And I didn’t walk away from things that did.
Chapter Five
Juliet
It was just a kiss.
That’s what I told myself while I unlocked the shop the next morning, while I flipped on the lights and tied my apron and started the coffee maker in the back. Just a kiss. Brief. Controlled. No promises. No declarations.
Just a kiss.
The problem was that my mouth still remembered it.
I tried to shake the thought away and focused on the work in front of me. Valentine’s week didn’t care about my internal spirals. Orders still need to be filled. Stems still needed trimming. Brides and boyfriends and frantic last-minute romantics still needed reassurance that flowers could fix whatever mess they’d made. And I now also had fifty motorcycles I needed to deck out with flowers.
By ten a.m., the shop was humming.
Jenna and Jackie moved like they always did during crunch time, efficient, sharp, finishing each other’s sentences and reading my expressions without me having to say a word. If they noticed I was quieter than usual, they didn’t comment.
I appreciated that.
The bell chimed just after noon.
I didn’t look up right away, assuming it was another pickup or delivery question. I was mid-assembly on a dozen red roses when a familiar presence settled into the room like gravity.
I knew before I saw him.
Asher stood near the counter, jacket off this time, sleeves pushed up to reveal forearms that were very unfair to my concentration.
“Morning,” he said.
I lifted my gaze, heart doing that annoying little skip I was determined to ignore. “You’re here.” Duh, obviously.
“Got an update.”
Of course he did.
I gestured toward the side counter where the mock-ups were laid out. “What kind of update?”
“Numbers changed.”
I sighed. “They always do.”
“More bikes,” he added.
I looked at him sharply. “How many more?”
“Ten.”
“That’s sixty now,” I said, already reaching for my clipboard.
“I know.”
He didn’t apologize. He didn’t soften it. He just stated it like a fact, which somehow made it easier to accept.
I adjusted my notes, recalculating stem counts and materials. “That affects things, but I can make it work.” This afternoon the bulk of my order for the charity ride would be here, and I had thankfully ordered extra just in case. This wasn’t my first rodeo.
“I figured you could handle it.”