She turns and bolts before I can stop her, and I’m left standing alone in the doorway, with tangled hair and a hard-on, wondering what the fuck just happened.
And how I can make sure it happens again.
CHAPTER 21
Elsie
I feel off-balance, like my equilibrium is askew. I’m jumpy, I’m jittery, I’m bumping into things. It’s been approximately fourteen hours since I kissed Declan – not that I’mcounting, that would be ridiculous – and I feel like it’s written all over my face. Every time Noah looks at me, I worry he’ll see it, the evidence of Declan stamped across my forehead. Or my mouth.
Functioning like a normal human with a business to run and customers to tend to would be a lot easier if I could stop replaying every second of the time I’d spent outside Declan’s apartment on a loop inside my head. The whole encounter lasted maybe four minutes, which doesn’t seem possible considering the sheer magnitude of it. The way it set me off-kilter, like the world I existed in prior to 8:30 p.m. last night and the one I’m existing in now aren’t one and the same.
I’m walking over to the display at the front of the shop when I trip – over my own stupidity, apparently – and nearly drop the vase of tulips and ranunculus I’d just spent the last half-hour perfecting.
Noah rushes to my side, panicked. “Elsie, are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” I assure him.
“I mean, like, in general,” he says hesitantly.
“I’m good,” I tell him. “Really.” I rearrange the shelf to make room for the new arrangement, ignoring the dull ache in my hip from where I banged it on the work table a little while ago. And the pain in my elbow from where I smacked it on the doorjamb when I went to hide out in the break room. I had needed a few moments away from Noah’s watchful gaze.
“You’ve been a ball of nerves all morning,” he accuses. “And I watched you make your coffee. You had to do it twice because you forgot to put the grounds in the first time.”
“Maybe I was making tea and needed hot water,” I deflect.
“You muttered, ‘Dang, forgot the coffee.’”
Well, alrighty then.
“I’m fine,” I insist. “I just didn’t sleep well last night.”
When the shop bell dings, I seize the opportunity and greet our customer before Noah has the chance to. I manage to keep busy for the remainder of the morning, but not so busy that I don’t notice the second the lights turn on in the shop next door. I normally sneak peeks here and there when I think nobody will be looking, but I can’t bring myself to do it today. If I meet Declan’s eyes after last night, I’m worried I’ll blush so hard I’ll combust into flames.
I’m embarrassed, but I don’t know yet whether I should be. I’ve never kissed anyone like that before. Never been so overcome with need for another person that I couldn’t help myself. The way he kissed me back, Ithinkhe enjoyed it as much as I did, but I can’t be positive.
I want to know what he’s thinking, but I’m also terrified to know what he’s thinking. So naturally, I plan to avoid him as much as humanly possible and hope he forgets the whole thing ever happened.
Even if Ireallywant a repeat performance.
Thankfully, I don’t have too much time to dwell on it with customers in and out all day. When afternoon hits, we switch our focus to Olivia’s wedding. It’s already July first, which means the big day is exactly one month away. I’ve been planning and sketching out my ideas since Olivia asked me to do her flowers back in April, but it’s time to buckle down and get serious now that I’ve got a shop full of flowers to practice with.
Her wedding colors are pale blue and light orange, which I wasn’t sure about until she showed me her Pinterest board. Now, I think it’s going to be absolutely stunning, the perfect summer wedding. I’ve been itching to finally get my hands on all the flowers I’ve been dreaming about, to put together the different combinations I’ve been mixing and matching in my mind and in my sketchbook over the last few months.
“That’s gorgeous,” Noah tells me, nodding across the table at the half-finished bouquet in my hands. I’m working with blue hydrangeas and peach roses, but I’m not sure how I feel about it yet.
“Thanks. It needs some white mixed in, I think. Maybe even the tiniest bit of yellow.”
We’re brainstorming our options when the bell above the door dings.
“I need help,” our new arrival announces. Hands still full of flowers, I turn to see Ty stroll through the door, which isn’t unexpected – but the golden retriever attached to the leash in his hands is.
“Lucy Lu,” I coo, setting the flowers in a vase so I can drop to my knees. “Hi, pretty girl.”
Ty walks her over to me so I can give my favorite four-legged girl the attention she deserves. With her tail wagging at maximum speed, she drops to her back on the tiled floor so I can scratch her belly.
“Who’s this pretty girl?” Noah asks, rounding the table to get a better look at our visitor.
“This beautiful, slobbery stealer of both hearts and socks is Lucy,” Ty explains. “Cam and Olivia’s dog.”
