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He nodded his head, continuing to work the other latches until the mirror was freed from its frame. Clearly, Luna had a vision and Sam didn’t need to understand it. He’d seen enough to realize she knew what she was doing. He was fine being the muscle, perhaps he even enjoyed the idea of being the brawn to her brain.
“Anything else?” he asked when finished. The task had been completed way too fast for his liking.
“Nope, that’s it. Thank you.”
Sam should leave. His feet should move to the door, and he should leave. He didn’t though. Instead, he adjusted his hat and shifted his weight. “I…uh…” He cleared his throat. “I-I was thinking about what you said about the patio and maybe the tenants would like to have a nice place outside for the summer. But, like I said before, I don’t know anything about plants or what looks nice and you’re really good at that…at knowing what looks nice, I mean.” Was she going to help him out here instead of torturing him by letting him fumble with his words?
“What exactly are you asking for?” She was as direct as always.
“I looked it up and there’s a garden center nearby. I was…hoping you might go with me to help pick out some stuff.”
Luna brightened. “Really?”
“Yeah.”
His idea of fun was not spending an afternoon perusing plants but, if it meant being with Luna, he was all for it. The way she was studying him produced a tiny kick inside his stomach. Perhaps Zabe, in her eight-year-old wisdom, had it correct. Maybe she didn’t hate him. His feelings on the matter were conflicted to say the least but he couldn’t help being intrigued by the pretty brunette. Any attention he got never seemed to be enough. Something in him ached for more, even if it meant he had to keep putting himself on the line.
“When do you want to go?”
He scratched his eyebrow. “Um, I’m free today.”
“Okay.”
As they departed her apartment, Sam was shocked at how easy the whole thing had been. He had assumed she would say no to any of his requests, but she hadn’t.
Luna slid a glance at him as they descended the stairs. “Are you just asking me because you need a car?”
“What?” he replied.
“What would your plan have been if I had said no? I’m just imagining you trying to bring a bunch of petunias home on the back of your motorcycle.”
“Oh.” Actually, he hadn’t considered this at all. He didn’t have any concrete plan when he invented Operation: Plants for the Patio. “I’d…probably borrow my mom’s car,” he lied.
She retrieved her key fob and unlocked her vehicle as he continued to his bike.
“Where are you going?” she asked, confused.
“You can just follow me there.” Sam put on his motorcycle helmet.
“You can ride with me. It’s silly to not go in one vehicle. I assure you I’m a very good driver.” Her eyes narrowed, perplexed, as though she couldn’t decide whether or not to take offense.
“I just like riding the bike. It has nothing to do with you.”
Luna didn’t appear convinced but after a moment she replied, “Fine,” and got into the driver’s seat of her SUV.
Today Sam was breaking from some of his normal habits, but he couldn’t break all of them.
Chapter Fourteen
“What about thisone?” Sam lifted a large hydrangea. Five minutes of wandering plant aisles proved to Luna he hadn’t been lying. His knowledge of gardening was next to nothing, but, as amusing as she found this, she didn’t point it out. Why damage his confidence when he was clearly trying?
“That one likes shade. The patio gets a lot of sun and it’ll be too hot in the summer for something like that.”
He returned the hydrangea to the shelf as though quite disappointed with himself as he shoved his hands in his pockets.
Luna worked hard to keep reminding herself the guy was an asshole. He was an asshole because—Well, it wasn’t easy to pinpoint an exact reason. Sure, he didn’t put up with her shit but neither did Ross, and she didn’t consider her cousin to be an asshole. Sam’s questionable status as an asshole had her completely puzzled and she was starting to wonder if perhaps he wasn’t one at all.
And yet…
