I’m passing it to you, Best Man,” he spoke with far too much excitement.
“No. Nuh uh! You don’t get to play the best man card on this,” I objected. “You’re the groom, man. What the hell do I know about flowers? I’ll screw something up and Navie’ll cut off my balls.”
“Better you than me,” he mumbled through the line.
“Nope. Not doing it.”
Rowan sighed. “Look, I’m on a tight deadline with my editor or I’d go myself. But I really need your help on this. Just go, pick up the flowers and bring them back so Navie can take a look at the bouquet. Easy as that. Please, Rich.”
Shit. There was no way I was going to be able to say no when I heard the sincerity in his voice. I let out a long, loud sigh, making sure he could hear just how put-out I was feeling before finally relenting. “Fine. But you owe me, man. I didn’t even give a shit about the flowers at my own wedding.”
“You’re a lifesaver, brother.” I could hear the relief in his voice.
“Yeah, I’m a freaking saint. I take payment in beer.”
“You got it,” he laughed.
“A case, not a six-pack, you cheap-ass. I know you.”
I disconnected the call and looked around my apartment. Well, at least running this errand for Row meant I had another legitimate excuse for getting out of unpacking.
I PUSHED THROUGH THE glass door of Flora, a flower shop just a few blocks from my apartment building, a few minutes before three. I scanned the well-kept shop, enjoying the surprisingly fresh, outdoorsy scent in the air. It wasn’t overwhelming and florally in the least. My eyes landed on a petite girl behind the counter, her short hair died a vibrant purple color and a piercing through her bottom lip. The look she was giving me was anything but friendly as she asked, “Can I help you?”
“I’m here to pick up a bouquet for Navie Collins,” I answered, wondering if I’d done something personally do offend the Goth girl at the register, or if she was just mad at life itself — if so, I could commiserate.
“You Locklaine?”
I nodded. “That’s me.”
She pointed toward the back of the shop and I noticed a door tucked away behind a trellis covered in climbing Ivy. “Delilah’s through there. Just head on in, she’s waiting for you.”
“Thanks.” Spinning around and heading in the direction she pointed, I turned the knob and pushed the door open, stopping just across the threshold at what I saw. There wasn’t an ounce of self-consciousness coming from the woman as she swiveled her hips and shook her head, the ear buds in her ears making her oblivious to the fact that she was no longer alone as she belted out the lyrics to the song playing.
I felt the tension of my bad mood lesson just a bit as I stepped fully into the room, allowing the door to close behind me and watched her move with unabashed passion as she danced while arranging a large display in the center of the table. I had to work hard not to laugh when she suddenly belted out “Uh, uh, uh, uh! Kiss this!”
She was actually kind of cute… in a quirky, nerdy kind of way. Her black hair was pulled up in a loose bun at the very top of her head. When I caught her in profile I could see she had thick bangs that hung down past her eyebrows and a pair of black framed glasses perched on her nose, and the way she squinted and kept pushing them up every time they fell said she wasn’t the type of person to wear glasses to appear stylish, she actually needed them to see. A pang of familiarity shot through me, but I couldn’t for the life of me figure out where I knew her from.
She wore a high-waisted skirt that flared out right above her knees and a cropped top that left just an inch of her smooth skin exposed. From what I could see she had sexy curves that any man would appreciate, and as I continued to watch her, I felt a smile tugging at the corners of my mouth. Nothing about this woman was my type, she was all girl-next-door and I tended to lean more toward the vixen types, but I could still appreciate her appeal, at least for a few seconds longer.
Something in the corner of the room caught my eye and I turned my