Page 47 of Bloom

“Oh, so there have been guys sniffing around,” I said, kinda joking, kinda not. “Believe me, if you did to them what you did to me in bed, I’m not surprised they were trying to reel you in.”

He grinned, though he was a little embarrassed. “They could sniff around all they liked. I was never interested. I had my shop and accounts to manage, finances to go over. It never ends.”

“And now?”

Good one, Linden. Just ask him outright.

He smiled and watched our hands as he played with my fingers. “And now I’m ready,” he said quietly. Then his eyes met mine. “Because now there’s you.”

Oh boy.

My stomach swooped and my heart skipped several beats. “Because now there’s you,” I whispered back to him, the sweetest words anyone had ever said to me. “It is crazy, and it is fast. But it feels right, doesn’t it?”

He nodded, then leaned over and kissed me softly. “Glad we’re on the same page.”

His phone beeped with the food delivery, and we ate our food sitting on the floor with the coffee table between us. It was fun, and it gave me a little distance.

There was a voice in my head telling me to find some perspective. A reality check, even.

I took a mouthful of chicken and salad and pointed my fork at him. “I’m still trying to find some flaws. You can’t be this perfect.”

“I’m not perfect,” he said, shaking his head. “Please don’t think I am. You’ll only be disappointed.”

“You said you had many flaws. Name some.”

He shoved some fries in his mouth and spoke around them. “Want me to talk with my mouth full?”

I laughed. “No.”

He laughed as he chewed and swallowed. “Okay, so for the last few years, it’s just been me. I haven’t had to consider anyone else, so I’m assuming I’m selfish to some degree.”

“Ah, but the fact you’re aware of it and consider it to be a flaw puts you ahead of the game. Next.”

He grinned. “Sometimes I leave my plates in the sink overnight and don’t wash up until after breakfast.”

“Oh no,” I joked. “That’s a deal breaker right there.”

He rolled his eyes and stabbed a piece of chicken. “Okay, honestly, this one’s a big one, and I should be ashamed, but I’m glad this chicken died for us to eat it because it’s delicious.”

I barked out a laugh. “Oh my god, the cruelty.”

He smiled at me, then it faded slowly. “I don’t know what my flaws are. Maybe I’m not as self-aware as I should be.”

“Then what’s a deal breaker for you? What’s something that if I did it, you’d be gone?”

“Lying,” he replied. “If you lie to me, about anything. I’d rather hear a harsh truth than a cushioned lie.”

“Fair enough.”

“Cheating,” he added.

“Oh yes, agree one hundred percent. Arsehole ex Jason, remember?”

He made a face. “Oh, sorry. I didn’t mean to bring that up. It was kinda covered in the no-lying clause. Sorry.”

I waved him off. “Don’t worry about it. I’m well and truly over that jerk. He did me a favour, because if he hadn’t cheated on me, I wouldn’t have walked into your store looking for murder flowers.”

He smiled at me. “Maybe I should thank him.”