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“What time do you close today?” he asked, his voice husky.
“Eight.” Her own came out scratchier than she expected, so she
cleared her throat. God, what those jewel-blue irises and inky lashes could do to a girl if she wasn’t constantly on guard. “I stay open later on Fridays because we close at two on Saturdays. Roz was convinced that a lot of people appreciated the shop being open later on Fridays because of last-minute dates.”
“Eight, huh?” He leaned close and his scent wafted over her, aftershave and the faintest hint of laminate. Damn if it didn’t make her nipples harden. “If I come back then, will you spend your night with me?”
She swallowed the rush of excitement his words caused. “The whole night?”
He smiled. “As much as you can handle, Conroy.”
Right then she could’ve tackled him and ripped off all his clothing without batting a lash. “Sounds like a plan.” Then she smiled, suddenly eager to throw him as off-balance as he’d been so easily making her all week. “Though you could sweeten the pot a little, if you wanted.”
His eyes fired with interest. “Oh yeah?”
“Yeah.” She grinned as Nellie reemerged from the bathroom, sash miraculously still in place. “You could help us.”
By the end of the afternoon, she had to hand it to Dillon. He didn’t give in easily.
He stuck with her and Nellie, fumbling through making boutonnieres. They consisted of a red carnation, a spray of greenery, and baby’s breath, wrapped tight with green floral tape and finished off with a small yellow bow. She and Nellie could fly through them, mainly because their fingers were nimble and quick. But Dillon, who worked with his hands day in and day out, seemed all thumbs.
That he had to take half a dozen phone calls didn’t help with his learning curve. The guy was in serious demand. He must be doing much better as a handyman than she’d assumed. Considering his amazing business sense it wasn’t too much of a stretch.
More than once she asked him if he needed to leave, but he waved her off. And then answered another call.
Finally they settled into a routine. Dillon worked without complaint, even occasionally singing along in a falsetto to the songs in Nellie’s pop mix CD.
A couple times, customers wandered in and usually wandered out just as quickly. One of them left behind a ripped-out page from a women’s magazine that she’d probably return for later. It depicted a fall arrangement that looked like a home art project: a vertical foam cone wrapped in glittery leaves and streamers, with yellow and orange blooms behind it. Not the kind of thing Divine carried, that was for sure. They kept everything high-end. Too high-end, some claimed, like the magazine clutcher from that afternoon.
And that was even after she’d put out the little teaser items on the front counter as Dillon had suggested.
“Cute, isn’t it?” Dillon picked up the page Alexa had tossed aside. “Looks fun to make.”
“You had trouble with a simple boutonniere.”
“I got the hang of it eventually. You underestimate the skill involved in what you do.”
“You twist a couple stems together and wind in a ribbon. No skill involved.” All right, so that wasn’t true. She needed to get over her low self-confidence thing. She’d never had that problem before the past year.
“So wrong.” Idly, he tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear, his gaze still on the craft project. “These could really drive in traffic. They’d be cheaper, and the customer could customize them depending on the flower they chose. You could do all kinds of things with them. I know, my—” He broke off, his Adam’s apple jerking. “I bet my mom would love one.”
Disturbed he’d arrived at the place she hadn’t felt comfortable going herself, she snatched back the magazine. “This looks like something a grocery store would sell.”
“Maybe. But that’s because it’s accessible.” He rested his hand on the small of her back. “In this economy, that’s what people want. They want pretty things just like anyone else, but they can’t afford to spend a lot of money on them. So you appeal to every kind of customer, then when their money situation improves, they’ll be back.”
Logical. She couldn’t deny that. But right now, she wanted to be stubborn.
Still, what would it hurt to do a couple of them and put them on the counter? Thanks to her trip to the craft store the other day, she had the stuff for the fall window displays she hadn’t made yet. This would actually work perfectly with what she had on hand, and she could add her own flair to this basic design. All she’d need to get were the foam cones, or something similar.
Why not give it a shot?
She glanced at her watch. A few hours ’til closing meant they’d have to do something to keep busy, since they’d already finished with everything on her agenda for the afternoon. Including the boutonnieres.
“Thank you for your help,” she said, turning at the sound of the cold case closing. Nellie had finally put away all the flowers, so they’d be moist and fresh for Haven Prep’s formal tomorrow night. The party coordinator would be coming by bright and early Saturday to pick them up, though Alexa could tell she’d doubted a shop the size of Divine could get the job done. But Alexa had been prepared to pull out all the stops, even calling in her parents and Jake if necessary.
Luckily she and Nellie—and Dillon—had gotten the job done just fine.
“You’re welcome. Even though I suck.” His sulky expression made her grin.
