“People will see.”
“And I’ll tell them to avert their gaze.”
She chuckled. “We’ll be the gossip of the town.”
“I don’t mind.” He hugged her even tighter. “I’ve missed you today.”
She leaned back, closing her eyes. She had missed him as well. They hadn’t been able to share lunch today as there was something urgent Phoenix had to take care of.
“What happened earlier?” she asked.
“Some dispute about flowers,” Phoenix said. “Jake wanted to plant some roses in the town square boxes, but Flora wanted to plant daffodils. They were getting quite angry with one another.”
Ashley laughed. “You do know they’re mated, don’t you?”
“What?”
“Yeah, Flora and Jake, they’ve been mated for a lifetime, but they do like to argue as well. You didn’t get involved, I hope?”
Phoenix snorted. “Hell, no. I told them there are six planters, if they can’t figure it out, someone else will plant.”
“Oh, my, you told them that?”
“I had no idea what else to do. What would you have done?”
“It makes sense,” Ashley said. “You did the right thing.”
“I don’t want to come between mates.”
Someone cleared their throat and Ashley tensed up. She quickly stepped forward, creating distance between them. She figured they had been alone.
“Daniel,” Phoenix said.
Ashley turned to see her friend standing in the garden. He looked between the two of them.
Fuck!
Daniel was a great guy but he was a mega gossiper.
“I forgot my lunch box.” He pointed toward where she knelt. She hadn’t even seen it.
Forcing a smile to her lips, she picked up the lunch box and walked over to him. “Have a great night.”
Daniel looked at her then back at Phoenix.
“Night,” she said.
Her friend took the hint, nodded at the two of them, then stepped away and left them alone.
“I thought we were alone,” she said.
“We were, but I can’t control when they come back,” Phoenix said, gripping the back of his neck.
“He is going to tell everyone,” she said.
“Why is that so bad?”
She opened her mouth then closed it. “Seriously. He will gossip about everything. He doesn’t know how to keep his mouth shut.”