Thorn in My Side (Bunch-A-Blooms 2)

“Is that what it is?” Kane asks.

I shoot him daggers with my eyes. Now isn’t the time to mess about. He’s always been the stubborn troublemaker, my brother. I’ve bailed him out of jams so many times the incidents have all blurred together into one long string that kept me from sleeping for five years straight. The parent thing didn’t come with instructions. Not that it would matter if it did. Each kid is so different they all have to be handled in a specific manner.

“I’d like to think I’m pretty smart, so yes,” Olive says.

Kane flashes her smile, and I swear I see hearts forming in his eyes like he’s an emoji come to life. Bastard. I grunt. His eyes widen, and I feel Olive’s gaze zero in on me.

“Are you guys ready to order?”

Saved by the waitress. I relax as the food ordering begins and the attention shifts to other topics. Once the food is ordered and the drinks are in front of us, we begin to play catch up.

“I feel like we never see you anymore,” Kane says.

“With the upcoming launch and the expansion in Britain, I have been away quite a bit lately.”

“You should scale back on your hours, Luk,” Rachel says.

“Did you forget I have a lavish wedding to pay for?”

“It’s not that bad,” she said throwing her balled up straw wrapper at me.

I chuckle. “No. but once the new product launches, I’ll be able to take a step back.”

“New product?” Olive asks.

I glance over at her.

“She’s already signed a non-disclosure agreement about us and our secrets. What’s one more to keep quiet?” Rachel asks.

“Fair enough. We’re launching a new line of candy. It’s in the prototype and tester stage at the moment.”

She sighs, and her entire demeanor changes as sensuality is splayed openly on her face. “I love Davenport chocolate. I don’t even know what you’re about to sell me and I’m ready to line up for a taste.”

I chuckle. “Fan are you?”

“I don’ think you can come from Loveland and not be. It’d be like sacrilege.”

“Look at that, we’re on biblical terms now,” Kane says.

Asher chuckles. “We certainly appreciate your loyalty.”

“Hey, you guys never wavered from your recipe like other companies. I don’t bite into it and feel like I’m missing something. That’s happened too many times with other products, even the hometown ones.”

“Never fear then, love. Luk would never dream of differing from the original recipe,” Rachel says.

“He’d make the candy personally before he let that happen,” Micha adds.

“Smart man. If it’s not broke, don’t fix it.”

‘I’m surprised to hear you say that,” I admit.

“Why?”

“Isn’t it your job to create new things?”

“Yes, but that’s different from what you do. If I find a process that works best with my beauty products, I don’t change things up on my customers. I stay the course. So I get it.”

Her words are making me reevaluate my initial opinion of her, and that pisses me off.