Page 20 of Accidentally in Bloom

A smile ghosted over Rose’s lips. “It’s hard to imagine a tattooed motorcycle-riding millennial being best friends with a guy who looked like Santa Claus on a tropical vacation.” She imagined them marauding through town and had to admit it made her just a little happy.

He ran his tongue over his teeth and sent her a wary look. “Just so you know, I’m doing this for Frank. I want to make sure his legacy is taken care of. I owe him that much, at least.”

Rose saw the very clear line that he was drawing between them. “Fine. We’ll divide and conquer and—”

“Nope. Sorry, sister, you heard the rules. I’d love to never see your pretty face again, but we gotta work together. Frank’s orders.” He sent her a thunderous look, daring her to contradict him.

God, this man.

He stood up and grabbed his helmet. “The first thing we should talk through is that I was in the middle of buying Frank’s greenhouse. Meet me there on Saturday to go over everything?”

No way. She had to get out of there as soon as possible. “We should meet tomorrow.” Rose took a step closer and held her chin up. She usually intimidated men with her six feet of height in heels, but his gaze bore into her, daring her to speak.

Her breath caught in her throat as his unwavering stare held her. The muscle in his jaw ticked, biting off unspoken words.

She cleared her throat, irritation gaining steam. “I’m not here for long and need to deal with this now.”

He snarled at her. “Saturday. I can’t bend my schedule to your whims, princess.”

“And you think I’ll sit on my ass all day, waiting for you?”

He glanced around her. “Based on what your ass looks like, I bet that’s not true.” He winked as he put on his helmet.

A stupid, idiotic flutter landed in her belly, and she willed it away.

“Violet should have my number. Text me what time you’re available. On Saturday.” He turned on his bike, revved it, and sent her a victorious smile as he flipped his visor down.

That’s how he wanted to play? Then he’d vastly underestimated her.

He rolled out of the parking spot, and she hated that seeing him straddling his bike had dirty thoughts dancing through her head. Like what he might look like if she were under him instead, tattoos rippling as he gripped her and told her exactly what to do with his smart mouth.

She hated that she found the bike hot. That she found him hot.

She hated this entire fucking thing.

Spinning on her heels, she stormed to Fox & Forrest. She needed an IV drip of coffee to get through the next two days.

Chapter

Six

ROSE

The next day, Rose positioned her laptop camera and checked her makeup in the onscreen video. She psyched herself up for the first podcast episode since she was fired, and the ruby red lipstick she was applying helped hide her insecurities.

She’d architected a semi-professional-looking background in Violet’s cozy cottage dining room. A row of original white, built-in bookcases arched behind her, completely stuffed with Vi’s romance novels. Lazy vines of philodendrons hung from the approximately one bajillion planters Violet had tucked around the cottage. It was like living in the coziest plant store on earth.

Lily and Vi were both out of the house, thankfully. She hadn’t muscled up the courage to tell them she’d been fired yet, and luckily they didn’t listen to her podcast. The bad news from the will reading yesterday was still so fresh, and they were counting on her. She needed to carry her burden alone.

Well, alone and dragging a 6’3” hunk of annoyance behind her.

The last twenty-four hours swam through Rose’s head. Three hundred thousand dollars. Dad’s estate. New job search. Stupid fucking farmer Gray. Don’t let anyone know you’ve been fired.

“Hey, hey. You ready?” Angela, her co-host, hopped on the video call and sent her a wave.

“Almost.” Rose checked her teeth for errant lipstick marks.

They produced a podcast with video, and Rose had to look her best today. She needed a distraction from the growing imposter syndrome that threatened to overtake her sanity.

---