And she’d sure as hell surprised him.
‘Sure,’ he said, heading for the door still feeling stunned and a bit giddy, Daisy’s touch lingering on his skin and her words replaying in his mind.
It’s cute when you blush.
Life-altering.
Every time he left this flower shop, it felt like he was a new person. Maybe there was some magic at play here after all.
ChapterTwelve
Daisy had passed the shop over to Lu for Tuesday evening’s spring-wreath-making class, and Elliot had changed his spit-up covered shirt and now they were sitting together at The Pumpkin Spice Café. It seemed safer than being together in Daisy’s tiny apartment again. Between Elliot’s above-average hugging skills and the way he looked rocking baby Owen, Daisy’s feelings for him were more confused than ever.
Actually, that wasn’t true.
Her feelings were becoming quite clear.
She was attracted to Elliot.
She glanced across the table at him to confirm. His brow furrowed as his gaze flicked from where his laptop was opened to some old copies of theDream Harbor Gazetteto his phone, where he was googling some of Daisy’s relatives, to a dusty old book of town history he’d found at the library. Okay, so he was a giant nerd (was that a red flag?), but he looked hot in those glasses and the way his damn hair refused to stay in place was really doing something for her.
Yep, attracted.
And it was highly inconvenient. She wasn’t supposed to be attracted to her fake boyfriend. Elliot looked up and caught her staring at him. His cheeks immediately turned pink in that adorable way they always did, and Daisy had to repeat her mantra all over again.
Done with relationships.
Done with love.
‘Sorry,’ he said, his cheeks flushing deeper. ‘This is probably boring you.’
‘No! Not at all,’ Daisy assured him, focusing back on the article he’d pulled up on the screen. ‘I had no idea the flower shop was such a town institution.’
‘The building itself is over two hundred years old. And you can see in this early photo here, that stained glass above the door is original. Which is remarkable really.’
‘I’ve always liked those windows.’
‘They’re gorgeous and very rare to find in such good condition. Especially here in the US.’
‘Was it always a flower shop? I thought my grandma said our family opened the shop in the nineteen-twenties.’
‘That’s right. Before that it looks like it was an apothecary of sorts.’
‘Like for potions and stuff?’ Her mother would just love that news.
Elliot chuckled. ‘Herbal remedies, I guess you could call them.’
‘I wonder if they would have sold something to break a love curse,’ she muttered, taking a sip of her smoothie. It was good, filled with local strawberries.
The Pumpkin Spice Café wasn’t busy this time of day. They’d be closing soon, and Jeanie was working her way through the room, wiping tables. She smiled at Daisy as she went by, her gaze flicking between her and Elliot. The café owner’s dark brows rose in question, and Daisy gave a little shrug in return. It was harder lying to everyone than she thought it would be.
She liked Jeanie. She didn’t want to lie.
But the more people who knew this was fake, the more likely the truth would come out. Daisy just needed to fake it for a few months, tops. And then she could set Elliot free and go back to her self-imposed single life. The one designed to keep her safe from further heartbreak or humiliation.
‘Oh, here’s what I was looking for,’ Elliot said, clicking a few more links. ‘Here’s a picture from the early days of your family’s shop. It was just calledDaisy’sat the time. Apparently, they did flowers for the mayor’s wedding, and that really launched the business. They were very well known for weddings.’
Weddings. Ugh. Right from the start, apparently.
