Page 75 of Refuge for Flora

“Conor’s probably going to be here any minute. We can’t find ourselves in a compromising situation when he knocks on the door.”

“Ugh. Okay. You’re right.” Flora rose up on her tiptoes and gave him a peck on the lips. “I’m going in the kitchen to make some brownies so you guys will have something to snack on.”

“You are too good for me, FloraStevens. You do realize that you’re about to snare my undying devotion, right?” he asked, chuckling as he followed her up the hallway.

“You’ve already snared mine.” The words hadn’t even left the air when he leaned out and popped her on the butt. “Owww! Boy, aren’t you a frisky one this afternoon!”

“If Conor wasn’t on his way, I’d take you right down that hallway and we’d… He’s here. Guess that’ll have to wait.” He winked at her as he headed to the front door.

Flora let out a laugh. “Promises, promises!”

She could hear the two men talking and laughing as she put the towels in the hall linen closet. As soon as she stepped into the room, they both turned to smile at her. “Babe, this is ConorPaxton. Conor, this is my girlfriend, Flora.” Hearing him say girlfriend gave her a tingling sensation in her chest.

“It’s so nice to meet you. Barrett has said really great things about you,” Flora said as Conor took her hand.

“Oh, lying again, huh?” Conor snapped at Barrett and then laughed.

Barrett was laughing too. “Yeah. I told her you were smart. That was a mistake.”

Flora play-frowned. “Oh, play nice! So what are you guys doing for dinner?”

“I thought I’d take Conor into town to somewhere near the mall. Want to come?”

“I can’t. I need to get back to Mrs.Murphy.”

“You can come with us another time then. Hungry, Conor?”

“Starving.”

“Let me drive you home and we’ll go on from there. After you,” Barrett said and opened the front door.

When Flora and Conor had cleared the doorway, he locked the door and they headed to the truck. Flora sat in the middle of the front seat and as Barrett backed out onto the road, she sat back and grinned.Look at me, sitting in a truck between two hunks! Wish asshole Darryl could see me now!Instantly, another line flew through her mind:No! You don’t want Darryl to see you! You don’t want him to ever see you again!Well, that was certainly true. They pulled up in Mrs.Murphy’s driveway and Barrett slid out, then reached for Flora’s hand and helped her down. It felt good to hold hands with him as they walked and when they reached the porch, she climbed a step before she turned and looked down into his face. “I’ll miss you.”

He grinned so widely that his eyes squeezed shut. “Baby, I’ll miss you too. This is only temporary. I just don’t want Conor to feel uncomfortable.”

“I get it. I do.”

“And if we pull this off, we’ll have all of this out of our way and it’ll be smooth sailing from here on out.”

He’d taken a step down, and Flora rested her forearms on his shoulders and stared into his eyes. “Good. Because I love you, Barrett.”

“I love you too, pretty girl. Get inside and call me if anything happens. If you need something, I’ll come and take you wherever, or I’ll get somebody to come, but don’t go by yourself. Hear me?”

“Yes. I know. I won’t.”

“Okay. We’re going to talk all of this over and see if we can get it set up. Not gonna be easy, but I think it’ll work. So get inside and I’ll talk to you tonight.”

“Talk to you tonight. Bye.” Flora opened the door, slipped inside, and closed it. She couldn’t stand to watch him drive away. She wanted to run down the driveway and leap into his arms, but what he was about to do was important to any future they might have. Time. That’s what he needed.

And she’d give him that.

* * *

It lookedlike a conservation officer party, except that they were all plainclothes and in their personal vehicles. Barrett, Conor, Kirby, Jonas, and CaptainEvan Moss sat around Barrett’s dining room table, chatting, until there was a knock at the door. It opened to exactly who he was hoping would be standing there. “Wow. You’ve got quite the gathering here,” Frankie said as he stepped inside.

“You’ll be the only non-conservation officer in the mix. I don’t trust anybody else.”

“I’ve got a couple of coworkers you could?”

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