”