“Wait,” she called out. “Did you need me?”
If only she knew just how much Rhys needed her. Wanted her. Hyacinth had no idea how loaded that one question could be.
“It can wait. I’ve held you up long enough.” With that, he walked away from her and returned to his office. The one place where he could have some quiet time to think without her presence surrounding him.
Confused by his rapid departure, Hyacinth got ready for the evening rush. She glanced over her shoulder to look toward the back office where Rhys worked. There were times he would come out and greet special VIP guests, but mostly, he stayed hidden away. But she couldn’t get it out of her head that his reaction to the cookies was odd. At the front door opening, she tried to get Rhys from her mind and focused on getting to work.
Rhys was sitting in his office, staring at the container.
“Why did she do this? I didn’t even know she knew how to bake.” The lid came off easily and the smell that escaped made his mouth water. He pulled one of the coconut and chocolate desserts and lifted it to his mouth for a bite. The flavor exploded on his tongue, and he gobbled up the rest. “Well, that’s tasty,” he mumbled after gobbling down two more. He wasn’t a chef, but food was in his blood. This wasn’t a fancy dessert, but he could see adding this to their dessert menu.
For a moment, he wondered what Cin would think about him adding her childhood treat to his restaurant’s offerings. He shook his head at the thought. She probably wouldn’t care. The woman was sugar and spice and everything nice. Then she’d realize she was being cordial to him, and her entire demeanor would change.
Rhys wasn’t a stupid man by any means. He knew she was attracted to him. There were times he’d catch her staring at him with a look on her face that he could easily interpret. But he also could tell that she was fighting her feelings. It made sense. He was her boss and even though she only worked for him part-time, tongues would wag. Even now, he was thinking of a way to put aside his work and go out front to see what she was doing. Make sure that things were running smoothly.
This wasn’t like him at all. His work was his life. In the past, he’d had his fair share of women, but they served a temporary purpose. He didn’t care if they were tired after a long day. They didn’t make him sweet treats late at night as a thank you for a nice gesture. Even if they had, he probably wouldn’t have eaten them. Suspicious by nature, he didn’t usually accept things from other people. There was always a catch, and he didn’t like to be caught off-guard by the ask that would come later.
But with his Hyacinth, he knew she was different.
It wasn’t just her beauty that captured his attention, it was something about her. She was kind to everyone. All his employees loved her. He always heard laughter when she was in the building. His team went out of their way to do things for her. She’d already made some minor changes around the place to enhance the marketing of his business. They were already making money hand-over-fist, but with the changes she suggested, his staff could work fewer hours, have less stress, and their nightly tips were higher.
Rhys couldn’t help the smile that came over his face. In less than a month, she’d cast a spell over the whole place.
Plus, thanks to her Plucking Ladies Garden Club, the restaurant was regularly filled with the fragrance of fresh flowers. When she first told him about the club, he pictured a bunch of older ladies talking about their cats. He’d quickly come to find out that the group of women were so much more than that. And now he was benefiting from her connections, making his restaurant even nicer. Although he noticed that she never had her namesake flower delivered. There was definitely a story there, but he hadn’t been able to figure it out.
He sighed. His eyes traveled to the clock on the wall, noticing that almost thirty minutes had passed. Yet, he hadn’t done one lick of work. His mind had been on Hyacinth the entire time, and those damn cookies she made for him. Standing from his chair, he rolled his sleeves down and re-buttoned the cuffs. As he grabbed his suit jacket and made his way out of his office, he tried to convince himself that he was only going out there so he could check on the patrons and make sure everyone was happy.
That his inside voice couldn’t stop laughing at the blatant lie meant nothing.
If he just so happened to spend most of his time near Hyacinth, so be it. Who was gonna check him for it? Nobody, that’s who. It was his restaurant, so he could do whatever the fuck he wanted.
Tables were filled with laughing customers. Drinks were flowing at the bar with every seat taken. The wait staff were weaving through the tables and things flowed like a well-choreographed dance. Yes, his staff was good, but he knew things were even better because of the small tweaks made over the past few weeks.
He made his way toward the front of the restaurant to check on Hyacinth. The door opened and a man holding a flower arrangement came inside. From his vantage point, he had a clear view of Hyacinth’s face. When he saw the look of shock, then anger, his steps sped up. What about this delivery had her so pissed off? They got flowers all the time, especially from the ladies in her garden club.
“Flower delivery for Ms. Hyacinth Moore.”
“I don’t want them.”
“Um… ma’am? Are you Ms. Moore? I’m just here to make a delivery. If you don’t want them, you can do whatever you want.”
Cin huffed and nodded. “Fine. Leave them there,” she motioned to a small table that sat in the front waiting area.
“Sign here please.”
The look she gave the delivery person almost made Rhys wince in pain.
“Fine,” she snapped. Quickly signing the clipboard, the frown never left her face as the young man left.
Rhys noticed that the flowers looked familiar, but they weren’t ones that he’d had in the restaurant before. Then it hit him. They were Hyacinth’s. Her namesake flower. The one bloom she had never brought in or had delivered.
Without thinking about the consequences to himself or how it would look to the staff, he walked up behind her. His hands wrapped around her waist and pulled her back to him. “Who sent you flowers, Cin?”
Because even though he hadn’t staked his claim publicly, he sure as fuck wasn’t going to stand back and let someone else send his woman flowers. Especially when she reacted this way. In fact, it pissed him off even more.
“Rhys?” He heard the surprise in her tone. “What are you doing?”
His hands tightened around her waist. Nothing could have prevented the moan he released as the soft flesh of her backside pressed against him. “I want the name of the person who sent you flowers. Why did it make you upset? Because if I have to give them a lesson on who the fuck you are to me, I will. Now, tell me, Cin. Who sent you the fucking flowers?”