Page 16 of Knot in Bloom
Yesterday changed everything though. I finally worked up the nerve to approach her when I saw her watering the flower pots outside her shop.
My phone buzzes. Riley.
“Reid. Status update. The Gizdon Group wants preliminary reports.”
“Need another month.”
“A month? Reid, this was supposed to be two weeks.”
I’m parked outside her shop again, but it’s Sunday so the place is closed. Sign in the window confirms it. Closed Sundays.
I should drive back to the inn. Work on actual reports for the Gizdon Group.
“Project’s more complex.” Not lying exactly. “Community dynamics require deeper assessment.”
What I need is to figure out why this woman makes me forget I have meetings to attend. Why her scent makes everything else seem unimportant.
“I can relocate you to Pine Valley proper?—”
“No.” Too sharp. “Inn here works fine. Good thinking environment.”
After I hang up, I sit in my rental car and try to make sense of what’s happening to me.
I don’t extend business trips. I don’t lie to clients about project timelines. I don’t make decisions based on personal interests.
Except apparently I do now.
Yesterday I approached her while she was watering the flower pots outside her shop. I’d intended to just walk by like every other morning. Professional distance. Logical.
Instead I somehow ended up asking about weekly flower arrangements for business meetings that don’t exist. Something about seeing her in that sundress, the way she smiled when I complimented her work, made me start talking about “client consultations” like that was a real thing. But it wasn’t just impulse.
I’d been thinking about something I witnessed a few days earlier at the hardware store. An elderly man wandering the aisles looking lost, muttering about needing something nice for his wife but couldn’t find his wallet anywhere.
I watched Sadie approach him gently, ask what his wife’s favorite color was. “Purple,” he’d said, looking embarrassed. Shetold him to wait outside. Ten minutes later, I saw her hand him a small bouquet of purple flowers through the window. Lavender and purple roses tied with a simple ribbon. His face lit up like she’d given him the world.
Standing there yesterday, breathing in her scent and remembering that kindness, suddenly I was making up business meetings. Her smile when I mentioned regular orders sealed my fate.
Now Tuesday I’ll pick up flowers I don’t need. For meetings I don’t have. And I’ll put them in my hotel room and pretend they serve some important purpose.
Worth it though, if it means I get to see that smile once a week.
I sit here like an idiot hoping to catch a glimpse of her when she’s not even working.
And then I do.
She comes around the corner from the side street, walking toward Main Street with a small bag in her hand. Sunday errands maybe. Yellow sundress that moves when she does, hair falling loose around her shoulders. Casual. Relaxed.
Even more beautiful than when she’s working.
My body responds immediately, blood rushing south, my cock already thickening.
Through the street I watch her walking toward the main drag. Maybe heading to the general store or coffee shop. She glances around casually and her eyes land on my car.
Our eyes meet and her scent hits me even from this distance. That honeysuckle sweetness that bypasses every rational thought I have.
She waves. Small gesture but her expression goes soft. Pleased.
That look. Like she’s genuinely happy to see me.
