Addison

 

Just an FYI, be prepared for my customer, Mrs. Thornhill. She’s pretty demanding, but she owns San Francisco society. Keep her happy, and you’ll do great.

I swallowed. Hard. My Knight in Shining Sneakers, the guy who saved me from that hedge, was here, at The Flower Girl. He was standing right in front of me, looking even hotter than I remembered him.

Never before in the history of fashion had I regretted my clothing choice as much I did right in that moment.

Of course, I had hoped to see him again, but I would have been prepared, dressed in a figure-hugging dress and heels, my long hair styled into soft waves, my makeup enhancing my blue eyes.

Not looking like I’d thrown on my brother’s clothes from the day before.

I opened my mouth to speak. Closed it again.

Was this a crazy coincidence or was Cupid poised somewhere above us in the rafters, ready to shoot his arrow through our hearts?

I almost looked up to check. Almost.

He seemed as thrown as me. “What are you doing here?” he asked, his forehead crinkled in question in an oh-so sexy way.

“I . . . ah, I work here,” I managed, my mouth dry.

Oh, my, he was gorgeous! He was dressed more formally this time, in a crisp white business shirt, open at the neck, with a pair of navy pants. His jaw was just as chiseled, his five o’clock shadow now gone.

His eyebrows shot up. “You do?”

I nodded, biting my lip as butterflies flew around in my belly. “I do.”

“Here? At this florist? At The Flower Girl?”

With me inside the store, talking to him outside it, it seemed like a fairly safe conclusion to draw to me.

“Ah, yes.”

Why was this so difficult for him to grasp? Maybe it was true what they say: you can’t be heart-stopping-ly hot and bright at the same time.

“Okay.” He nodded. “Are you all right, after the scooter incident?”

A blush crept up my cheeks at the memory of my hedge “flop.”

“Yes, totally. Thanks, by the way. You were great, coming to my rescue like that.”

A half smile grew on his face, as he cocked an eyebrow. “Your ‘rescue’?”

“Yes, well . . . you know, in an entirely ‘men and women are equal’ kind of way, of course.”

What was I talking about?

“In a what kind of way?” His smile grew—as did my blush.

“I mean, you didn’t rescue me in a damsel in distress kind of way, whatever a damsel is. I mean, do you know?”

Stop me, stop me now.

His eyes widened. “I think a damsel’s a woman.”

“Well, then I guess I was a damsel-slash-woman, not in distress, but rather, in a hedge.”

Shut up, Addi!

I could see him biting back a grin. “So, what you’re saying is you were a woman in a hedge?”

I crossed my arms and gave a short, sharp nod. “Exactly.”

Why was I so ditzy around this guy? My foot seemed to be taking up permanent residence in my mouth.

Maybe it was because he looked like he could be a dark Liam Hemsworth?

Yeah, that could be it.

That and the fact that he had sparked something in me I hadn’t felt in a long, long time. Something I barely recognized, even.

And I didn’t want it—or him—to go away.

We stood, looking at one another, his smirk firmly in place, my embarrassment at my total inability to shut the hell up surprising even me.

“Anyway, did you . . . want something?” I led, trying to break the awkward silence.

Say you want me!

He tilted his head. His hair flopped to the side, and I literally had to stop my hand from reaching out and touching it.

After a beat, his handsome face broke into a fresh smile. “Some flowers?”

My heart sunk. Not me, then.

“Flowers? Of course! You’re in the right place for flowers!” I grinned at him, hoping he didn’t pick up on my nerves, suspecting he couldn’t have missed them if he was deaf and blind. “Would you like to come in?” I stood back, holding the door open for him to walk inside.

He pointed at the sign. “It says you’re closed.”

“It does?” I asked, my voice going up an octave.

Of course, it said “closed,” because the shop was.

I grabbed the sign and flipped it over to the “open” side. “Silly me. Please, come on in.”

“Thanks.” He brushed past me as he walked into the shop.

I closed my eyes, trying not to make a big deal about this. It was just a bizarre coincidence this guy was here right now, not some fairy-tale thing—which I totally didn’t buy into, anyway.

I just needed to remember that.

I replaced my romantic fourteen-year-old head with my professional floral designer one, planting it firmly on my shoulders. “What sort of flowers were you looking for? We’ve only got potted plants today, but maybe one of these lovely orchids?”

I walked over to the shelves, placed the paperweight that had been getting increasingly warmer in my hand down, and collected one of Sabrina’s exquisite orchids. In my nervous state, I virtually brandished it at him.

He took it from me, and I ignored the somewhat confused look on his handsome face.

He wanted me to be a florist? I was being a florist.

“Or maybe this Peace Lily?” I bent down and picked one up off the floor, again holding it out to him.

Once more, he took the plant from me, watching me closely.

“Oh, I know! How about an aloe?” I collected the small pot from one of the oak benches. I turned to look at him and saw him balancing two plants as I tried to hand him a third.

“I . . . um,” he muttered.

“I hear you. The aloe is too spiky, right? It might send the wrong message to your . . . girlfriend?”

I knew I was unashamedly leading him to share his relationship status, and my cheeks heated up some more.

“Oh, I . . . you’re probably right.” He turned away and walked over to the counter where he placed the first two plants I’d handed him.

I took a step closer to him, still holding the spiky aloe in my hands. “Look. This feels like some sort of cosmic coincidence, you being here when we only met yesterday. Maybe we should start again?”

His face broke into a smile. “Sounds good.”

“Great. Welcome to The Flower Girl. What can I help you with today?”

He let out a breath and ran his fingers through his hair, and I swear my knees almost buckled.

How could one simple action be so very, very hot?

He looked straight at me. “I’m actually not sure.”

He had an air of sadness I hadn’t noticed when we’d met. But then, I was a little more focused on the fact that I had just crashed Sabrina’s Vespa, and almost killed myself to boot, at the time.

Perhaps it was there before and I hadn’t noticed.

I smiled at him. “Okay. No problem. Would you like me to help?”

Even though my rational brain knew it wasn’t possible, a bubble of hope rose inside me. Maybe he was here to see me, after all? Maybe he had found out who I was and where I was working? Although, Sabrina was the only person who had that information right now, and she was unlikely to have shared it with random guys who helped me out of hedges.

He nodded at me, which I took as a “yes.”

“All right. Let’s start with whom the flowers are for?”

“Well, I . . . for my mom?”

Not sure if he was asking me or telling me—and very happy he hadn’t said “girlfriend” instead—I went with it. “All right. With no fresh flowers today, you can choose from the potted plants I . . . err, suggested before, or maybe one of these lovely paperweights? Does your mum like them?”

“A paperweight sounds . . . not exactly exciting. So, yeah, a paperweight would be great for my mom.” He let out a laugh.

“Awesome! Come over here and have a look at them. We have a few to choose from.”

He followed me over to the paperweights and bent down to look at them, picking one up in his hands for closer inspection. “I’ll take this one.”

He held it out for me, and I took it, my fingers brushing against his.

Naturally.

“Sure! You don’t mess around, do you?”

“What can I say? I’m a man of action, Kiwi.” He grinned at me, and things began to zing around my body.

“‘Kiwi.’ I like that.” I stood, gazing at him, smiling like some sort of insane person.

At that moment, an older woman with an air of Jackie O, wearing an expensive dress with more rows of pearls around her neck than the Queen of England herself, came bursting into the store.

She took one look at me and demanded, “Who are you?” Her face was like thunder.

Unless, of course, that was the expression her Botox and fillers had created and she looked like that all the time.

I tore my eyes from my knight—not that he was mine, exactly, but I liked thinking of him that way—to look at her, plastering on a pleasant smile. “Hi there, I’m Addison. Welcome to The—”

She cut me off before I had the chance to finish my sentence. “Where is Sabrina?”

I blinked at her. “Ah, she’s . . . away.”

“Away?” grumpy Jackie O questioned, her small, elegant nostrils flaring.

“Well, she’s supposed to be on her honeymoon, but, well, she’s not. That’s why I’m here. Is there anything I can help you with?”

Grumpy Jackie O raised her eyebrows at me. “I doubt it. I want Sabrina. She knows me. She knows what I need.”

I glanced at my knight. His head was down as he—probably pretended—to study the paperweight collection in front of him.

I didn’t blame him in the least. This woman was scary with a capital S.

I shifted my weight. “I’m really sorry. Sabrina has left me in charge. I am a qualified floral designer with years of experience. I’m quite certain I can help you.”

She harrumphed. “What is your name?”

“Addison, Addison Bloom.”

“Great name for a florist,” my knight muttered by my side.

I shot him a quick smile before returning my attention to the volcanic woman who had interrupted our time together.

She waved her hand in the air, shaking her head. “I can’t remember that. I’ll just call you Sabrina.”

I blinked at her. Really? She was going to call me Sabrina?

“Okaaay,” I replied uncertainly. “May I ask your name, ma’am?” I hoped the Southern manners I’d acquired in Florida could help soften this woman.

“I’m Violet Thornhill,” she replied with a scowl, as though I should have known exactly who she was.

The penny dropped. Mrs. Thornhill! Sabrina had told me about her. I needed to do some major sucking up. If my memory served me correctly, Mrs. Thornhill was very influential, and one of Sabrina’s biggest customers.

“Mrs. Thornhill, how lovely it is to meet you,” I simpered, walking over to her and taking her hand in mine. “Sabrina has told me all about you. It’s a pleasure to get to meet you in the flesh.”

Yeah, okay, I knew I was shoveling it on pretty darn thick. But my mere existence seemed to anger this woman. I had to do something!

She harrumphed again. Pulling her bony hand from mine, she said, “I’m glad she told you about me. Now, I need you to confirm my standing order. And my daughter’s wedding isn’t too far away now. I sincerely hope Sabrina has made you abreast of it?”

“Of course, yes.” I glanced at my knight, who had now moved on to the group of ludicrously expensive ornaments in front of one of the mirrors.

Luckily, I had familiarized myself with Sabrina’s system earlier in the day and found Mrs. Thornhill’s order and the lengthy information on her daughter’s wedding. I read out the details to her and she nodded her assent, instructing me to add some more bunches of flowers for a luncheon she was hosting on Thursday.

I wrote down the details and saw her out of the store.

“It really was so lovely to meet you, Mrs. Thornhill,” I said, putting it on in spades once more.

“I’ll be in touch, Sabrina.”

Wow, she really was going to call me that.

“Great!”

She turned and walked off, her heels clicking on the stone floor.

I looked back to my knight. “Sorry about that.”

“No problem. That woman sure is a handful.”

I chuckled. “I’m sure we’ll be fine.”

“So, are you going to be working here for a while?”

“Yes. Probably. Maybe. Actually, I don’t know.”

“You clearly have a plan,” he responded, a cheeky grin on his face.

That ever-present heat in my cheeks when I was around this guy intensified to industrial incinerator level. “I’m not sure how long I’ll be here.”

“How did you meet Sabrina?”

I opened my mouth to respond when a loud voice behind me exclaimed, “There you are! I had a feeling you might be here.”

I turned to see Naomi, standing in the shop entranceway, her delicate hands on her slim hips. “I thought we were meeting at the restaurant?”

I furrowed my brow. What was she talking about? We hadn’t made any plans to go to a restaurant together. Had she lost her mind?

I opened my mouth to respond.

“Sorry, I thought I’d come here first, just to check if . . .”

My head snapped in my knight’s direction. He knew Naomi? They were having lunch together? And what did he want to check, exactly? I shook my head, totally confused.

“I understand,” Naomi replied, her voice softened. “I see you’ve met Addi. She’s taking over the shop for a while.”

My eyes darted between the two of them.

“Yes, we’ve met,” he said, smiling at me.

Our eyes locked. Things zinged around my body once more.

Who was this guy? And how did he know Naomi?

And then I got my answer, the one answer I did not want.

“Great! Okay, I’ll text you about Friday, Addi.” She turned back to my knight. “Let’s go, Todd.”

Todd? Todd?!

I gawped at him, my jaw dropping open. My knight, the hot guy who saved me from the hedge, who made things zing around inside me for the first time in forever, was Sabrina’s fiancé?

I needed to sit down.

My knight—no, scratch that: Sabrina’s Todd—shot me a look I couldn’t read before he took a few steps across the store to Naomi. At the door, he turned and looked back at me. “It was nice to meet you when you weren’t face down in a hedge, Addison Bloom.”

I tried to find words. Honestly, I did.

But all I could manage was a nod as I watched him turn and leave, my heart sinking, slowly but surely, right down into my belly.