“Except there was no taking,” Olivia chimes in. “He put forth a good effort, but alas…I held my own.”

Alex starts snickering, and I know that I have officially struck out with Olivia. Oh, well. It’s not like there won’t be someone else on my near horizon.

“Okay, Sutton…why don’t you and Olivia go away then and let me and Alex have some man-talk,” I say as I make a shooing motion with my hands.

Sutton bumps Olivia on the shoulder and leans in to whisper loudly to her, just for my benefit, “That’s code to mean Garrett has a dirty joke he wants to tell Alex.”

I start to open my mouth to object, because I’m about so much more than dirty jokes…even if that is exactly why I was shooing them away, but then Olivia pipes up, “I love dirty jokes. I want to hear it.”

Damn…gorgeous and she loves dirty jokes. I’m seriously bummed she won’t go out with me, because if she loves filthy humor, she certainly wouldn’t mind my filthy mouth in the bedroom.

I open my mouth to start to tell my joke, when a phone starts ringing. Olivia reaches into the pocket of her long skirt and pulls out an iPhone that has a bright, tie-dyed case. Lifting a finger, she says, “I’m sorry. I need to take this.”

She steps a few feet away and I hear her answer with a murmured “Hello.”

My eyes are pinned to her for just a moment, then Sutton is slapping at my arm, causing my gaze to jerk back to hers. “Stay away from her,” she hisses, in sort of a teasing way, but there is seriousness there as well.

I look at Alex in surprise. “Are you seriously going to let your woman abuse me like this?”

He shrugs nonchalantly. “Hey man…she’s the boss.”

I give him a mock glare. “You’re so whipped.”

He just gives me a cheesy grin as he pulls Sutton in tight to him and nuzzles the top of her head. “Happily.”

“I’m serious,” Sutton says, her voice now warm and her eyes slightly apologetic about the hammer she’s laying down on me. “She’s got a lot on her plate right now and doesn’t need your type of complication.”

Well, hell…that makes me feel like shit. I start to ask what exactly Olivia has on her plate that can’t be made better by some fucking amazing sex, but then Olivia is stepping back up to our circle. Looking directly at Sutton, she says, “I was able to get that early-morning appointment, so I’m going to have to head out.”

Sutton gives her a tiny smile and some type of understanding passes between them. Olivia then turns to me and holds her hand out. “It was great meeting you, Garrett. I love how you made me laugh.”

I reach out almost stupidly to take her hand, and I relish briefly its warm softness as she says goodbye. “It was nice meeting you too.”

“Come on,” Sutton says as she steps forward and drapes her arm companionably around Olivia’s shoulders. “I’ll walk you to your car.”

I watch as the two cousins walk back up toward the house, their heads bent in toward each other as Sutton squeezes Olivia gently. Then they’re gone and my mind drifts back to the dirty joke I wanted to tell Alex.

Chapter 2

Olivia

My mind was all muddled as the call I had just received caused both anxiety and relief to flood through me. I made my excuses to leave the party, not because I needed to get an early start in the morning, but because I suddenly felt out of my element…standing around, making flirty small talk, and acting like nothing was wrong in my world.

The phone call was a brutal reminder that everything is wrong in my world.

So I gave Sutton a long hug goodbye, tried to avert my gaze from her worried eyes, and drove off. I didn’t have any intention of going home and instead headed my car toward Fleurish, because even though the shop had closed more than half an hour ago, I knew Stevie would be there, working to get a head start on the next day’s orders. I needed to talk to him, and besides, there was nothing that made me feel more peaceful than immersing myself in creating a beautiful flower arrangement.

Fleurish is in a trendy little area of Chapel Hill, tucked between an upscale women’s boutique and a Vietnamese bistro. My boss, Stevie Magliano, who also happens to be my best friend, opened Fleurish almost ten years ago, and it’s one of the most popular floral shops in the area. I parallel-park my car right out in front of the shop, with its bright purple walls and distressed wooden sign above the door that bears the name of the shop with a brass fleur-de-lis in the corner. The lights are off, but I can see a glow from the back design area as I walk up to the glass front door and peer in.

After unlocking the door and swinging it open, I immediately call out so as not to freak Stevie out over my sudden presence.

“It’s just me,” I yell, as I quickly turn to punch in the code to deactivate the alarm.

“I’m back here,” he calls out, and duh, of course, I knew he was back there.

Captain Obvious.

Stevie is all kinds of silly, but he is about the most awesome person in the world. He’s of Italian heritage, but the only acknowledgment he gives to his roots is some weird nod to The Sopranos whereby he wears big, chunky gold jewelry and calls me paisano sometimes. Past that, he’s one hundred percent certifiably and flamboyantly gay. Stevie wears his hair in long spikes all over his head, bleached platinum blond, but with the tips done in a brilliant hot pink. Or orange. Or blue. Depending on his mood. His fingernails are painted with glitter polish and he glues tiny rhinestone designs at the corners of his eyes. I relock the door from the inside and reset the alarm, making my way through the front of the store that is filled with spectacular displays of silk floral arrangements and novelty items. One entire wall houses a row of floor-to-ceiling glass coolers that contain dozens of premade fresh arrangements.