“Nope.” She shook her head and glanced toward the kitchen over my shoulder. “I mean, he is really attractive, don’t you think?”
I looked over my shoulder to try to see what she was seeing. Owen was rolling the dough, his biceps flexing. He actually was attractive when you took a long look at him, not in the sense that Jack was attractive, but in a more…different way. He looked more like a French guy without the romantic and charming part. His brown hair was curly and fell over his forehead, and you could see the edges of the tattoos on his strong arms curling under his shirt. He was skinnier than Jack but still lean. Jack felt stronger to me. When I looked at Owen, I didn’t feel like You know what, I think I would like to hug that. He was just…Owen, a friend. When I looked at Jack, I was very interested in hugging him and staying in his arms for as long as possible.
Sally waved her hand in front of my face. “Earth to Rose?”
I snapped out of my Jack haze.
“Sorry. I guess he is attractive.”
“And he has this intense air about him. It seems to be working for me. I don’t know, I wouldn’t say no to a date.”
“Well I think it looks like you’ll be the one asking in this case.”
I reached for the brownies and pushed them in front of the chocolate muffins, rearranging things so the sandwiches would be on the far left next to the register, tempting the customers.
“So you have no problem with this, then? I really like working with you, and I won’t risk that for a guy, but if it’s okay with you, I might go for it one of these days.”
How the hell was I supposed to decide on something like this? “As long as it doesn’t affect your work, I think I’m okay with it? You sure about this, though? I don’t want him to feel uncomfortable if he isn’t interested.” It probably wasn’t one of my finest ideas, but I didn’t know how to say no. I was still a romantic at heart, despite my own marital status.
“Oh, no. He isn’t ready yet. I’m gonna have to work on him little by little, which is the fun part, to be honest.” She gave me a blinding smile, bouncing twice on her feet. “Okay, I’ll go wash my hands and unload the last batch of coffee cups then get everything else ready.”
Before I could say okay, she was already back in the kitchen, her eyes lingering on Owen as she walked past him.
If I wanted something real with Jack, would I have to work on him little by little? Not that it didn’t sound fun. But would I even want to complicate things like that? He wasn’t the romantic type; he was a whole different type of his own. Sure, he was my husband, but that was all just an act, nothing more, and the erection…well, I thought it was pretty much involuntary when kissing someone. He didn’t have a special erection for me. It wasn’t a special erection.
There was a hard knock on the glass door that jolted me out of my thoughts and I turned to find a young guy, maybe in his early twenties, looking inside the coffee shop with a huge bouquet of roses in his arms.
With a big grin blooming across my face, I rushed to the door and unlocked it, the cold air hitting my cheeks a refreshing welcome after all my thoughts of Jack Hawthorne and his not-so-special erection.
“Rose Hawthorne?” the guy asked. He was bundled in a blue jacket and was jumping in place, presumably to keep warm.
“Yes, that’s me.” I could barely keep my hands to myself as he checked something on his notepad then finally handed me the flowers wrapped in brown paper, but there was no note. “Who are they from?”
“It says Jack Hawthorne.”
The grin still going strong on my face, I hugged them to my chest then signed where he was pointing at.
“Have a good day,” he offered before running back to the white van that was apparently waiting for him.
“You too!” I shouted, waving even though he wasn’t looking back.
I pushed the door closed with my hip and locked it back up, my eyes on the roses as I made my way back toward the kitchen and Sally appeared in the doorway.
“Did I hear a kno—oh, Rose! Look at them!”
I was. I was looking and trying to contain the smile on my face while also trying to ignore the lightness I was feeling in my heart.
“They are gorgeous,” I mumbled, almost to myself, as I touched a few rosebuds. This week there were pinkish purple and white roses.
“Okay, I’m officially in love with your husband. He is too cute.”
I laughed, feeling all happy from head to toe. “He doesn’t like it when people think he is cute, but yeah, I wholeheartedly agree.” Still smiling, I looked around the coffee shop. Some of the roses he had brought in the previous week were still going strong, but I had switched the ones that had started fading with fake ones just half an hour earlier. I was going to switch them all out for the fresh ones.
“Do you want me to help?” Sally asked, leaning in to smell the roses.
I didn’t know why I was feeling protective, but I wanted to handle the roses myself and only barely stopped myself from snatching them away from her nose. As stupid as it sounded, I tried not to think about it too much. They were all mine.
“No, I got it, but can you gather the fake ones and bring the mini vases to the back so I can change them all out?”
“Of course.”
It took me ten minutes to have them all out on the tables, and the remaining twelve were set on the counter next to the cash register so I could constantly see them and maybe put a little smile on the faces of my customers too. Placing the last one on the table in front of the bookshelf, I reached for my back pocket and took out my phone. We still had eight minutes before I would unlock the doors and welcome our first customers.
Not wanting to wait any longer, I quickly typed a text.
Rose: Hi.
Jack: Something wrong?
I laughed and sat down in the chair closest to me.
Rose: Nope, just saying hi, and thank you.
Jack: Hi. Thank you for what?
Rose: The flowers. I still can’t stop smiling.
Jack: Glad you liked them.
Rose: I love them, but I might have liked the ones from last week more.
Jack: Did they mess up the order again? I’ll call them.
Rose: No! Wait.
Rose: They didn’t mess it up. It’s just that…last week you brought them in yourself, and that was more…something, I guess.
I closed my eyes and groaned, loudly. I couldn’t possibly be cheesier, and I was officially flirting with my husband, officially poking the beehive, knowing it couldn’t possibly end well.
Jack: I see.
I see. That was all he gave me. I took a deep breath and slowly let it out.
Rose: Will you drop by before work? I make good free coffee.
Jack: I’m afraid I’m already at work. We have an early meeting.
I tried not to feel disappointed, but it was hard.
Rose: Ah, okay. I’m sorry, I know you don’t like texting so I’ll shut up. Hope you have a good day. Again, thank you for the flowers. They’re beautiful.
I hit myself on the forehead with the side of my phone a few times. I needed to get it together. I was not in love with Jack Hawthorne, and he was most definitely not in love with me either. It had just been a very, very convincing dream and kiss and touch and…that was it. Also, I just found him attractive—any woman would. That wasn’t a crime. Deep down, as prickly and cold as he seemed, he was actually a very good person.