Heartsville 05 - Bloom Box (Cate Ashwood) (4 page)

“It’s not done. It’ll look so much better once the plants and stuff arrive. Right now it’s all kind of one tone, but when everything is in place, the merchandise will shine and everything else will sort of fall to the background.”

Will’s gaze dipped then, and he couldn’t seem to look away. “What happened to your pants?”

Milo chuckled. “I took the lid off the paint can and left it on the chair, and then a few minutes later, my shoe came untied. I was congratulating myself on noticing and avoiding a potential accident when I sat down to tie it and realized I’d sat in paint. So I took my pants off to rinse them out and they haven’t fully dried yet. Sorry.”

Will wanted to tell him that he didn’t mind, that the view was spectacular, that he was contemplating making that Milo’s new work uniform. He couldn’t manage to tear his eyes away from the sight of Milo in nothing but a T-shirt and a tiny pair of Captain America underwear.

The tension in the air grew thick as Will took in the sight of Milo, half-undressed, with just enough tautness in the fabric to leave very little to Will’s very active imagination.

Unconsciously, he took a step forward, his eyes focused only on Milo’s body. He could see him hardening beneath his gaze, the logo right over his dick like a bullseye Will couldn’t look away from. When he finally forced himself to divert his gaze to Milo’s face, the playful smile from earlier was gone. All levity had vanished, and in its place was a heavy desire, seeded by the intense look in Milo’s eyes. His pupils were wide, his lips parted, and Will moved forward without thinking.

There was a brief pause, long enough for the
what the fuck am I doing?
thought to circle Will’s brain.

“Fuck, Milo, I am so sorry. We can’t do this.”

Watching Milo’s expression change as the words sank in almost tore Will in two, and the urge to reach out and pull him in and kiss him anyway was overwhelming, but Will kept his hands to himself.

“I’m your boss. And about a thousand years older than you. The abuse of power here is too much to ignore. It’s not right to take advantage like this.”

“Who said you were taking advantage? What could possibly make you think I don’t want this?” Milo challenged. “I don’t care that you’re my boss. Or that you’re older than me. You’re sexy and smart and nice, and I haven’t wanted someone this badly in a long time.”

“I just can’t, Milo, I’m sorry. It’s not just the age gap. I’m still fucked up after Spencer. It wasn’t exactly a mutual decision to break up, and it messed with my head. I need to sort myself out before I can start anything with anyone else. I’m sorry.”

Will felt like a supreme asshole. He didn’t know how many times he’d said he was sorry, but it still didn’t seem like enough. A brief letdown in guard had led to confusion and hurt feelings, and he felt beyond shitty about it. He wondered what he could do to make it up to Milo or to ease the strain that had descended between them.

Slowly, the hurt melted out of Milo’s eyes, and the familiar lightness was back. “I get it. I’ve had breakups before. They always suck, and I’m guessing yours was pretty bad. I’ve never been serious enough with someone else to even live with them.”

Will didn’t want to get into the details. Although Milo was the one without pants, Will felt like the one who was exposed. Milo broke the silence.

“Do you have some clothes I could borrow? Until mine are dry?”

“Oh, yeah, sure. Let me grab some,” Will said, grateful for the excuse to disappear back into his apartment for a few minutes.

Getting a grip was the first item on his to-do list for the day. He took a quick trip to his bathroom to splash cold water on his face, hoping it would help calm him. The moments alone allowed him the chance to collect himself and to push away the constant what-ifs of what it would be like to kiss Milo. His head was telling him one thing, but his body certainly had other ideas.

Chapter Five

The next few weeks were a flurry of activities, getting the shop set up the way they wanted it, and two days before opening, it was finally time to get the flowers. Milo showed up at the shop at a completely unreasonable hour and dragged Will out to his truck with far too much pep in his step.

“Come on! This is the best part. And besides, I brought pastries from the café. They’re from yesterday, but they’re still gonna be delicious.”

Will suppressed an irritated groan. “There’s no coffee, though.”

“No, not yet. There’s nothing open at four o’clock, but we’ll get some as soon as we finish at the market. I promise.”

Will felt like a kid whining because he didn’t want to go grocery shopping. He shut his mouth and climbed into the cab of the truck, reminding himself he was grateful for Milo’s help.

Will had no idea how far away the market was, since he dozed off along the way. Two hours of sleep was not conducive to paying attention to directions. Still, Milo’s hand resting gently on his shoulder felt better than it should have, and Will found himself suppressing a ridiculous grin at the small contact.

“You’re cute when you’re sleeping… even if you do snore,” Milo teased.

“I do not snore,” Will said, ignoring the fact that Milo had called him cute.

“I couldn’t hear my music over the sound of you sawing logs.”

“Sorry,” Will said, blushing.

“Doesn’t bother me. We should get a move on, though. We’re already late getting in.”

“Late?” Will asked, looking at his watch. “It’s only four thirty.”

“Yeah, and most of the florists are here by four. We want to get the good stuff, especially since we didn’t put in an order ahead of time. A lot of the good stuff gets picked over early on.”

Will sighed. He really wasn’t cut out to be a florist. The early morning hours alone were enough to kill him. He was a night owl, doing the bulk of his translation work when most people were sound asleep in their beds.

He climbed out of the truck and followed Milo across the parking lot to a large warehouse. The outside was nondescript, gray walls and tiny windows, and if Milo hadn’t been leading the way, Will wouldn’t have given it a second glance. But stepping through the large roller door, Will realized the appearance of the exterior was entirely misleading. Inside, the building was awash with color. Stretching from front to back were sections of space divided up by yellow lines painted on the floor. Within those lines were buckets and boxes of flowers—every type, a million colors—and the fragrance was indescribable.

“Wow,” Will said, unable to come up with anything more appropriate. He was absolutely blown away and more than a little overwhelmed at the sheer range of possibilities.

“Isn’t it awesome? The flower market is one of my favorite places, and when I worked at Willow Rock, this was the best part of my day.”

“I don’t even know where to start.”

“We’ll grab one of those carts over there,” Milo said, pointing to a row of large orange metal carts. “And then we just walk up and down the rows and pick out things that you think would work well in the shop.”

Will did as Milo said, pulling one of the carts from the end, then steering it down the first row.

“Each of the sections belongs to a different business, so we settle up with them before moving onto the next one. The market is for business owners only until eight, and then it opens up to the public, so it’s good to get here early.”

“What time do they open?”

“Midnight, but that’s mostly for the vendors to get in and get set up. Willow Rock was fairly small, so we usually rolled in around two or three. It’s early, but I didn’t mind. There’s something about being here. Everyone knows everyone else, and the flowers are enchanting or something. That probably sounds really stupid. But the colors and the scent and they just make people happy. Even if you’re in an awful mood, stepping into this place can fix it almost immediately.”

“No, I get what you’re saying. It is really beautiful. Does Willow Rock still supply flowers here?”

“No, Harold, who owned it, retired and it was bought out by a developer who tore down the greenhouses and built row homes, so it doesn’t exist anymore. I was sad at the time. I used to work there during the summers between classes all through high school. Most of my friends were in fast-food places and came home smelling like grease. I came home literally smelling like roses. The guys at school thought I was weird for wanting to work with plants, but it’s peaceful, you know? And I’m rambling.”

Will laughed. “It’s okay. I get it. It’s good to have something you’re passionate about.”

“I never thought about it that way before. I guess I am. I just really loved that job, and when I found out you had a floral business, I almost came in my pants right there. Seriously. I’m taking business classes at Havenston, but I think maybe this is what I want to do… own a greenhouse business or a florist shop. I’m always happiest when I’m around flowers.”

Briefly, the notion that Milo could take over the business from him flitted across Will’s brain, but he pushed it aside. He wasn’t willing to get his hopes up that quickly. He’d take each day as it came, and hopefully someone else would be able to take over the lease quickly and Will could go back to his quiet life.

They meandered down each aisle, Milo stopping to chat for a moment with several of the vendors as Will did his best to look like he knew what he was doing when he examined the bunches of colorful blooms. Milo reminded Will of a butterfly flitting from one place to the next, never staying anywhere too long before taking flight on to the next spot.

The cart Will pushed became heavier and heavier, laden with lush greenery and a wide range of flowers. As Milo carefully stacked each bunch on the cart, he explained to Will how they would best be used, which part of the world they came from, and how to tell quality flowers from the rest.

By the time they had visited every stall in the place—and Milo had knocked over a large bundle of manzanita branches with their cart—it was a little after eight, and the market was exponentially busier than it had been a few minutes before. Will was surprised at how long they had spent there, when it felt like no time at all. Milo assured him that their subsequent visits would be much quicker, now that they knew what they needed and could place their orders ahead of time.

Part of Will was sad that he wouldn’t be spending hours wandering through with Milo. He’d been so hesitant to go, sure that it would be a painful waste of time, but it had turned out to be one of the best mornings Will had in a long time, even as early as it began. It seemed as though Milo kept opening his eyes to new experiences and painting them from different angles than Will would have seen on his own.

They packed their flowers out to Milo’s truck, then loaded them in the back. Milo pinned a tarp over the truck bed to limit the amount of wind the flowers would be subjected to during the drive back to Bloom Box. They climbed in the truck and headed back to Heartsville.

Back at the shop, they unloaded the contents of the truck. Will couldn’t believe the transformation. The day Milo had strolled into his life, dripping wet, the shop had been a dismal gray shell of a business. Here they were only a few weeks later and it looked like a completely different space. It was now the kind of place Will wanted to sit and stay, enjoying the peacefulness of his surroundings and taking in the lushness and vibrancy of the plants.

It took them most of the morning to move and arrange the flowers within the shop, Milo making sure the more delicate blooms were placed in the refrigerator, while the heartier flowers were kept out in large containers where they could catch the eye of customers who entered the shop.

They took a break halfway through, walking down to Riverview Diner for coffee and burgers, then got back to work, building the bouquets and getting everything set up for the opening. Milo took care of most of the flower arranging. Will’s one and only shot at it looked like Ray Charles would have done a better job with his hands tied behind his back.

“It’ll come with practice,” Milo assured him, clearly trying not to laugh at Will’s attempt.

“Not so sure about that, but thanks for the vote of confidence anyhow.”

They worked well into the evening, but eventually everything was ready. The apprehension and anxiety that swirled through his bloodstream made Will want to puke, but in less than forty-eight hours, he’d have a pretty good idea of whether or not Bloom Box was going to be the successful venture he needed it to be.

Chapter Six

The numbers alone were enough to make Will feel sick to his stomach. How had he ever gotten himself into this mess? After his trip to the flower market with Milo, he’d begun to feel almost optimistic about the future of the business and the likelihood that he wouldn’t run out of money before a new leaseholder was found. The spreadsheet open in front of him, however, quickly erased that buoyant feeling, leaving in its place a dark knot of dread and anxiety.

The grand opening was the next day, and if Bloom Box didn’t turn a profit in the first couple of months, there was a good chance Will would die, financially speaking anyway. He supposed filing for bankruptcy was one way to let his landlord know he wouldn’t be occupying the space.