He Loves Me Not (Bunch-A-Blooms 1)

He Loves me Not

Shyla Colt

Step one: Pitch the Deal & Tell the Folks

Petunia

The jingle of the bells above the door drew her attention from the white roses she was currently de-thorning. The floral shop scaled back work hours during the winter season to keep Bunch-a-Blooms profiting, and as the owner, Mildred “Petunia” Lambert often found herself in the role of cashier and designer. She placed the white towel onto the table and wiped her hands off on her green apron with a bouquet of wildflowers on the right-hand corner. Stepping away from the table, she exited the back area of the store, prepared to help her new customer.

“Petunia.”

The rich baritone was a catalyst for a smile. She walked faster, and emerged to find herself greeted by a lean blond with hair that framed his angular face, a well-maintained goatee, and bright blue eyes that never failed to get her into trouble. He flashed her a blinding smile, and she knew instantly he was about to present her with another one of his schemes. Best friend since the cradle, she knew Mason Patten all too well.

“Hey, Mas. What are you doing here?”

“What, I can’t stop by and see my bestie?” he asked, mocking offense.

She snickered. “Oh, you can, but you normally don’t. I can see right through your con, Mas. Just give it to me straight.”

Sighing, he ran a hand through his chin-length blond locks. “It’s kind of complicated.”

She smirked. So dramatic. “It always is with you.”

“Oh come on. Are you still mad at me about that blind date?”

Pursing her lips, she narrowed her gaze. She’d let him coax her into a double date with the woman he’d been seeing at the time and her brother.

“It’ll be fun you said. He’s really cool, Flower. I know the two of you will have a good time.” She lowered her voice and mimicked him.

“How was I supposed to know he’d turn into a bumbling idiot the minute he met you? It’s not my fault you made the poor man tongue-tied.”

She rolled her eyes. “That night was painful, Mas.”

“I know, and I’m really sorry. I swear, I’ll apologize for it for the rest of my life if it makes you happy. This is completely different.” He stood straight, and his voice took on a serious tone she didn’t hear often.

“What’s going on?”

“I’m not sure yet.” He peered up at her through his thick golden lashes and her belly flipped. As much as she’d like to pretend to be unaffected by her gorgeous friend, that wasn’t the truth. He still pulled a visceral reaction from her after all these years. She’d been attracted to him since she hit puberty, and deep down—where she’d hidden it like a buried treasure—a tiny crush remained. The uncertainty she saw in him was at odds with the overly confident man she knew. Alarms whooped in her head. Concerned, she offered her support.

“What do you want me to do?” It was never a question of if she could help, only how. They’d weathered heartbreak, disappointments, college theses, and the trials of growing up together. You didn’t get closer than that.

“Hear me out and not slap me.” He shrugged and gave a small laugh.

“Start talking, Patten.” An uneasy feeling crept into her gut. It took a lot to make her upset when it came to him.

“I may have told my parents I was seeing someone seriously.”

She scoffed. This is the emergency? “Dude, you had me worried. Why would you even tell them that? I can’t remember the last time you kept a girl around for longer than six months, and we both know that’s being generous.” It was no secret Mason liked to play the field.

“I know. It was stupid. I panicked. This was the only thing I could think of on short notice to shock my father into seeing me in a new light. My dad thinks my single status is a sign I’m still living a bachelor’s life. I’m trying to prove I’m ready to run my own store. He’s planning on opening a brand new one, and it’s got my name written all over it. Hell, I have the money to buy in as a partner if he’d prefer that. He’s the obstacle standing in my way. He still thinks I’m the same irresponsible twenty-something. I’m pushing thirty-one in a few months, and I’m damn good at my job. Despite his opinions of me, numbers don’t lie. Our location always pulls in the biggest profit every quarter. Tyler and Channing might be ‘settled family men’,” he used air quotes, “but they don’t have my knack for selling or relationship building. Repeat customers are a jeweler’s bread and butter. I know he wants us to earn the businesses we’ve run, but I think I’ve done that and then some. Even when I was dicking around, I never let it affect my work.” She mentally cringed at the mention of his older brothers. He was the black sheep, and they never let him forget it. Coming from an extremely conservative, and old-fashioned family, her progressive and modern friend had always stuck out like a sore thumb.

“Mas, you don’t have to sales pitch me. I know you’re an excellent general manager.”

“I know you do. I just … I need you to understand why I’m asking what I am.”

“Mas.” Worry swept through her without warning like a flash flood.

“I told them I was in a serious relationship and looking to settle down. I all but said we were close to the engagement period.”

“And what? You want me to help you find a mail-order fiancée?” She shook her head, exasperated by his latest shenanigans.

“No, I want you.”

She blinked as the words hit like a blow to the gut. “Say what now?” To wait a lifetime to hear those three words, only to have them delivered completely out of context, was pure torture.

“Come on. It’s not a stretch of the imagination. We’re always together. I trust you with everything I own, and we have valid reasons for keeping us hushed. We wanted to make sure we had time to see if things would work out before we brought all our family and friends into it.”

“Into what exactly, Mas?” She narrowed her eyes.

“You haven’t guessed yet?” He grinned. “Our marriage. I want you to marry me, Petunia.”

The blood rushed to her head and the room spun. She swayed.

“Whoa.” Reaching out, he caught her by the forearms. “You okay?”

She blinked, unable to answer around the knot clogging up her throat.

“It’s the perfect plan. We’ll tie the knot. You can have the money I know you need to keep the shop running, make upgrades, and relax. You’ve been working yourself into oblivion trying to handle everything. You’re stubborn as hell, so I know if I try to give it to you, because you know I would, you’d shut me down. This way, we both win. A few years down the line, we can say we mistook the love of a good friend for something more. No harm, no foul. In the meantime, we’d have a blast. Remember how much fun

it was sharing an apartment when we were in college?”

She opened her mouth and closed it, unable to talk as she attempted to process his words. Did he really think this would be the same thing? She loved living with him from their sophomore year until they graduated. They’d learned to be adults together. It was the perfect safety net to fall back on that wasn’t their parents when things got rough. She also came to understand how deep the still waters ran between them. Can I come out of this with my heart intact?

“I know it’s a lot to think about. I don’t want to put you on the spot.” He cleared his throat. “Except, I might have promised to bring my mystery woman around to family dinner Sunday.”

“Mas, you idiot,” she exploded into action, punching his arm with a quick jab.

“Ow.” He rubbed the area. “It’s a foolproof plan.”

“Foolproof?” She threw her hands up in the air. “Like the time we pulled a senior prank that almost got us suspended?”

“That was different. I didn’t calculate the chemistry correctly.”

“Uh huh. What about the time we got in trouble for selling lemonade?” she asked dryly. Her butt still stung from the switch her parents had taken to her legs. They’d disappeared for hours, selling lemonade. They were only at the park around the corner from their house, but their parents didn’t know that. Until they scoured the neighborhood frantically searching for their wayward children.

“In hindsight, we should’ve told our parents where we were going and what we planned on doing first. We spent all that time decorating lemonade stand signs. I don’t know how they were so oblivious.”

“Mas.” She snapped her fingers, and he blinked, refocusing his attention on her.

He cleared his throat. “We both need this.” He gripped her shoulders. “I know I’ve lead you astray in the past. You know it was never intentional. You’re my best friend, Petunia. I can’t imagine marrying anyone else. You’re an honorary Patten as it is. This will just make it official. It’s not an ideal fix to our problems, but it’s an easy one.”

She bowed her head. He had never been more right or more wrong for completely different reasons.