Seized by Love (Love in Bloom: The Ryders, Book 1): Blue Ryder (6 page)

Duke laughed. “Shit. No one could ever control Trish. You know that. I just don’t want her to be known forever as that actress who played a role the equivalent of that girl in
Fifty Shades of Grey
.”

Blue walked outside. “Well, get over it. She’s secure in who she is, and things change quickly in Hollywood. A year from now no one will even remember this role.”

“Maybe you’re right. Hey, have you heard from Jake? He left two days ago for that plane crash out in Colorado, and I haven’t heard from him since. I’m getting worried.” Jake was their youngest sibling. He’d followed in their father’s footsteps as a search and rescue professional and traveled often. He always kept in close contact with family, and with Duke in particular. As the eldest, Duke tended to keep closer track of his siblings than the rest of them did, though they were all close.

“No, but they’re still dealing with the aftermath out that way. He’ll get in touch when he can.” Blue made a mental note to text Jake after they got off the phone. He stood back and admired the cottage. “You should see the cottage. Man, does it look great.”

“I can’t wait to see it. Did you decide what you’re going to do with the lighthouse?”

“Not yet. One thing at a time.”

“One thing at a time?” Duke laughed. “B, you’ve been talking about the lighthouse since the day you first saw it. Why the sudden halt?”

“I’ve got something else on my mind right now. Guess who I have a date with tonight?” Blue grinned just thinking about Lizzie. He and Duke had both spotted Lizzie at the same time at the wedding. All of the Ryder men were six three or six four and blessed with athletic builds and smart minds. Blue had to admit that when they’d first met Lizzie, he’d felt a stroke of competition with his older, very successful brother. And it felt damn good to come out on top.

“No shit? Lizzie finally agreed to go out with you?”

“Yes, although she’s not calling it a date. I hope to change her mind on that point, though.”

“You’ve been courting her for a year. I haven’t heard you sound so sure about a woman since
you know who
.”

Blue’s family had the decency not to speak of Sarah Jane often, and when they did, it was rarely by name, which he appreciated. “I know. Let’s not bring her up, okay?”

“That was more than a decade ago. That woman’s probably got five kids by five different guys and tits that sag to the ground by now.”

“Duke.” Blue winced. “No need to slam her like that.”

“You really did get Mom’s genes, didn’t you? I’m telling you, you should have slept with every one of her friends back then. It would have made you feel a hell of a lot better.”

Blue had never been a vengeful person. He’d walked out of Sarah Jane’s apartment without a word after catching her with that asshole, and he’d never looked back or taken revenge.

He and Duke talked for a few more minutes, and when they ended the call, Blue sent a text to Jake, trying to elicit at least a smart-ass response.

Dude, you still alive?

Knowing Jake, he was probably holed up in a hotel room with a woman—his form of stress relief.

Blue locked up the cottage and headed back to his house, thinking about Lizzie and how glad he was that she’d agreed to go out with him again. He’d tried to distract himself from thinking about her too much today, which was why he’d worked at his cottage instead of on her kitchen, but with every board he’d installed, the hope that she’d want to go on another date, and another, and another, grew. Now he couldn’t shake the mounting desire that she’d want even more than that. When it came to sweet and sultry Lizzie Barber, one kiss was definitely not enough.

***

LIZZIE LOVED EVERYTHING about owning her own flower shop, from meeting new people every day to being surrounded by the scents of nature and the glorious colors of the plants and flowers. But by far, the best thing about owning P-town Petals was the location. Provincetown was an eclectic town that was home to about three thousand people in the off-season and nearly burst at the seams with upward of fifty thousand tourists over the summers, and it had always been Lizzie’s favorite place on earth. Provincetown was known for its harbor and beaches and the extensive diversity of artists and the community. Excitement vibrated through the town each week with an onslaught of tourists and a variety of shows and street entertainers. Even now, in October, there were still a large number of tourists. But Lizzie knew that in another month, the streets would be nearly empty and the buzz of excitement that made the town come alive would be tamped down to the gentle hum of residents reclaiming their quiet streets.

Lizzie rang up a bouquet of flowers for a customer and walked him out. “Thanks for coming in.” She inhaled the cool afternoon air, admiring Sky’s tattoo shop next door. Sky had recently renovated Inky Skies and painted the outside bright yellow. It fit in well with the other vibrant shops on Commercial Street, like the graffiti-covered Shop Therapy and bright orange sweets shop down the street. Lizzie’s shop was painted pale blue with flowers and greenery winding around the columns.

She waved to Sky through the open door. Her friend was absolutely beaming as she came outside wearing one of her long skirts and a soft purple sweater. Her dark hair was piled on top of her head in a messy bun, with long tendrils framing her face. But it was the mischievous look in her eyes that had Lizzie also grinning like a fool. She knew Sky wanted details about her evening with Blue, and just thinking about him made her insides go wild. It had been Sky’s text she’d missed last night when she and Blue were making out, and when she’d finally returned it two hours later, after editing her webcast, she’d still been confused about how to handle things with Blue, and she’d been vague in her reply to Sky.

“Is your place as crazy as mine today?” Sky asked, eyeing the tourists milling about in the streets. “Don’t they know it’s October? I mean, I’m thankful for the business, but
sheesh
! What a busy season it’s been.”

“It’s been insane. This is my first break, and I’m beat.” She’d been on such a high after kissing Blue that working through her edits hadn’t been as exhausting as normal, but then she’d lain wide-eyed in bed, her body vibrating, her mind reeling with thoughts of Blue, until she finally drifted off to sleep in the wee hours of the morning. She was surprised she had any energy at all.

“I bet you are.” Sky raised her brows. “You didn’t text me back until three fifteen. I guess you and Blue had a
really
good time.”

Lizzie laughed. “Not that good of a time. He fixed my oven and then I just couldn’t sleep.”

“Fixed your oven. Seriously, Lizzie? This is me you’re talking to, remember?” Sky smiled and nudged her shoulder. “Details, woman. Come on.”

“I don’t have details. We kissed. Once.”

“One kiss? Was it that bad?” Sky’s disappointment was evident in her flat tone.

“No. It was
that
good.” She pulled Sky away from the busy sidewalk to the doorway of her shop and lowered her voice. “The man kisses like it’s his profession. I think he’s perfected the art of seduction through one mind-blowing kiss.”

“That’s good, right? So why did you stop? When Sawyer and I first kissed, I could barely think, much less stop.”

“Yeah, well, it definitely wasn’t easy.” That was putting it mildly. She’d kicked herself all night for dragging her lips away from his. She wished she had a normal life, without secrets hanging over her head, but she’d made her bed—alone, unfortunately—and now she had to sleep in it. “But Blue is your best friend. Well, he was until you met Sawyer, and we both know that he’s not a player, and he’d give the shirt off his back to a stranger. He’s…perfect.”

“And?”

“And he doesn’t need
me
complicating his life.”

Sky rolled her eyes. “You’re the best thing that ever happened to him. You’re the total package. You’re gorgeous, smart, a great big sister to Maddy. You’re an amazing friend, and I’m sure you’ll be an incredible girlfriend.”

Lizzie smiled at a couple as they stepped inside her shop to admire the string gardens hanging in the front window. She wondered how incredible a girlfriend or friend Sky would think she was if she found out about her secret.

“I better go in and help them, but I did tell Blue I’d see him again tonight.”

“Really?” Sky hugged her. “That’s great. Perfect. See? Blue knows you’re the best woman around. You two will be great together!”

Lizzie wasn’t worried about their being great together. After last night’s kiss, she knew they had amazing chemistry. It was the rest of her life colliding with his that she worried about.

She headed inside to greet the young couple that was admiring her string gardens. The woman reached up and touched the ball of moss. Her long dark hair was tied back in a low ponytail, and when she went up on her toes, the man touched her back in the same manner Blue had touched Lizzie. She had to work hard to push past the jolt of desire that ran through her at the memory of his touch.

“Those are called string gardens. Are you familiar with them?” Lizzie asked.

“No,” the woman answered. “But they’re really cool.”

“They are cool. String gardens are essentially balls of soil held together with moss and string rather than pots. They aren’t difficult to make once you understand the process, and I actually give a free class once a month. This month’s class is on Wednesday evening, if you’re interested.” Lizzie had at least a dozen string gardens hanging from the ceiling, and not only were they a great conversation starter, but they fed right into her love of creating unique plantings. She explained the process of making a string garden to the couple, and before leaving, they bought two of her favorite plants and signed up for her class.

After they left Lizzie had an onslaught of customers. She was on her feet all day, and by the time she closed the shop, she was running late to meet Blue. She leaned her back against the door, the heaviness of fatigue suddenly settling in. She was so tired, she wouldn’t have her wits about her tonight, and it had taken every bit of her strength to stop kissing Blue last night. If they kissed tonight—and boy did she hope they would—she might not be able to stop.

She had a good feeling about Blue. Being with him was not just easy, but he’d looked at her like she hung the moon over the sea when they were on their walk, and she couldn’t remember the last time anyone had looked at her like that, if ever. She wanted to get closer to him, but at the same time, she knew she needed to keep her distance. Maybe she should cancel their date.
It’s not a date.

Her mind traveled back to the look in his eyes when he said he wasn’t going to walk away from her, not after that kiss.
That kiss
. The kiss that left her head spinning and her body turned on in places she didn’t know could be turned on. If he could do that with one perfect kiss, what would it be like to go further? To feel his mouth traveling down her neck as his hands caressed her naked skin? Her breasts? A thrill rushed through her at the thought.

She grabbed her purse and fished out her cell phone, mulling over the idea of canceling before she got in too deep. She noticed she’d missed a text from Blue, and her heart leapt despite her concerns.

Are we still on for our friendly outing tonight?

Her webcast aired tonight, and she liked to watch the first few minutes to make sure there weren’t any technical issues, but she could do that on her phone in the privacy of a bathroom while they were out. She didn’t
want
to cancel seeing him. In fact, the more she thought about it, the more excited she became.

She replied with a quick
yes
before she could change her mind, silently praying that there would be no technical difficulties to deal with. There rarely were, but it would be just her luck to have something go wrong this evening. She pushed away the nerve-racking thoughts and retrieved the flowers that hadn’t sold, debating what she’d do with them. Lizzie didn’t believe in wasting anything and gave to others as often as she could. That was why she dropped off the goodies she baked for her webcasts at the homeless shelter on the way to work the mornings after she filmed. When it came to doing something with the flowers that hadn’t sold and would soon wilt, she had several options, but today was cemetery day.

Her phone vibrated with another text from Blue.
Great. Looking forward to getting to know you even better. See you in twenty mins?

The truth was, she wanted to get to know him better, too. Her chest tightened with the reality that there was a whole side of herself that she couldn’t share with him or anyone else, but just this once she wasn’t going to let that stand in her way. She’d had a great time last night, and didn’t she deserve just one more night out with a friend? It’s not like she was going to jump in the sack with him—even though the idea had run through her mind a thousand times today.

If he really wanted to get to know her better, why not start right now? She typed in a quick response.

I’m running late. Sorry! Heading to Shore’s Edge Cemetery before going home. Meet me there?
She sent it off and gathered the flowers in her tote. As she walked out the door, she realized she was way too excited to be going to a cemetery—and she really needed to get her emotions in check now, because as she found out last night, getting her emotions in check around Blue was not an easy feat.

Lizzie pulled into the parking lot of the cemetery and parked beneath an umbrella of trees. She gathered the tote of flowers she’d brought, and as she stepped from her car, Blue’s truck pulled into the lot. A shiver of delight ran through her as he parked and stepped from the truck with that sexy smile that made her forget to keep her distance.

“This wasn’t what I imagined when I asked you out, but I’m game.” He pressed a hand to the small of her back and kissed her cheek. He smelled fresh, as if he’d just showered, which made Lizzie realize that she hadn’t.

She’d been so intent on getting to the cemetery—and seeing Blue—that she hadn’t slowed down enough to think about proper dating etiquette.