“Thank you again.” Marlee looked away from the sleeping baby to Aspen. “For everything you did after…you know.”
“It’s my job.” Aspen shrugged. “And you’ve thanked me enough. We’re good.”
Marlee could’ve hugged her. “Thanks.”
“And I’m out, Jase.” Aspen waved to Jase. “See you around, Marlee.”
“See you around,” Marlee whispered back.
She sauntered over to Jase and his flowers. “You need about four more lilies on the left and it’ll be perfect.”
He slid his gaze to her.
She raised her eyebrows in her bestwhat?expression. When it came to art—especially flowers—she was like a savant. After the office flowers would get delivered each week, she’d made it her own personal job to fix the arrangements. No, it had nothing to do with the company events she helped plan, but yes, it was necessary. It was also number one hundred and sixty-five on the list of things she did that drove Scotty nuts. Which, she’d always assumed, was why he didn’t buy her flowers.
“You wanna show me?” Jase asked.
She set Lothario on the ground, grabbed the lilies, snipped off the ends so they’d get a nice drink of water in the Oasis floral foam, and with the precision of someone who couldn’t afford to pay for them if she screwed them up, poked them precisely where they’d look best. She didn’t need to step back for the full effect to know the arrangement was now complete.
“What do you think of that one?” He jerked his chin toward a bouquet of white roses and succulents in a bamboo-inspired vase.
“Do you have anything that looks ropey? Or like a vine?” She scanned the tabletop, not coming up with anything that would work. Most of the time, flowers looked best when their symmetry was precise. But with the way the succulents tilted, a few ropey vines would be perfect for balance.
“Ropey?” he asked, eyebrows raised.
“Something that looks like a rope?” she replied, eyebrows also raised.
“Let’s check the back.” Jase headed toward a walk-in cooler.
The cold air blew against her skin as she inventoried the selection. She snagged a few fig branches from one of his oversized white buckets. “This’ll work.”
She moved back to the table, twisting the vine so it would bend at the precise angle she needed and maneuvering it through the roses so it’d hold. “There.”
“That’s decent.” Jase turned the vase so he could see from the other side.
“It’s not decent. It’s perfect.” Marlee stood by that assertion. “It’s like a painting, but with flowers.”
Jase turned the vase again. “Do you know anything about flowers?”
“I know which ones I like.” Marlee shrugged. “And I rearrange them when I see them at the office. Used to see them at the office,” she amended.
“How much is Eli paying you?” Jase asked. “My assistant left. I’ve been doing everything myself for the past few weeks.”
“Eli isn’t paying me very much. But I pretty much screw up everything over there and mooch off his food and sleep in his bed.” She shrugged.
Jase tilted his head to the right just a tad.
“I mean, he’s not sleeping in the bed with me,” Marlee assured. “But he could.” Not that he would. Or that she wanted it. “He just takes the couch because of the divorce.” And now she was going to shut up.
Jase crossed his arms. “I’ll pay you double whatever he’s paying.”
Well, that was better than fussing with almonds and ruining soup, but—“What’s the job, exactly?”
“Helping me out in the shop, arranging flowers, manning the cash register, talking to customers—”
“I love talking to people.” She really did. No one really chatted in the kitchen. Everyone stayed focused on the food. Which, you know, as someone who ate food, she appreciated that they kept their focus where it should be. But as someone who also liked to chitchat, it was annoying as hell that no one talked.
He smiled huge. “And some deliveries.”
