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Ezra sent him a short glare before glancing at his sister and sighing. He turned back to me, his expression repentant. “I apologize. That wasn’t very well done of me to spread gossip that way. Knowingly or otherwise.” He shot another short glare Shaw’s way.
“It’s fine.” I cleared my throat, then lowered my gaze before my guilt got the best of me. Gritting my teeth with a wince of apology, I confessed, “Because, actually, um, I didn’t exactly keep it a secret either. I confided everything to Broderick.”
Ezra grimaced, obviously not a fan of learning Brick knew about us, before he sighed his acceptance and nodded out his forgiveness.
Meanwhile, Camille hummed a sound of interest. “Ooh, Broderick’s a sexy name. Who’s Broderick? Is he as hot as his name? Single? Likeable? Within my age range?”
I sent her a dry glance. “He’s a womanizing man-whore.”
She rubbed her hands together, grinning. “Really? Tell me more.”
With a shrug, I added, “But he’s my best friend, so he’s alright, I guess.”
Before she could respond to that, Ezra touched my elbow. I jumped at the contact, not expecting him to ever touch me again. I swear, my elbow began to sizzle with the most delicious tingles.
“Can we talk?” he asked quietly as if not wanting everyone else to hear us, though they obviously did, since they were all standing right there, around us, listening very intently to everything we were saying. He cast the roomful a petulant glance before turning back to me and adding, “Alone.”
Nothing about his demeanor screamed anger, or upset, or revenge. He didn’t seem mad at me at all, just kind of reflective and quiet. It made me think the things he wanted to say might not be so bad. In which case, hell yes, I wanted to talk.
Nodding, I blurted, “My apartment’s close. We can go there.”
And oh God, what the heck had I just offered? Could I really keep my hands to myself if he went to my place with me, just the two of us?
His gaze swirled with something yearning but sad. “Okay.”
I glanced at the other four people around us. “We’re going to go talk.”
“I think that’s a good idea,” Isobel said, nodding her approval.
Ezra took my elbow again, but this time he didn’t let go, which was fine since I didn’t want him to. But as soon as we started toward the exit, Camille jumped forward.
“Oh, sweetie.” She lifted her hands, stopping me. “Hold on a sec. You still have floor dust all over you from when you were hiding.”
She went about dusting me off, and Gabby even stepped in to help.
On the other side of the counter, Shaw snapped his fingers and pointed at me. “Dust!” he cried as if the word was a revelation in itself. Then he murmured, “Cinders,” before a huge smile spread across his face. He grinned smugly at Ezra. “Evil stepmother.” Transferring his attention back to me, he added, “Please tell me you have two ugly stepsisters.”
“No.” I frowned, wondering why he would ask such a strange, random question. “I have two stepbrothers, but neither of them are ugly.”
Chuckling, Shaw folded his arms over his chest and nodded. “Close enough.”
Next to me, Ezra dryly muttered, “Ha, ha. You’re so not amusing.”
“What is he talking about?” I asked.
Ezra rolled his eyes. “Nothing. He’s an ass.”
“Wait.” I glanced toward Shaw. “Is he equating us to—”
“No!” Ezra growled as if the very idea were a crime against humanity before grasping my elbow a third time and hauling me from the flower shop.
“Don’t forget to tell us how everything turns out,” Shaw called after us. “Inquiring minds want to know.”
Ezra flipped Shaw off over his shoulder as he shut the door behind us. “I seriously question my sister’s taste in men.”
I studied his furrowed brow and pinched lips before a slow smile spread across my face. “You like him.”
His scowl only grew before he sighed and rolled his eyes. “Yeah,” he muttered moodily, reluctantly admitting, “I do. I actually like the asshole. He’s been good for Izzy.”
