Page 2 of Love in Bloom

Miller was the only one left standing. If he wanted to sit, it would either have to be with her or with Will, if he ever returned. Jeez, I hope he didn’t get detained by Cheri and her hens back by the pool tables.We’ll never see him.As much as she wanted to see angelic Will paired with the devilish Miller, she didn’t think two grown men would fit on the same chair. The image of them squished together almost brought a smile to her face.

“Fine. Sit,” Wren huffed, making room for Miller on the wooden chair. She told herself she didn’t have a choice since everyone else was seated. Besides, she didn’t have the energy to argue anymore with the handsome lawyer. Yep, her nightmare had come to life. She was stuck sharing a seat with pretty-boy Miller. Good thing she was immune to pretty boys.

“Why, that’s very generous of you,” he teased. Their comfortable table for four was a now an uncomfortable table for seven. Miller angled his body toward Wren and draped his arm around the back of their chair. It created more shoulder room for Miller and Parker, but it brought Miller closer to Wren. Their heads almost touched, and she felt his deep inhale. “Nice fragrance. What is it?”

Wren glared over her shoulder. “Work,” she said and then turned her attention back to the others. She felt Miller lean close to her ear.

“Are you always this thorny or is it just me?” The deep timbre of his voice struck a chord inside her and she forgot how to breathe. Maybe she wasn’t immune to pretty boys after all. She’d have to work on that. Wren turned to face him and from the predatory gleam in his eyes, she decided it would be safer to play nice. She could do nice when she needed to.

When she’d moved to Haven, she’d hoped she wouldn’t need to useher fake-social-politeness skills, which she’d honed to perfection at her former mother-in-law’s side in Knoxville. She was wrong. She used those accommodating, suck-up skills every single day in her business, and tonight she had to use them in her leisure.

“I’m sorry. You were right. I am tired. My back aches, my feet burn, and I’m worried about Emily.” She searched his piercing blue eyes, hoping for understanding or at least not another squabble.

“Apology accepted. No one’s at their best when they’re tired and worried.” She tried not to squirm as he studied her. “Are you hungry? I’ll order some more appetizers.” Miller raised his arm to flag down one of the fast-moving servers before Wren answered.

“No. We’re good. We ate. Thank you.” She tugged his arm to bring it down; a very solid, warm arm. She’d been in the man’s presence for less than five minutes and she could barely form a coherent thought, let alone keep her hands to herself. Wren seriously worried about her immunity; smart, good-looking, and considerate would be fatal to her system. As a booster shot, she remembered her soon-to-be-ex-husband and scooted to the very edge of their seat.

“OK.” Miller put his arm around the back of their chair again and glanced at her. “Looks like Will’s headed this way. Let’s see if we can get you some answers.” He turned back to the table and bellowed, “Will, where’s Emily?”

Six pairs of eyes turned to the burly, blond man as he settled into his chair. Will leaned forward and placed his elbows on the table. Wren thought he was enjoying the attention too much, but she didn’t blame him. It must be hard fitting into this group of slightly older overachievers.

“Last I saw of her, she and Jackson were heading to a board of directors meeting with some out-of-towners.”

“Any idea who they were?” Parker asked.

“No clue. The time was blocked out on his calendar starting at three o’clock, but no attendees were listed.”

“I know his parents and sister are booked into the hotel as well as the owner of Chance Resorts and his sons,” Krista said. Knowing who the hotel guests were was one of the perks of her job.

“So, let me get this straight. Jackson had a board meeting scheduled at three o’clock possibly with the owners of Chance Resorts,” Parker said, the reporter in him looking for clarification. Krista and Will looked at each other and nodded their heads in agreement.

Wren noticed the other men exchange speculative looks with each other.

“What was his mood like today?” Parker asked.

“I didn’t see him that much, but he seemed kind of jittery yet super chill at the same time.” Will shrugged.

“If the meeting was at three, they’d be done by now and Emily should be answering her phone, right?” Wren asked Miller. Her growing concern for Emily temporarily overcame her need to keep him at arm’s length, figuratively, if not literally.

“Unless Jackson had a private meeting with Emily afterwards,” Miller said to the group, looking at Parker and Croix with a sly grin.

“Damn! Do you think our plan worked?” Croix asked Parker.

“What do you meanourplan? It was my plan. I started it,” Parker bragged.

“What plan and why wasn’t I included?” Will sounded mad and hurt, like a tired preschooler who’d missed his nap.

“Don’t get your panties in a twist, Will. You were too close to the action to know, but you served a critical role in feeding us intel. You did good.” Miller raised his bottle. Parker and Croix joined in the salute to Will.

“I don’t know what’s going on, but you boys better start explaining. Right. Now.” Krista squinted at Croix and even Wren felt threatened.

“Ask nicely,” Croix insisted.

“Please,” Krista said after a long-suffering sigh.

Croix grinned and pointed at Parker. “You tell her. It was your plan, after all.”

So, Parker began the story. He told them all how earlier in the summer, he, Croix, and Miller had joked about dating Emily. After seeing Jackson’s reaction to this, he suspected Jackson’s feelings toward Emily were serious. But Jackson was too stupid to figure it out for himself and too stuck on seeing her only as a friend. They’d decided to date Emily to make Jackson jealous, and they’d also asked other men in Haven to show interest in Emily to increase the pressure. Moving Jackson was like moving a stubborn ass.

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