Page 19 of Approved

“You had a seat reserved for me.”

He laughed a little, and he blushed. “Yeah. Well. It’s been reserved for a few weeks. I hoped you would come back one day, and I wanted you to have a place to sit.”

Holy shit. He had a seat at the main bar blocked off for a few weeks now. “Oh wow.” I knew I should feel overwhelmed by his gesture, but instead, I just felt more affection for the man. He was undoubtedly trying to woo me, and it was working.

“What can I get you to drink? We can make anything on here or whatever you might dream up.”

He handed me a cocktail menu that had a list of fancy drinks. An ad was printed on the menu in thick gold font.

25% OFF YOUR BILL WITH A FLOWER POWER RECEIPT

“What’s this?” I put the menu down and pointed to the writing.

He looked up and blushed. “If they buy something at your shop, they get a discount here.”

“You’re serious? Why would you do that?” He blinked and looked at me like I was missing something obvious. That was a significant discount, but he didn’t seem phased by that at all.

“I am most certainly serious as for your other question. I like you, Tyler, and you mentioned you struggled a little financially. I hoped this would help.” When he looked at me, I was afraid he was going to pass out since he seemed to be holding his breath.

“Oh.” I put my hand on his arm, hoping that would allow him to relax. I leaned in and whispered, “Breathe.”

I wasn’t sure what to say, but I appreciated the business. What he did was nice,reallynice. It had become evident that West liked doing things for me, and it made him happy.

"It looks like I should thank you for two things. The gift basket today was wonderful.” I watched as his face transformed into a pleased smile. “Jamie also wanted me to tell you how much she appreciated being included and is looking forward to afancydinner.” I made sure to elongate the word fancy for her benefit.

“You are most welcome. I can tell how much she means to you, which means she is important to me too.”Who is thisguy?Nobody is this kind and thoughtful. I began to think there was no way I could hold his interest for any amount of time. Wouldn’t he grow bored with me? I boldly told the voice in my head to shut up.

“It appears I need to thank you for this, too.” I pointed to the menu again. “It has helped business for sure. I appreciate that more than you know. Sometimes it's hard to make rent and pay my vendors. Thanks to your ad, our business has picked up, and I feel like I can take a deep breath.” West was getting them to my shop, and it was my job to get them to return. It was a team effort that seemed to be working.

West beamed at me. “Anything for you, Tyler. Now, what can I get you to drink?”

“Surprise me.” West turned around and I couldn’t help but admire how good those pants made his ass look. He set down a pink drink.

“Should taste of berries and cream. Sweet like you.” He leaned his forearms on the bar as his staff worked around him. I had all of his attention.

I took a sip, and the flavor immediately intensified and made my toes tingle. I was going to tell myself it was the alcohol that did that and not the look West gave me. “That’s very good. Am I keeping you from work? I wanted to thank you in person for the gift, not pull you from your job.”

“I’m perfectly happy to be right here with you. Would you like to get a table so we can sit and talk?”

Before I answered, I really thought about it. “That would be nice.”

West turned and said something to Spark, then came around the bar. “I’ll carry this for you, we have a table available.”

We spent hours at that little table talking about everything and nothing. I had one more drink, but didn’t want to get drunk, so I changed to water after that. When I looked at my watch, I wasshocked to find it was nearly one in the morning. For the first time in a long time, I hated that I was tired and needed to leave. “I think I need to head home.” I punctuated my sentence with a yawn. “Thank you for the lovely evening, West.”

He smiled but looked a little sad. “I understand. Let me drive you home.”

“You don’t have to.”

“I would like to make sure you are home safe.” He stood up and offered me his arm.

I reached for the handle when we pulled up in front of my house. “Wait.” He ran to my side of the car and opened the door. “Let me walk you to your door.”

When we stood at my door, he looked almost shy. “May I hug you?”

He was so polite. “Yes. I’d like that.” He pulled me close and gave me a sweet, warm hug. I stepped back about five inches and looked at him. We both knew what was about to happen. He leaned forward but waited until I closed the gap. I took the initiative and brought my mouth to his. As soon as we made contact, sparks went off inside my body. His lips were warm and soft, and he didn’t push to deepen the kiss. It would have been considered chaste, but to me, it lit up everything inside of me.

When we pulled apart, he smiled. “Thank you, Tyler. Any more thoughts about going out with me? What do you think?”

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