In Full Bloom (Second Chances 1)

Curious, she unlocked her door and quickly put away her groceries. Climbing the metal stairwell to the roof, she caught sight of Evan putting together a large metal frame. There were some glass sheets. Maybe a greenhouse, she thought?

He didn’t have a shirt on. She watched the rippling muscles of his back as he held something in place and hammered against it. Catching sight of a tribal tattoo wrapped around his arm, she wondered if it was just decorative or whether it had a meaning. She wondered if his skin was as smooth as it looked. She stood there for a minute more, allowing herself to enjoy the view, before she asked, “What’s that?”

Chapter 2

He gave a slight start, then turned to look at her and said, “It’ll be a greenhouse soon.” A moment later, he added, “Sorry about this morning. I didn’t think that would be so insanely loud. Won’t happen again.”

She laughed, thinking of tomorrow’s early morning delivery, and said, “Don’t worry. I come in peace. I’m sorry, too. I was pretty bitchy this morning. I may have been slightly hung over.”

Wiping a hand across his brow, he asked, “Really?”

He watched as she rolled her eyes. He couldn’t help but grin, though he tried to look somewhat contrite a moment later when he said, “Sorry, sorry.”

He watched as her face relaxed, then continued, “You were wearing the crown thing. Clearly you were celebrating something. That’s all I meant. Easy, Princess.”

She raised an eyebrow at the nickname but answered him anyway, saying, “I finished my internship. I’m officially a veterinarian now. I start working for the L.A Zoo on Monday. My sister decided that meant we needed to get drunk.”

“Well, yeah,” he agreed. Confused he added, “Wait. How old are you? Are you old enough to be a doctor?”

On a sigh, she said, “Yes. I’m old enough to be a doctor. I’m twenty six. That should make you feel like less of a perv for staring at my boobs when we were on the stairs last night, right?”

He nodded and said, “It does. I don’t know what you want from me, though. They were there. I’m only a man.”

She surprised him when she laughed and said, “They were on display, I guess.” A moment later she asked, “So are you keeping the flower shop downstairs? Is that what the greenhouse is for?”

“That’s the plan. I’m hoping to start incorporating some of my own flowers in there after I get the greenhouse up and running. I’d like to focus more on orchids and other exotics, though. You can get carnations at the grocery store. Ya know?” he said.

“You want the store to be a place someone would go to get something special. That makes sense,” she said. “How did you get into all this?”

“My dad started a small garden when I was little. After a while, he stopped growing vegetabl

es because he said he liked the flowers better. He got me started,” he said, feeling that familiar pull of sadness that he always did when he thought about his dad.

“Did you go to school or is this all self-taught?” she asked.

“All self-taught,” he said. “Before this, I was a financial advisor.”

He saw her eyebrows raise in surprise. After a moment, she asked, “Really?”

“What?” he asked.

“Hard to picture a man who tried to knock me down the stairs twice doing something so innocuous as being a financial advisor,” she said, lips twitching.

Raising his hands, he said, “Hey now. I take full responsibility for the first time, but you very clearly ran into me last night.”

“At most, I’d be willing to take partial responsibility for that. I had a very loud drunk girl with me. It’s not like we were exactly stealthy,” she said.

The grin spreading across his face again, he said, “No. She definitely wasn’t quiet.”

He thought back to Cora’s comment about them eye fucking each other on the stairs. From the flush on her cheeks, he could tell that she was recalling that, too.

There was an awkward pause before she switched subjects, asking, “Tired of playing with other people’s money?”

“Yeah. Turns out there’s a lot less liability in flowers,” he said, grinning.

“I suppose there would be. Are you going to keep the name?”

He shook his head and said, “No. Weatherly’s Bloom Room just doesn’t have the right ring to it.”