Page 23 of Wild Flower

Miranda raises her shoulders in defense. “You read a lot of kinky stuff: hot monsters, bat-boys, alien brides. And more importantly, you’ve yet to tell me if you even like Archer!”

“We didn’t talk much,” I admit.

“What doesthat mean?”Miranda exclaims, her eyebrows doing the sexy cha-cha.

“What did Finn tell you?” A flush hits my cheeks, which Miranda notices, because she starts bouncing up and down like I got lucky.

“He was surprisingly vague,” Miranda admits. “But he said he’d talk to Archer about you.”

“What?!”

Miranda grins like she was made for this matchmaker gig. “If you’re not going to jump on the Archer merry-go-round, then I’m going to pull some strings.”

“The Archer merry-go-round?”

“You know”—Miranda motions to the yellow spadix next to her—“his dick!”

“You expect me to take a spin on—?” I throw a hand in the air before spraying her again.

“Unless you’re holding out on me and you already did!” Miranda laughs. “Areyou holding out on me?”

I spray the flowers next to her as a warning.

“We have good chemistry,” I confess, “but you don’t need your cousin to put in a good word.” Trust me, the size of Finn and Archer’s cocks was more than a good word. Not to mention, Finn had to muffle my mouth so I didn’t yell my five-star review to the whole restaurant. “I know how to contact Archer, if I want to,” I say, avoiding her piercing stare. “I know where they work.” I bite my lip, realizing I saidtheyinstead of him, but Miranda doesn’t catch it.

“Ooooooh! You’re going to Flambé again to surprise him?”

I shrug. I’ve thought about it (a lot, and it hasn’t even been twenty-four hours).

Miranda crosses her arms and waits for me to proclaim I can’t wait to go back to Flambé. “He’s totally your type,” Miranda fishes.So is your cousin!I almost quip, but I shrug and head back to the cash register instead.

“Don’t you have wedding boutonnieres to make?” I ask, picking up the order form she needs to fulfill. “I’m pretty sure the maid-of-honor will be here in two hours to pick them up.”

Miranda frowns at me—not because she doesn’t like the work, she loves making arrangements and details for weddings—but because I haven’t given her any details on my evening. Which I’m not going to do.

This is my secret; my naughty little deed. And maybe I like that the only ones who know about it are Finn and Archer, and me.

14

ARCHER

“You’re going to fuck this up,” I hiss at Finn as I holster my crème brûlée torch in the coat of my suit. The moment we got to work, Finn has been going on and on about his cousin texting him and now he thinks we should go to Becca’s flower shop. What is it with people and their inability to bepatient?

Becca’s the kind of woman you don’t rush.

You plant seeds. You let them grow.

I shut my employee locker and turn to Finn. “Look, it’s good to know where Becca works, but I don’t want to play that card.”

“Are you saying you’re out?” Finn asks, adjusting the knot of his tie.

Is he even listening? Of course, I’m not out!

I toss him a scowl. “I get that you want to think with your dick,” I grumble. “Becca’s got me flogging the log more times than I’d like to admit, too.” Finn rolls his eyes. “And sure, your cousin wants us to pull out the romantic stops: chocolates, jewelry, flowers.”

“No,” Finn corrects. “She wantsyouto do that. Miranda doesn’t know I’m involved.”

“That’s my point, now isn’t it?” I grab the specials menu for tonight’s service and motion for him to follow me out the back door. We step onto the roof and round the back of the restaurant, reaching a small nook that’s hidden from view of the patio tables. It’s the perfect place to smoke and find some privacy. Late at night, when it’s really dark, I’ve even caught other employees back here, hiding behind the rooftop generators to fuck. God knows there’s enough swapping partners and drama when you work in a restaurant. Which is why I stick to the customers.

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