Page 4 of He Loves Me Not (Cambric Creek #5)

Her lungs over-inflated once again, leaving her feeling as though her toes might leave the ground, floating away like a turtlenecked balloon.

This is a gift from your mom.

Think about how happy she would be to see you so happy.

This was her opportunity, Sumi realized.

This was her chance to dock the SS Sunk Cost for good.

You can sell your condo, use that money to pay the rental lease on this place, at least for the first year.

She owned a house free and clear; it would be silly not to live in it.

Especially in a place like this, where you can finally figure out how to feel whole. If the florist at the Lucky Lily was to be believed, her Bloomerang business would thrive here. They provide all the equipment, the distribution contracts, and the customers. All you have to do is live your dream life.

It was with that energy that Sumi set off in search of a flower shop, a plant store, even a supermarket that sold premade bouquets.

She wanted to bring something home from this place to put in her condo, to remind her why she was packing up, why she was walking away from her life into the unknown.

The Perfect Petal.

Viol, Violet & Vine.

She frowned down at her phone, knowing she needed to make a decision quickly. The red light wasn’t going to last forever and she didn’t know her way around. Both sounded promising . . . But Viol, Violet & Vine would’ve required turning and looping all the way back around the town square, back in the direction from which she had just come. The light turned green. The Perfect Petal it is, she thought, following the sign that advertised business district.

Maybe you wouldn’t be able to rent that space at all.

Maybe the business district is the only option.

The thought made her frown, but she quickly saw that Cambric Creek was packed with businesses.

Little storefronts, long restaurants, sidewalk cafés and quick service counters, a veterinarian next to an eyeglass shop beside a small pharmacy.

There wasn’t any indication that business was restricted to the business district. Don’t get ahead of yourself. You are going to call the number from the building today.

She noticed, as she drove, that the sidewalks were tiered in this place — standard concrete, a shallow trench that rippled with moving water, and a section of neatly trimmed grass, just as wide as the concrete.

Some stretches of road even had a lane of sand.

It wasn’t until she took a closer look that Sumi realized the different sidewalk materials were specific to accommodate the different species of residents.

A slender cervitaur walked on the grass, laughing with her companion, a goblin wearing chunky soled shoes, clicking along on the concrete.

On the other side of the street, a blue skinned little girl with webbed fingers hopped along the water trench, splashing until her mother turned swiftly, the little girl instantly ceasing her splashing.

Accommodations for more than just the human majority.

It was a revelation.

In that instant, Sumi nearly regretted her vow to leave education, thinking of how much good accommodative policies like this would have in classrooms.

The moment was fleeting. That would be a noble cause to take up . . . For someone else.

The instant she stepped over the threshold of The Perfect Petal, Sumi closed her eyes, head dropping back slightly.

Vegetal and green, the crisp herbaceous smell of freshly clipped rose stems invaded her senses, the cotton candy sweet smell of the blossoms and pungent note of eucalyptus following after a few more steps.

There was a long wall of refrigerated cases that she could come to expect, although it seemed as if several of the shelves had been taken out, the premade arrangements spread out on the shelves that remained.

The last case held the buckets of individual flower stems, although Sumi noticed there were half as many there as had been in the Lucky Lily.

The space was well-organized, with high shelves of baskets and empty vases, a counter where one could peruse half a dozen photo books, and a single table through the center of the space, containing dish gardens of ferns and spathiphyllum.

The shop was compact and utilitarian, but it didn’t possess the fanciful Parisienne flower boutique she envisioned in her head for her own shop.

Well, that’s fine.

You don’t want to look the same as everyone else anyway.

At the POS counter stood a pear-shaped woman with a waterfall of blonde curls spilling over her shoulders.

Sumi felt her own smile raise as the woman turned, giving her beaming grin.

“Hi there! He’ll be right out.”

“Oh! Oh, that’s fine.

I was just going to pick up a little —“

“Okay, this is all I have.

Do you solemnly swear you’re not going to use it for something stupid? If I come by and find this on a jar of pickles, you are never getting anything from me again.”

“It’s going on the fruit baskets! How dare you!”

The woman threw up her hands defensively, her shoulders shaking in laughter, but all Sumi could do was stare.

The man who had come out from the back room was striking.

His features were sharp and angular, with an aquiline nose and strong jaw.

His mouth was wide, his eyes so dark they seemed to glitter like obsidian.

Something moved behind him, something brilliantly colored, still moving behind him as he dropped a hand to the counter. It was his tail, Sumi realized after what felt like a small eternity, watching the sinuous way it moved, swaying in an undulation so subtle, she might not have noticed it if she hadn’t been paying such close attention to him. If he wasn’t so fucking gorgeous.

He was a naga, she realized.

His tail was beautiful.

Vivid violet scales, banded in irregular splotches of inky blue, and as he turned to hand a spool of gold twined ribbon to the woman at the counter, Sumi could see a brilliant iridescence, prismatic like a rainbow.

His light brown skin seemed to glow against the pale colored button-down he wore, and when his gaze traveled past the blonde woman to land on Sumi, eyes widening slightly in surprise, she could see that he had lashes so thick and black that it almost appeared as if he were wearing eyeliner.

He was stunning.

“I’m so sorry! I didn’t even hear the bell.

What can I help you with today?”

She was underwater, unable to decipher anything other than the deep thrum of his voice, the individual words lost in the vibration.

As she watched, his dark eyebrows rose slightly, his head inclining minutely, appearing as if he were waiting for something.

Somewhere in her brain, an alarm bell began to ring, a clanging clamor that seemed to rattle her teeth, that treacherous little voice screaming, just barely able to penetrate the fog she seemed to be trapped in by this man’s almost inhuman loveliness.

He’s talking to you! You’re staring, your mouth is hanging open.

Fucking hells, he’s talking to you!

“Oh!” she exclaimed, jumping in surprise, her inner voice finally penetrating to the worthless bowl of pudding in her skull.

Heat burned up her neck, and Sumi knew he would be able to see it splotching her cheeks.

“Oh, of course! You’re talking to me! Of course you are!” What an amazing first impression in your new home.

The first person you meet is a gorgeous man and you go slack-jawed for five minutes.

She laughed in mortification, her tongue off and running without any input from her brain. What the fuck is wrong with you?! This could be your new husband! “Um, I’m so sorry to have interrupted. I-I was just going to pick out a few stems, if that’s okay?”

He seemed amused by her outburst, a wry smile curving his wide mouth, showing her a glimmer of glinting white fangs.

When he raised his arm to extend a hand out to the case containing the buckets of loose flowers, Sumi thought her knees were going to buckle.

She was a sucker for a good forearm, and she always would be.

He had his shirt sleeves rolled back to the elbow, showing off his sinewy forearm, long fingers directing her attention to the side wall.

“Loose flowers are in the last case here, closest to the register. Price list is on the door. I’m happy to help you pick something out if you’re not sure . . .” He let the question trail off as she dipped her head, moving to stand before the case, her eyes closed tight.

“I-I’m going to take a look at what you have, first.

But thank you.

So much.

I’ll let you know if I need you.

Help. I’ll let you know if I need help.” I’ll let you know if I need impregnating. Like, right now. Maybe here on this table. She was childless by choice and had no desire to change that, but if this beautiful snake man suggested he would be interested in breeding her right then and there as the smiling blonde woman watched, Sumi knew that she would be able to make room in her heart for his child.

His smile stretched a teensy bit further as she turned to the case in mortification, reaching out to the cool glass for support as he turned back to the other woman.

“Anything else, Grace? Or are you done pilfering my shelves for the day?”

“You should get the little purple asters,” the cheerful woman said to Sumi’s back, ignoring the handsome man entirely.

How is she able to do that? Maybe she’s a witch, immune to his charm and eyelashes.

“And that deep red ranunculus, I just love how full they are right now.”

Breathe.

This is the language you speak.

She turned with a grin, still feeling hot, but the cool glass had calmed her galloping heart a few degrees.

“Ranunculus is actually one of my favorites.

I think I’ll do exactly that.” She added a bit of lemon leaf and ruscus, a bit of dark purple statice, and two stems of cheerful yellow alstroemeria. Just enough for the small vase currently on her windowsill, as yet unpacked. Attraction, admiration, optimism. The meaning of her bouquet was almost prophetically on the nose.

The blonde woman’s smile was cherry-red and beaming when Sumi carried her selections back to the register.

She had a creamy complexion and a spray of freckles over her nose, and as Sumi forced herself to breathe, the other woman’s sapphire eyes moved from her to the handsome naga so quickly she might have missed it if she had been looking at her phone, as she likely would have been doing anywhere else.

“Um, I’m processing roses right now—“

Her thighs clenched at the baritone of his voice.

When was the last time you were instantly attracted to someone this way? She couldn’t remember, it had been so long.

ChaoticConcertina, but that’s different.

”—If you wanted to see them.

They’re lipstick roses, pink and yellow? Or .

.

.“ he hesitated, looking over her meager selection with an appraising eye.

“Hold on.”

That overfilled balloon sensation against her ribs again as he turned, his snake lower half moving him with a surprising amount of speed.

Her teeth sunk into her full lower lip when he disappeared, a section of his long tail staying behind, keeping the door propped open.

That’s strangely adorable? When he returned, he carried wispy plumosus and two bright-colored stems of birds of paradise.

The tropical flower was normally outside her bouquet budget, but Sumi supposed she could splurge today.

Because you’re about to start a new life. Because you deserve it. Because he’s gorgeous.

“These are left over from a wedding I had this past weekend.

They’re almost bloomed out, so no charge.

But they work nicely with your colors and it’ll give it a bit of height.”

She could have swooned.

“That’s lovely!” the blonde woman hummed once he’d wrapped the flowers in a fluid, practiced movement.

You’re going to learn to do that.

Maybe he can teach you.

“You seem to know what you’re doing, sometimes I’m hopeless with pulling things together.

Bringing flowers to anyone special?”

Sumi hoped her laugh didn’t sound as awkward to them as it did to her own years, trying to tear her eyes away from the throat his open collar revealed.

“Oh, no.

Just for me.

I-I’m going to be relocating to the area soon, and just wanted to pick up something for my condo to remind myself why I’m packing.”

The blonde woman’s face lit up.

“How wonderful! I’m Grace, by the way.

New to the area! Ranar, did you hear that? She’s going to be new to the area.“ Her voice was pointed, although her brilliant smile never cracked.

Ranar.

“Did you want your receipt printed?” It was his turn to completely ignore the blonde woman, smiling at Sumi warmly.

Breathe.

You can do this.

You are going to be professional peers hopefully someday soon.

Maybe he’ll give you his phone number for flower business emergencies and blow jobs.

“Not necessary,” she returned his smile. “I love the functionality of your shop. Have you been in business long?”

“It’s a family business, so yes.

I’ve worked here since I was too young to legally be working anywhere, but that’s what happens when your parents run a business.

Child labor laws cease to exist.”

She wondered if her laugh was as tinkling as she tried to make it.

“Well, it shows.” She twirled a strand of her long dark hair around a finger, gazing up.

Advanced rizzonomics.

“Everything is so well organized.” Here goes.

“I’ve been thinking of opening my own,” she admitted with a sheepish laugh, biting her lip in a way she hoped appeared coquettish and not confused. “Do you have any tips?”

His dark eyebrows rose once more, snorting.

“Tips? For a flower shop? Yeah, don’t do it.

Save your money.”

“Ranar!”

Sumi could barely hear the sound of the woman named Grace’s exclamation over the sudden timpani of her own heartbeat.

“I’m serious!” he chuckled.

“If you want to throw money away, just put it out with recycling.

But call and let me know what night you do it.”

Grace slapped the counter.

Sumi felt frozen, her heart crashing.

“Look, don’t let anyone else deceive you into thinking this is a dream job cakewalk,” he said, waving Grace’s sputtering away.

“This industry is dying a protracted death.

Everything is online now, and the online retailers have become greedier and greedier.

Gracie, you know I’m right!”

The blonde woman, Grace, crossed her arms, glaring.

Sumi felt kinship, like she wanted to line up beside the woman and join her in scowling.

“A few years ago, the big companies used to wire out all of their orders to shops across the country so that everyone got a piece of the business,” he went on.

“Now they’re opening their own shops, these soul-sucking flower factories everywhere you turn around.

It’s getting harder and harder for small independent shops to turn a profit on anything other than weddings and funerals.

That’s great in the spring and summer, but you need to work yourself to death every single week from March until September just to pay back all your accounts and keep the lights on through the winter.”

Sumi wondered how they weren’t able to hear the sound of her heartbeat as it crashed against her chest, seeming to smash against the very walls of this shop.

“Oh,” she practically whispered.

“The shop that’s close to my condo, where I live right now, it’s um, a Bloomerang franchise?” She didn’t even have a chance to continue before he was pulling a face, and somehow even that was attractive.

“Greedy vipers who are killing this industry.

And I know a thing or two about vipers.

I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but there’s no way to compete with them.”

She wasn’t sure how her legs managed to carry her out the door, barely remembered getting into her car.

Her hands trembled.

She felt ready to shake apart.

No! This is your dream! He’s wrong.

Just because his business isn’t good, doesn’t mean you’ll have the same problem. You will be a part of the industry, not the thing that’s killing it. He’s probably just stubborn and doesn’t want to adapt to the new ways things are done.

She was halfway home when she decided to pull off the highway, directing her car into the drive through line of a chain coffee shop and treating herself to an iced latte.

What an obnoxious man.

What a handsome, obnoxious man.

Pulling out her phone, she quickly tapped open the DiscHorse icon.

PinksPosies&Pearls: This has been the weirdest day.

It’s been amazing.

It’s been the happiest day of my life, thus far, I think.

The house is so great.

I went to see it for the first time, and it’s beautiful.

It already feels like home, and I’m so, so happy.

I am definitely selling my condo! Like you said, no time like the present.

PinksPosies&Pearls: But then, before I drove home, I stopped into this little specialty store.

And the guy who ran the place was such a jerk!

He basically shat all over my dreams

I only hope the rest of my new neighbors are going to be nicer than him.

She squirmed once she was home and tucked beneath the covers.

He was so handsome.

Ridiculously handsome and he knows flowers.

How is that not a match made in heaven? Ranar.

Stupid handsome, but also kind of a jerk. Sumi wasn’t sure if she was giving the handsome naga a completely fair characterization, for nothing he’d told her had been delivered in a rude way, but still. Tactless. Just his opinion, and I’m pretty sure it’s a bad one. The Lucky Lily cancels him out.

She avoided telling ChaoticConcertina anything more than that.

He doesn’t need to hear that you were about to present yourself on all fours like a bitch in heat.

After all, she had determined that changing the kind of relationship they had would be a bad idea.

He’s your friend and you can talk to him with no judgment.

And you kind of need that right now.

Sumi was gratified when her phone pinged a short while later.

ChaoticConcertina: First of all, I am so thrilled for you.

Congratulations!

I’m so glad the house is something you can see yourself in.

That’s so exciting! It’s time to start packing, huh?

Okay, secondly, fuck that guy.

Like, seriously.

Fuck that guy.

There are always going to be jealous people who try to bring down others’ happiness.

Don’t let them get to you.

Don’t give them the space in your life to affect you at all.

I’m so happy for you, Pinky.

Everything’s coming up roses.