“If that is what you call it. Don’t come here and remind me of things from our relationship. I never invited you. You clearly look like a stalker. And, in case you forgot, my sister is getting married today. I don’t have time to drive all the way over there, grab flowers, and be back before my nine o’clock hair and makeup appointment.”
“I can call him.” He’s already pulling out his phone. “I have his cell because he used to let me sneak in before opening to handpick your flowers. I bet he could meet us halfway.”
Gritting my teeth, I ignore how sweet that was of him. I’m about to growl out a hefty no, but Kaci sighs with relief. “That’s brilliant.” Her eyes sparkle at him like he cured cancer. “You can take the flower van because it has coolers. Both of you should go to make sure he gets the right ones.”
“I’m not going.” I cross my arms. “I have to help you get ready.”
Kaci grabs the van keys from the hook on the wall, and tosses them to Elijah, who catches them with one hand. “Don’t waste any time.”
I glare at her. This feels like a setup. I don’t do setups. Not with Jerk Hole ex-fiancés who I just kissed. “You actually want me to ditch you on your wedding morning?”
“It won’t take that long. Plus, Jackson’s sister is coming to grab Bella from Mom. I need to run back to the lake house anyway to get Bella ready before she arrives. We really don’t have anything else to do here.” She hands me my coffee and waves me toward the door. “You’ll need this but hurry or my wedding will be ruined without those flowers.”
“Okay.” Stunned, I stare as she flies around the room, shutting off the lights since we had planned to be closed for the day.
Is this a setup?
Did she call Elijah and ask him to meet me here? How did this even happen?
Because there’s no way I’m getting in a van with him.
Except … that’s exactly what I’m about to do. To save my sister’s wedding.
We have flowers here, just not the ones she wants.
The whole thing feels off. I grab the box of bouquets to return them to the cooler. Elijah steps in and tries to take the box from me. “I’ll carry those.”
“Drop dead.”
“Okay. Maybe after we get back. First, I want to help.”
I shove the box inside the cooler, and he heads for the door, holding it open for me. I march past him toward the van like the independent woman I am. I certainly don’t need a man to help me do this. “Since Kaci already gave you the keys, you get to drive.” Under my breath I mutter, “I’ll be taking the shortcut by sleeping the whole way, so I don’t have to hear you breathe.”
The van groans to life like it also resents seeing Elijah. It makes me smile. The van and I have history. It knows my moods. It’s loyal.
I sit shotgun, only because there are no actual seats in the back since it’s set up for floral storage.
Elijah adjusts the seat like he owns it, scooting it all the way back and slouches with one hand on the wheel, and the other resting casually on the shared armrest. “You remember the last time we were in this van?” He shoots me a sideways glance.
A heated sideways glance at that.
“No. Sure don’t.” I practically talk over him, desperately wanting to avoid small talk. Of course I remember the last time we were in here. We were always in this van, making deliveries long before we were even dating. He taught me to park with this thing so I could pass my driver’s test. It’s part of our history.
“You were sitting on a bucket of baby’s breath.” His smirk grows smug, and I know what’s coming. “We were kissing.”
“And you elbowed my rib.” I skip straight to the terrible part, because I can’t bear to think about the kissing part. Except, even the terrible part wasn’t that bad, because when we were together, nothing was truly terrible.
Well, until now. This togetherness is terrible.
“And you said, ‘When we get married, we can drive the van as our just-married car.’” He gives me another side-eye. “I always thought we’d make this van our family car once we had kids.”
I snort, half-stunned and fully blushing. Nothing worth saying comes to mind. After several failed attempts to shut down his flirting, I blurt out, “Why did you even bother coming to the flower shop this morning? It’s too late. You have to know that.”
“I told you. We have to talk about what happened last night.”
“Too late. I already forgot.” I quip, then rush to add, “What’s your name again?”
“Phew. Right?” He takes a left onto the highway, adjusting his speed. “You must have amnesia, because you clearly forgot I was your fiancé when you left the country. Maybe I should remind you, since you never actually broke up with me, and we’re technically still engaged.”
