Page 16 of The Confidant

“Good. There are no refunds.”

We both get a good laugh out and settle ourselves.

She’s ready to go with her instructions when she asks me the oddest thing.

“Will you put me on the website?”

I frown at the odd question. “I don’t have a website.”

Her eyes widen a bit, and she fumbles her phone out. A few taps later, she’s showing me a site I’ve never laid eyes on.

It’s a black background with my shop’s name blinking in neon lights. Right below it is a flashing welcome sign with an arrow. It perfectly matches the one in the window, with the arrow pointing toward the entrance. The words at the bottom make my heart clench.

“Beauty is pain,” I whisper with a frown.

“It got my attention,” Grace says with a wince. “Not a lie, by the way.”

I tap the welcome arrow and get a well-done selfie of a very familiar body cropped to remove the face and above the hip bones. It’s a before picture of Poe’s scars. I blink, and it morphs into another picture with the gladiolus covering the marks like a warning beacon. There are several angles taken to emphasize the detail. The photos look professional.

The bell jingles as I try to catch my breath. Damon freezes up in the doorway, his jaw dropped.

“Holy shit, woman. You are smoking hot!”

Grace blushes sweetly, shocked at Damon’s upfront approval. He makes it obvious she’s the one he’s talking to by giving her a slow once-over. I leave them to it as I tap around. There are a few empty slots where new before-and-after pictures can be set up. The shop’s address. At the very bottom, it says, “Ask Addie for a flower.”

The bell chimes again, and a new person comes in. A younger man with a misshapen burn scar along his right cheek and down his neck. It skips his ear and the rest of his face but starts again in his hair. A bald patch of scarring he’s trying to cover with a bad haircut.

“Um, can I talk to Addie?” He mutters, shifting in discomfort. “I want a flower.”

Grace points her finger directly at my face with a smug smile.

“Beauty is pain,” she grins at the newcomer.

The damnedest thing is when he smiles and repeats the phrase back to her.

I’m halfway through the sketch of his cover-up when the bells go off two times in a row.

A new customer shows Damon a scar and explains what they are looking for. Grace listens in and proudly shows off her lightning bolt. They seem to know each other. It irritates Damon to no end. He hates rivals.

Poe is watching the interaction from the door.

Seeing him again makes my stomach somersault, followed by my heart speeding up. I’m short of breath as I watch the light from outside shine over his hair, pulling out all the maroon highlights hidden in plain sight. His intense focus moves from Damon’s interaction to me in a snap. Like he felt me watching. Our eyes meet over the distance, and that tug to go to him hits me square in the chest. All of my air disappears as his intensity lightens into pleasure at the sight of me.

“Excuse me for a second,” I tell Edgar with a distracted mutter and stand up.

Poe’s eyes follow me, searing me with intensity again. I crook my finger at him and turn to go into the back room.

We’ve barely made it past the door before I spin back to whisper, “Did you do this? The website?”

He’s startled by the quick movement, but his voice is calm as he gives me a one-word answer.

“Yes.”

My eyes widen in surprise. “Why? How? It can’t have been up for long. That’s the third person today who’s come in asking for me. How did you know my name? How much did this cost? I can’t pay you back for this.”

Every question makes his lips turn up more until I’m smiling with him without meaning to. He reaches up and traces my confused smile with his fingertips, stopping my words in their tracks. I gape at him instead as my heart begins to race.

Bold man.

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