Chapter Six #2
“You mean arrangements?” Although I had to admit, flowery things sounded so much more fun.
I followed him down the narrow hallway that ended in an open room with a stainless-steel working table in the middle.
Off to one side was a deep double sink. I could already picture me working in here.
It needed more shelving, and some counters on either side of that sink but those were easy fixes.
The floor was painted concrete which would be easy to clean, especially since there was a big drain in the middle of it.
“This is the fridge.” Thor gestured at a steel door at the far side of the room.
I had a bad feeling about that. It looked like the kind of walk-in cooler you’d find in a restaurant and that’s not what you needed for flowers.
Unlike cases of drinks, or sandwich meats and cheese, flowers needed a very gentle air flow to keep them as fresh as possible.
The glass display cooler out front was ideal but not big enough.
I’d need a second one to have enough room for stock.
Bigger would be better, but unless I was doing a wedding or another type of event it would do.
I’d probably be able to order larger amounts close to the date of a big event.
I made a mental note to check the cost of coolers, and to see if there were any places where I could pick up a used one.
Thor broke into my train of thought. “You look worried.”
I shook my head. “Not worried. Just thinking.” I opened the cooler door and confirmed my suspicions. This wouldn’t do for flowers at all. I explained the problem to Thor.
“A flower cooler would be part of the renovations.” He put his hands on his hips. “Not much room in here for that though. Could you have it out front?”
“Out front would work better, actually. People could see what we had in stock that way. Often people can picture what they want, but they don’t know the flower’s name.”
He nodded. “Yeah. Makes sense. We would have to update the wiring if you’re putting a second cooler out front. Deuce mentioned having an electrician and a plumber in to check things out before we put in an offer. We could have them add hookups for a display cooler as part of their estimates.”
* * *
Thor
I felt a surge of satisfaction. She’d take the shop.
I could tell by the adorable wrinkle in her brow that she was already cataloguing what she needed to do to get the place in shape. Adding a cooler wouldn’t be a big deal. The place needed a good scrubbing down, and maybe a coat of paint. Nothing major.
As if she could read my mind, Janet commented, “It would be brighter in here if we painted the walls a lighter color. Maybe an off-white or a really pale yellow? I could get Sophia to come look at it. She has a knack for that kind of thing.”
“Do you want that walk-in cooler in the workroom taken out to give you more room?”
She shook her head. “No, it could be useful for other supplies I need to keep cold, like fruits and things. It just won’t work for flowers. And this room is plenty big enough to work in.”
She pulled out her phone and started to dictate notes into it. I trailed behind her as we toured the entire ground floor. She investigated every nook and cranny, speaking into the phone as she went.
She was already hooked, and we hadn’t even gone upstairs yet. Once she saw the living space, she wouldn’t be able to say no. She paced into the retail space and chattered away, pivoting in a circle as she talked.
When she finally fell silent, I took her by the hand. “Want to see the living quarters?”
She glanced around. “Yes please. I don’t see a stairwell.”
“The suite is separate from the shop, so the stairs are outside. We could add an entrance from here if you want one, but it would take up room. Just let the guys know when they are renovating.” I led her out the side door and around the back.
Ace had left a set of keys with me, and I unlocked the door.
The stairs were in good shape and led to a landing outside the apartment.
I unlocked the door and pushed it open, stepping aside to let Janet enter.
Her swift intake of breath sent a curl of satisfaction sliding through me.
She loved it. How could she not? The open living area had been painted in muted tones of pale pink, fading into a creamy white in the kitchen.
The floors were oak hardwood polished to a high shine in a soft hue that matched the kitchen cupboards.
A built-in shelf unit covered one wall in the living area, with a gas fireplace set in the middle.
The kitchen had granite counters on three sides, and shiny stainless-steel appliances. A shiny chrome faucet with a pull-down sprayer graced the double sink. Having a window over the sink that looked onto the parking lot would be helpful for watching customers.
“It’s way nicer than my current apartment!” She turned to me, her eyes taking on a worried slant. “How am I going to be able to afford this? The apartment alone is worth a fortune.”
“You haven’t seen the whole place yet. There’s still the bedroom and a bathroom.”
“With a tub?” Her constant complaint about her current place was the lack of a tub in the bathroom. It had a shower, but she wanted to be able to soak in a tub.
“Yes. There’s a tub.” I smiled indulgently. “A deep one.”
She squealed and raced over to the hallway.
It wasn’t much, just a few feet long but it had two doorways.
One opened into the bedroom, which was pretty standard -- a ten by twelve-foot square room with a window and a closet.
Mirrored sliding doors on the closet made the room appear bigger than it was.
The bathroom, which was right next to the bedroom, clinched the deal.
“A clawfoot tub! I love it!” Janet clapped her hands in delight.
I swear she hadn’t been this excited when she’d been touring the flower shop.
“And a separate shower stall!” She ran her hands over the tiled wall.
“Look! It has one of those rainforest showerheads. And it’s so big! We could both fit in it.”
A picture of the two of us sharing the shower filled my mind, her generous breasts gleaming wet and droplets dripping from her puckered nipples.
My jeans were suddenly uncomfortably tight. Yup, the shower thing was definitely top of my to-do list.
She turned to face me, her expression suddenly sober. “Do you think I can really afford to do this?”
I shrugged. “It’s a risk, sure. But life is a risk, so we just gotta do the best we can. You want a flower shop, you make it happen.”
Her eyes sparkled, and the corner of her mouth quirked up in a ghost of a smile. “You know, sometimes you sound so wise it’s hard to believe you’re a biker.”
“Bikers are fucking brilliant!” I paused. “At least, when we’re not busy getting knifed in an alley.”
She laughed then, a light tinkling sound that I loved to hear.
“And you could get a roommate.” I waggled my brows suggestively.
She snorted. “Yeah. I could look into that. I think one of the medics at the hospital is looking for a place.”
“Like fuck you’ll take some asshole of a medic as a roommate!” I grabbed her around the waist, ignoring the twinge as my stitches pulled tight. “The only guy you’ll be giving a key to is me.”
“Jealous much?” She grinned as I pulled her in tight against me. “And Timmy is a nice guy, not an asshole.”
“Well, he can be a nice guy somewhere else.”
“So, if I need a roommate, you’d be willing to cough up some cash?” She leaned back in my arms, batting her eyelashes.
Me paying for things had been a bit of an issue between us from the word go.
I had money. More than I needed. I saw no reason why I shouldn’t spend it on her.
Janet, on the other hand, seemed to see it as some kind of trap.
Like I expected some fucking return on my investment.
I knew I was old-fashioned, but in my world, if you took a woman out on a date, you picked up the tab.
To hell with this whole going Dutch thing.
I wasn’t Dutch, and I wasn’t a pussy-assed, new age wimp. “You know it, babe. Just say the word.”
She wrinkled her nose. “I think we’re getting ahead of ourselves. I’d love to live here, and the flower shop would be a dream come true, but we’re not at the live-together stage yet.”
I shrugged. “So, you say. You want the shop, it’s yours. The rest is just details.”
She shook her head. “It can’t be that easy. There’s leases and legal things, and the club hasn’t even bought it yet. They can’t give me something they don’t own.”
“Technicalities.” I lowered my head to devour her lips. I’d never get tired of kissing this woman. She tasted like sunshine and goodness and second chances.
She parted her lips, and I deepened the kiss, sliding my hands up her back. Oh yeah, this was going to be our first love nest and now was as good a time as any to baptize it.
* * *
“Looks like the attack on you was a one-off.”
The attack had been almost two weeks ago, and Ace sat behind his desk, his fingers steepled on the polished oak in front of him.
Shadow sprawled in a chair off to the left and Rattler was perched on a chair to my right.
As president of Riptide, Ace had called me in to talk about the attack and let me in on what they’d managed to find on the perpetrators so far.
Shadow and Rattler had been tasked with digging up whatever they could on the assholes and liaising with the cops assigned to the case.
At least I’d been cleared of a murder charge.
I frowned. “One-off? Felt like an ambush to me, and those are usually targeted.”
“Either you were just in the wrong place at the wrong time, or the perps mistook you for someone else.” Rattler shrugged.
“The second guy swears he wasn’t in contact with the people who ordered the hit.
He was just brought in as muscle. Given his previous encounters with them, the cops think he’s telling the truth.
He’s not the brightest bulb in the lamp.
The girl was smart enough not to let her face get caught by the camera so they haven’t made any advances in finding her.
It was definitely a setup, but it looks like you might have taken the bait before the intended target. ”
Lucky me. “I don’t suppose you know who the intended target was?”
Shadow spoke up. “That’s the strange part. Can’t find any chatter on the web, dark or otherwise, about a botched hit or a dead assassin. Whoever is involved is either not in the dark web world or has enough money and sense to make things go away.”
That was not comforting. Enough money and sense meant mafia or cartel. I didn’t think I was important enough for either though, so maybe I was overthinking this.
“Really, the only thing we care about is that the intended target likely wasn’t you.
” Ace shifted position, leaning forward.
“That place was crowded. There’s no way to tell who was there that night and supposed to notice and follow the perps outside.
And honestly, we don’t care. No point in poking our nose into something that doesn’t affect us. We’re just concerned with your safety.”
“So, I should just forget about it?” Sounded like a plan to me, except for the nasty scar. That damn thing was ugly as sin.
“Always good to be cautious, but I don’t think you have much to worry about.” Shadow pursed his lips. “It’s been a while now and nothing else has happened. If this were mafia or cartel out to kill you, they’d have taken another shot at it by now.”
Rattler nodded. “True. If this was a targeted hit, the guy left alive would have made a second attempt right way, most likely at the hospital.”
“You had two of the prospects guarding my room,” I pointed out. “Even the nurses had a hard time getting into my room to change bandages.”
“True, but when you got out, a drive-by shooting could have been arranged. They would know you were Riptide and could have staked out the club compound with a sniper or waited for you to leave and followed you to finish you off. Lots of options for a second chance at you.”
I looked from Rattler to Shadow. “Wow. Way to make a guy feel fucking safe.”
Rattler shrugged. “Just saying, if I fucked up a hit I’d be right on it. I wouldn’t give the target time to heal up and come back at me.”
He had a point there. I looked at Ace. “So, I’m in the clear, everything goes back to normal?”
He shook his head. “Not yet. You might not be a target, but I want Joker to okay you as one hundred percent fit before we put you back on the duty roster.”
I suppose I should have been unhappy about that, but it meant I could spend time with Janet getting the shop up and running.
Deuce had finalized the purchase offer on the building, and the seller was eager for a quick closing.
Barring any last-minute surprises, she could move into the apartment at the end of the next week and start working on renovations to the retail space.
She’d given her two weeks’ notice at the hospital and would be finished up there soon.
That would give her time to pack. The rent on her current apartment didn’t run out until the end of the month, so she could take her time moving things over to the new space.
She hadn’t actually agreed to me moving in with her, but I could work on that. Besides the obvious financial benefits, I could provide security, muscle to move heavy things, and stress relief.
That last one was my ace in the hole.