“When are you opening?” she asked, re-joining me at the table of candles I was scanning through and lifting to smell. “I want to put in a weekly order for Sass. I want the biggest and brightest bouquet you can create.”
My eyes bugged wide. I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing other than a shallow breath came out. Sasha was officially the first customer of Luscious Lavender, and she wanted to become a regular customer. Holy shit.
“Ah, it’s cool if that’s not okay.”
I blinked rapidly and shook my head. “Crap, sorry, I just wasn’t expecting that. You’re officially my first customer, and it’s a huge deal to me because Luscious Lavender has been my dream for as long as I can remember.”
She stared at me with softness in her eyes. “Well, I’m happy to take that title.”
“My goal is to open in four weeks. It just depends on how long it takes me to find someone to come in and do some work for me. I’ve got shelving, painting, and ordering to do before I can even lock in a date.”
Sasha busied herself with unpacking another box of candles, then lifted them to her nose and sighed at the strong aromas before handing them to me to do the same. “You should ask Ben to help. He’s good with his hands. I know from experience.”
As soon as the words fell from her lips, her eyes shot up to me, and her cheeks flamed. There was no chance in hell I could contain my laughter. Deep belly laughs which left me gasping for air and randomly squeaking spilled from within me. My eyes watered, my stomach ached, and I was getting slightly dizzy from not breathing. It was the best kind of laughter.
She shook her head. “Crap! No! No! I mean, he is good at getting the job done.”
Holy shit, I couldn’t breathe. Any mascara I still had on would have been moving down my cheeks because I was crying with laughter. I hadn’t laughed this hard in ages. Sasha stood shaking her head, her eyes wide, and her hand over her mouth, attempting to stop herself from saying anything else. Behind her hand, she was laughing along with me.
“You. Are. Hilarious.” I swiped under my eyes, erasing any smudged mascara, and sucked in a deep breath.
“Ben often tells me I have no filter.” She rolled her eyes dramatically. “Obviously he might be right, but don’t tell him I said that.”
I mimed zipping my lips closed.
She winked in response.
The bell above the door jingled, and cool air swam in from outside. A stunning redhead with a perfectly chopped bob hairstyle and wearing black skinny jeans, knee-high boots, and a pink button-down shirt with Missy’s written in cursive over the pocket strutted through the door and headed straight to us. She looked like a woman on a mission, and she didn’t stop until she was in front of us with her hands on her hips.
“You need to hurry up and marry Ben!” she declared exuberantly. “Like right now!”
“We aren’t engaged or even close to being engaged. What did he do to get this reaction out of you?”
I grabbed a blueberry scented candle and lifted it to my nose, staying quiet as Sasha and the redhead talked about Ben. I was intrigued and definitely nosy because I wanted to know about their relationship and more about the woman who’d locked down the man who once said he was going to be a bachelor for life.
“You should have seen him. This sweet elderly lady was short a couple of dollars, so Ben pushed a ten toward me, told me to cover her bill and to give her the change. Then, in typical Ben fashion, he marched out without another word. It gave me flashbacks of a time when he did the same thing for a certain blonde who should be married to him already.”
“That sounds very swoon-worthy and something Ben would do, but again, we aren’t engaged.”
“Uh, hello, why don’t you put a ring on it? Fuck waiting until the next leap year to propose. Jump on that. Lock him down.” The more she spoke, the more excited she got, and her voice continued to get louder. “Let’s go ring shopping.”
I flinched when proposing on a leap year was mentioned. I’d done that once, and it backfired massively. Even though it was years ago, it still felt so raw, and just thinking of that day opened wounds I never thought would heal. I blinked rapidly, trying desperately to refocus so I wouldn’t be thrust back to the day I experienced my first heartbreak at the hands of my first and only love; Austin Hart.
“Oh my god, keep your voice down! This is how rumors start.” Sasha laughed, placing a hand over her friend’s mouth before looking at me. “Don’t mind her. She gets a little carried away at times, a bit like Gigi. I just smile and nod. It works most of the time.”
The redhead rolled her eyes.
“So, you and Ben are serious? Like really serious?” I asked, putting down the candle and lifting another; this one scented with orange blossom.
“Who are you, and how do you know our Ben?” The redhead shrugged off Sasha’s hand and spun to face me. Her pulled brow did not give me the warm and fuzzies, and I immediately had flashbacks of my encounter with Gigi.
“Good God! Missy, this is my new friend Marnie. Marnie, this crazy redhead is my best friend, Missy. And what are you talking about? Our Ben?” Sasha’s deep laughter hit the air. “Since when has he been our Ben?”
Missy shrugged her shoulders, her hair swinging around the tops of her shoulders. “I’m your single best friend, so that makes him mine too. It’s chapter eight in the best friend handbook.”
Sasha bent and lifted a box from the floor and began unpacking even more candles. Seriously, how many candles did this store stock? “Maybe I should set you up with Austin. My best friend and Ben’s best friend together. It could be a match made in heaven!”
My stomach sank to the floor. First, the leap year, and now this. The thought of Austin getting set up with anyone was something I didn’t want to think about. I wasn’t stupid. There was no way a man with the looks, personality, and sex appeal of Austin Hart would remain single and celibate. I knew and had experienced his needs and desires in and out of the bedroom. You couldn’t lock up someone like him. And let’s be real, it’s not like I hadn’t attempted relationships over the years or had meaningless sex that left me feeling even more empty then I had been beforehand. God, why was I even thinking about sex?
“Austin and I are fine as friends. You keep searching for his dream girl and leave me out of it,” Missy stated matter-of-factly. “Now, Marnie, let’s get back to how you know Ben?”
“I’ve known him since I was a teenager. My family moved in across the street from his family, and we became friends right away, though he intimidated me at first. I’m sure you’ve both experienced what I like to refer to as the Ben Hunt scowl.”
Sasha nodded, understanding exactly what I meant about his infamous scowl whereas Missy’s pointed gaze scanned me from head to toe... twice.
“Just how well do you know him? Well or really well?”
“I know him really well.” I met Missy’s gaze and didn’t back down. “If you’re asking if I’ve seen him naked, then yes, I have, but it was by accident, and believe me, I do not want to experience that again. If I had a brother, I think it would be like seeing my brother naked, and I would definitely not be into that.”
Missy’s deep green eyes darted back and forth between Sasha and me before narrowing on mine. I’d been dealing with insinuations and rumors about Ben and me for years, so this wasn’t anything new. Even now, it made me laugh because the idea of Ben never once crossed my mind because I’d always been head over heels in love with his best friend, and no other guy existed besides Austin.
A beat of time passed as Missy scrutinized me, trying to determine whether I was telling the truth. Slowly, the tension eased off her face, and her shoulders dropped. She blinked away from me and looked at Sasha.
“So let me get this straight. Both of you have seen Ben naked?”
I chuckled. “Believe me, I wish it had been you and not me.”
“Are we seriously discussing my boyfriend naked?”
“Damn right we are because it would seem th
e universe is against me, and everyone other than me has seen him naked. I bet even Gigi’s has.”
Sasha stepped away from the candles and started fluffing up the pillows on a display couch Missy stood next to. “I think she would have told us, in great detail, if she had.”
“True. Very true.” Missy nodded, then plucked the deep mauve pillow out of Sasha’s hand and placed it under her arm as if to say I’m taking this home.
I laughed softly. Girlfriends were few and far between for me, and I felt a slight pang of jealousy as I watched them continue to tease one another. Over the past seven years, I traveled a lot. It meant I didn’t stay in one place long enough to put down roots or establish any friendships. Work was my life. And chasing my dreams was my priority.
But now, I was putting down roots in Monroe, and I was so close to achieving my biggest dream, and I had no plans on traveling, so maybe it was time to establish friendships...
“We have this thing we do... Wine Time Wednesday. It’s either at one of our houses, or we go to my brother’s bar and drink his wine while he complains even though, technically, it’s my wine too. You should come sometime. I’d like to get to know the girl who calls my guy Benji, and I want to hear stories of him and Austin when they were younger.”
And just like that, Sasha welcomed me into the fold.
And she became another connection I’d have to Austin.
The one person I wanted to avoid, but the one person getting closer without even being near me.
Four
Austin
Josh: You’re in a world of trouble
I looked down at my cell, and my brow pulled tight as I re-read the text. What the fuck was Josh talking about?
I’d just spent my week off on the East Coast visiting my sister, Ashlyn—otherwise known as Ducky—her man Josh, and my niece Aria, who had me wrapped so tightly around her stubby little fingers that it was ridiculous. I already missed her like crazy. The visit had been long overdue, and it was a relief to disconnect from work, get out of Monroe, and get my head back in the game. And what better way to do that then to have tea parties, play with Barbies, and wake up to a tiny hand smacking your cheek every morning and hearing, “Wake up, Uncy Austin.”
I’d been back in Monroe for a couple of hours and had just enough time to drop my shit off at my place, check the food situation in my fridge, and grab a quick shower before Ben and Sasha picked me up for an afternoon of football at Hamilton’s.
So, there had been no time to get into a world of trouble, as Josh suggested.
Austin: Explain what I could have possibly done since I left your house and flew back to Monroe to get me into a world of trouble.
Ducky: Did you forget to mention something when you were visiting these past few days?
Fuck me, now I had both of them texting me. I could practically hear Ashlyn spitting her sass through her text.
Austin: I have no idea what you are talking about. I’m at Hamilton’s with Ben and Sasha. I’ll call soon.
Shoving my cell into my pocket, I parked my ass on a barstool. In front of me, Drew unscrewed a bottle of wine and filled three glasses. Quickly, he delivered the wines to three ladies at the other end of the bar, and I smirked as the women fawned over him and then zoned in on his ass as he made his way back to me.
“Sorry. Gotta keep the customers happy. How was your trip? You have a niece, right? I think that’s what Sasha and Missy said when they brought Wednesday wine or whatever the fuck they call it here.”
I laughed. “It was good to get away and see the family, and yes, my niece.”
“Yeah, it’s good to get away sometimes.”
If anyone needed to get away, it was him. After the shit went down here, Sasha had Ben to lean on, but Drew was stubborn as fuck and never asked for help or leaned on anyone. As far as I could tell, he practically lived at the bar and worked constantly. “You thinking of taking some time away?”
“Maybe one day. Got a lot of shit to do around here first.” He pulled his phone out of his back pocket when the ringtone blared and looked at the screen. “Sorry, gotta take this.”
Nodding, I watched him disappear into his office and took that as a sign to head to the table where I’d left Ben and Sasha. I dodged through the crowd, stopping to talk to locals who greeted me by name. Being a member of the local PD meant my face and name was known around town.
“Austin, can I have a word?”
Mayor Harris, Monroe’s long-term mayor, sat with his wife and daughter toward the back of Hamilton’s. I shifted my smile between them and lingered longer on his daughter. She’d been caught up in the drama that hit the Hamiltons a few months back. She’d been propositioned and offered money for sex. She refused, then was offered more money and drugs, and when she refused that, it turned physical.
I gave her my full attention, and when she met my eyes, I asked. “You doing okay, Kat?”
“Yeah, Austin.” She smiled. “I’m good.”
“Happy to hear that. If that changes and you need to talk, you know where to find me, Ben, and Sasha. Even Missy and Drew.”
“Will do. Thanks.”
I turned to Mayor Harris, and he was watching me closely.
“Going to cut straight to it. Your mother is running against me in the upcoming elections. You and I have a good relationship. You’ve been good to my family, as you were just then. Is your mother running going to cause any issues between us?”
My response was immediate, and I did not need to consider his question or my response. “It will not be an issue at all.”
“She’s your mother.”
“It will not be an issue.”
He nodded and held out his hand. I shook it firmly, and a silent understanding bonded us. Another roar of celebration and shouts of touchdown hit the air, and I took that as my cue to head back to my table. As I was getting ready to say goodbye, my phone buzzed in my pocket, and Ashlyn’s face filled the screen when I pulled it out of my pocket.
“It’s my sister, so I need to take this.” I pressed answer and held it to my chest, then focused on the mayor. “Just so we’re clear. You have my vote, and I will support and back you however I can.”
I stepped away and lifted my phone to my ear and headed across the room.
“Hey Ducky, sorry about that. What’s going on?”
“Austin Nathaniel Hart, did you have a massive brain fart when you were here? Or maybe you had a case of amnesia? Or a weird experience with jet lag. Which one is it?”
I pulled out my chair when I reached the table and collapsed onto it.
“What the hell are you going on about?”
Ben became alert across from me, and as soon as I turned my screen quickly to him, and he saw Ashlyn’s face, his alertness eased.
“Did you forget to mention something to me?”
“Just tell me what you’re talking about.”
“Marnie’s back. Why didn’t you tell me?”
I closed my eyes with a sigh. Marnie hadn’t left my thoughts since I found out she’d moved back. Seeing my family wasn’t the only good thing about being across the country and away from Monroe. It had also stopped me from driving straight to her and coming on way too fucking strong. My feelings for her had never dimmed. My needs when it came to her had never lessened. Fuck, I was still in love with her. But I’d broken her heart. I’d said no to her and fucked up everything we had. Social media had kept me up to date over the years, and her mother and sister weren’t afraid to mention her every chance they got. But they weren’t the one I’d hurt or the one who appeared in my dreams.
“I only found out the day before I came to see you. I haven’t seen her or spoken to her. I have nothing to tell.”
“Are you going to see her?”
There was no way she would let up on this. When Marnie and I broke up, Ashlyn didn’t talk to me for weeks, and when she decided I was worthy of her time again, she made sure I knew how much I’d fucked up and then called me every name you
could imagine. To say she was a big fan of Marnie was an understatement.
“I don’t know.”
“Okay, Austin, I’ll let you go. I can hear you’re out.”
“Do not call or text her, Ashlyn.”
“Okay, whatever you say.”
“Do not write to her or email her.”
“Yep, got it.”
“Ashlyn.”
“Austin.”
“Fuck, you’re a pain in the ass.”
“You love me. Talk to you soon, big brother.”
She hung up on me. I locked my phone and slid it back in my pocket, knowing full well that Ashlyn was going to interfere. I grabbed my beer and drained the last of my glass. Ben sat across from me, on his own call, so I focused on the game and tried to get my head in check.
I tried to concentrate on the game, but my thoughts drifted to Marnie. My thoughts had been occupied by her since she left five years ago, but since I heard she was back in town, I’d been drowning in memories of her and what we once were. I hadn’t moved on. I hadn’t found someone who came even close to her. I’d had meaningless hookups who’d warm my bed for a few hours, maybe the same woman for a couple of months, but never anything I’d call a relationship. There would never be another woman who got as deep inside me as Marnie Lavender.
I swirled my beer around in the glass and continued to stare at the television. An excited buzz stirred around me as Monroe locals continued to holler and cheer while the staff busied themselves with bringing out orders of chicken wings and nachos and clearing empty glasses. Even though I was watching the game, I hadn’t taken in a single play, and I sure as hell had no clue who was winning. I was oblivious to everything happening around me because only one thing was on my mind.
My Only Reason (Men of Monroe Book 2) Page 4