Naughty Neighbor - Lauren Runow Page 0,27

tilt of his mouth and the lustful gaze in his eyes that catch me off guard.

“Wow,” he breathes. “I was just coming over to see if you had any cherries, but damn, you look—”

“Too much? Like I’m trying too hard? A prostitute from a bad ’90s movie?”

“Hot.” The word is said like no truer word has ever been spoken.

I grin shyly. “Oh. Well, thank you.”

“Where are you going?” He steps into my apartment, and I close the door behind him and take a seat at my table to fasten my shoe.

“I have a date,” I say, fixing the buckle.

When I look back up, I notice the bouquet of purple flowers he must have had behind his back as he drops the flowers to his side.

“You. Have a date?” His voice does nothing to hide his shock.

“Yes. Don’t sound so surprised. Nice flowers, by the way.”

He sets them on my counter. “We had a shipment of lilacs come in, and I thought you’d like them.”

I rise from my seat and pick up the bouquet. “You brought these for me? Really? That’s so sweet of you.” Leaning forward, I inhale their scent and close my eyes. “You are so lucky you get to work with fresh flowers all day. It must be euphoric.”

With the bouquet in my hands, I walk past him and into the kitchen to grab a vase.

He turns around and follows me. “Yeah, it’s nice. Now, back to your date. Who is he?”

“My friends, Charisse and Melody—you remember Charisse. You met the day of my signing. They set it up.”

“A blind date?” He sounds relieved. “That makes sense.”

“How so?”

“We’ve already established you don’t date.”

“Well, there’s a first time for everything.”

I’m opening the bouquet while simultaneously filling the vase up with water when Jake takes the space next to me.

“Wait. You should only use room temperature water. The stems are very delicate. Do you have cutting shears?”

With a furrowed brow, I search around the kitchen and find my scissors from the knife block. “Will these work?”

He grins. “They’ll do just fine.”

I watch as he unwraps the cellophane and tissue paper and puts them in the trash before cutting the rubber band holding the stems together. He moves the now-filled vase to the counter but leaves the water running.

“The trick is to cut the stems at a forty-five-degree angle to increase the surface area of the water intake.” He delicately holds each stem under the water and carefully cuts. “Cutting under the faucet helps prevent air bubbles that block the stem from taking in the water. Add one of the flower packets to the water.”

I do as he said and watch as the white substance dissolves. “This seems like an awful lot of work for something that is going to eventually die.”

“Even though you know they won’t last, it’s important to enjoy them for as long as possible.”

I let out a light laugh. “Sounds like most of my relationships.”

He’s not laughing back. “You’re just in the wrong ones.”

The intense smolder in his stare makes my breath hitch. I’m trying to think of something witty to reply with, but the knock at the door gets my attention.

Once I get to the door, I grab the handle, stopping to take a breath before opening it.

“You must be Lacey.” A man with a buzz cut and hazel eyes holds up a small bouquet of flowers.

“And you must be Tommy.” I take the flowers from him and usher him inside. “Come in.”

He enters my apartment and stops short when he sees Jake putting flowers in the vase. Compared to the vibrant lilacs, his bouquet of closed-bud roses look sad.

“Oh. Hello,” Tommy says.

“Sorry, this is my—”

“Hi, I’m Jake, Lacey’s friend. I live next door.” Jake walks over with an outstretched hand and a big smile, putting Tommy at ease. “You got our girl roses. That’s great. Here, let me take those.”

I hand my bouquet to Jake and watch as he starts unwrapping them from the package.

“He’s a florist,” I explain to my date, who seems confused by the man in my kitchen.

“That’s cool,” Tommy says, placing his hands in his pockets. “I don’t know a thing about flowers. The ladies at the store helped me pick those out. It’s not often you find a guy in one of those places.”

Jake’s smile grows even wider. “They certainly made sure you didn’t overspend. You don’t know how often I get guys in my flower shop who want to buy the long-stemmed roses to impress a girl, but then