Fatal Attraction (Dark Desires 4)

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I had never been in a limousine before, and the drive back into town was amusing yet borderline uncomfortable. I felt like I was being whisked away by some rich guy back to his mansion, where he would show the small-town cottage girl all the wonders that gold could buy. It was pretentious to say the very least, but then again, I couldn’t expect Miles to pick me up in the old Chevy truck, right?

A small crowd had gathered around where Polly’s store once stood, and I felt all eyes turn towards the car as it pulled up on the opposite side of the street where I was to get out. I hesitated, feeling a little awkward, scared of what the people watching and waiting would think once they saw me exit the car.

Miles turned around and smiled at me. “I would open the door for you, but I have a feeling you’re already uncomfortable enough,” he said. “Unless you’d prefer it if I do.”

“That’s alright, Miles, I can open a car door on my own,” I said, smiling awkwardly. I hesitated for the briefest of moments, took a deep breath, then let myself out.

Everyone watched me as I approached the store, some smiling, others frowning in confusion as they tried to figure out what was going on. The cold weather had most of the onlookers crowded beside each other for warmth, but as I walked past them, they seemed to detach from each other just to get a better look.

Chance was waiting for me near the door, and I froze in my tracks when I looked past the store windows into the space inside.

The store had been turned into a retail greenhouse similar to the one behind my house. Flowers of all shapes and sizes decorated the store front, and inside I could make out rows of shelves and benches, all stocked with plants. My eyes slowly rose, and I gasped when I saw the sign hanging above the door.

Ashlyn’s Flowers.

I felt tears well up in my eyes, and my hands began to shake. I clenched them together, trying to force the tremors to stop, but couldn’t. My lower lip quivered, and I quickly bit down on it, fighting back the tears, willing myself to hold it together.

“I always love it when you did that,” Chance said, coming up beside me.

I looked at him, his blue eyes boring into mine and mesmerizing, his smile instantly making me melt. If it were possible, he looked even better than when he had last been here, and his face seemed to shine. His eyes had a mischievous little glint in them, and I could see he was proud of what he had accomplished, happy that I was reacting to his surprise this way.

I fell in love with him right there and then. I quickly forgot about the lies he had fed me, the conviction I had that I could never be with him, the fact that I had been trying to get over him for almost four months now. All I felt now was a deep sense of longing, a wish that he would take me in his arms and press me to him, so that I could wrap my arms around his neck and tell him how much I had missed him.

“Chance, what is this?” I asked, already knowing the answer but scared to admit it to myself.

“It’s a flower shop,” Chance replied. “I thought that would be obvious.”

I laughed, and a tear ran down the side of my face. “I can see that,” I said. “I mean, why is my name above the door of the flower shop?”

“It has recently been brought to my attention that flowers are becoming the next big thing, and that with a proper store in the right place run by the right person, it could really be a flourishing business,” he said. “Pun not intended.”

I smacked his arm and folded mine across my chest, my entire body now shaking in excitement. The store looked absolutely beautiful, and I knew that if I stepped inside, it would be even more breathtaking. I was at a loss for words, my emotions racing through me like tidal waves, crashing against each other, making me wish for the briefest of moments that I had just ignored the knocking on my door.

And at the same time, I was extremely grateful I hadn’t.

“It’s beautiful,” I finally said.

“It’s yours,” Chance replied.

I glanced at him and met his gaze. “Why?”

“You wouldn’t come to Austin,” Chance said, “so I thought I’d come here to you.”

“What?” I gasped, refusing to believe what I was hearing.

“You wouldn’t answer my calls, or my texts, so I assumed you were still mad at me. I thought I needed an entrance if I wanted you to hear me out.”

“I am still mad at you,” I said. “It’s going to take a lot more than a flower shop to make me come around.”

“I can give you the limo,” Chance joked. “Call it a belated Christmas gift. Or a New Year’s Eve gift.

“Seriously, Chance.”

“I am serious,” he said. “I have two of them.”

I laughed and shook my head in disbelief. “I don’t want your money, you jackass.”