Do You Take This Man (18)

Tina grinned and pulled up something on her tablet, reading through it. “One for the bride and three bridesmaids. Will some leftover ribbon from the chairs work?”

When I nodded, she hurried off to find it, and when I looked up, Lear was watching me intently. “You’re staring. Planning to step in to do it yourself?”

“No. Sorry.” He knelt, helping me free flowers from the wide arrangement. “Are you sure you know what you’re doing?”

“Are you sure you want my help?”

“Yes,” he said, cheeks tinted pink. “Sorry.”

We worked in silence and he followed my lead, grouping roses, then adding lilies, a little greenery, and then tying it off with the ribbon Tina brought back. My mother would have sucked her teeth at the finished product, but it would work. I turned the largest bouquet in my hands, examining it from all angles. I handed it to Tina, who was delivering all of them to the bridal suite and breaking the news about the delivery.

Lear held out a hand for me as I rose to my feet, but I ignored it and stood on my own, brushing off my knees. I’d need some lotion before this ceremony started now. He’d already moved the flowering plants, the ones that didn’t look exclusively like they belonged near a coffin, to the edges of the altar space, and we both looked at the wreath and the cross and the remains of the coffin spray. “Let’s add a few flowers to the ribboned chairs along the aisle.” He glanced over my shoulder. “If you’re willing to help still, of course.”

Goose bumps rose on my arms at his deferent tone. It was an improvement from the dude-bro, condescending one he’d seemed to fall into so easily in our other encounters, but it irked me. One thing I’d liked about the dude-bro was how easy he was to snap back at. “I can help.”

He started grabbing the peach and red carnations from the wreath, stuffing them into his fist.

“How are we arranging them?”

“It doesn’t matter, just a few in each ribbon.”

I stood next to him, plucking flowers out. “Of course it matters. It still needs to look good.”

“We’re dismantling the well wishes for a nonexistent funeral. I’ll be honest, it’s not my top concern.” He held up three carnations— two peach and one red—in his hand like a bouquet. “This is fine.”

I arranged two carnations and bent to pull a white rose from the flower cross and a sprig of greenery from the spray on the ground. “This is better.”

I wanted to grin when he gritted his teeth. God, it’s possible he might hate admitting he’s wrong more than I do.

“Fine,” he said, copying my movements. “Thank you for your help.”

We worked side by side for a few minutes, using the discarded floral wire to bind the flowers until we had enough to do the chairs. “I hope Tina isn’t getting read the riot act,” he said quietly, setting a bundle of flowers aside.

“Me, too.” I finished the last twist on my floral wire and moved to the first row of chairs, wrapping the wire around the ribbon and admiring it. I heard the question in his voice, the Should I have done it myself?, but I didn’t comment. “Tina can handle it,” I said, not really sure what Tina could handle. I didn’t know her well, but he made a humming sound. It made him sound vulnerable, and I stifled my instinct to tell him he should have been the one to deliver the news, because I didn’t want him to feel bad.

“We only have twenty-five minutes,” Lear said, his back to me.

I started on the next row of chairs. “Then you should move more quickly.”

I kind of wanted him to volley something back, waited for it, but he stayed silent, moving a step up the aisle behind me, so I worked faster, stepping forward before him the next time and down the line. Back-to-back, we sped through the process, each clearly planning to win this unspoken race.

I tied off my last one and threw my hands in the air, declaring victory. “Done!”

I thought I heard him swear under his breath when I declared my win, but he didn’t say anything directly to me. He was taking this professional and respectful thing too far, because it wasn’t as fun to win when he wouldn’t acknowledge he wanted to win. Instead, he nodded. “Thank you.”

We walked back up the aisle, and he started gathering the remains of the coffin spray and setting it behind a concrete barrier out of the way. I followed with the rest of the cross and we cleared the altar. It was too quiet. “Maybe there will be a few bridesmaids you can regale with this story later.”

I regretted it immediately. I didn’t even know why I’d brought up that rehearsal and how he’d flirted with the groom’s daughters. It wasn’t like I really cared.

He dropped a heavy arrangement of purple and pink blossoms on top of the rest of the discarded flowers. “Excuse me?”

I was in it now. “I don’t know if they’re as keen on you as Trevor’s daughters, but this could make a good story. Some women love a man with flower-arranging skills.”

He looked away, scanning the venue and, again, clearly holding back what he wanted to say. “I don’t flirt with women when I’m working.”

“Sure.” I dug through my bag for the ceremony script and began a quick read through the text. I raised one eyebrow, feeling his gaze on me. “Of course you don’t.”