Page 55 of When in Rome

She looks back at me and lightly bumps my chest with the back of her hand. “Look! Now you don’t have to worry about me being in your hair for two whole days. Aren’t you happy?”

“So damn happy.” I take one more swig of battery-acid coffee just because I want to feel the burn, and then grab my keys off the counter. “I’m gonna head—”

“WAIT!” Amelia says, pressing her hand firmly into my chest. Her eyes are wide, eyelashes practically touching her eyebrows, and when she sees my expression, she drops her hand. She slowly backs away toward the window with her hand outstretched towardme like I’m a spooked horse about to bolt. “Just…wait a second.” When she reaches the window, she peeks through the blinds in the direction of my house and then sighs. “Okay, you can go home now!”

Her bright tone immediately has me suspicious. “What’d you do to my house, Amelia?”

“Nothing.”

“Amelia.”

She crinkles her nose and starts heading for the door, moving faster and faster with each step. “Really, it was nothing. Just…a small fire on the stove! But-the-fire-department-put-it-out-and-they’re-gone-now-so-see-ya-later!” she yells in a frantic rush, before sprinting out the front door with her piece of toast clutched in her hand.

The door slams behind her and after a moment of silence, I look at James. “Don’t say aw—”

“Amelia and Noah sitting in a tree…”

“Be sure and have a shitty day, James!” I say in a chipper tone, throwing him the bird over my shoulder.

“Tell your girlfriend I can’t wait for our lunch date. Love you!”

I then hop in my truck and drive exactly one minute over to my house. Getting out, I slam the door with determination. I willnotcare that Amelia will be spending the day with Annie instead of me. I willnotbe jealous that she’s spending tomorrow with James. I will not think about her for the rest of the day, in fact. I’ll enjoy my solitude at the shop just like I alwaysdo.

Chapter 26

Amelia

I’ve been in the flower shop with Annie for a few hours when the door flies open and Noah steps inside. The door bangs back against one of the displays, nearly knocking it over. Annie and I jump, and Mabel—who is gathering bouquets for her B and B—squeals.

Noah winces. “Sorry about that.” A rare color of red sweeps over his cheekbones. “I didn’t mean to make such a dramatic entrance.”

Mabel shoves a finger in his direction. “Are you trying to give me a heart attack? Don’t bother trying to make me kick the bucket early, because I love you but I’m not leaving you the inn in my will. It’s going to my niece.”

Noah gingerly closes the door behind him. “I don’t want your inn, Mabel.”

She scoffs. “Well, you would if you knew what’s good for you! Honey, there’s all kinds of money sitting in that inn. And I don’t mean tied up in the equity, I mean hidden in the floors!”

Noah frowns. “That’s not good. You shouldn’t store money in the floorboards, Mabel. What happens if there’s a fire?”

I don’t particularly love the way he looks at me when he says that. It was a tiny fire, okay? Minuscule, really. I had already put it out when the fire department arrived. They just helped me get all the smoke out of the house. But anyway, lesson learned. Don’t leave a pancake in the pan while you’re mixing up another batch.

Mabel puts her hands on her ample hips. “And who’s gonna do that? Are you planning to start a fire, Noah? If you need money, just tell me. I can work out some window-washing days with you so you don’t have to go doing nefarious acts for attention.”

Noah looks dumbfounded. And then distraught. And then back to dumbfounded. “No…Mabel…I don’t need money. And how would starting a fire even…” He shakes his head and lifts his hands up. “You know what? Never mind.”

Noah sends Annie a look, and in a split second, she is rushing over to the meddling old woman. “Mabel, let’s get those bouquets finished up for you. I’ll help.” The two continue picking flowers around the store and Noah finally walks over to where I’m standing behind the counter, looking like a real workingwoman.

“Hi,” he says, in his quiet, rumbly way. His voice isn’t necessarily deep, but it has a grit to it that justfeelsgood to hear. I need to plug my ears. I’m trying to distance myself from him, and not imagine him whispering in my ear while I’m soaking in a bubble bath with his fingers tracing a quiet line over my skin—even softer than the caress of his voice.Shoot,now I’m picturing that. And it doesn’t help that he has his hat off today, giving me the full effect of his startling woodsy eyes. I’m drowning in a lush evergreen forest.

“Hello,” I reply, pulling my mind out of that fantasy bubble bath. “Are you here to buy flowers?”

He darts his eyes away, heavy lashes blinking. “Nope.”

I watch as he delicately runs his finger over a velvety petal from a long-stem flower beside the counter, and it makes me shiver given my last fantasy of him. “Did you need to talk to Annie?”

Again, I’m met with ano.

“Going to the market then?”

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