Page 83 of Flowers Near Me

Persephone’s chest tightened. “It’s confusing. I’m very attracted to him, but I don’t trust him. He says he cares, but the more I let my guard down, the worse it’ll be when things fall apart.”

Laura softened. “Are you sure it’s bound to fizzle out?”

“How could it not? He’s a god. This is a game to him. Even Mom, who liked your dad, discarded him. They move on faster than aphids swarming a dahlia.” Persephone rolled a donut in crushed pistachios.

Laura dropped more dough into the oil. “Mom’s real love is Demeter’s Bounty. Hades, on the other hand, seems to prioritize you.”

“As far as I know,” Persephone muttered.

Laura set down the ladle. “Feelings only get stronger if you fight them. If you get bored, you walk away. Maybe it won’t be so catastrophic.”

“I’m not like that. If I let these feelings in, I’ll create a fantasy that’s not real. It’s dangerous,” Persephone countered.

Laura raised an eyebrow. “You? You’re not the head-in-the-clouds type.”

“But Iamgetting swept up,” Persephone confessed. “I want to believe him. I’ve even been happier at Underworld Unlimited than I was at Demeter’s Bounty.”

“Maybe you’ve outgrown DB.”

Persephone swallowed, a lump forming in her throat. Was she ready to leave her mother’s company for good? The idea was overwhelming. “I agreed to go on a real date with him—a weekend getaway,” she added.

Laura’s eyes lit up. “A whole weekend?”

“Yeah, but I don’t think I can handle it. If we’re alone without work as a distraction, I might let my guard down.”

Laura grinned. “Don’t shave your legs.”

“What?” Persephone laughed.

“It’ll keep you from getting too cozy. Trust me,” Laura said with a smirk. “Old trick.”

“That’s actually genius,” Persephone admitted. “Why didn’t you tell me before?”

Laura’s smile widened. “You’ve never been serious about anyone before.”

“Okay, fair. But I’ve had relationships.”

“Not like this. You were never this worried about your feelings,” Laura pointed out.

Persephone’s shoulders slumped. “Work was my main relationship. Now that it’s gone, I feel exposed.”

Laura placed another batch of dough into the oil. “And yet, you’ve taken things slow with Hades. Have you even kissed?”

Persephone’s face went hot. “We did. I thought he was going to do it for the photos during one of our fake dates, but he kissed me in private.”

Laura’s brows shot up. “When?”

“During a lunch date. I came out of the bathroom, and he kissed me in a quiet hallway,” Persephone said, a smile sneaking onto her face. He’d kissed her in the fitting room too, but those few kisses he’d placed on her cheeks and the back of her neck felt too personal for anyone else to know about. And when she’d planted that rough kiss on him to see the lofted space… she needed to keep that one locked up tight.

Laura grinned as she set more dough into the pan. “That’s actually kinda sweet.”

Persephone’s face lit up. “I thought so too. It was nice that it wasn’t for show and he didn’t wait long either. We had agreed to one kiss before we got to the restaurant and the second we had a moment alone, he did it.”

“I like that. It’s nice when a man’s confident but respectful. It’s a hard thing to find. Has anything else happened? In the apartment or out in public?” Laura paused for a second before turning to Persephone and adding, “Or at work?”

“No. Not like that,” Persephone said. “He showed up to my dress fitting for the gala.”

“What do you mean ‘he showed up?’ Did he portal into the fitting room?” Laura’s eyes sparkled through her questioning look.

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