Page 45 of Coming Up Roses

She apparently has too much faith in my abilities, because she didn’t touch me at all.

She’s arranged all the flowers I had trimmed for her and is nowstripping leaves off stems I haven’t got to yet. I’m working too slow, but I don’t want to rush this. I don’t want to let her down.

I know most people think I’m reckless and foolish and have zero regard for responsibility, but that’s not always true. If someone is depending on me I do everything in my power to get it right. I just can’t always do that though. Sometimes, despite my best efforts, everything goes wrong anyway.

But not for Abi. I’m refusing to let her down. She’s doing a great job, I know she is. I’m not letting this useless florist mess things up for Abi.

Not that Olivia would hold this chaos against Abi. Olivia isn’t a tough boss. Sure she wants things done right, but she’s never an asshole about it. Abi doesn’t know that about her yet though, and there’s a lot at stake for her. It needs to go well.

So, I don’t rush. I methodically trim stems to exactly the right length and I don’t allow myself to be distracted by Abi’s confident fingers working alongside my own.

I’ve plugged my phone into the sound system, playing our ridiculous flower-themed playlist. I don’t know half the songs, but I find myself humming along to the ones I do. Occasionally Abi will start singing under her breath, and when Poison comes on, I glance down at her as I bust out the lyrics, her cheeks flushing the most delicious shade of pink. After a few nudges of my elbow, Abi starts to sing too and before long we’re screaming the lyrics at each other and giggling.

It’s a refreshing change to see Abi like this, rather than the almost uptight version I get most of the time. The more time Ispend with her, the more little glimpses I’m getting of her fun side. And I love it.

Life isn’t supposed to be taken too seriously. It’s supposed to be fun and right now, giggling and singing along to rose-themed songs, her dark hair tumbling down her back and eyes sparkling with amusement, she’s never looked more beautiful.

And that’s saying something, because Abigail Fletcher is a stunning woman at any time.

We work through the sun setting and dinnertime, and finally, the flowers are done. There’s a line-up of vases along one table, the flowers arranged perfectly. You’d never know they were cobbled together by a farmhand and an event planner.

“It’s time to eat, right?” I ask, rubbing a hand across my stomach which gave up growling at me a long time ago.

Abi purses her lips. “Yeah, go grab dinner. Thank you for your help,” she says. “I really appreciate it.”

“Anytime, Rosie. Let’s go.” I hold out my arm, expecting she’ll waltz up beside me and slip hers through it. She doesn’t though.

“Oh, I have more I need to do.” She gestures around the room.

“It’s after eight. You need food and sleep before tomorrow. It’s going to be a big day.”

Immediately I know I’ve said the wrong thing. She straightens, pushing her shoulders back and standing tall. She’s wearing jeans, a loose sweatshirt and sneakers. It’s far more relaxed than her usual outfits.

She’s still intimidating as fuck though.

Impressive.

Gorgeous.

Maybe a little pissed off at me.

“I know what I need, and right now it’s to finish my job. Thanks for your help, Flynn. I appreciate it but you can go have your dinner now.”

I’ve been dismissed and it stings. I feel like we’ve taken some steps towards repairing the friendship we had been slowly building before I groped her on the beach that day, then steadfastly avoided her. But maybe she doesn’t want that anymore.

I’m about to argue with her, to say that if she has more to do then I’ll stay and help her, because it’s my job too, but before I can form any words, my stomach grumbles loudly.

I really do need to eat something.

“Bye, Flynn,” she says, turning away and busying herself with a stack of tablecloths she’s pulled from a side table.

Alright then. I guess I’m leaving.

“See you later, Abigail,” I say.

I turn and stomp away, swinging my leg over my bike and being just a touch too aggressive on the kickstart.

I’m pissed off now too, but mostly because her dismissal hurts. Clearly she’s one of the people who thinks I’m irresponsible, who thinks I can’t be responsible for a puppy or someone’s wedding. Maybe she just wanted to get rid of me.

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