“Xander, this is Samantha, Emily, and my sister, Kate. They are the owners of Whoopsie Daisy.” My stomach drops when he says Kate is his sister. This is going to be interesting.
Kate focuses in on me. “What are you doing here?”
Chapter Five
Kate
“Wait,” my brother throws his hands up, “you know each other?”
Xander stares at me, unsure of what to do or say. Did he purposefully seek out the flower shop I own? I know I didn’t give him a name when I told him what I do. All of this gives me those same feelings that one guy did in college. That guy also searched out where I worked.
“Really, Xander, why are you here?” I need to know if this is going to be a whole situation. All of this after I was thinking about calling him.
He points toward a stack of papers on the desk. “I, um, work here now.”
Now that I’m studying him a bit more, maybe he didn’t have ill intentions. His eyes are wide and it looks like he’s paler than before. He must be as shocked as I am about his presence.
“Since when?”
“About five minutes ago,” he stands, and straightens his shirt, “I didn’t know what the job was until I got here, and I swear I-I didn’t know this was the shop you owned with your friends.”
That makes sense, except…“What do you mean you didn’t know what the job was. Did you not look at the applications you were filling out?”
Emily elbows me in the side. “Maybe y’all need some privacy.”
Just great. In my shock at seeing Xander in our office, I completely forgot we’re not alone. My friends, and brother, have their eyes glued to us. Emily is the only one nice enough to voice the faux pas. “Yeah, we probably do.”
“Can someone fill me in on what’s going on here?” Kai’s voice booms in the silent room.
“Later,” Samantha whispers as she punches him in the arm, “alright, shows over. We have orders we need to check over, and someone needs to be on the counter.”
I’m surprised it wasn’t Caroline that ushered everyone out. She’s usually the person who takes charge. Leave it to my friends to puzzle out exactly who is in our office. I’m grateful they are letting me and him have this conversation in private.
Moving aside, I wait for them to file out of the office. Emily is the last person out and closes the door behind her. Thank goodness for small mercies.
“So, you really didn’t know what type of job you were applying for?”
“Nope,” he shakes his head. “I’ve been looking for jobs for weeks now. At this point, I’m just looking for something better than delivering pizzas.”
Oh, I didn’t know that’s what he was doing. Now I feel like a shitty person for not bothering to ask what he did when he opened up the conversation.
“You realize one of the jobs we have is for delivery drivers, right?”
“That’s actually the job Kai, uh, your brother, just hired me to do. He let me pick which position I wanted but let me know that y’all really needed a driver. Besides, I’m good at that part,” he picks at the hem of his shirt, “that is if I still have a job after your brother finds out we’ve been together.”
“I’m sure he already knows.” Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if they are listening at the door. That’s something they’ve done since we were kids. There’s no such thing as privacy.
“Do you think he’s going to fire me?” His voice wobbles, and I feel awful for him. Not because it’s a fear he obviously has, but because there’s a hint of desperation. It’s the same one I felt when I graduated.
“Probably not.” It’s not a lie because we really need some people to ease the burden. “But do you think it’s a good idea for you to work here? You know since we’ve, um, seen each other naked.”
I’m trying my best to not raise my voice in case we really do have eavesdroppers. But I’m sure they’ve figured out the connection by now.
“Technically…the lights were off so I only saw shadows of your naked body with some strips of light from outside.” He’s not wrong. I kept the lights off for a reason. It takes some of the vulnerability out of the moment. If they are on, the person I’m with can see all my flaws. Under the cover of darkness, I can be in the moment without thinking too much. I also didn’t know if I was going to see him again. The universe has to be screwing with me.
“That’s beside the point.” Why can’t he see how this could be a problem. “We’ve had sex. It was supposed to be a one-night sort of thing. If you work here, we’ll see each other on a daily basis.”
He stands and leans against the desk. And damn if he doesn’t look good while looking like he’s at home in my office. “So, you didn’t see that I left my number?” He takes a step toward me, “I know it was only supposed to be a one-night thing, but I like you. It’s why I left my number.”
