Page 4 of Crazy In Love
What the actual hell.
The bastard had already made a scene in my shop once, and I was in no mood for round two. I had a raging headache from all the tequila shots I’d consumed last night, and I didn’t want to be harassed.
“You could tell her yourself,” Josh said teasingly. “How about the three of us have dinner together this week?”
I needed Josh out of here now. The place was otherwise empty, so if Bridger Chadwick decided to go on a rant, there would be no one here to see it.
“Yeah, yeah, that sounds great. Let me know the details,” I said, hurrying him toward the door.
“Really?” Josh chuckled. “That’s a first. I’ll text you the details.”
Shit. Shit. Shit.
I’d just agreed to dinner with a man who hit on anyone and everyone in town, all in the name of getting him out of here so I could deal with a man I despised.
“Yes. Goodbye, Josh.” I waved hesitantly. He turned and nodded at Bridger, who literally paid him no attention, and after the jingle on the door had ended and Josh was gone, Bridger made his way to the counter.
He was tall and lean, with dark wavy hair clipped close to his head. Scruff peppered his jaw, and he had dark gray eyes that matched his stormy personality.
He was strikingly handsome.
“Wow. Desperate times, huh? Going on a date with that jackass?” he said, his large forearms resting on the counter.
And then he opened his mouth, and all his good looks went out the window.
“None of your business,” I hissed. Josh Black was not a guy most of the locals cared for. He hit on anything with a pulse, he was cocky as hell, and he’d tripped Jane Waters, the woman who owned Rosewood Brew, a few weeks ago, all so that he could get to the largest pumpkin at the pumpkin patch. He was just… that guy.
But I wasn’t going to give Bridger the pleasure of knowing I was dreading what I’d just agreed to.
My employee, Beatrice, had already left for the day.
I glanced over at the shop next door, Strawberry Fields, which was connected to the Vintage Rose by an opening in the wall. Melanie Banks owned the place, and she was furious at the scene Bridger had made just days ago, so I was hoping she was keeping an eye out. Although she was best friends with Bridger’s mother, Ellie Chadwick, so I knew she wouldn’t do anything irrational like I’d suggested.
Break his kneecaps with the baseball bat we kept in the back room, because we played in a softball league in the spring.
Taser him with the stun gun my father had purchased for me when I started running the flower shop.
Pelt him with the paint gun I’d bought just for fun.
“I’m here to discuss the eggs,” he growled. The man’s normal tone was a growl. There was nothing pleasant about his tone, at least not whenever he’d spoken to me. In high school I found it mysterious. I’d had a raging crush on the jerk all four years.
Clearly I was a glutton for punishment back then.
But I wasn’t that girl anymore. I wouldn’t allow this bastard to treat me like I’d committed a crime.
“I don’t have time to discuss the cost of eggs with you,” I said, tipping my chin up as my gaze locked with his. “If you’re here to purchase flowers, please let me know what you’d like. Otherwise, I am asking you to leave.”
He chuckled this gruff, deep sound that came from his chest. “I’m not here to discuss the price of eggs. I’m here to tell you who egged the place.”
“What? How would you know who did it?” I gaped at him, crossing my arms over my chest. “Unless you did it yourself?”
“Yes, Emilia. I have so much time on my hands that I went to the grocery store and then walked over to your shop and chucked a few eggs at your windows.” He stared at me. “I’m not saying you don’t deserve it—I’m just here to tell you who did itso you can stop whining to my family about me being the reason that it happened.”
The nerve of this guy.
“You’re serious?”
“Always am,” he said, his voice completely dry and devoid of all emotion.
