AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He held up a finger, asking her to wait. Putting the cellphone he’d had pressed to his ear on the counter, he turned the speaker phone on. Hold music started to flow through the shop.
“Hey.”
“Are you okay? Should I go and let you handle that?”
He waved her off and said, “I’m on hold, anyway. I’ve been on hold for fifteen minutes.”
She watched him run a frustrated hand through his hair and asked, “You’re clearly upset. What happened?”
“One my suppliers sent me some roses that were infested with aphids. They ate through a bunch of my plants. I’m trying to deal with that and it isn’t going well,” he said, frustration heavy in his voice.
She heard the call on hold pick up. “Sir?”
As he tried to take it off speaker phone the call disconnected. On a curse he slammed his hand against the counter.
Taryn opened her mouth to tell him that she was going to go upstairs, but he cut her off and said, “I really don’t have time to talk to you right now.”
Her eyebrows shot up and she said, “Oh. Okay, then. Hope you get your shit worked out. Night.”
Turning on her heel, she walked toward the door. She heard him say, “Wait.” as she walked through the door but she ignored him. She wasn’t sure what his issue was, but she hoped he worked it out because he’d been kind of an asshole.
She went upstairs to change. Darla’s, the little dive bar across the street, was doing their annual Halloween thing next Saturday. She was going this year, so she needed to go and get a costume.
She’d mentioned it to the girls at work and they’d all agreed that it sounded like fun. After she changed into a pair of jeans and a light sweater, she hurried back downstairs to catch the bus into Burbank. There was a Halloween store there that was open year round. They’d definitely have costumes.
As she walked past the front of the store, she willed herself to not look inside. Instead she calmly walked past and rounded the corner. She saw the bus was just pulling into the stop, so she sprinted to catch it.
Two hours later, she walked into her building with a slightly slutty-looking Little Red Riding Hood costume in tow. She made a quick stop to check her mail, and then headed upstairs. She saw a yellow tulip in a small vase in front of her door.
There was a handwritten note next to it that said, “I was a jerk. Sorry.”
Picking up the flower, she smiled. He had been a little bit of a jerk, but the apology helped. Deciding to let him off the hook, she brought the flower and the costume in her apartment, then walked across the hall. She knocked on the door and then waited. A moment later, shirtless and sexy as sin, he opened the door with an apology in his eyes. She opened her mouth to speak but he cut her off, saying, “Sorry. Today was a shitty day and I took that out on you.”
One corner of her mouth pulled up and she said, “You’re forgiven. If I’m in the way, just tell me and I can go next time.”
He shook his head and said, “No. Seeing you was by far the best part of the day.”
Unsure how to respond to that, she asked, “Did you get it worked out?”
“As worked out as I’m likely to get it,” he said.
“Well that’s something,” she said. “You look wiped out. You should go to sleep.”
“I’m about to,” he said. “Come here, though.”
She was initially a little shocked when he pulled her into a hug, but relaxed against him a moment later, wrapping her arms around his neck. Her cheek was pressed against his bare chest, his hand caught in her hair. She breathed in the scent of him, her eyes closed. Then she realized she was enjoying this far more than she should be.
She released him and backed away, saying, “Thanks for the flower. Have a good night.”
Seeming to realize that she needed distance, he just nodded and said, “You’re welcome. You, too.”
She walked back into her apartment and laid her back against the door. His skin had been just as soft as she imagined. The hard wall of his chest, his familiar scent. It had all been too much. He was driving her slowly insane.
He seemed okay with the sexual tension being constantly at fever pitch between them, but she was going out of her mind. Something had to give here. Soon.
She’d wanted to run her fingers and mouth along the contours of his chest and explore. She was severely undersexed. On a frustrated sigh, she decided that she needed to get this out of her system one way or another.
* * * *
