from my husband and held up the flowers. “I’m going to leave these in the kitchen—”
Now done with the last of the customers, Sally joined us. “Want me to take those for you, Rose?” she asked, already reaching for my roses.
I turned my body, just slightly, nothing too obvious. “Oh, that’s okay. I’ll just get them back there and handle them myself after Jack leaves.” To say I was a little territorial about my weekly roses was putting it lightly. “Jack? Why don’t you pick a seat and I’ll be right there in a second then we’ll start our meeting.”
He shook his head as if I was a lost cause. “Right. I’ll go do that.”
“Would you like a coffee, Mr. Hawthorne?” I asked, kissing him on the cheek.
“Yes, I would love one, Mrs. Hawthorne.”
As he turned around and left, Sally snorted next to me. “I’m not sure if coffee is an innuendo for sex or you were just talking about real coffee.”
“Unfortunately that was about real coffee.” As I went into the kitchen and placed the roses next to the sink, Sally followed me.
“What’s with the diplomacy?” When I gave her a confused look, she explained. “Mr. Hawthorne, Mrs. Hawthorne…”
I laughed. “Oh, he wants to work on our five-year-marriage plan so we’re gonna have a meeting about that.”
Sally looked at me for a long moment then nodded. “Makes sense.”
“I thought so too.”
Owen walked out of the stock room with a box full of our to-go cups in his arms, and Sally quickly walked back out.
I leaned back against the counter and eyed Owen. “What did you do now?”
He rolled his eyes. “What makes you think I did something? I didn’t do shit. She’ll be back to normal in an hour, don’t worry.”
Since I believed he was right, because Sally was the last person on earth to hold a grudge against Owen, I let it go and left him alone. Grabbing a plate on my way out, I picked up the last two lemon muffins and started on Jack’s coffee.
He had chosen the table nearest to the window and was following my every move over the newspaper he had in his hands. Feeling heat rush to my cheeks under his gaze, I hurried and took my seat across from him as he folded the paper and placed it on the table.
“They’re dating now,” I explained, answering his earlier question just in case I hadn’t been clear before.
“I gathered that much. I’m not sure that’s a great idea. When something goes wrong, it’ll affect your business.”
“I love it when you’re being positive. And I know, but so far it hasn’t affected their work, and they promised.”
He gave me an exasperated look as if I was a fool for taking their word for it.
“Plus, it’s not like I would fire them for being in love. It’s fun listening to them bicker. Owen is a lot like you, actually, so it’s extra fun because of that. Suddenly I’m surrounded by grumpy men.”
“I’m not grumpy, Rose. I’m serious.”
Laughing, I got up, leaned over the table, and quickly kissed his lips before taking my seat again. “And I love you just like that.” He was wearing my favorite navy blue suit. “Using everything you have in your arsenal for the negotiations, I see,” I commented lightly right before sipping from my tea.
Jack’s brows drew together in confusion. “What?”
“Your suit—you know that’s my favorite one.”
His eyes sparkled with mischief. “And you wore the dress I told you I’d prefer if you only wore when I was standing next to you, holding your hand.”
I feigned shock and glanced down at my dress. “This old thing?” It truly was a pretty basic black wrap dress with long sleeves, but I knew he liked it for some reason. He couldn’t keep his hands off of me whenever I wore it.
He arched one perfect eyebrow that basically said I know your game and leaned back in his seat.
“Would you like to start?”
I pushed the muffins in front of him. Lemon week was just for him, tart and sweet, just like someone I knew. “Would you like to taste these? I baked them.”
“You can’t trick me with pastries, Rose. I’ll take them with me when I leave.”
I smiled. “I would never, Mr. Hawthorne. I’m appalled that you’d even think I’d do something like that. Please go on then. I was just trying to be nice to my husband.”
“Right. So, tell me, what kind of marriage do you want for the next five