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I noticed he stepped away from my touch. I wasn’t sure if it was to maintain a professional distance or if he didn’t trust himself so close to me.
I forced myself to focus on his words and not so much on his thick fingers, the satisfying rumble of his voice that I felt deep in my chest, or the delicious scruff that lined his strong jaw.
I appreciated the time he took to make me understand. More striking was that I enjoyed being in his presence. He smelled like grease and sweat.
I wanted that grease transferred from his hands to my white skin. I licked my lips, suddenly uncomfortable with the raspiness of my breath. Did he know he affected me?
Jake shot me a look. “Are you okay?”
Thankfully, the rumble of a vehicle caught his attention. “Must be the food. Be right back.”
I sucked in a breath as soon as he was out of sight. I lifted my heavy braid off my neck so the cooling air could work its magic on my body temperature. Unfortunately, it was a losing battle. I felt each word ricocheting around in my body, sending tingles to my nerve endings, heating me all over again.
Jake came around the hood with a carryout bag in his hands. “You ready to eat?”
“Definitely.” I hoped he wouldn’t ask if I was okay again. I was liable to tell him how much I wanted him. If he couldn’t handle my hand on his arm, there was no way he’d be down for my tongue in his mouth.
I fanned myself as I followed him back inside, this time to the waiting area. He grabbed a small folding table and set it in front of the couch.
With an amused grin, I asked, “Is this your dining room?”
“When we renovated, we only had enough room for two small offices, one for each of us. We added small refrigerators, but there was no space for a break room.”
I sat on the couch and took the carryout container he handed me. “Where do you eat during the day when the waiting room is occupied with clients?”
I grabbed the chopsticks and popped a salmon roll into my mouth. I moaned at the taste. It had been a while since I ate sushi, and I loved it.
When Jake didn’t respond, I glanced over at him, surprised to catch his gaze fixated on my lips.
Clearing his throat, he said, “I eat my sandwich standing, usually, or at my desk. What do you do?”
“I have an office and a back room where I assemble the arrangements. That’s my space away from customers. Not that there are many during the day.” I shrugged as if it didn’t matter.
Jake chewed his roll before asking, “What are your plans to increase traffic at your store?”
“I thought about a subscription service. Customers could sign up for a monthly, biweekly, or weekly bouquet. There would be three different options for sizes and add-ons, like a vase and shears. My competition is the online services.”
“How will you set yourself apart from them?”
I unscrewed a bottle of water and drank it before answering. “Remi thinks locals would prefer to buy from me than some unknown service.”
“Remi from Remi’s Juice Shop?” he asked me.
“That’s right. She started out with a subscription service, then moved to a brick-and-mortar store, but she said her service is still active.”
“That’s good you have someone to bounce ideas off. Ryan loves to discuss new ways to drum up business.”
I ate another roll before setting the box aside. “I’d love to incorporate the farm into it. Rent out the grounds for events. Remi mentioned that the barn could be used for receptions.”
“That’s a lot of work.”
I laughed. “That’s the issue. I don’t have time to get anything ready when I’m working the store.”
“You don’t have any employees to man the store or deliver the flowers?”
“Nope. It’s just me.” The muscles between my shoulder blades tightened.
Jake was quiet for a few seconds, taking a swig of the bottled water he’d grabbed from the fridge before he said, “I was resistant to hiring people too. Thought we could do everything ourselves.”
