Page 80 of Accidentally in Bloom

Violet sent them an exasperated shake of her head. “He was not into me. He just takes his plant parenting seriously, which I appreciate.” She hustled to the house plant corner in the store and fussed over a few smaller plants. “Don’t worry. Someone will want you guys too.”

Seeing Violet so happy the last few weeks had made the conversation with Allison earlier today even harder. Allison was interested in the business they were building in Bloom, and they started discussing what an acquisition would look like.

Rose felt a buzz on her hip and checked her phone. “Hell yes!” Rose yelled in the thankfully empty store.

“Going to have a Gray booty call?” Violet winked at Nick as she walked back to the counter.

God, that sounded amazing right now. They hadn’t seen each other since last Saturday at Gray’s greenhouse. Flirty texts had been exchanged, but she’d been completely underwater throwing the event together.

“Even better. The check just posted for Dad’s house sale.” Rose pumped her fist up into the air. A sixty thousand dollar weight was lifted off her shoulders. Maybe this would keep the tax guy off their back for a while. Violet and Nick both whooped.

Rose tapped away on her phone. “I’m going to transfer this to my account, and then I’ll put in a wire transfer to the IRS on Monday.”

Violet flipped the store’s sign to Closed and started setting up stations for the event.

“You really didn’t catch the vibes that guy was giving you?” Rose asked as she set up the nail art station.

Vi rolled her eyes back. “Guys don’t like me, Rose.”

Rose and Lily had tried to convince Vi for years that her curves tended to make men drool, but she never believed them.

“What about Justin? You liked him, right?” Nick asked.

Violet blew a stray curl out of her eyes. “Liked is a strong word. I wasn’t into him, you know?” She put their soaps and lotions into boxes so they could reuse the display tables as seating for the event. “I’d rather hang out with Herbert’s brothers.”

“Let’s be honest,” Rose sent her an arched look. “You’d rather watch some soapy romantic drama.” She’d discovered a ton of feel-good romantic soaps on Violet’s DVR, and Violet was obsessed with one historical romance, In My Heart.

“So what? The main lead is so cute. I’m not ashamed of loving romance, Miss ‘Love isn’t Real.’” Violet teased back.

It’s real, just not for me.

Romantic relationships were for other women. Women who weren’t difficult, or bossy, or obsessed with succeeding. She’d had a few relationships, but to be in love meant she’d have to expose her most vulnerable places. No one would want her after seeing that.

“I hear you, Rose. I was the same way.” Nick put the finishing touches on his neck massage station, complete with a bouquet of lavender and eucalyptus. “But then Aaron had to come and knock down all those walls I put up. I just wanted to open a coffee shop, and that pain in the ass made me fall in love with him.” Nick’s southern twang came out and made Rose chuckle.

Curiosity tugged at the back of her head. “How did you know it was love? Just for, you know, research purposes.” Rose asked in what she hoped was a nonchalant voice.

Nick’s eyes went dreamy. “I wanted to tell him about every type of day I’d have, the good ones. The bad ones. My heart literally skipped when I saw him. I thought I was dying, y’all.” They chuckled with him. “I wanted the best parts of him that balanced the best and worst parts of me. And I was better because of knowing him.”

Violet let out a romantic sigh. “Ugh, I love love.”

The door jingled, and Gray sauntered through it with two coffee cups and a bag of pastries. A flutter landed in Rose’s belly at seeing him. Totally different than my heart skipping a beat. Not even on the same planet, she told herself.

“To what do we owe the pleasure?” Rose smiled over at Gray, and his eyes locked with hers. His dark t-shirt hugged his biceps, and shivers ran down her spine at how good he looked.

“Saw the lights on and thought I’d bring you a pick-me-up.” He sat the bag down, and Vi and Nick both reached in.

Gray walked over to her, handing her the latte, and he whispered in her ear. “I’d hoped I could whisk you off to the cooler for a quickie, but guess it’ll have to wait.” He pulled back, and a wicked delight danced in his eyes.

Need curled in her belly again. It had been a long, long week without him around. Rose’s gaze kept flitting to his mouth. She worried her bottom lip, imagining what his mouth tasted like. That artful stubble that perfectly framed his jaw taunted her, and she barely resisted the urge to run her hand over his face.

“It’s looking good in here.” He glanced around. “Need any help?” His eyes landed on hers, soft and happy.

Rose sipped the latte; of course, he’d gotten her order right, damn it. No sugar, extra foam, extra hot, and cinnamon sprinkled on top.

She needed to put distance between them. She was leaving soon, right? She shouldn’t turn this into more than it was. “Nah, we’ve got it. Thanks for the coffee, though.”

“Gray, do you believe in love?” Violet asked through a large bite of chocolate chip cookie.

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