Page 235 of The Winslow Brothers

I glance up to find Flynn looking at me with concern, and the sounds of the mixer have been silenced by the off switch.

“Yeah,” I answer through a sigh. “Just some unwanted attention from a guy I worked with at the LA office.”

“Unwanted attention?” he asks, and I hold my phone out toward him so he can read the text messages.

“Well, he sounds like a real fucking prick,” Flynn comments, and I shrug.

“He’s…a little overzealous.”

“He won’t take no for an answer,” Flynn repeats Duncan’s words. “That’s not overzealous, babe. That’s harassment.”

“I don’t think he realizes that.”

“Who is this fuck?”

“Just some agent at the fir—” I pause for a moment when all the pieces of the puzzle fall into place. “Actually, you’ve seen him. You know who Duncan is.”

Flynn quirks a brow.

“He’s the guy you thought I was running away from at the Wynn. Right before I made you take me for a ride on your bike and wed me into holy matrimony.”

A smile lifts the corners of his mouth, and moments later, his fingers tap across the screen.

“What are you doing?”

With one more tap to the keys, he hands my phone back, and I look down at the screen.

Me: This is Flynn Winslow, Daisy’s husband. It’s time you lose her number. That is, unless you’d like for both of us to join you on the forced “rain check.” If that’s the case, then name the time and place, and we’ll be there.

Oh, holy macaroni. Pretty sure he just threw down the gauntlet.

I don’t know whether to be grateful or freaked out. I glance from my phone to Flynn’s face to my phone again. I can imagine Duncan’s head is spinning over the news that I’m married, but I’m not exactly mad about that.

I’m just… I don’t know? Shocked? Confused? But also, oddly happy.

The Flynn I met in Vegas was quiet, a bit surly even, but the Flynn who’s standing in front of me now, the one who just played texting-knight-in-shining-armor feels different. He’s still Flynn, but he’s more fun-loving, more open, freer with his words. He’s just…more.

And all that more is really starting to get to your heart…

“Dais, what good is having a husband if you can’t use him to run off douchebags?” His question is rhetorical and highlighted by an amused rasp in his voice.

I look back up to meet his steady gaze and open my mouth to respond, but I quickly shut it when I realize I don’t know what to respond.

His point isundeniable. The odds of Duncan texting me again are probably below zero now, and I’m not upset about that reality. The first time I met him, I thought he was just the office flirt, but the more I’ve gotten to know him, the more red flags have popped up. Truth be told, any man who feels a womanoweshim something deserves a swift kick in the dick.

“Promise me this,” Flynn adds. “If you end up back in LA, don’t let that fuck make you feel like you have to oblige him with your time.”

His words sent a shock wave into my chest, and all I can do is nod.

IfI end up back in LA? NotwhenI end up back in LA? As in, maybe, I could end up in New York? With him?

Don’t get your hopes up, Daisy. That’s not at all what he meant. He meant you’ll be free to be wherever you want to be in the country because you won’t have to answer to the government. Or him. Or anyone. You’ll be alone. Again.

“How about that delicious cake!” I blurt, probably a little too loudly for our close proximity but the exact right volume to drown out my crazy thoughts.

Flynn smirks, and with a flick of his wrist, he turns the mixer back on. It doesn’t take long before all the ingredients have been added and the batter is the kind of smooth, silky consistency that contestants onThe Great British Bake Offwould go gaga over.

“Do we get to taste it?” I question, nodding down toward the bowl. “Pretty sure all good bakers test the batter before they commit to putting their cake in the oven.”

---