“Good to see the business thriving. You’ll stick around, then.”
Two more customers came in as the first was leaving, keeping Liam busy for a time. The new people were after corsages. Thank God he’d finished so many prior to the attack. These two stared at him a lot more than the other had—probably thought he was some kind of fighter florist. He nearly snorted at his own musings.
Once they left, things were quiet again. Music would have been nice. But he’d have to wait until he was a little more flush before putting in a sound system.
With the new stock of vases on the shelves and the shop empty, Liam and Seth returned to the storeroom. Liam still had a stack of orders for floral arrangements, and Seth was moving the heavier bags of soil around, so they’d be within easy reach. They fell into a surprisingly comfortable rhythm. Something Liam had always imagined he’d find with Gerald eventually. “Any thoughts on where your friend might have gone?”
“No. He’s supposed to be running this place with me. Pretty obvious why he’s missing.”
“Not much of a friend to put you into this position.”
Liam stared at the bunch of daisies in his hands, their sunny yellow faces and bright white petals smiling up at him. He stroked his thumb down their slender stems. “I suppose not. It just doesn’t seem like something he’d do.”
“How long have you known him?” Seth stood next to Liam, leaning his hip against the table with his arms folded across his chest. Yeah, not distracting in the least.
“A few years,” Liam mumbled with a shrug. “We met at a floral convention and hit it off. At first I thought he was hitting on me, but he’s straight. We became good friends, and he never gave me any indication he’d do this.”
“Just goes to show, we don’t always know our friends.”
Liam looked up, taking in the frown that was drawing deep lines in Seth’s face. “Thing is, I’m really worried about him, and I’d like to find him before Bill and his men do. There has to be some kind of explanation, because he never once said anything about having to borrow the money. In fact, he always seemed to have extra cash.”
Seth’s eyes dropped to the worktable while his teeth tugged at his bottom lip in thought. Liam knew he should be thinking about Gerald, but his brain was very occupied with Seth’s abused lower lip. He wanted to suggest that Seth let him suck on that perfect piece of flesh while he thought.
But then neither of them would be doing much thinking.
“I can help you try and find him if you’d like.”
Liam nodded and cleared his throat, trying to recall what the hell they’d been talking about just seconds earlier. “Thanks. I’d like that. We can check his apartment after I close the shop for the day.”
A soft sigh left Seth as he straightened. “I probably shouldn’t be taking you there, but we’ll be quick about it.”
Yes, Seth could kick ass and handle a dangerous situation, but Liam wasn’t without a few skills. It was just that his fighting skills were rusty, and he definitely wasn’t used to being outnumbered.
Maybe he should think about taking some of those self-defense classes at Ward. With some new moves, he’d have a better chance of defending himself.
He pulled the bouquet together, loving the way the colors of the different blooms complemented each other. This was where he felt the most like himself. With flowers. And he felt no qualms about it. It was who he was—who he’d always been.
Ferdinand the Bull.
Smiling to himself, he carried the new plants out to the front and placed them in the refrigerators until the customers arrived to pick them up.
“This is a nice shop,” Seth said as they got all the latest orders filled. “I’ve never been in a florist’s place this nice.”
“And how many florists have you visited?”
“Okay, one.” Seth laughed. “Still, it has a great feel to it. You’ve done a good job making it cozy, yet elegant.”
“That was the plan.” Liam walked to one of the tables to move it. He was so glad he’d ordered sturdy tables since none of them had been broken in the fight.
“Here, let me do that.” Seth hurried over to him. “Just tell me where you want it.”
It was on the tip of Liam’s tongue to tell him just where he’d like to have it, but he bit back the words. They’d managed to keep things on a friendly basis, and he didn’t want to make Seth uncomfortable. But as the man wiggled in front of him to grab hold of the table, it was a lot harder to not put his hands on those narrow hips. Seth smelled so damn good, and his ass filled out those jeans so perfectly. Liam knew just how gorgeous that ass was bare.