Page 46 of This Feeling

“Oh, I do, but that doesn’t stop her from giving me her two cents. Any moment now, my phone will ring, or a text will come through with a reminder to make sure I have the floral arrangements for the BBQ finished up.”

Declan laughed as he held a white rose and studied where he wanted to put it. Not two seconds later, my phone rang.

“Speak of the devil.”

I tapped my phone and smiled. “They’re almost all done. I’ve got a helper.”

When Declan looked at me, I winked. He smiled and went back to working on the arrangement.

My mother’s voice practically purred through the phone. “I heard. Declan Gallagher is there.”

“Mom,” I warned.

“Your father mentioned he was at the shop.”

I was silently thanking the stars above I hadn’t put her on speakerphone. I decided the best course of action was to completely ignore her insinuations.

“The arrangements will be in the cooler. Are you sure you don’t need help tomorrow? I can find someone to cover the shop.”

“I’ve got plenty of people to help with that.”

My plan worked. Her attention was off the Gallagher boys and back on flowers. “Great, then I’ll just leave them be.”

“Sounds good. Oh, honey, I’ve got to run. Granny Larson is arguing with Betty Lou about where the bookstore’s booth is.”

“Okay, Mom.” I chuckled. “See you tomorrow.”

After I hung up, Declan and I faced one another.

“Declan, I can’t thank you enough for helping. You really didn’t need to do that.”

“I know I didn’tneedto. I wanted to.”

I felt my cheeks heat, and I turned once more to admire the arrangements he’d made. “Do we dare tell your mother you made these?”

“Hell no. I’ll just say I saw you bringing them to your car and offered to help.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

We worked in silence as we brought the arrangements to my car and carefully placed them in the holder I had for deliveries. I tried to ignore how Declan’s muscles flexed in his arms with every little movement he made. The guy was built like a brick house—the complete opposite of Sean. Not that Sean didn’t have a nice body; he did. His was more of a lean physique. He just lacked the muscles his older brother had.

I watched him place the last of the arrangements, and when he delicately moved a flower just so, I couldn’t help but imagine what it would feel like to have those strong hands move over my body. Would he be gentle or rough?

I jumped when he pressed the button to close the liftgate, and it beeped.

“Lost in that pretty head of yours again?” he asked teasingly.

All I could do was nod.

When I didn’t say anything, Declan clapped his hands. “Okay, well, I guess I’ll see you when you get to my folks’ place.”

“I just need to change, and I’ll be right behind you.”

Declan smiled, but his gaze moved from mine down to my mouth—and for a split second, I nearly closed the distance between us and kissed him.

Get it together, Harper Browning!

“Right,” he finally said. “See you soon.”

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