No Flowers Required (13 page)

Dillon cocked a brow. “Who’s here?”

Nellie came into the store with her arms full of gladiolus. She smiled over them at Alexa, her eyes alighting on the bakery bag she carried. “Oh, you brought donuts! Thank God. I’m starving.” Then she noticed Dillon and did a double take. “Oh, you brought more than that, I see.”

Alexa gestured at Dillon and fought her sudden bout of nerves. Introducing him to her best friend made all of this more real somehow. Too real.

“Nellie Conroy, this is Dillon James.” She flailed for an appropriate introduction. God, what should she say? “He’s, um, my apartment building’s handyman. Dillon, Nellie.”

Judging from the narrow-eyed glance he gave her, she shouldn’t have said
that
. Terrific. Yet another flub to add to her growing list.

As annoyed as he clearly was at Alexa, he was all smiles for Nellie. “Hi. Nice to meet you. Here, let me give you a hand with those.”

Before Nellie could say anything, he’d swept the flowers out of her arms and laid them down on the paper-covered prep table behind the checkout counter. “These smell good,” he said, his agile fingers plucking through the long-stemmed flowers with a care that made Alexa swallow hard. He didn’t look at her, and she felt the loss of his teasing glances as acutely as a slap.

Dammit, she hadn’t meant to hurt him.

“My name’s actually Noelle,” Nellie said, propping her hands on her hips. She gave Alexa the evil eye. “Though Lex and Jake can’t seem to remember that.”

“Oh, you’re such a Nellie. Get over it already.” To distract herself, Alexa set the bakery bag on the counter and tucked her purse behind it. Then she drew out her morning checklist and noted with a mixture of pride and concern that Nellie had already checked off a handful of things. Those were her tasks. She liked going around checking on everything each morning, noting which flowers looked a little worse for wear, which she would have to baby. What she was low on, what she had too much of. How the different arrangements looked in the different slants of light from morning to afternoon. Straightening until everything was just so.

“Yeah, and you’re such a type A.” Nellie eased past her and snatched the bag. “That’s Lex’s nickname,” she added before she bit into a blueberry muffin.

“Can’t say it doesn’t fit,” Dillon said, though he clenched his jaw again the instant he caught her looking at him.

Had he really expected her to announce him as her lover? Just put it right out there like that? It wasn’t as if they were dating. Not exactly.

Okay, so they kind of were. Did that mean she had to tell the world?

Apparently it did.

“So you were up early working at Alexa’s,” Nellie said into the silence. “Or up late,” she added meaningfully.

The implication of her statement wasn’t lost on Alexa, but she needed to get the day started. “Thank you for coming in early to open up,” she said to Nellie, her tone brisk. “I got a late start this morning.”

“And it didn’t cheer you up any.”

“She was plenty cheerful until she came in here.”

“It’s her game face.” Nellie licked traces of blueberry off her fingers. “Can’t smile at work. Not the big boss lady.”

“Oh, stop it. We laughed all afternoon yesterday.”

But that had been different. She hadn’t felt Dillon’s presence like ants marching up her spine. His subtle hurt over how she’d introduced him permeated her consciousness. She hated that her first inclination was to push people away. Push
him
away.

“Can’t argue with that,” Nellie said, propping her hands on her hips. Her ginormous engagement ring winked in the sunlight, reminding Alexa of everything her best friend had and she didn’t. A man who loved her, who thought she’d hung the sun. A family. A contented life, where she wouldn’t ever be alone to fight the demons in her head.

“I have stuff to do in the back,” Nellie said, waving what was left of her muffin. “Thanks for the eats, Dillon.”

“No problem.” Once Nellie had disappeared, he looked down at the client list she clutched in her hand. “So you do have a mailing list, of sorts.”

His voice still sounded colder than usual. She’d just have to work her way around to warming him up.

“This is a repeat customer list. I call them to try to drum up more business. They haven’t asked to sign up for anything.”

“So sign them up for your e-mail newsletter, maybe something you send out seasonally when you update your website. You still have that kid working on it, right?”

“Yes.” She was too stunned he’d taken this tack with her again to say more. What kind of handyman had such a keen interest in business?

Maybe it’s you he has a keen interest in
.

“So have him put together a newsletter while he’s at it. Simple enough for people to unsubscribe if they don’t want it, and a lot less pressure for you.” He tapped the paper. “Tell you what. I’ll put this into a spreadsheet. Will make it easier all the way around.” He took her shoulders and ushered her toward the back office. “While we’re at it, we can brainstorm your goals for the shop. We can break them down by season, since you work that way anyway.”

“Why am I doing that exactly?” she asked as he pulled out a chair in front of her laptop and nudged her into it. The back door thunked closed, indicating that Nellie must’ve retreated outside to allow them privacy. For their spreadsheets.

Good Lord.

“There’s power in writing things down,” he said, straddling a folding chair backward. “I’m sure you carry stuff in your head, but getting it on paper will help you see how to break it down in steps. An action plan, if you will. Something you’re already doing,” he added, apparently noticing her slack jaw. “You’re on the right path already. You just need to shore it up a bit. Have you given any thought to those ideas I mentioned the other day? The lower-end arrangements, the cheap impulse buys for the counter?”

“A little,” she admitted, thinking of the window displays she still hadn’t put together. She’d almost abandoned the idea as a waste of time when Dillon had steamrolled her with his flurry of suggestions, but since then, she’d found herself planning in every spare moment. “It’s a lot to do. Without much staff.”

“Action plan,” he reminded her, tapping the computer out of hibernation. “Let’s get everything down, then we’ll start weeding out what will and won’t work. After we add in a projected time line, you can discuss it with Nellie and get started.”

She stared at him, caught between feeling hopeful at his contagious determination and affronted that he obviously believed she couldn’t do this on her own. “This is my store.”

“No arguments there.” He tucked a loose curl behind her ear and roamed his gaze over her face. “I want to help you. Will you let me?”

Saying no would’ve been so easy. She had this. A lot of what he’d said she’d already considered, but she just hadn’t moved forward with it yet.

Because she’d been wallowing. And he wouldn’t let her, not any longer.

“I won’t step on your toes. I promise.” He slid his thumb down to stroke her lower lip. Her heartbeat stumbled from the heat in his eyes. “If you want me out, I’ll butt the hell out, okay?”

She nodded before her stubborn brain had a chance to voice an objection. “Okay.”

“Great.” He grinned. “Let’s get busy.”

Her lips curved as he opened her spreadsheet program. His big arms seemed to dwarf her laptop, but he danced his fingers over the keys with the same skill he used on her body. “Promises, promises.”

He slanted her another grin, his gaze still enticingly heated. “I always fulfill them.”

They worked side-by-side for over an hour, setting up charts and graphs and a contact spreadsheet she couldn’t wait to fill in. He had a way around the program, and could generate fancy pie graphs with a few clicks. Having that visual, along with his low encouragement in her ear, helped make envisioning her plans a lot more fun. Plus on the screen they began to take real, tangible shape. Thanks to him.

When his cell rang and he stepped into the front to take the call, she found herself eagerly inputting the information they’d discussed. Income projections, an actual line-by-line budget. She’d had no idea actually seeing everything in front of her would solidify her footing.

She was so wrapped up in her work that she didn’t hear him return. “I’m sorry, but I gotta go.”

“You do?” Disappointment came first, quick and overwhelming.

“Yeah.” As she rose, he came up behind her and crowded in close with his big, toned body. “Make sure you eat something,” he said against her ear. He placed the cranberry-orange muffin she’d been salivating over all morning on a napkin and pressed a quick kiss against the side of her neck. “I’ll be back for lunch. Probably a late one.”

“You will?” Her voice sounded shaky, very un-Alexa-like. The parroting thing she was doing was annoying too. But she couldn’t help it, not when his strong hips rotated against hers with the suggestion of things to come.

Preferably she’d be coming too. Under his hands. Just under him, period.

“Yes. I will.” Another kiss, more lingering this time. Inflaming her skin until she knew her cheeks had to be flushed with the havoc he created inside her with merely a skim of lips. “Have a good morning.”

He left with the other bakery bags under his arm, making her wonder who would be getting his treats while she waited for him to come back.

She closed her eyes and sucked in a lungful of air.
God, get a grip.

“Well, then.” Alexa opened her eyes to find her best friend studying her from the doorway. That she wore a shirt with grabby cat paws encircling her swollen belly didn’t diminish the stern set of her lips. “You slept with him last night, didn’t you?”

She couldn’t stop her smug smile. “We didn’t sleep much.”

“I just bet. He touched you like a guy does after he’s already been on the carnival rides and can’t wait to ride again. When were you going to tell me?”

“Soon.” Alexa sighed. “Remember how I told you he went to get a part? Well, he got it and when he returned, he—” She broke off at Nellie’s snigger. “What?”

“Slid the key in the lock? Slipped the notch into the groove? Inserted the meat in the bun?”

“Ugh, stop it!” Alexa couldn’t help laughing. “Besides, he may have…slipped that particular notch a couple times.”

“Uh-huh. You like him. I can see it all over your face,” Nellie said, sobering.

Alexa pulled off a corner of the muffin. Smelled delicious. “If I didn’t, do you think I would’ve slept with him?”

“No. You definitely wouldn’t be letting him help with the store if you didn’t. You also wouldn’t be glowing.”

“Am not,” Alexa said, swallowing her bite of muffin. She immediately snagged another piece.

“Are so.”

Feeling bolstered by the sustenance, Alexa let a sly grin creep onto her face. “Okay, maybe I am, just a little. We had a good night last night.”

“Deets, deets!” Nellie leaned forward expectantly. “How many positions are we talking here?”

“It’s about quality, babe, not quantity.” Alexa flipped her hair over her shoulder. “Let’s just say we christened my couch and how.”

Nellie’s eyes widened. “Really.”

Alexa studied her friend while she nibbled on her muffin. “You look green. Spill.”

“It’s nothing. Honestly. Just that…”

“What?” Alexa demanded, fearing the worst.

“Jake and I sort of had our first sexual, uh, encounter on that couch.”

Alexa shrank back. “Seriously? On my
couch
?” Thank God she hadn’t known that before. It totally would’ve doused her arousal last night. Well, possibly.

“It’s comfy.” Nellie shrugged, her pursed lips sliding into a smile. “Great memories. Glad to see it’s been good to you, too.”

“Can we get back to work now?”

“In a minute.
Was
it good for you, too?”

“The muffin?” Alexa swallowed the cranberry that had lodged in her throat at Nellie’s couch-sex admission. “Oh yeah, the very best.”

Grinning, Nellie picked up a spritz bottle of water. “Thought so.”

…

Dillon headed over to the donor house they were rehabbing on Spring Street and helped fill in on the roof for a missing crew member for a couple hours, then returned to the Rison to put the finishing touches on the flooring in the apartment down the hall from Alexa’s.

After that he checked on some of the other things on his list. The AC system did have a leak, one he’d have to fix soon. In the meantime, more refrigerant kept the place bearable. The stopgap measure was a waste of money, but he didn’t have time to spare at the moment.

When he couldn’t stall any longer, he took the baked goods out of the cooler in the back of his truck and headed over to Value Hardware.

He took the back way, feeling like a thief as he slipped into the side service entrance. The last thing he needed was to get caught dropping off pastries to the enemy camp by Alexa or Nellie.

See why this can’t work? Your family’s the enemy. Actually,
you’re
the enemy.

“Dillon, how nice to see you.” His stepfather grabbed him into a giant bear hug on his way down the hallway to the offices. “What’s the occasion?”

The back of his neck prickled. “Do I need a special occasion to come by and see my folks?”

Truth was, he almost did. Minus his impromptu visit yesterday—which hadn’t been for the purpose of family bonding—his visits to the store were few and far between. Something he intended to change, starting now.

“You don’t come by nearly enough to suit us, that’s all I know.” Raymond clapped him on the back and jerked a thumb at the bags Dillon carried. “What’s in those?”

“I stopped by the bakery.”

His stepfather grinned, his weathered face suddenly seeming years younger. He spent a lot of time out in the sunshine maintaining their family’s property, and his nut-brown skin showed it. “Almond longhorn?”

“You know it.” Dillon smiled and pushed the bag at him. “There’s a muffin in there for Mom and a Danish for Cory, though I’m sure he won’t eat it.”

“That boy won’t take a lunch to save his life.” Raymond shook his head. “He’s going to end up in intensive care if he doesn’t let up.”