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The doorbell tinkled again. I raised my head, though I was still re-reading Acton’s messages; poor form in the shop and I knew it. Ella would have my head.
“Hi, welcome to—” I lifted my head and came face-to-face with the man himself. “Acton. Hi." I stared into those blue eyes,then my attention waned, captivated by those shoulders hidden beneath his shirt–who wouldn’t perv on a single Texas Ranger if given the chance?Get a grip on yourself, Floss.My breath fluttered a little. I blamed it on the Socal girl in me, then shook myself internally, gripping one of Dolly’s deep green leaves for moral support. This was going all the wrong places fast. "Don't you have a job to do?"
That’s what chose to come out? I closed my eyes.Brilliant.
Acton answered me with a half smile. "Is it wrong that I want to come in and say hi?"
I raised both my eyebrows. "On the first week in your new job, on a work day?"
His smile grew a little more carefree, almost...reckless. "And seeing as that's across the street from you... I’m on coffee duty as a junior and that’s right next door. I said I'd be ten or fifteen minutes and wanted to plan something with you." He wiggled his eyebrows and slid a look at Dolly.
I stifled a giggle. "She's not going to come out of the corner and attack you."
“Uh huh,” he murmured. “Are you doing anything tonight?"
“Tonight?"He moves fast."Probably sleeping. On my own," I amended.
"That's a good thing," he said seriously. "I didn't ask you if you had a significant other."
"I don't." My lips pressed together to keep from laughing. “You’re really awkward at this thing, you know that right?”
"Must be why I'm single."
"Well, you're not now." I booped his nose with an orchid sprig. Acton went cross-eyed, and I winced. "Please don't do that. Okay. You said you needed a girlfriend, and you needed to be presentable. I'm a California beach girl, and prim and proper is not me. At all."
I had nothing holding me in one place. No family, no home loan. I couch surfed at friend’s places for the better part of my teens when I couldn't afford accommodation on top of college fees. Not that I did anything with my business management accolades, working as an assistant Ella’s the florist shop, but I loved my job and I loved my life.
Nothing Mister Cunningham had to say about that date of his would change who I was.
"No, you're not." A small smile curved upwards. "But you are stunning. Do I need any other reason?"
“Why not ask me out for real then?” I asked before the thought filled out in my mind. "I'm sorry, I –"
"Because there's less chance of rejection when it's not real. It won’t hurt as much." Straightening, Acton still smiled at me, that incessant but seriously cute smile, and I realized just how tall he was.
"What are you, six and a half feet tall? Seven?" I raised up on my toes to measure my eyeline against his chest. I came up to around nipple height, apparently.
"You're short, I'm tall. Not much else to it, Floss." He stared down at me with darkening eyes.
My stomach clenched against the flash of desire that flickered in his gaze when he said my name, and I tried to brush it off nonchalantly. "For a Ranger, I guess." Andy would be of a height with him, maybe a little shorter than Acton. “So...how are you dealing with this dating thing? Are you still nervous as hell?”
He shrugged. “I’ve got trust issues. A broken heart takes a long time to heal, apparently. But...I’m willing to be a student, if you're willing to teach me."
I held my breath for a short period, the olive branch extended between us, and nodded. "I'll do my best. But I can't promise results," I warned.
"Noted." Acton glanced around at the shop. “You... redecorated?"
I laughed. "Yes, I was on a bow theme today. And I repotted and split some of the orchids for a bigger display.”
“That sounds fun.”
I smiled. "I love having my hands in the dirt."
Acton’s lips twisted, and I swore to myself that if the next words out of his mouth weredirty girl, I’d slap him with Dolly’s petals.
"What about you? What are you working on for your first week?"
"There's an upshoot of drugs in the area. Apparently previous investigations knocked out the bigger dealers and suppliers, for whatever reason. We’re not seeing what's coming through in the usual channels in the usual way. And it's local. Last night, the girls next door in the coffee shop found a local out the back, overdosed. She went to the hospital, and looks like she'll be okay, but still..." His lips pressed into a hard line
