Page 3 of Timber's Girl

“The ones delivered to Lindy this morning. The prospect on duty signed for them after the driver said who they were for. You didn’t send them?”

My gut clenches in tight knots. “No, I didn’t.”

But I’m going to find out who did.

I’ve been giving Lindy time to heal after her ordeal with Dean. She’s been living on the compound for a while now, and it’s no secret how I feel about her. The guys like to tease me about it, and I’m sure Caroline and the rest of her book club friends—which includes Lindy—talk about it, too.

So, who would try to snatch her out from under me by sending a bouquet of flowers?

Fox whistles, his brows lifting in surprise. “Seems your girl’s got a secret admirer then, and you’ve got some competition.” He props a booted foot against a red tool cabinet and leans back with his tattooed arms crossed over his chest. “What are you going to do about it? And before you ask… No, Ollie will not hack into the flower shop’s records to learn who purchased them.”

I figured as much.

But there’s no stopping me from questioning the prospect about the bouquet packaging, finding out the shop name, then casually stopping by to do reconnaissance.

CHAPTER THREE

LINDY

Crossing’s Cups & Cakes is bustling with customers, making it difficult to find an empty table, but thankfully, a couple leaves right after we grab our drinks from the counter. Hurrying to the newly free section, the three of us plop down in relief, continuing our conversation about the mysterious flowers I received this morning, though I didn’t share the contents of the note with them. I’m not sure why I withheld that detail. Maybe concern that they’d spin it into meaning something more?

Something nefarious when my brain is already threatening to spiral down that road?

“Do yellow daisies hold some significance for you?” Caroline asks, sipping her iced mocha.

I shrug then reach into my crossbody purse for my keys, displaying one of the decorative pieces hanging from the metal ring. “Not particularly. I mean I’ve got this keychain from a trip my family took to the Daisy Festival years ago, but why would my parents randomly send me flowers? And for a festival that was just one of many family vacations?”

“Yeah, that doesn’t make much sense.” Amelie tilts her head to the side, contemplating the strange circumstances of my morning delivery. Her dance class wrapped early, so she was able to join us for a quick catch-up—not that our last chatwas very long ago. Amelie is at the Reaper’s Wolves compound almost as much as Caroline and I since she started dating Grim, one of the MC members.

“Let’s not forget the obvious answer—Lindy’s not-so-secret admirer.”

“Ah, Timber… Are you two still playing like you aren't more than friends?” Amelie sits back in her chair with a huff of disbelief. The odd connection between the quiet giant MC member and I is a favorite subject for my book club friends. Not so much for me.

“We’re notplayinganything. We’re just friends,” I reiterate for the hundredth time.

“Friends don’t act as your personal bodyguard, Lind. Always stepping in at the least hint of trouble.”

“She's got a point,” Caroline says. “He could be yourheart spark. Your soulmate.” The town legend is a favorite of hers since she fell in love with Snow,her heart spark. “Would it be so bad giving him a chance?”

Yes.

No.

I don’t know.

“Can we talk about something else?” I beg, tired of thinking about the mysterious flowers and my potential feelings for Timber. Or vice versa. The man doesn’t say much, so it’s hard to tell where his head is at. He just appears when I need him.

‘Mightneed him’ is a fairer description of the times he's stepped between me and potential danger.

All Amelie and Caroline have to go off of are his actions, which admittedly may be stronger proof of his interest than mere words anyway. But I’m not dissecting theories about Timber’s romantic interest, especially with so little to go on.

Caroline sighs but nods in agreement. “What are you going to do about Martha’s message? Do you think you’ll see her Friday night?”

Martha Chesson works for the same company Caroline and I do. We used to be acquaintances heading towards friends back when I worked in the office rather than remotely, but that was before I started distancing myself from people because of Dean.

He didn’t like my attention split between him and anyone else, which included friends and family.

I don’t know why I approached Caroline to help me leave Dean rather than Martha back then. Maybe it’s because Caro was unavoidable with her desk being near the company entrance, so we saw each other every day without fail.

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