by Sarah Morgan
And there was no way he was risking that.
“I don’t have anything I need to share.”
Chapter Sixteen
All you need is love. And chocolate.
—Eva
On Monday Frankie was back in the Urban Genie offices. When they’d started the business and realized that it was impossible working at home on the kitchen table, Jake had given them a corner of the impressive glass building that housed his company. So far no one saw any reason to change that.
“So tell us everything.” Eva planted herself in front of Frankie’s desk.
“Everything?” Frankie slid her phone into the drawer to hide the text she’d just had from Matt. “I’m not the sort of person who tells people everything.”
But she’d told Matt everything, hadn’t she? And she felt lighter for it, as if someone had lifted a heavy weight from her chest.
“I’m not people.” Eva sounded affronted. “I’m your BFF. I’ve been there for you through thick and thin.”
“She’s going to burst if you don’t tell her at least something.” Paige didn’t look up from her laptop, her fingers flying over the keys as she typed an email. “Give her a few morsels to tide her over, then we can all get on with this mountain of work.”
“You make me sound like a puppy who needs a treat.” Eva settled herself on the edge of Frankie’s desk, sending papers flying. It was obvious she had no intention of moving until she’d had the conversation she wanted.
“You’re more destructive than a puppy.” Frankie leaned over to retrieve the papers.
“I need some romance in my life. I deserve romance. And if I can’t experience it firsthand then I’m going to enjoy yours. Please?”
Frankie put the papers on the far end of her desk, away from Eva. “What makes you think there was romance?”
“You sent me a text.”
“Careful!” Without looking up, Paige lifted a hand. “This is my brother we’re talking about. I don’t want details.”
“I definitely want details.” Eva rescued a magazine that was about to slide onto the floor. “Where did you stay?”
“Seagull’s Nest.”
“I know it! It’s on the water, up by Camp Puffin. Idyllic spot.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I’m addicted to looking at pictures of places I could never afford to stay. I saw a picture on Instagram. Someone went there on their honeymoon. Designer rustic. It looked romantic.” Eva wiggled her eyebrows and Frankie sighed.
“Is that why you asked me to be here on time today? It’s an inquisition?” But she was pleased to see Eva looking happier. She’d lost that pinched, tired look that came from too much crying and not enough sleep. “You told me you had something urgent to discuss.”
“We do.” Paige finished typing an email and looked up from her laptop. She looked tired and distracted. “New business. A rehearsal dinner.”
“Another wedding?”
“Not the wedding. Just the dinner, and I know you’ve probably had enough of weddings to last you the whole year, but this time we need you to do the flowers.”
“Who is the client? Buds and Blooms could—”
“No. We need the best, and you’re the best. The client is Mariella Thorpe.”
Eva slid off her desk with a gasp. “Seriously?”
“The editor of Empowered?” Frankie felt a flash of surprise, followed by a glow of satisfaction. They’d built their little business from nothing, and they’d turned into something good. People were coming to them. Important people with big budgets. “She’s one of Star Events’ biggest clients.”
“She was one of their biggest clients. Not anymore. She’s looking for events management and concierge services and she approached us.”
“This could be huge.” Eva did a pirouette and one of Jake’s designers who happened to be passing in the corridor outside almost crashed into the glass window that separated their office from the rest. “As long as we don’t mess it up.”
“It’s going to be huge,” Paige said firmly. “And no one is going to mess anything up. Given that Empowered is one of the fastest growing women’s magazines in the country, we need to impress her. She’s thinking of doing a feature on us when she’s back from her honeymoon. In the meantime, I need Frankie doing the flowers for that rehearsal dinner. The team at Buds and Blooms is great, but they don’t have your unique ‘Frankie’ signature touch.”
“Flowers by Frankie,” Eva said, and Paige stared at her.
“I love that.” She scribbled a note to herself. “I’m going to find a way to use that. In the meantime, we need to give Mariella something no one else could give her. Can you handle it? I know Matt is keeping you busy.”
“And we want to know exactly how busy.” Eva sat back down on Frankie’s desk and Frankie gave her a push.
“Sit on your own desk. You’re messing up my files.”
“I don’t understand how you work with so much paper everywhere.”
“I like to see things spread out in front of me. And I don’t understand how you’re so dreamy. We’re all different.”
Ignoring them both, Paige stood up and walked to the coffee machine. “We don’t have long to pull this together. The rehearsal dinner is the last week of September. We’re meeting with her at the end of this week. Can you be there or are you committed to Matt?”
Frankie felt her heart bump and then she realized Paige was asking about her workload, not her relationship. “I can be there. I’ll talk to Matt and work around it.”
“And now we’ve sorted out the work, tell us about the weekend.” Eva refused to move from the desk. “At least tell us about the wedding. Was it very stressful for you?” The kindness in her tone melted Frankie’s resolve not to tell them much.
There was no one in the world with a bigger heart than Eva.
“I thought it was going to be stressful.” Frankie thought about gathering the flowers from Brittany’s garden and creating bouquets on the kitchen table. “But in the end it was fun.”
“Fun? Did you just say a wedding was fun?”
“People were welcoming and I didn’t expect that. They treated me like an individual, not like an extension of my mother. And the wedding itself was beautiful. I liked the informality. There were dogs running around, and kids playing—” And two people in love. “It was about the people not the event. They managed to keep it personal and intimate and about them.”
“And what about the rest of it?” Eva’s expression was wistful. “You and Matt. Why didn’t I see it ages ago? I guess because it was under my nose and you don’t always see what’s right there.”
“See what?”
“The two of you. How perfect you are for each other. I mean, you need someone you can totally trust, and Matt is the ultimate strong, honorable protector—”
“That side of him drives me insane,” Paige murmured, and Eva frowned at her.
“That’s because he’s your brother. You love that Jake is protective.”
Paige thought about it and shook her head. “No, that pretty much drives me insane, too. I am not good about being swaddled in bubble wrap. It makes me want to scream. I want to be left to make my own choices, thank you.”
“It isn’t about having someone make your choices,” Eva said quietly. “It’s about having someone who cares what happens to you. You have no idea how wonderful it is to have someone who gives a damn.”
“Yes, I do. And I’m sorry if I sounded as if I took it for granted.” Paige closed her laptop. “You’re right, I do love the fact that Jake cares about me. And I love the fact that Matt cares, too. But Eva, they care about you, too. We all give a damn. More than a damn.”
“I know.” Eva’s smile was bright. “And then there’s the fact that Matt is seriously hot—”
Paige returned her attention to her laptop. “No physical details, please.”
Eva slid off the desk. “Romantic details would be nice. I’ve waited so long
for this to happen.” She leaned forward and hugged Frankie tightly. “I knew that one day you’d fall in love. I knew it.”
In love?
Frankie stared at her friend.
“I’m not in love. That’s insane.” Panic uncurled inside her. “I don’t even know how that feels.”
Eva sighed. “It feels as if the whole of your life has been sprinkled with fairy dust.”
Paige looked up and shook her head. “Get your butt back to work, Cinderella.”
Frankie didn’t smile.
Love?
“I have no idea what you’re talking about. My apartment is covered in dust, but I don’t think fairies put it there.”
“I’m saying that when you’re in love it adds a magical something to your life.”
“How would you even know?” Frankie felt a rush of exasperation. “You’ve never been in love.”
“That’s how I know.” Eva said sadly. “I haven’t felt that way yet. I keep waiting and hoping. I dropped a parcel in the street yesterday to see if a handsome stranger would pick it up but everyone carried on walking. If it had been me lying in the dirt, they would have stepped over me. It’s a sad world.”
“It’s a world that is pretty free of fairy dust, that’s true,” Paige said. “Unfortunately, there’s plenty of the ordinary crappy type of dust that none of us ever have time to clean up since we started our own business. And talking of business, can we get back to work and focus on how we’re going to impress Mariella?”
“You’re on fire.” Jake watched as Matt won another game of pool a few days later. “We could be in trouble, Chase.”
“I was in trouble the moment I walked through that door.” Chase snapped the top off another beer. “I pay more to you guys than I do in tax.”
“I don’t do it for the money.” Matt potted another ball. “I do it to stop Jake’s ego from inflating to unreasonable proportions.”
Normally spending time with his friends soothed the tensions of the week, but tonight it wasn’t working.
Nothing was working. Not even Jake’s friendly teasing.
“Does my ego threaten your manhood?”
“My manhood is doing fine, thank you.” Matt lined up the next shot and his friend gave him a speculative look.
“How was your weekend with Frankie?”
Matt lost concentration and the ball flew through the air.
Jake caught it one-handed. “You might want to put a little less spin on that,” he said mildly. “I do believe that’s a foul.”
Matt straightened. “Are we seriously talking about fouls?”
Chase sighed. “If you want to live, Jake, I’d suggest you concentrate on the game rather than starting this conversation.”
“I like to live dangerously.” Grinning, Jake picked up his cue. “I take it the weekend was good. So was it all garden design and soil samples, or did you sample anything else?”
“I’m not answering that. Maybe you should listen to Chase. He gives good advice.”
“You just answered my question.” Jake bent over the cue and focused.
Matt frowned. “No, I didn’t.”
“You are Mr. Good Guy.” Jake paused and took the shot. “If there was something going on, you’d protect Frankie no matter what.”
“Maybe there’s nothing going on.”
“Maybe, but then I’d have to find another reason for the smile on your face and your lapsed concentration, and right now I can’t think of one.”
“I had a great weekend visiting friends and family.”
Jake straightened. “I’ve known you for over a decade. I know the look you get when you spend a great weekend with family. That’s not it.”
Chase shook his head. “Can we lose the tension? I didn’t come here for tension. That’s what work is for.”
“This isn’t tension, this is friendship.” Jake stopped talking just long enough to win the game. “And I don’t have tension in my work. Neither should you, given that you own your company.”
“Try running a business started by your father. You don’t have internal politics?”
“Only my own. You need to streamline your organization, Chase.”
“Delegating works for me.”
“So is it serious?” Jake looked at Matt, and this time his humorous tone had vanished.
Was it serious? On his side, yes. On Frankie’s?
Maybe. Possibly. He hoped so.
Matt felt his heart lurch.
But he didn’t know. She’d stayed at his place every night since they’d returned home, going back to hers only to pick up fresh clothes. But when he’d suggested she could pack a suitcase and move a few things upstairs, she’d resisted.
Apparently, she could spend the night, but her clothes couldn’t. That added a significance, and a permanence, she clearly wasn’t ready to think about.
He hadn’t argued with her. He told himself that it was important to give her the time and space to adjust to the new level of intimacy between them. He told himself that if he was patient she’d realize that she didn’t need somewhere to escape to, because she wasn’t trapped.
He told himself all that, but there was still the one important fact he was never able to entirely forget.
Frankie had never had a romantic relationship she hadn’t walked away from.
He was risking everything in the hope that her feelings for him would be stronger than her fears.
For him the risk was worth it, no question. But did Frankie feel the same way?
That was a big question.
Ignoring the ripple of unease, he glanced at Chase. “You’re up. Do me a favor and win.”
Chapter Seventeen
Before you hand over your heart, get a receipt.
—Frankie
The oppressive heat of August slid into the mellower heat of September. The tourist congestion eased, and locals gradually reclaimed their city.
New York Fashion Week came and went, and in between work demands Frankie and Matt explored the city that was their home.
They ate hot dogs while watching a baseball game, and sprawled on the grass in Bryant Park listening to classical music concerts. They strolled along The High Line, the elevated park built on a disused railway line, and discussed the planting and how they could apply some of the ideas to their own work. Occasionally Roxy and Mia joined them, and during those walks Frankie discovered just how smart Roxy was. She wanted to know every plant name, and not just the common name but the Latin name, too. And she never had to be told twice. She pushed Mia in the stroller, muttering about Acer triflorum and Lespedeza thunbergii under her breath.
They joined their friends for pizza at Romano’s, and had movie nights up on Matt’s roof, but the moments Frankie enjoyed most were the ones when they were alone. Their favorite place was Central Park and they explored hidden corners together, and soaked up the last of the summer sun on Summit Rock, the highest point in the park.
Work on the roof terrace was coming to an end and Matt had pulled his whole team onto the job to make sure it was finished before the summer weather flew south with the birds.
It was hot, sweaty work but Frankie had discovered there was nothing she liked more than getting hot and sweaty with Matt. Whether they were naked between the sheets or clothed on the roof terrace, being near him was exciting. She found herself stealing glances when she was sure no one was looking and he did, too.
Unlike her, he was never embarrassed at being caught.
Instead, he gave her a sexy smile loaded with a promise of what they’d be doing later.
Although her responsibility was the planting, she quickly understood that in a small team like Matt’s, everyone had to be prepared to roll up their sleeves and she did so willingly. Everyone did the same, until the morning Roxy didn’t show up.
They were all at the workshop, preparing to move the three log benches to the site, along with some of the custom-made planters, and they needed every pair of hands.
&nbs
p; Frankie was feeling unsettled, thinking back to a conversation she’d had with Matt that morning. It was a conversation they’d had a few times. He’d suggested she move some of her things up to his apartment and she’d refused. He hadn’t pushed her, but she knew that by refusing she’d hurt him, as if by holding back on moving her things she was holding back part of herself.
Why did it matter that she still kept her clothes downstairs?
Why did he need her to move everything she owned as well as herself?
Guilt mingled with exasperation, along with the uncomfortable suspicion that she was a coward.
She hated that feeling, but most of all she hated hurting Matt.
She lifted the pots into place, ready for them to be transported across to the job. Then she went to help James, who was struggling without Roxy.
“Did you call her cell?” Matt questioned James, who was hauling a bench into place.
“Four times. No answer.”
“It’s not like her. If we haven’t heard from her by lunchtime, I’m going over there.”
Frankie wiped her palm over her forehead and felt bad for Roxy. “You’re going to give her a warning?”
“Warning?” Matt looked at her blankly. “I’m going to check she’s okay. She’s a single mother with a kid and no support. She’s juggling a lot.”
Frankie pushed her hair away from her face, feeling foolish. She knew Matt better than that. “I guess I’m still oversensitive about the whole job thing, having been laid off earlier this year.”
“And it turns out you’re a million times better off than you would have been if you’d stayed. Jake was telling me that Star Events is in trouble.”
“They’re losing big clients—” Frankie broke off as she saw Roxy appear in the door of the workshop. Her rush of relief lasted as long as it took for her to see that Roxy was carrying a wriggling toddler on one hip and a huge bag over her shoulder.
Matt put down his power tools and strode toward her. He caught the bag before it slid to the floor.