Page 7 of Tempted

“I applaud your new focus and can’t wait to see what you create.”

“I hope you still feel that way after I bedazzle your T-shirts and force numerous macramé plant holders into your hands.”

“A mother can never have too many of her children’s creations.”

“Ugly. Trash. Ugly.”

Lucy spun around and pointed at the cage. “You can disappear easily, bird.”

“Just ignore Horace; he says provocative things when he feels left out.”

“Birds don’t have emotions, Mom!”

“All living creatures have feelings in some form or another.”

“Not necessarily.”

Elaine frowned. “Are you referring to your ex-boyfriend?”

“Of course.” Lucy dropped her chin into her hands. “The whole affair has left me filled with self-recrimination, and I don’t know how I allowed myself to tolerate a narcissist who gaslighted me at every opportunity.” She glanced over. “It’s embarrassing and makes me feel like the biggest fool.”

“Control is the end goal for insecure humans; unfortunately, that’s exactly what Ken suffers from. Luckily, you realized it quickly and freed yourself from his company.”

Lucy knew her mother was right and hoped it was a lesson that never needed to be repeated. “Thanks for the rosy view of what I consider a very regrettable liaison.”

“Just know that the universe wouldn’t send you the hard stuff unless they believed you could handle it.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Lucy said with a rueful grin. “Strong women, powerful lessons, blah, blah, blah.”

Elaine let out a laugh. “I liked the latest Hawker arrival’s energy. I can’t see people’s auras like Bea but would bet my weekly poker money that Linc is indigo-green.” She cupped Lucy’s cheek. “A perfect complement to your purple-blue aura.”

“Are you matchmaking, Mama?”

“Of course not!” She pushed herself to her feet and walked around the counter. “I leave that to Grams since she’s much more adept at navigating the tumultuous waters of amour.”

She watched her mother tidy up and winced at the memory of how she’d behaved the previous evening. One minute, she’d flung an insult at Linc, and the next, she’d flirted awkwardly.

The whole encounter was nothing less than a disaster.

Why had his ease made her uneasy? Before she could dissect the situation, the alarm pinged on her phone. “I guess it’s time to open the store.”

“Alright, honey.” Elaine lifted the plate of cookies. “Do you want to take some for your customers?”

“No, thanks.” She stood and smoothed out her dress. “I find making them retch kills business.”

“Don’t be dramatic; they’re not that bad.”

“Yes, they are,” she mumbled before blowing a kiss to her mother and pushing her backside against the screen door. “Love you!”

“I thought it would take at least a month to confess our feelings.”

Spinning around, she bumped into Linc’s broad chest. “Good Lord, where did you come from?”

“Apparently, the deep recesses of your heart.” He cupped her elbow. “Thatlove youwas for me, right?”

“Hardly,” she said, ignoring the tsunami of pheromonal insanity his proximity produced. “And I don’t have time to elucidate the many reasons why since I need to get on with my day.” She gave him a faint nod and then squeezed past, praying for a natural disaster—something small enough not to cause much damage but big enough so avoiding him for the foreseeable future wouldn’t be noticed.

Glancing up, she noted a lack of incoming clouds and decided that making one of her own wasn’t totally out of the question.

---