She blinked, disconcerted to imagine the risky situations he had probably navigated during his time in the military. Ryan was a hard, dangerous man, something difficult to remember when he could be so sweet with her daughter and was thoughtful enough to consider grabbing her lunch.
The front door opened before she could answer and her friend Natalie walked through, her arms loaded with packages.
“Hey, Holly!”
“Natalie. Hi.”
“Are you slammed?” Nat asked. “I was hoping to order a hostess gift for a party Griffin and I are going to Friday but I can come back.”
Holly looked down at the closed sign she had been about to hang on the door and then at Ryan.
She would never find it easy to accept help, but as she was shorthanded and couldn’t take care of everything alone, she really would be grateful to have him handle the deliveries.
“I always have time for you, my dear. Have you met Ryan Caldwell? This is Kim’s brother. Ryan, this is my dear friend Natalie Shepherd. Sorry, Natalie Taylor. She got married this summer to the brother of one of our other dear friends.”
“Nice to meet you,” he said.
Natalie’s eyes lit up. “You’re Ryan? Hannah was telling me all about you. I understand you’re Holly’s plus-one for Kristine Moore’s wedding.”
“Yes,” he said after a moment. “I’m really looking forward to it.”
He gave her a heated look she could only describe as smitten, obviously conjured on the spot for the benefit of curious onlookers. Holly had a sudden wild wish that he would look at her like that for real, instead of as part of an unnecessary performance.
She made a face. “No need for the besotted act,” she told him. “Natalie is one of our dearest friends. I’m sure Hannah probably told her the truth, that you’re only taking me as a favor. And because she asked you on my behalf.”
Natalie looked startled. “Seriously? I didn’t hear that part of the story. Hannah only said you were exactly the kind of guyHolly ought to be taking to a wedding where she can’t avoid seeing her jerk of an ex-husband. I definitely agree.”
Ryan grinned at both of them, sending nerves fluttering through Holly. “I’m looking forward to it,” he repeated. “We’re going to have a great time.”
A few more customers came in behind Natalie. Now Holly had five customers inside the store. She wasn’t leaving anytime soon and that fact was clearly obvious to Ryan as well.
“About those deliveries,” he said. “My truck is parked down the road. I’ll move it closer to the back door and when you have a breather here between customers, you can show me what I’m taking where.”
He turned and walked out of the shop without giving her a chance to argue. As soon as the door closed behind him, Natalie turned to her, eyes dancing with glee.
“Wow. He’s gorgeous. Hannah was absolutely right.”
Holly sighed. “I know.”
He was entirely too gorgeous. And she was entirely too drawn to him.
“And now he’s making flower deliveries for you?”
She moved toward the counter. “I’m extremely short-staffed right now, with Kim gone until after Christmas. Both Ginger and Carla are out sick today. I planned to close the store for an hour while I tried to catch up with deliveries. Ryan offered to make the deliveries for me so I don’t have to lose business unnecessarily.”
Natalie grinned again. “I have to say, if a guy like Ryan Caldwell showed up on my doorstep holding flowers for me, I would probably either believe he was a hitman or suspect that I was being punked.”
“Or that it was the single luckiest day of my life,” one of the older women said, obviously eavesdropping on theirconversation as she shopped the ornaments for sale on one of the Christmas trees.
There was so much more to Ryan than his extraordinary good looks. He was kind to her daughter. He cared about his niece. He was deeply loyal to his sister.
She liked him entirely too much.
“What kind of hostess arrangement would you like?” she asked Natalie, eager to change the subject.
“I have no idea. Something festive and bright. Whatever you create will be beautiful, I know.”
“Can you give me a minute to organize the deliveries for Ryan? Then we can go over some options.”
