It wasn’t the worst task. At least we’d be able to ensure the money went somewhere worthwhile, unlike wherever Roger would have likely picked on his own.
His old fraternity’s beer pong fund, maybe. Or a foundation to bring back the Fyre Festival.
Once he left, I caught River glancing my way, which gave me a surge of satisfaction. “How’s it going?” I called out and crossed to the doorway.
“Good.” He stayed in his seat but spun to face me. His eyes flashed their dark umber, and a smile played on his lips. “How was your meeting?”
“Fine. Could you pull together the last few years on the Hank family for me? I need to review their file.”
River nodded and scribbled a note down. “No problem.”
I gestured to his shirt. “What’s that flower?”
He smiled, which naturally made me smile. “It’s a clematis,” he said and stuck his chest out a little to show me. “You like it?”
I nodded. “I do.”
He stuck his tongue against his cheek. “Now that’s a problem.”
“What is?”
“If you never go on second dates, you’ll never give flowers. Or receive them.”
I laughed. “People can give you flowers for other reasons. You don’t have to be dating someone to receive them.”
“Yeah, if you die or go to the hospital. But flowers from a date are different.”
“I didn’t even go to my high school prom,” I admitted. “And come to think of it, I can’t remember anyone giving me flowers. Ever.” I laughed and shook my head. “I probably sound heartless to you when I say I don’t really care that much. We get a fresh bouquet with our basket from the farmer’s market sometimes, that’s enough for me.”
River rolled his eyes lightly, but it was a teasing gesture, not a dismissive one, and I could tell that he was amused by me. Which part of me he thought was amusing, I wasn’t sure, but it pleased me anyway.
He stood up quickly, then messed with the flower on his shirt. “Here.”
“What?”
River removed the flower, stepped forward, and started to apply it to my suit jacket. My heart jumped into my throat, and something sparked as his hands brushed my chest and tugged my jacket.
“Now you can’t say you’ve never received a flower,” he said with a smug smile.
I was actually speechless for a minute. I was never speechless. My one superpower was my ability to talk my way out of almost any situation, but then River had gone and pinned a little purple flower to my shirt, and I lost all ability to form coherent thoughts.
What, did I have a crush? Was I seriously now crushing on my employee, Kai’s twin brother? The maddening urge to rip his clothes off hadn’t lessened any, and now there was something else there, too.
I wanted to stroke his cheek. His soft, perfect cheek.
Damn it, why did I want to stroke his cheek?
“Thanks for the flower,” I finally managed. I traced my fingers over the petals, so soft but still a poor substitution for his face.
“It’s nice. It makes your look more approachable.”
I chuckled. “I guess that’s good.”
“Very modern,” River nodded.
I felt like we were playing, except I didn’t know the rules of the game.
Or maybe I did know the rules. I just really, really didn’t like them.
