‘Sorry, old habit.’ He smiled that damn charming smile, the one that had fooled her into thinking he loved her. ‘I just wanted to say, if this is too much, we’ll leave right now… It’s just that Hailey really likes this place… and I thought we could all be adults about this.’
‘Of course she does. Everyone likes it here,’ Daisy bit out, trying desperately not to let David see how miserable she was, how alone.
It was true. Everyone loved Dream Harbor. She’d somehow managed to forget that fact in the year she’d been away. The year she spent with David, moving intohiscondo, living closer to the city so he could be nearhisjob, hanging out withhisfriends.
She’d forgotten how much she secretly loved this little shop, how much she missed her friends and seeing her parents and grandparents all the time.
Not that she’d admit it.
Not that it didn’t still feel like she’d failed at something.
At love, mostly.
At being in a functional relationship.
She may have loved this shop, but it didn’t change the fact that being back here just reminded her every day of what she’d lost.
The bell over the door jangled as a new customer walked in, giving Daisy a brief moment of reprieve. She recognized him from somewhere. The café, maybe? Or Jeanie’s wedding! Elliot. That was it. The guy with the glasses who kept looking at her. Kinda like he was now. Like a deer in headlights when Daisy caught his eye. But a cute deer, with a slight blush on his cheeks and rumpled hair like maybe he’d just woken up.
And Daisy didn’t know if it was David’s stupid handsome face, or Hailey’s perfect gym-toned ass, or if it was the memory of the way Elliot had looked at her that night at the wedding, like maybe he wanted her, that made her do what she did next. It certainly wasn’t any rational thought.
But when fighting a curse, maybe it was best to abandon rationality completely.
‘Really David, it’s fine with me. Like you said, we’ve both moved on.’ Daisy smiled and waved at Elliot in the doorway. ‘In fact, here’s my new boyfriend now. Elliot, come say hi!’
ChapterTwo
Elliot had been avoiding the flower shop for two reasons. Both having to do with the nearly frantic woman currently waving him over and calling him her boyfriend.
Daisy.
Lovely, soft Daisy.
Daisy, whom he’d spent far too much time thinking about ever since she’d arrived in town. He’d only been living here for a few months at that point, still wondering why he’d chosen this little town to hide out in. And then there she was, storming into a town meeting like she owned the place.
And he’d very nearly fallen in love with her.
A terrible habit of his.
Which was reason number one for avoiding the pretty little flower shop on Main Street and its pretty little owner. Elliot had moved to Dream Harbor to forget about love. Toavoid it entirely, if possible. After two years, he still hadn’t been able to shake off the failure and heartache his divorce had caused, and he wasn’t eager to try again.
He hardly knew Daisy. But he knew himself and he knew he had already developed an absurd crush on the woman based almost completely on the way she argued with everyone at town meetings and the way she looked in a tight black T-shirt. Like the one she wore now. Even with the faded, daisy-print apron she wore over it, he could see how it hugged all her curves.
Elliot swallowed hard.
He should not be looking at Daisy’s curves. Daisy’s curves were sure to lead nowhere good. At least, in the long term. In the short term, he was sure Daisy’s curves would lead him to all sorts of amazing places.
But that wasn’t the point, because the second reason he’d stayed away was a bit more insane but tied in with the first. Daisy was cursed. Not that Elliot believed in curses, but if town gossip was to be trusted, Daisy left a trail of broken hearts in her wake, and Elliot’s was broken enough. He was fairly certain it didn’t even work anymore, and so the issue of Daisy’s black T-shirt was moot, really.
‘Elliot.’ Daisy’s voice snapped his attention from her shirt to her face. Her eyes were wide, nearly pleading with him. She obviously wanted him to go along with whatever weird situation this was, but Elliot’s thoughts were stuck on one thing.She knows my name.
Elliot had a tendency to blend in. To hide, his brother would say. He was just shy, his mother would insist. But Elliot wasn’t sure it was either of those things. He was an observer. He liked to watch people, and he didn’t feel a huge need to thrust himself into the action. Which most people seemed to find either creepy or boring.
But somewhere along the line, Daisy had learned his name.
And apparently now she needed him. ‘Come over and say hi to David,’ she said again, her volume increasing with each word. ‘You remember David,my ex. I told you about him.’ She raised her eyebrows dramatically like she was waiting for him to remember his line.
It was time to thrust himself into the action.
