Head Over Heels for the Boss (Donovan Brothers) (4 page)

“Because that’s what employers do.”

She sighed. “Seriously? If I don’t check in you’re going to come looking for me?”

If this was part of her problem with working with him, she might as well know the truth. “Yes.”

“And just how often do I have to call and use precious time to report the obvious?”

He had to work to keep from agreeing with her. Why did her insubordination sound like logic? “Often enough that I know where you are during business hours.” He walked to her table, picked up a pink carnation.

She slid her gaze over to his. “Don’t touch the flowers unless you intend to help me finish this.”

He laughed, suddenly understanding a bit of what was going on. Not only had she always set her own hours and schedule, but she’d spent her entire career being the one to give orders, not take them. “Did anybody ever tell you you’re sassy?”

“Most of my professors, and my parents about once a week.”

He had to stifle another laugh. She was such a smarty pants. It almost seemed a shame that he was going to have to break her. “You don’t even try to deny it?”

“No sense to it.”

No. He supposed not. He met her gaze again. “You know, as your boss, I’m going to have to train that out of you.”

She laughed. “You can try.”

All his male hormones whooshed through him like a sled dog team at the starting pistol for the Iditarod. “Is that a dare?”

She put a rose in between two white flowers he couldn’t name, stood back, and admired her handiwork. “Nope. I think it was more like a warning.”

The challenge of it rippled through him. He should have wanted to yell. Instead he only saw fun. He couldn’t remember the last time he had fun. He couldn’t remember ever joking with a co-worker. Yet, somehow with Isabelle it seemed okay. “Fine. Then I’ll warn you that I don’t take insubordination lightly.”

Their eyes met. The light in hers flickered, and he saw it. Attraction. Interest.
Something
.

“Okay.” Her soft, breathy voice was back. But outside of the office he heard it for what it was: an involuntary reaction that happened when a woman was attracted to a man. His senses shifted and sharpened, making him remember her responses to him in the office and interpret them differently. She couldn’t
like
him because they didn’t know each other that well. But could she have a crush on him? Like when she had asked him to her prom—

When she was seventeen and desperate because her boyfriend had just broken up with her. If it had been any time in his life other than a few weeks after coming home from a deployment, he probably would have been kinder in the way he’d handled it. As it was, he’d abruptly told her no and walked away. And they’d forgotten it.

Hadn’t they?

He had, until now, but what if
she
hadn’t? What if he’d hurt her?

Oh, crap. Maybe that was why she was having such a hard time dealing with him.

He wasn’t the kind of man to have long-term relationships with women, but he also wasn’t the kind of guy who deliberately hurt women. He really hadn’t meant to hurt her. But all the circumstances around that prom invitation had been weird. He hadn’t been himself…

She looked away. “So we’re both warned.” She set the fifth bouquet on the shelf by the door with the other four. “Since you’re here, how about going with me to deliver these?”

Needing more time to figure out how to fix this, he glanced at a corkboard and saw a set of keys under a label that read
Delivery Van Keys
. He snatched them off the hook. “I drive.”

“That’s right. You think I’m a bad driver.”

“My insurance company thinks you’re a bad driver. And when my insurance provider talks, I listen. Let’s go.”

“Now who’s sassy?”

Her answer made him laugh, but he caught himself. If her hesitancy around him had anything to do with that old prom invitation, this was not a laughing matter. They’d have to have a conversation about it eventually, and it would be awkward for both of them.

Damn.

D
evon’s laughter hit Isabelle like a punch in the heart. She hadn’t seen him laugh since before he left for the Marines. He hadn’t even laughed at his brothers’ weddings. The pleasure of it was nearly unbearable. Then serious Devon had returned, confusing her. So she pointed at the arrangements they needed to deliver. “We’d better get going.”

They loaded the flowers into the van and, though it felt odd, she slid onto the passenger’s seat while he got behind the wheel.

“So all of these go to McDermott’s?”

“Yes.” With the pleasure of his laughter still shivering through her bloodstream, and the confusion of him becoming so serious now, she wasn’t really sure of what to say, how to handle this. So they drove down the street in silence.

When they pulled up to the back door of McDermott’s Funeral Home, Barbara Beth Rush, proprietor, opened the steel double doors. Tall and blonde, with big hair and an even bigger smile, she laughed at Devon who carried in a huge arrangement, a glorious bouquet of lilies and roses that had to weigh a hundred pounds.

“What are you doing playing delivery boy…and
look
at you!” She gasped. “You’re in jeans. Where’s your suit?” She turned to Isabelle. “What have you done to the real Devon?”

A weird feeling cartwheeled through Isabelle as normally overly playful Barbara Beth connected her and Devon as casually as if they belonged together.

“It wasn’t me. He changed before he came to the flower shop to check on me.”

Barbara Beth turned to Devon. “You checked up on her?”

“I bought the florist from her parents,” he said from behind the big red and white bouquet. “Can we get this to where it needs to go? It’s heavy.”

Barbara Beth scurried to open a second door. “Sure. Sorry. I was just so flabbergasted to see you in jeans that it threw me.”

“I know your boss,” Devon said, again speaking through the roses and lilies as Barbara Beth directed him through the door. “I can have a word with her about your behavior.”

“Are you kidding? Ellie’s a peach. She’d never fire me. Or yell at me.” She peeked at Isabelle. “Remember that, Izzy. Good bosses don’t yell.”

Isabelle smiled. But Devon snorted. “Don’t put ideas in her head. She already bosses me around.”

Barbara Beth’s eyebrows rose. “Really?”

Devon set the bouquet on the floor. Isabelle walked her arrangement over and set it down beside his. “Go get the mums and daisies.” She pressed a finger to her lips, thinking. “I have a really great idea for how to position these so they’re pretty.”

Devon tapped Barbara Beth’s arm. “See? She bosses me.”

He left, and Barbara Beth turned to Isabelle. “How the hell did you get him in jeans?”

Focused on the flowers, Isabelle shrugged. “I told you. When he arrived at Buds and Blossoms he was in jeans.”

“But he’s helping you?”

“I need help.”

“Izzy, you’re not getting what I’m telling you.”

She glanced over at Barbara Beth. “What are you telling me?”

“The man never does anything outside his schedule.” She bumped her hip against Isabelle’s. “I think he likes you.” With that, she turned and headed toward the door. “And I’m going to leave the two of you alone to let nature take its course.”

Isabelle stared at her retreating back.
Let nature take its course?
What was Barbara Beth telling her?

Devon returned with the daisy arrangement. He set it on the floor in front of her. “You go ahead and keep staring at those and I’ll go back to the van and get the rest of the arrangements.”

She turned to look at him. “Stop whining—”

His mouth opened to say something, but when their gazes met, he stopped. He might not “like” her, but something about their relationship confused him. And whatever it was, it caused him to hold back what he’d wanted to say.

Devon stepped away from her. One step. Then two. “Like I said. I’ll go get the rest.” He pivoted and was out of the room before she could blink.

She stared at the empty space until he returned, not sure what was happening between them. But something was happening. She could almost feel them getting to know each other. Or maybe what she was feeling was how natural it was for them to be together? Maybe that’s what Barbara Beth had been hinting at? It didn’t matter, though, if he didn’t like the feeling. And from the way he’d just run out of the room, she was pretty sure he didn’t like it.

He set two arrangements in front of her, then left to get the final bouquet. When he returned, he set it at her feet. “I don’t understand why this is so complicated.”

Not sure if he was talking about them, about dealing with each other, or the flowers, she peeked up at him. “Just trying to make them pretty.”

“You really think anyone notices?”

When it came to crushes and relationships in Harmony Hills, everybody noticed everything. And
that
was why her being attracted to him was so wrong.

“Yes. They notice.”

She turned away and positioned the flowers. When she was satisfied, she motioned to the door through which they’d entered. They left, neither speaking, and didn’t talk on the short drive back to Buds and Blossoms.

He parked the van and got out. “So now what?”

“What do you mean, now what?”

“Did you already close for the night or do we have to go back in?”

“I have to go back in to clean up the prep room.”

He tossed the keys in the air. “Okay. I’ll help. That way you’ll get home at a decent hour.”

Great. Not only was he behaving oddly around her, but now he didn’t think she could do her job.

They entered Buds and Blossoms through the back door. She swept up the stems, leaves, and old flowers. He gathered the cardboard boxes and carried them to the Dumpster.

“I’m guessing you’ll get more of these tomorrow.”

“More like Friday for Saturday’s wedding.”

He grimaced.

“Don’t worry, you don’t have to help.”

“The Benjamin Brats are available by then?”

She nodded.

He turned away. “That’s good.” He paused for a second, took a long breath, and casually said, “You know, I think maybe we might want to talk about that night you asked me to the prom.”

Her breathing stopped, then her heart. Hoping she’d heard wrong, she said, “What?”

He faced her. “Okay. Look. I know you only asked me to your prom to save face about Jimmy breaking up with you.”

She wished the earth would swallow her whole.

“But I didn’t turn you down in a very nice way.” He shook his head. “I had just gotten home. And, let’s face it, I was twenty-seven. No twenty-seven-year-old guy wants to go to a prom. But I should have been kinder.”

The part of her that was embarrassed that he remembered was struck dumb that he’d apologized. And not weirdly. Sweetly.

“That’s—” She cleared her throat, not at all sure what to say. “That’s actually very nice of you.” She half smiled. “I did understand you were just getting home.” She carefully glanced over at him. His serious dark eyes held hers. “And I
was
trying to save face.” That and trying to get a date with the most gorgeous man she knew. But there was no reason to mention that.

“So we’re good?”

She took a long breath, surprised at how much his apology had meant to her. “We’re good.”

He smiled. “Thanks.”

Oh, man. Did he have to say thanks? The sweetness of his apology coupled with the sincerity swelled her heart so much she thought it might explode. She didn’t just like the guy she dreamed him to be. The real Devon Donovan was a hundred times nicer.

They finished cleanup. He made sure she got to her car safely, even though she’d been walking the alley behind Buds and Blossoms for decades.

She pressed the button to unlock her car door, but before she could open it, he did it for her.

First an apology. Now a perfect gentleman. If he didn’t stop being so sweet, she was absolutely going to drool on him. She smiled and said, “Thanks.”

“For helping you?” He glanced away then looked at her again. “I like to take care of my own.”

The way he said “my own” sent an arrow to her heart. As if Cupid himself had been waiting for the moment, her crush morphed again. She really was talking to Devon Donovan. He really was standing by her car door with her. She really did like him. The real him. Not the guy she’d made up in her imagination.

He quietly said, “Good night.”

In the silence of the dark alley, her heart thundered. Their hands were millimeters apart on the car door. Six inches separated their bodies. He was tall enough that she had to look up and he had to look down, and that somehow that put their faces into a proximity that made her heart beat even harder.

But he pulled away. He tapped her Hyundai fender twice as he took two steps backward. “See you tomorrow.”

She nodded. “Yeah. Tomorrow.”

Then he turned and walked to his Porsche and Isabelle slid into her car. She started it, and, waiting for it to warm up, she pulled out her cell phone and called Piper.

“You know how we had that little chat this morning about me working for Devon?”

“Yes.”

“Call Ellie and meet me at Petie’s Pub. I need some advice.”

“We gave you advice.”

“Yeah, well, there’s a new wrinkle.” She sucked in a breath and decided to just go for it. “I like him. I always have.”

“Like him?”

“As in I have a crush on him the size of Ohio and I’d like a shot with him.”

Piper laughed. “No kidding.”

“He helped me deliver flowers this evening and I made him laugh.”

“You made him laugh? Devon actually
laughed
with you?”

“Yes. A couple of times.”

“Ellie and I will be at Petie’s in ten minutes.”

A
fter Isabelle explained her day with Devon, Ellie sat back with a sigh. “He isn’t going to want this.”

The jukebox played a sad country song, but wasn’t so loud that anyone had to shout to be heard. Wednesdays were Jenny Forsythe’s night to serve drinks and she easily handled the crowd of rowdy guys sitting at the bar, as well as the two guys playing pool.