Page 34 of No Ordinary Love

Tesoro, I know I've made mistakes, but please accept these as a step toward making things right. L P.s. The lavender is for your garden—to plant, to nurture, to grow.

How did he even know about my garden? Did he talk to Jax? Who? I hadn't told him. In fact, how did he even know where I was living?

I looked around the house as if I'd find Lucas spying on me. But then again, Charleston was a small town and he could've heard from any number of people that I'd bought a new place and that I'd hired help for landscaping.

Was this a peace offering, an apology, or both? Why did he have to remind me that he existed? Damn it, what did it take for a girl to get over an asshole who dumped her for his ex?

Not flowers from said asshole, for sure.

I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath.

Damn him.

Damn him for knowing exactly how to get under my skin, to make me feel something for him when I'd been trying so hard to keep my distance. But I couldn't ignore the gesture—it was thoughtful, sincere, and exactly what I needed after the mess I'd made, drunk on minibar bottles of gin and vodka.

Still holding the card, I unlocked the door and took my presents inside. I set the flowers and the lavender on the kitchen counter, staring at them for a long moment before finally pulling out my phone.

My fingers hovered over the screen, a dozen thoughts racing through my mind.

Should I text him? Call him. Pretend like nothing happened and hope he didn't bring it up again. But I couldn't just ignore it, not after everything.

Finally, I decided to text, cringing as I saw my last message to him.

Amara:Thank you for the flowers and the lavender. They're beautiful.

I hit send before I could second-guess myself and set the phone down. The phone buzzed almost immediately.

Lucas:I'm glad you like them. Can we talk?

I hesitated, my mind racing. I wasn't ready for this, not yet, though I was aching to hear his voice. Before I could talk myself out of it, I typed out a quick reply.

Amara:No.

My phone rang right away, and I took a deep breath, contemplating whether to take his call or not. Ultimately, I was too weak to resist.

"I thought I said I couldn't talk."

"Tesoro," Lucas began, his voice warm and familiar. "I wanted to know how you're doing."

"I'm fine." I ran a hand over the peonies. "Thanks again for the flowers…and the lavender. It was really thoughtful. How did you…er…know about my garden and my new place?"

"You think I don't know what's happening in your life?"

"Why would you?"When you discarded me the minute, Kath was free and said she wanted you.

There was a short pause before I heard him draw in a deep breath. "Because I care about you."

"You cared about me before, but you walked out."

"No,Tesoro, you did without even talking to me."

The hell with the flowers. He wasn't going to turn this around on me. "We did talk, Lucas. I asked you if you loved me, and you said you didn't. I asked if you loved Kath, and you said you did."

"That didn't mean I wantedusto end."

"You selfish son of a bitch," I spoke through gritted teeth, "You wanted me to stay with you after you told your mother that the only reason you were with me was because you didn't want to hurt me? You don't think—"

"You were not supposed to hear that conversation," he cut in, "Hell, Amara, I didn't even know what I was saying. I can hardly remember what the fuck I said to Mama. You know how she gets and—"

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