She kept her voice to a harsh whisper. “You just want to disagree with me to bust my balls.”
He grinned. “Kind of impossible to do that, isn’t it? I’m just offering an alternate opinion. Do you call all of your clients jerks when they speak up?”
She squirmed in her seat. “No, just you.”
“I’m honored.”
She knew she was being unprofessional, but he was trying to sabotage her choices on purpose. He just wanted to win. “You don’t care about flowers and cake and all this other stuff—I know you don’t.”
“I care about a lot of things you don’t give me credit for,” he growled, leaning in.
She sucked in a breath at the naked gleam of want in his eyes, and suddenly her body was on full alert. The room shimmered with raw energy.
“How come you never returned my texts?”
“There was no reason.”
“Oh, there were plenty of reasons. You just took the coward’s way out.”
“I don’t want to talk about the kiss!”
His expression practically seethed with hunger and heat. “Neither do I. I just want to do it again.”
Her mouth fell open.
Devon sashayed back into the room with a small bouquet. “Here we go! Here’s the lisianthus, and these are some other flowers we can pair them with. What do you think?”
Avery stayed silent as Carter studied the flowers with an intense scrutiny. His features slowly softened, and in that moment, she imagined him picturing his sister walking down the aisle for the first time.
“I love it,” he said.
“Oh, good.”
“But there was this other flower I thought might work better for Ally. It’s called a vanda—have you ever heard of it? I have a pic on my phone.” He whipped out his cell and handed it to her. “Scroll through. I found these on Pinterest.”
Devon promptly shot him an excited look. “I adore the vanda, but it’s extremely expensive and hard to get.”
Avery wondered how this man had once again ended up hijacking the appointment. “What’s a vanda?”
“It’s an exotic orchid. Highly unusual but powerful. Gorgeous scent. Here.” Devon angled the phone toward her. Of course, the flower was the same vivid purple, but it had a lush sensuality that the lisianthus didn’t.
“It’s quite beautiful, but I’m sure it would be impossible to get on such late notice,” Avery said.
“Definitely difficult but not impossible.” Devon’s face lit up with excitement. “I’d love to arrange a bouquet with vanda. Maybe some Pittosporum greenery to encase the orchards?”
“Yes. Or even stephanotis?” Carter suggested.
Devon’s green eyes sparkled. “And we wrap it around and let it trail to the ground! Definitely some parrot tulips.” She grabbed a pencil and began sketching out the bouquet on her pad.
He nodded. “Maybe some striped roses?”
The pencil scratched madly over the paper. “I’ll use a silver bow and construct the shape like a horn to accent the flow.”
“I love it!” he declared, and Devon squealed.
Avery had never seen the florist get so excited over an appointment. And she’d never been ignored to this extent before.
“This is brilliant, Carter. It’s so nice to talk with a client who knows his flowers.”
Oh. My. God.
Caught in a nightmare, Avery watched as Carter smiled with pure charm and tipped his head. “Thank you. It’s wonderful to work with a florist who listens and isn’t afraid to change her vision.”
Avery winced at the direct hit. Her hands clenched into fists, and she counted slowly to ten so she wouldn’t reach across and try to strangle him. After a few minutes of them exchanging praise for each other, she jumped in. “I’m glad we came to a decision,” she said with a tight smile. “Why don’t we send Ally all of our choices and have her confirm?”
“And let her choose between the centerpieces,” Carter reminded her.
Avery refused to look at him as she gathered up their final picks and texted pictures of them to Ally.
Devon and Carter launched into a deep discussion on the ceremony flowers for the beach, and she agreed with the decision for a floral archway and tall baskets for accent. By the time the appointment ended, Carter and Devon were chatting like old friends, and even made arrangements to meet for drinks later that week for fun. If Avery didn’t know the florist was in love with her current partner, Lily, she would’ve thought the woman was trying to hook up with him.
They walked out into scorching heat. Immediately, her wraparound jersey dress stuck to her, and she felt strands of hair pop out and escape the tight clip.
“Well, that was fun,” he said. “Want to grab lunch?”
She stared at him. “No.”
“Dinner?”
“No.”
“Avery, I think we need to—”
Her phone shrieked. She glanced down. “It’s Ally.” Without pause, she answered the call and put it on speaker. “Hey, sweets, how are you? How’s Jason’s mom?”
Her friend’s voice sounded tired. “Doing much better. We’ll get her to walk down the aisle just in time. I got all your goodies from the bakery and the texts with the flowers. Do you have time to go over everything?”
“Yes, of course. Your brother’s here with me.”
“Perfect! Hi, Carter. How’s your beach vacay?”
He grinned. “Good, but we miss you, Ally-Cat. I hope you’re not stressing about anything. Avery has it under complete control. She’s been amazing.”
Avery blinked, staring at him, but he’d sounded sincere. Probably just trying to be nice to his sister.
“I told you she was the best,” Ally said.
“She is,” he answered. “Listen, we’re standing outside the florist, and it’s a hundred degrees. Why don’t you stay on the phone while we walk over to McGlades for lunch and some cold lemonade? Avery needs a break after that long appointment. Then we can go over all the details.”
Avery sputtered. “No, I don’t. I need—”
“That’s a great idea! Get the shrimp salad on a croissant, Carter. It’s my favorite.”
“I will.” He scooped Lucy out of her carrier, hooked on a pink leash, and set her on the ground. “Avery, you lead the way.”
She was going to murder him.
She looked like she wanted to kill him.
He kept up a steady stream of nonsense chatter with his sister to keep Avery distracted, and settled in at the restaurant. Situated with a beautiful view of the beach, McGlades boasted fresh sandwiches and salads, fruit, and tart, sweet lemonade that he was beginning to crave on a daily basis. It was quiet, but busy enough to be able to hold a conversation on the phone while they had lunch. Too bad the woman by his side looked like she’d rather be anywhere than with him.
Maybe his plan had backfired.
He hadn’t meant to act like an arrogant ass at the florist. He’d been looking to impress her with his knowledge, but the woman was competitive as hell. Her need to dismiss him only spurred his need to prove her wrong. Of course, she didn’t know that before every vendor meeting, he called his sister and went over each detail. He gave suggestions, Ally tweaked them, and they sent pics back and forth.