Tempting Brooke (Big Sky 2.5)

* * * *

“We cut the stems like this,” Brooke says the next morning. We’re standing at her work table, gloves on, and there is a mountain of fresh flowers before us, waiting to be clipped, sorted, and put away. She snips the end, peels off a bunch of the leaves, tossing them in the compost basket, and then puts the flower in a bucket of fresh water. “Then, Micah will carry the flowers into the cooler when he arrives in a couple of hours. We should have all of this done by the time he gets here.”

“This is a shit ton of flowers,” I say, surveying it all.

“This will get me through a couple of days,” she says proudly and reaches for a rose. “Don’t cut them down too much because we’ll clip them once more when they go in their arrangements.”

I follow her direction, and when she’s satisfied that I’m doing it correctly, she moves on to other things.

The bell over the door, exactly the same as Mrs. Blakely’s, dings and a man walks in, approaching Brooke.

“Hello, Mr. King,” she says, catching my attention. I poke my head out from behind the flowers and smile when I see Jeffrey King, Gray’s uncle. “I already have your usual bouquet ready.”

“You’re a sweetheart,” he says, then sees me and his face lights up. “Well, Brody! It’s good to see you.”

“You too, sir.”

Jeffrey King and his two sons own and operate a large ranch outside of Cunningham Falls. His boys were a few years older than me and their cousins, but we would go out to the ranch a couple of times each summer to ride horses and run wild.

I’d forgotten about those days.

“How is the ranch?” I ask.

“Oh, it’s doing just fine. Zack and Josh run it now, and their mother and I have retired.”

“Good for you.”

Brooke walks out of the cooler, holding a huge bouquet of yellow roses.

“Ah, there they are,” Jeffrey says and takes them from her. “You’ll put this on my tab, right?”

“Of course,” she says with a wide smile.

“My pretty bride will love them.” He winks at both of us. “Good to see you, Brody. Oh, and I’m sorry about your dad.”

“Have a great day,” I reply with a wave as he walks out of the shop. “Does he come in often?”

“Every week, same time,” Brooke replies. “Always buys his wife yellow roses. He’s done it since the week I opened.”

“That’s sweet,” I say and can’t resist reaching over to smooth a piece of her dark chestnut hair off her cheek. “I always liked the King family.”

“Me too,” she says and moves away from me, but not before I see the heat rise in her face. It seems I’m not the only one attracted. “They’re growing like crazy, too. Josh and Zack both have kids now.”

“Didn’t Zack go into the Army?”

“He did, but he’s been home for a few years now. He married Jillian Sullivan, and they have twins, with another baby on the way. Zack also has a teenage son, from a previous marriage.”

“That’s a lot of kids,” I reply with a laugh.

“Hey, I just want to say, I’m sorry about your dad, too. He was always really nice to me.”

I take a deep breath, the aroma of the flowers filling my head, and try to push out the hatred I still carry for Glen. I can’t say thank you, not to Brooke. It’s fake, and I’ve never been fake with her. That’s why I couldn’t be her friend anymore in high school.

She would have figured out my horrible home life because I never could lie to her.

“Don’t be,” I reply softly, watching the stems as I clip them.

“What?” She steps closer to me and rubs her hand up and down my arm. Being in direct physical contact with Brooke isn’t a good idea.

All I’ve been able to think about since I left her yesterday was getting in her pants.

She absolutely shouldn’t touch me.

“What do you mean?” she asks again.

“Nothing.” I shove a final stem in a bucket, filling it. “I can carry this in the cooler. No need to wait for Micah.” I lift it and walk away, hoping she’ll drop the subject.

I’m not disappointed when I walk out. Maisey’s arrived, carrying cake samples.

“We have a wedding cake and flower appointment this evening,” Maisey says with a smile. “But I brought extras for you.”

“Well, you’re officially my new favorite person,” I reply and pull her in for a hug. Maisey is just as beautiful as her sister. Smart. Funny.

But my body has zero reaction when I touch her. It’s what case studies are made of, but I’ll never tell anyone.

Especially Brooke.

“Here, try the chocolate with strawberry frosting first.”

Maisey passes me the plate and I bite in, then look up in absolute shock. “Holy fuck.”

“Good, right?” Maisey asks with a smug smile.