“How old was she?”
“I don’t know, 18, maybe.”
This was making her uneasy. Clueless was not a normal state of mind for Flora and it was making the atmosphere hot with uncomfortable tension.
“How old are you?”
“How rude,” she joked. “What does that matter? You know we age faster than we look after 20.” In the supernatural world, older was better; didn’t matter if you were a man, woman, binary, in-between, a lion, or a squirrel. Ages 21-35 were considered young and dumb, and the years were often filled with embarrassment and being talked down to by elders.
“You're right,” he said, holding his chin in his hand. “It doesn’t matter. You look anywhere from 19 to 27.”
“You should apologize.”
“What?’ Dylan asked as if snapped out of a daydream.
“You never ask a woman her age,” Flora explained. Asking for an apology was only a distraction. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to know what Dylan thought about Cassandra and Romeo. She had known them since the founding of Dainty Rebel and didn’t want to think of them betraying her, let alone trying to hurt her.
“I’m sorry; I should have never asked a lady her age,” Dylan apologized, a small laugh escaping him as he leaned back into his chair.
“I forgive you. Ready to go get something to eat?” Flora asked, grabbing her purse.
“I’m always ready to eat.”
10
FLORA
“Walk on the inside of me, Flora.”
“Even inside a restaurant?”
“Even inside a restaurant,” Dylan confirmed, guiding Flora to walk alongside him so that he was between her and the wall that was lined with windows. Flora assumed he thought maybe someone would try to shoot her through the glass or something. It was like him knowing her animal changed the way he acted around her— which initially scared her — but Dylan turned overwhelmingly protective of her. It was his job, of course, but having him walk into the bathroom with her and listen to her pee with only a stall door separating them was embarrassing.
Walking into Eleanor’s Diner, Flora’s eyes instantly searched for Willow and Luxe. Finding them in one of Eleanor's classic red vinyl booths along the wall of windows, she strode away from Dylan. Surprised he let her walk ahead, she walked even faster in case he changed his mind. Flora spotted Jackson sitting a few booths away from the girls. He must be here for Dylan, she assumed, sliding in across from her friends.
“Hello, ladies,” Flora smiled, feeling a sense of relief sliding over her body. Seeing Willow and Luxe, the closest friends she’d ever had, brought her a peace of mind she hadn’t had in a while.
“Hello,Mrs. Enchanted. Do you two always walk together now?” Willow asked, sipping on her iced tea, swinging her finger between Flora and Dylan.
“It’s not a big deal, he’s just doing his job, and it’s Ms. Larkspur,Ms. Buttercup.”
“The same job he refused compensation for? The same job where he was supposed to watch you from a distance but decided to watch from up close?” Luxe smirked.
“Yes, the same one.” Flora suddenly felt flushed with the realization that her and Dylan's relationship was vastly outside the contracted behavior between business partners, once again highlighting why she needed to destroy these seemingly small but frantically growing romantic feelings she had for him.
“More like a boyfriend, even,” Luxe suggested, throwing a wink Flora’s way.
“I wouldn’t say that,” Flora denied. She distracted herself with the menu she’d already memorized from her previous visits to Eleanor's. She’d been going there a lot since she preferred the diner’s cooking over her own.
“Whatever you say, girly.”
Running a hand through her straightened ash-blonde hair, Luxe tried to steal a glance behind Flora, ogling the man she’d been crushing on from a few booths down. Flora turned to find Dylan had taken a seat with Jackson, sitting where he could still watch her without craning his neck.
“How are things with you and Jackson?” Flora asked, setting the menu aside, eager to switch the topic off of herself.
“There is no 'me and Jackson'. He’s not interested,” Luxe pouted. Luxe was a beautiful girl who was a "head first, feet later" kind of woman. She must have had deep feelings for Jackson if she hadn’t asked him out already at that point. She didn’t usually have a problem asking guys out, so Flora wondered what was really going on there.
“He rejected you?” Flora whispered, surprised beyond belief. “I swore I thought he liked you more than a friend.”
