“Everybody does!”
The rose I found tucked under my windshield wiper blade last night after work is sitting on my passenger seat like a bomb as I drive into the Square. I don’t know who it’s from, but I have a sneaking suspicion it’s from Silas, which both pisses me off and makes me want to kiss the hell out of him. It’s a sweet gesture, but also not at all what I want. I was serious when I told him I didn’t want a relationship. Not even great sex and red roses can change my mind on that.
Silas is already at the boutique in a deep-blue polo and slate-gray shorts when I slide inside the shop exactly on time. He gives me a warm smile that makes me forget all about the heat outside when the heat in here is just as hot.
“Happy Saturday, storm cloud,” he drawls, eyes twinkling.
The bell rings behind me, interrupting anything further. I put my purse down behind the counter and get busy helping customers. Whatever we’re doing is starting to work. I realize the trickle of returning students and their families also has something to do with the increase in customers, but I haven’t seen the boutique this busy ever. It makes me happy for Silas and his big dreams. It also makes me hopeful we can hit the sales goal that will line my own pockets. If I don’t earn the ten-thousand-dollar bonus, I’ll need to take on a second and third job to pay back my student loans and Nana’s mortgage. Not exactly the life upgrade I was hoping for when I left the big city out west.
I keep hoping for some downtime to possibly recreate our moment in the storage room, but it’s looking like it’s not meant to be today. Right as Silas heads for the door to flip the sign toclosedat two in the afternoon, Nana walks in with her pastel blue cotton pants and matching shirt. I do a double take. She didn’t tell me she was going to stop by.
“Nana,” I call out, surprise and a bit of a question in my tone.
She ambles over and gives me a hug. Short as I am, she barely comes to my chin. She releases me quickly and turns to Silas. “I’ll get out of your hair, I promise. I just wanted to invite you to an early supper today. I want to get to know the man my Betsy Mae is spending all her time with.”
“Nana,” I chide, massively embarrassed. “Silas is my boss.”
Nana looks at me with innocent eyes behind those thick glasses. “Oh, I know, honey.” She turns to Silas, putting on the pressure. “You should come to supper.”
“I’m sure Silas has other plans, Nana,” I say quickly, but Silas shoots her a smile that could melt glass.
“I’d love to, Mrs. Pemberton.”
“Ohh.” Nana waves her hand through the air. “You best call me Betsy Sue or you’ll make me feel old.”
My eyebrows lift. Is Nana flirting with Silas?
“Never!” Silas exclaims, patting Nana’s hand still resting on his arm. “What can I bring?”
“You just bring yourself, honey. I’ll take care of the rest.” She turns to me and holds out her other hand. “In fact, will you drive Betsy Mae home? Birdie dropped me off and I need to take Betsy’s car home.”
I reach for my purse. “I can drive you home, Nana. We’re closing up here.”
Nana snaps her fingers, shocking me. “No, no. You finish your work. I’m driving your car home.” Her voice is rising, something I’m not used to from my cool-as-a-cucumber nana.
I hand her the keys, not wanting to upset her further. “Okay. I’m parked down Saint’s Row, around the corner.”
She snatches the keys from my hand and exits the boutique much faster than she arrived. “I know where that is, silly girl. Lived ’ere my whole life. See you two kids at home!”
The bell rings out and she’s gone, just a trace of her floral perfume left. I look over at Silas who’s grinning like he’s holding back laughter.
“What the hell was that?”
He shrugs, grabs my hand, and tugs me through the curtain into the storage room. He pushes me gently up against the wall and I’m instantly turned on. My breath comes out as an embarrassing pant. He leans down and kisses me, real sweet-like. His tongue flicks against my bottom lip and I open, letting him take it deeper, but he doesn’t. He just plucks kiss after kiss from me, teasing my lips and stealing my breath. And then he’s gone.
I blink my eyes open and he’s closing up the boxes of clothing we still have to hang. “Come on, then. Let’s get to Nana’s.” He’s acting like he didn’t just kiss me so sweetly my knees have buckled. The only thing holding me up is the wall.
Silas turns my direction, smiles in the face of my frown, and grabs my hand. “Come on.” He tugs me to the front where he lets me go and grabs his things from behind the counter. He twirls his keys around his finger. “Been wanting to kiss you all day.”
He shoots me a wink I feel all the way to my bare toes. I hook a thumb over my shoulder. “We could spend more time in the storage room, you know. Nana’s not expecting us right this minute.”
Silas puts his big hand on my lower back and pushes me toward the front door. “Not today, storm cloud. Let’s go eat.”
He keeps his hand there the whole time we’re walking outside to wherever he parked his truck. I sidestep him at onepoint, but next thing I know, that hand’s back on me. I could lie and say I don’t like it, but every single finger is imprinted on my skin. He unlocks the truck, holds the passenger side door open for me, and even steps in front of me, his back turned, to make sure I don’t flash anyone getting up in the damn thing in this skirt.
He asks me all kinds of questions as we drive to Nana’s, mostly about my life in California. I answer as briefly as I can, feeling like I’m fielding questions that would be asked on a first date. At one point, he even lifts his hand from the steering wheel and reaches toward me. Before he makes contact with my knee, he whips his hand back and rambles on about something to do with football and marching bands.
“You know this isn’t a date either, right?” I interrupt him mid-tirade about State’s marching band being subpar for the last decade.
