“Let’s see.” I tapped my chin as if thinking very deeply. “I probably don’t have a place to put it, so maybe one of those lilies.” I pointed to a small bucket in the refrigerated case with the tiniest lilies I’d ever seen. They were adorable. “I could find something to put it in, I’m sure.”
“Lilies aren’t your favorite,” he tsked and he was right. Gladiolas were. They reminded me of my grandmother’s garden when we would visit back when I was still in the single digits.
“No.” I stepped in closer, wishing we were anywhere but a shop open to the public. There was something about this man that had me all twitterpated. “But I like them.” Not the lilies they used at funerals, per se. Those always made me sad, but the shop had so many beautiful varieties like the tiny purple one that caught my eye.
“Let me ask you some questions, and if I guess correctly, you will have dinner with me tomorrow night.”
My heart sank. Fucking wedding.
“I’ll play.” There was no way I was passing up a chance to play anything with Kayson. “But I’d have to pass on the meal. I have the rehearsal dinner.”
“And, of course, you have a date.” His eyes lost a bit of their sparkle, suggesting he didn’t like the idea of me having a date.
“Did.”
“You did have a date? Your boyfriend sick? Is that why you were so upset?”
“I got dumped because of the wedding,” I confessed. That wasn’t the entirety of it, but the wedding was the catalyst for our final goodbye. “And, no, I was upset over some issues with my landlord.”
“Sorry.” He bounced on the balls of his feet slightly, and I wasn’t quite sure what to make of it.
“About Topher? Don’t be. I’m not.” It was remarkably true. I was pissed about the money I’d lost on the nonrefundable fair and about past Reid’s decision-making skills, but not at all about being rid of Topher. I stayed in that relationship too long, just to not be alone, and that wasn’t something I planned to do again.
“I was thinking more about the landlord shit. I’m not sorry in the slightest that you are single.” He snapped his jaw shut.
“The development is recent and, technically, I did RSVP plus one.”
A smile spread across his face. First dates should never be weddings—ever, but my time was limited, so I figured I might as well go all in.
“I know weddings aren’t ideal, and rehearsal dinners are never any fun, but—”
“I would love to be your plus one, but—”
“No, it’s fine,” I rushed to say, not wanting him to feel bad. Of course, he didn’t want to go with a stranger. “I get it. Weddings are for couples headed to the chapel themselves and imply too much.”
“Bullshit.” He took my hand and intertwined our fingers. “Weddings are a freaking party. If people only brought those they planned to spend eternity with, can you imagine how small those suckers would be.”
“Fair point,” was all I could manage to say. All my senses were focused on his hand, connected to mine, feeling like it belonged there.
“I was going to say”—he tapped my chin gently until my eyes left our hands and looked at him instead, that sparkle back on his face—“we are doing the flowers, so I need to be there early and might need to do some work during it, depending on how bridezilla she gets.”
“The way Knox always talked about her, she was perfection walking among us.” Of course, she was the one that got away at the time, and that changes perspective.
“Love.” He chuckled, his rich laugh sending shivers down my spine. “Anywho, the answer is yes, if being seen with the help isn’t an issue for you.”
“The help?” I raised my eyebrow in question.
“I had to go with funny. I was dangerously close to kissing you, and we had yet to even agree to a date.”
“The joke was lame. You should’ve gone with the kiss.” And before he could respond to my brazen declaration, I brought my lips to his. “Your scent is driving me to distraction,” I spoke only a centimeter from his lips.
I don’t know who took over from there. Maybe it was both of us, but next we were all lips, tongues, teeth. I explored every inch of his mouth, and he mine. It was hard, passionate, and over far too quickly as the door swung open, the bell indicating someone’s arrival snapping us apart and ending things far too soon.
“Mrs. Harrison, your usual?” he asked, his face flushed and his breaths were shallow, as he acted as if he hadn’t just been caught with his tongue down another man’s throat when the little old lady standing before us walked in.
“That would be lovely, dear.” She didn’t miss a beat as if coming in and seeing her florist in the throes of passion was an everyday occurrence. “Maybe add a tiny bit more red for Valentine’s Day?”
“I can do that.” He went into the coolers, and I stepped out of the way, wishing I could melt into the walls.
“You look a little bit like my Harry back when we were young.” She stepped closer, eyeing me with far more scrutiny than I was comfortable with before turning to Reid. “I think he’s a keeper.”
“I’ll keep that in mind, Mrs. Harrison.” He held up what I recognized to be an arrangement for a cemetery plot, and my heart sank. “How does this look?”
“Oh, Harry is going to love it. Roses always were one of his favorites.”
She beamed, and I teared up. Her Harry, as she called him, was gone.
“Thank you so much. How much more for the roses?” She pulled out her wallet.
“They were for the wedding, and I way over ordered.” He pointed to the area behind him, and true enough there were a butt ton of roses. “So, the same as always.”
She pulled out a five-dollar bill, handing it to him as she hugged the arrangement close to her. “Thanks so much. Tell that aunt of yours I said hello.”
“Will do, Mrs. Harrison.” He smiled as he walked to the door, opening it up for her all gentleman-like, and she walked out.
“Five dollars?” I asked as the door shut behind her. I knew not a ton about the floral industry, but enough to understand that five dollars was not even close to the right price for what she walked out with.
“My aunt tried to not take her money. It didn’t work.” He locked the door, turning over the open sign and switching the front lights off. “Her husband used to bring her flowers every week. Now she does the same for him. It is insanely romantic.”
He took my hand again, led me to the back part of the shop, pointed to a stool. “Have a seat. I don’t have much to do before I can leave for the day. Unless you have plans.”
“My plans have recently been changed from hanging out in a hotel room watching bad television, to kissing you.” I winked.
“What a coincidence. Your new plans fit in perfectly with mine, which were to spend the night kissing you.”
Chapter Six
Kayson
I wasn’t usually one to move to the bedroom right after meeting someone, but there was something about Reid I simply could not resist. His eyes called to me. His scent blanketed my conscience with a homelike warmth. I could’ve stayed wrapped in him for a long time.
“How fast can you get out of here?” Reid asked, his voice laced with want.
“I can get things put away in about ten. Closing an hour early is no big deal, things are ready for tomorrow, and all of today’s deliveries are out.” I began doing the absolute minimum required. My aunt would understand. She was all about me finding someone to spend time with, even if his time in Mapleville was limited.
He got up, gifting me a long look at him, closer this time. Whoever Topher was, his middle name had to be idiot to give up this one.
“Are these for the wedding?” His nose was scrunched as his long fingers tapped one of the sprigs of baby’s breath.
“They are. She’s changed the order, oh, I don’t know, forty times. She started out with a cream-colored theme. Then it became coral and pink, which was atrocious. Before the end of the first planning meeting,
she had gone the full spectrum, finally deciding on everything white with coral hints here and there. That was before her mother stepped in. I’m surprised she hasn’t called today, though it’s too late. I told her that the last change was final.”
He listened intently, keeping eye contact with me the whole time I spoke. It was hard to find someone who didn’t constantly glance down at their phone or lose interest after a few seconds.
Reid was apparently enthralled, and I was equally taken.
“And Knox said I was picky.” Reid mumbled the sentiment under his breath, but I heard it all the same. So that was the deal. Knox must have been his at one time—or Celeste. I had to know which one.
“You know Celeste?” My fishing-for-information skills had depleted. I used to be good at getting information from guys in a suave manner. With Reid, all those skills had flown out the window.
“I know of her. Knox is my connection to the wedding party, since that’s what you’re getting at.”
Slick omega.
“Guilty. He was your alpha?”
Reid’s shoulders stiffened at my question as his hand fell from the flowers. “He was at one time…”
The more Reid talked, the more I was confused.
“Before Topher?” I remembered the name. Sounded like a stuck-up country club golfer to me.
He turned around, and the biggest smile had taken over his face. “Topher was intended to be a rebound.”
My heart plummeted to my stomach. Maybe that’s what Reid intended me to be, a rebound.
“I don’t make good rebound material. I play for keeps.” I had to get my intentions out there. Reid needed to know I wasn’t a love-me-and-leave-me type of alpha.
“No, I can sense that about you.”
“Yet, you’re still here.”
He nodded. “I am.”
“The hotel in town is ten minutes away, tops. It’s the only hotel in Mapleville. Don’t think I’m your stalker or something.”
“Didn’t even think it. I’m ready when you are.”
I locked up the till and grabbed the keys from my workstation. Reid was still standing there, watching my every move. I loved that he was watching me. His eyes on my body made me feel taller.
“You sure you want this?” I asked, making sure my breath fanned over his lean neck and taking his hand. His fingers laced in mine. I took the opportunity and pulled on our union, making him step closer to me. “Knowing who I am, all you have to do is say no.”
“Yes,” he whispered, his brown eyes fixed on my mouth.
“Let’s go.”
With our hands still joined, I led him out of the store, stopping only to lock the door and shoot him a smile. His cheeks reddened more and more by the second.
When we finally reached the hotel lobby entrance, I’d opened the door for him to go through, when my phone rang.
Both our faces fell. We’d walked all the way there on a cloud and were now plunged back to Earth with one ring.
“It may be nothing.” I pressed the green button on the phone and stepped inside the lobby, watching him take a seat on a stiff-looking sofa. “Hello?”
It was Celeste. She was at the flower shop and ten seconds away from breaking and entering if I didn’t get over there and let her see what I had done, in case there were changes.
She was a spoiled-rotten brat. “This is the last change” apparently hadn’t resonated with her at all.
“I’m sorry.” Those were the only two words I could say after hanging up the phone. I kneeled in front of Reid and placed my hands on his hips, drawing him closer. “I wanted this so badly.”
“I can tell you did. Bridezilla?”
“Yes. If I don’t get over there, I’m afraid she’ll break the glass and tear the place apart looking for her stuff.”
His hands covered mine as he leaned forward. “How about later? She can’t bother you after hours, can she?”
A smile took shape. “No, she can’t. Let me come pick you up here. What’s your room number? I’ll take you out to dinner. Do this the right way.”
A new blush blossomed on his cheeks, making my thighs pull taut and my stomach flutter.
“That would be great. It’s 206. My room number is 206.”
“How’s seven? I need to go home and change.”
“Seven sounds perfect.”
It took all I had in me not to scoop him up and find 206, 106, or whatever the nearest room with a door was so I could show him how much I wanted this now.
“I’ll see you tonight, Reid.”
I grabbed the phone from his pocket I’d seen him put it in earlier and plugged in my number before dashing out to tend to the bride.
Chapter Seven
Reid
When he fell to his knees right there at the hotel entrance, I nearly came on the spot. There was something about Kayson that had all my engines running. Plus, he was nice and funny and compassionate. The way he practically gave that old woman flowers to honor her dead husband on a regular basis flooded my heart with feels.
But feels were bad. I was in a town I didn’t live in, far away from where I did live. Or at least for the next few weeks. I still needed to deal with that. If I couldn’t fix that mess, I wasn’t sure what I’d do.
Technically, I could work anywhere with decent Internet, but I’d settled into the city after college and stayed out of habit. Habit and my unhealthy relationship with Topher.
I made my way to my room and was pleasantly surprised to find sheets on my bed.
I flopped on it and took out my phone. My email had a bunch of junk as well as the promised copy of the lease. The damn thing was ten pages long and not even in English.
I clicked forward and did what I knew to be a mistake—I sent it to Topher asking him if there were any loopholes to help me re-sign or at the very least stay the last few days of the month without losing my deposit. Before I could change my mind, I hit send. I didn’t want to think about it anymore. All I wanted to do was get ready for my date.
It had been so long since I’d been on one. A first date anyway. Before I could peel myself from the bed, the phone buzzed. It was Topher, texting instead of replying to my email.
I see you came to your senses. Yes, I will look at it, but there is probably not much that can be done in time. You shouldn’t have put all your eggs into my basket.
Asshole.
I shut the phone down and grabbed my suitcase. Much to my dismay, I hadn’t brought many nice clothes except those for the wedding. Jeans and a sweater were as good as it was going to get. Given where we were, it was probably fancy enough. Small towns rarely had snooty restaurants that had required jackets and ties, and Kayson didn’t seem the type.
He was the type who wanted more than a one-night stand, though, and I wasn’t sure why he was messing around with me, then. It wasn’t like I lived close by. Was he looking for long distance? Was I okay with that? Screw it. I shoved that entire train of thought down. I didn’t need to deal with any of that now. He knew I was a visitor—done.
I stripped, folded my clothes, and put them on the dresser. They smelled like travel and spilled coffee. If luck was on my side, the hotel had a washer for guests.
The shower was nice and steamy, which was surprising and just what I needed. I let the water cascade down my body as I shampooed. I normally showered with a very limited supply of hot water, so I decided to enjoy every moment of the luxury-hotel-sized hot water supplies afforded—at least during late afternoon when no one else was demanding any.
I cleaned up but basked in the moment, thinking back to the entire day, from the insanely early flight, to the long drive to the lease-fail, to Kayson. Kayson. The way he looked at me like I was worth his attention. It had been so long since anyone looked at me that way. It wasn’t even just lust, but there was that aplenty. No, he looked at me as if the words I spoke were important.
And the way his whole face lit up when he smiled.
And the way his muscular chest was
hinted at through his shirt when he moved just right. He wasn’t wearing skin-tight clothes to accentuate it like gym rats often did, but that didn’t prevent me from catching glimpses which was, to be honest, far sexier than in-your-face flaunting.
And the way he didn’t give two hoots that Mrs. Harrison walked in on us as we played tonsil hockey, or even that anyone in town could’ve seen him drop to his knees in front of me.
Oh, the things that image of him there, in front of me, all needy, did to me. I’d been a walking hard-on since I first saw him, but thinking about him there, on his knees, his fingers digging into my hips, had it becoming almost painful.
My hand slipped down my chest and gripped my cock, giving it a squeeze, hoping it would alleviate things even the tiniest of bits. It didn’t.
A quick pump of body wash later, and my hand was once again wrapped around myself only, this time, I planned to tame the damn thing. Not that I had any glimmer of hope that the blasted thing wouldn’t react again the second his scent enveloped me.
I leaned back in the shower, closing my eyes as I jerked myself. I thought about what would come next if he were on his knees like that with me someplace more private. Would he tease me slowly—rubbing me through my jeans with his hand or possibly his mouth, or would he open my jeans and have my pants around my ankles and my cock between his sexy lips before I even realized what was happening? And would it all be foreplay as he waited for me to beg for his knot, or would he let me come down his throat without even paying attention to my dripping hole?
I jerked myself faster and faster, harder and harder, as I thought of all the possibilities based on that one tiny moment we shared, and I found myself coming before I finished wandering through the amazing fantasy laid out before me.
I couldn’t wait for our date.
I rewashed myself, and also washed the evidence of my naughty little wandering mind down the drain before toweling off and getting ready for our date.
Roses for His Omega: A Mapleville Valentine's Day Novella: M/M Non Shifter Alpha/Omega Mpreg (Mapleville Omegas Book 2) Page 3