Sophie lifted her hand, still full of business cards. “Wait—”
But Landon was already gone.
“Good riddance,” Joe mumbled.
Sophie tossed the cards on the counter. “Why did you do that?”
Joe turned to her, steeling himself against her anger, and she sure had a right to be angry. When he looked into her deep blue eyes, he was stunned by how furious she was. Her cheeks had always seemed to be rosy in high school and every time he’d seen her after that, but now they were the color of the Maple Falls Volunteer Fire Department’s only fire truck. She seemed to be shooting flames at him with her eyes too. He involuntarily took a step back.
“I know you’re mad—”
“Mad doesn’t begin to cover it. How dare you come in here and sabotage my date with Landon?”
“Because you shouldn’t be going out with him.”
Sophie huffed and crossed her arms. “You have no right to say that.”
He had every right and reason to say exactly that, but he wasn’t going to get into it with her. He also couldn’t let her think it was okay to go anywhere near Landon Ferry. “I’m trying to stop you from making a terrible mistake.”
She tilted her head at him, her cheeks turning an even deeper shade of red. “It was just a date.”
Exactly what he’d been thinking on the way over here to ask her out. It was just a date. It didn’t mean anything. It was practice for real dating. “It wouldn’t be a simple date to Landon. He’s got an ulterior motive. He always does.”
Her arms dropped to her sides. “So you’re saying he wouldn’t want to go out with me unless he wanted something from me.”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying.”
The anger in her eyes faded to something else. Sadness? Oh no. “That’s not a reflection on you,” he added quickly.
“Right.” She didn’t look at him as she gathered the business cards.
Her forlorn tone propelled him forward. “Sophie, I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay.” She straightened the stack of cards. “I’m sure you’re right.”
“I am.” When she kept her gaze down, he touched her hand. “You have to believe me, Soph.”
She yanked her hand away from him. “No one’s called me that in years.” She finally met his gaze, a bit of the fire back in her eyes. “You would know that if you knew anything about me.”
He nodded. She was right. He didn’t know much about her, other than she was a good businesswoman and she was single. She was also generous, since she sponsored a girls’ softball team every year, had donated equipment to the high school varsity team, and mentored a few of the senior girls who wanted to learn flower arranging. He hadn’t thought about how she had served the community until right now. Turned out he knew more about her than he thought, but that didn’t negate the fact that he didn’t know her personally.
Unexpectedly, he wanted to. “Let me make it up to you,” he said, surprising himself for the second time since he’d walked into Petals and Posies.
“Are you going to call Landon and tell him I’m free after all?”
“No.”
She lifted her chin and put the cards neatly back in the holder. “Then I don’t see how you can fix this.”
“Let’s have dinner tonight.”
Sophie stared at him. If she rolled her eyes any harder, she’d have to pick them up off the floor. “Not funny.”
“It’s not meant to be. That’s why I came here in the first place.”
She frowned, her eyes filling with confusion. “To ask me on a date?”
“Yes.” He put his hands behind his back and began rocking on his heels, a habit that showed up when he was nervous. And the nerves were hitting him like a tidal wave slamming into a tiki hut. He hadn’t been this ill at ease a few minutes ago. Why was he anxious now? When she slowly nodded, he stopped rocking, his unease turning to happiness.
“I see,” she said, still nodding. Then she pointed to the door. “Get out.”
“What?”
“You heard me. Get out of my store. And don’t bother ever coming back.”
He opened his mouth to say something else, but clamped it shut, then turned and left, his nose filled with the scent of dozens of different flowers as he hurried past the displays. Strange he would notice that now. When he stepped outside, he made sure to move away from the front door and windows before face-palming himself.
“Stupid, stupid.” He’d not only made Sophie mad but also managed to get kicked out of a flower shop of all places. And he was upset that she was upset. Really upset. He glanced back at the store and saw that she had turned off the light for the electric red Open sign.
There was nothing left for him to do but walk away. So he did, regretting how he’d handled the entire situation. His first jump into the dating scene had ended up in a giant belly flop.
But there was one thing he didn’t regret—tanking her date with Landon. He hoped the smarmy lawyer wouldn’t ask her out a second time.
Chapter 3
“I can’t believe he did that.”
Sophie nodded as April handed her a cup of chamomile tea. As soon as she drove away from Petals and Posies, she’d called her best friend, who immediately told her to come over. When Sophie arrived, she discovered that April had sent her husband, Darren, out for the evening. Now she and April were in the couple’s modest den, sipping chamomile tea and snacking on sugar cookies.
Sophie was feeling a little better, but not enough to let go of her anger at Joe. “Trust me, he did,” she said, brushing a crumb off the corner of her mouth.
April shook her head and curled her feet under her as she leaned against a gray-and-white checkered throw pillow. “He seems like such a nice guy. Why would he act like a jerk?”
Shrugging, Sophie took a sip of her tea. “I have no idea. He’s never set foot in Petals before, at least as far as I know. And it’s not like we talk or anything.”
“But he asked you out.” April’s thick brown eyebrows lifted. “And you’re not surprised by that?”
“Of course I am. I go from not having a date in forever to two men asking me out at the same time.” She stilled, the reality of her words hitting her. She’d been so mad at Joe for lying about their date that she hadn’t fully realized he had asked her to dinner. She frowned. “I’m confused.”
“So am I,” April mumbled.
“One thing is for sure, though. Joe does not like Landon.”
April nodded. “That’s obvious.” She sat up straight and looked at Sophie head-on. “But the bigger question is—what would you have said to Landon if Joe hadn’t butted his nose in your business?”
Butterflies suddenly ramped up in her stomach. “I don’t know. I was so shocked that he asked me.”
Grinning, April said, “Then you would have said yes.”
“Maybe?” Sophie set down her mug. “It was so sudden. I didn’t have time to think it over.”
“You mean overthink it over.” April’s grin faded into an annoyed frown. “Don’t tell me you would have turned him down because it was too spontaneous.”