Page 3 of Scr*wed By the Minotaur in Hallow's Cove
“Hmm,” was all he responded as he started walking the space.
Was that a goodhmmor a badhmm? I followed him, trying to read the notes he was taking on his clipboard, but he was too tall. He meandered the shop for several minutes before finally turning to me.
“Is there anything you want in particular?”
“I would love to keep the original windows if that’s possible. And I need more shelves. A lot more shelves.”
He nodded and scribbled more notes down on his clipboard. His expression was unreadable—I had no way to tell if he found these requests reasonable or not.
“And what kind of flowers do you plan to sell?” he asked eventually.
“Oh, all sorts! I love being able to use locally grown flowers, but also have great relationships with wholesalers that work with hard-to find flowers and—”
He cut me off. “Do you think you’ll carry tulips?”
Tulips had a season so they were only available part of the year, but they were a fairly standard flower to keep on hand.
“Yes, of course. Tulips and bulbs, in case anyone wants to plant their own.”
The ogre’s face broke into a big smile. “My wife loves tulips and has the worst luck getting them to grow. I am sure she will be happy to have you in town.”
“I would love to help her plant tulips!” Maybe this was it. Maybe I really could fit in here. Something in my chest relaxed.
Maybe I could be happy again
“Well, let’s get you settled here first and then I can drag you over to meet Beth.” He went back to his notepad. “I can get you up and running in six weeks, maybe less. Does that work?”
I beamed at him. Good contractors were hard to find. A six-week timeline was a huge win. It would give me time to start ordering flowers and getting the word out that the town now had a florist.
“That sounds amazing!”
“Alright, I will get my team ready and we will start Monday morning.”
I stuck out my hand to shake his in agreement and he didn’t hesitate. “It is going to be a pleasure working with you, Ms. Thompson.”
“Please, call me Lea.”
“Alright, Lea. I’ll see you Monday morning.”
Chapter two
Rick
Iopeneduptheshop just after leaving Ted’s. It was Sunday, so I didn’t open until 10:00 a.m., giving me plenty of time for a leisurely breakfast. Most days, I made do with a protein shake—fast, efficient, forgettable. But on days I opened late, I treated myself. An omelet loaded with cheese and hot sauce, or maybe French toast if I felt like indulging. I liked my routines. They kept things predictable.
But this morning felt different.
As I rolled up the metal shutters at the front of the shop, my thoughts kept straying back to the tiny human I’d quite literally run into at Ted’s. She was new in town, that much was obvious. I’d never seen her before, and I made it a point to know every face that passed through Hallow’s Cove.
She’d looked up at me with those wide brown eyes, like she couldn’t decide if she’d just collided with a man or a myth. Her skin was a rich, warm walnut, with an almost ethereal glow that seemed to radiate from within, casting a gentle light on her surroundings. Her riot of dark curly hair framed her face in away that made her features stand out—soft, open, and utterly human in a way that felt rare around here. And those lips… full and lush, parted just slightly when she stared at me. It was innocent, uncalculated.
I wondered if she’d show up at Killy’s tonight like I’d hinted. I wasn’t usually that forward with strangers, especially humans. But something about her short-circuited my filter.
How long had it been since I’d been truly interested in someone?
Not since Angela, a harpy from a few towns over. That had fizzled out six months ago. She was nice enough, smart, funny in a dry way, but our needs never lined up. Literally. She had almost no sex drive, and while I respected that, it wasn’t something I could ignore. A minotaur bull in his prime needed more. Denying that part of myself felt like going hungry in my own house.
We weren’t a match, and we both knew it.
