Page 26 of Bloom

Well past time, even. Long overdue.

So with not much else to do, I took a clean serviette and began folding it because it was better than sitting there like a loser doing nothing. And when Linden came back in and sat across from me, he was smiling.

“So that was Megan. She’s the one selling the apartment,” he said, like a quick refresher. “Anyway, she called past the apartment to see if everything was perfect, and she loved your arrangements.”

“Oh, that’s great,” I said. “I’m glad she’s happy.”

“No, I don’t think you understand. She loved them.Loved,loved. She wants your card for anything else she may have coming up.”

Oh.

“Oh, well, that’s even better,” I said.

“She loved the kum quick tree.”

I snorted. “And there I was thinking we’d moved on from that.”

“Don’t think I will ever move on from that,” he said, sipping his drink with a smirk. “But she said the apple blossoms were fabulous, and she loved what I did too, of course. I told her I’d forward her your details.”

“I gave you my card, right?”

“Yes, but that’s mine. You gave that to me, so she can’t have that.” He sniffed, trying not to smile. “I’ll have to get another one.”

I began to take out my wallet. “I’m pretty sure I have?—”

“No,” he said quickly. “Then I won’t have an excuse to come past your shop to get another one.”

I chuckled. He was so damn cute. “Oh. Well, you don’t need an excuse. And you have my number. You don’t need an excuse to use that either.”

He pressed his lips together to stop from smiling, but then he noticed what I’d been doing with the serviette. “Oh my god, did you just make that?”

I picked up the folded serviette, which was now a white flower, and handed it to him. “If I’d known this would be a date, I’d have brought you the real thing.”

He took it, his eyes wide, his mouth open. “Keats, it’s... it’s beautiful and perfect.”

“A white carnation means my intentions are pure,” I said softly.

His eyes went from the flower to me, and he stared. “I, uh... thank you. Keats, this is...” He swallowed hard and his gaze went back to the flower. “This is perfect.” He really did seem taken aback by it. It was just a silly little flower, but he held it as if it were made of gold. “Is the meaning true?” he asked, still not looking at me. “Your intentions, I mean. I want to think you’re genuine. You seem genuine, but like you’re almost too good to be true, and I haven’t had the best luck with guys, so...”

Oh.

Oh boy.

I’d kinda forgotten his ex had cheated on him.

“My intentions are true,” I said. “And to be honest, I’m so out of the loop with dating... What did Robbie say? I’d been out of the dating pool for so long, I’d forgotten how to swim. He’snot wrong. So I don’t know about too good to be true. I’m not perfect, but what you see is what you get.”

His eyes met mine then, and he smiled. “I like that.” Then he sighed. “So many guys are out there trying to be everything they’re not, and it’s exhausting. I just want honesty. I wouldn’t have thought that bar was particularly high, but it is, apparently.”

“Honesty should be the bare minimum.”

He groaned. “Right? Like the barest. The very least.”

I chuckled and watched him as he studied the folded flower I’d given him, twirling it gently. “This just might be the perfect flower. I mean, the kum quick tree was great and all, but this beats it.”

I laughed and noticed then that the bar was getting louder and busier. “Should we go?” I checked my watch. “If we leave now, you’ll be home in time to watchHome and Garden.”

He gave me a smile, all warm and lovely, that seeped into my chest. “Yeah.”