She’d taken her pain out on him—pushed him away for the sin of seeing too clearly. It hadn’t been fair.
The woman disappeared into the back of the shop and returned with a small bouquet of sunflowers and pale pink roses wrapped in lavender paper.
“You’re in luck. It’s buy a bottle, get a bouquet day.”
Hanna laughed as she rang her up. She took the bottle and the flowers, wishing the florist well as she headed back to the lofts.
She hesitated outside of Milo’s apartment, unsure if he’d want the intrusion. She left the bottle and flowers at the door, nearly making it back into the apartment before she heard him.
“Hanna?”
“Sorry,” she mumbled. “I didn’t want to bother you today, but I left you a little something.” She pointed to the bottle at his feet. It looked much smaller in his hands than hers as he scooped up the bouquet. “The Greeks don’t make whiskey, but the girl at the shop said this was a good option.”
Milo looked at the label, then at her, a slight smile cracking across his face.
“Thanks.”
“Anyway,” she said. “If you need anything?—”
“You wanna come in?”
Hanna looked back at her door. “Uh, sure? I don’t want to intrude.”
“And I don’t want to drink alone,” he said, wiggling the bottle in his hands.
“Okay,” she relented. “Sure.”
She slipped through his door, following him into the kitchen as he dug out two shot glasses from his bar cart. He popped the cork out of the bottle and poured two shots, setting the bottle to face her.
“Do you speak Greek, Hanna?”
“Not a lick,” she laughed. His lips twisted into a half smile. “Do you?”
“Enough,” he said.
“Does your mom?”
“No, Mom is a Cali girl through and through. Third generation in the Bay.”
Milo fussed with the bottle, his eyes avoiding hers.
“How did they meet? Your parents?”
Milo snorted, the ghost of a good story crawling over him.
“Traffic school.” He grabbed two glasses from his kitchen and filled them with water. “Mom taught it, Dad frequented it. He used to say every ticket after the first one was just so he could see her again.”
“Expensive way to flirt.”
Milo nodded. “No brunch with the DeBrunes today?”
Hanna laughed. “Absolutely not. No plans with your mom?”
“We’ll have dinner with my grandpa and all the nieces and nephews.”
She leaned against the counter, spinning the cork between her fingers.
“You have a big family?”
