Bidding on Her Boss(12)

He shook his head once. "There's nothing to worry about. I'm just being  a good boss and giving opportunities to someone with potential."

"Sure you are," Jenna said and winked.

"How are Bonnie and Meg?" Dylan asked, hoping the new topic would  sidetrack them both for the short while it took Faith to return.

"They're just perfect," Jenna said, a dreamy look of contentment on her face.

Dylan asked Jenna a few more questions about the girls and suggested  Liam find some floral tools for Faith to keep them occupied. Finally  there was a call from the front desk, and Liam told them to let Faith  back through.

She entered with her arms full of flowers, her bright red hair falling  from the clip she'd used to try to tame her curls. Dylan jumped up to  help, taking some of the blooms and spreading them across a vacant  bench.

"Here, you might need these," he said, passing her the box of tools. As  their fingers brushed, he felt a tingle of electricity shoot up his  arm, but he did his best to ignore it. This was a professional  situation, and even if it weren't, she was still an employee, as Liam  had just pointed out.

After recapturing her hair in the clip, Faith began to work with the  flowers, trimming the thorns and leaves from the white roses, using  floral wire on the blush-pink gerbera daisies and arranging them  together. Liam cut three of his red irises and handed them to her.

The expression in Faith's eyes, of awe and honor, made Dylan's heart  swell in his chest. Her passion was contagious-he felt alive, as if  every cell in his body was waking up.

"Thank you," she said as she took the flowers from Liam, her voice  breathless. Then she wove the other flowers around them, creating a  design that was elegant in its simplicity, yet stunning.

When she was finished, she held the bouquet out to Dylan. He smiled as he took it and then showed it to Jenna and Liam.

"What do you think?" he asked his brother and soon-to-be sister-in-law.  They knew what he was really asking-they'd begun talks already about  launching the new flower on the market with an event, in the same way  they'd launched the Midnight Lily a few months ago. Jenna had been the  brains behind that and it had been a roaring success. They'd already  started on preliminary plans for the second launch, and Jenna had asked  him to supply a florist from his staff to work on it part-time.

Jenna turned to Liam, one eyebrow raised, and he nodded. Then she turned to Faith.

"Faith," she said, her musical voice soft. "What would you say to  working part-time with me on the launch of the new iris? I need a  florist to handle the arrangements and a few other duties, and we think  you'd be perfect."

Faith looked from Jenna to Dylan, eyes wide. Wary about pushing her  into a job she didn't want again, he explained further. "If you want to  do it, we'll work your hours at the store around this. You could do  part-time at each until the launch, then go back to full-time at the  store."

"Then I'd love to," she said, her warm brown eyes sparkling, and Dylan felt the satisfaction of a good plan coming together.

Jenna grinned. "Great. I have to take Meg back up to the house, but I'll be in touch about the details."

As they drove away a short while later, Dylan glanced over at Faith. He  wanted to make sure this was really what she wanted, especially after  he'd botched things the last time he'd tried to help her career.                       
       
           



       

"Faith, I want you to know that this is totally up to you. If you'd  enjoy the work, we'd love to have you on the project. But you can still  change your mind, and it won't affect your job at the Santa Monica  store."

She gave him a beaming smile. "Honestly, I can't thank you enough. The  opportunity of doing large arrangements that will be seen by hundreds of  people is a dream come true. And Jenna seems lovely-I think I'll enjoy  working with her."

As he stopped at a red light, he glanced over and found Faith looking  at him as if he'd hung the moon. His heart clenched tight. He had a bad  feeling that, despite everything, he'd do whatever it took to keep that  look on her face. The light turned green, and he trained his gaze on the  road ahead, shoring up the strength to do the right thing.

* * *

One week into her new working life, Faith looked up from the  arrangement she was making to find Dylan letting himself in through the  door of the secure room where they were keeping the new flower a secret  from the world.

As he crossed over to her, she bit down on a smile, unwilling to let it  escape. He was earlier than expected, and that made her happier than it  should have. Of course, every time she saw him-no, every time she even  thought about him-it made her happier than it should. And yet it also  made her sadder, since this was one man she shouldn't be thinking about,  or daydreaming about, in the first place. Her reactions to him were  stronger than they should have been to a boss, and somehow she had to  find a way to contain that.

This week she'd been designing arrangements with the new iris for the  Hawke's Blooms promotions team to use for posters and media releases  after the official launch. To give them enough lead time for their own  design work, she'd agreed this would be her first priority. It hadn't  been a problem to work quickly-she was bursting with ideas. She'd even  suggested they call the new flower the Ruby Iris, and everyone had liked  the name. She loved that this flower would permanently have a little  piece of her attached to it.

And this afternoon, a panel of the three Hawke brothers and Jenna would  choose the two arrangements to send the publicity team from six Faith  had made. Her stomach had been filled with butterflies all day.

"Hey, Dylan," she said when he reached her. "I didn't expect you for another hour, when the rest of the panel is coming."

He dug his hands into his trouser pockets. "I had a bit of time on my  hands and thought I'd stop by in case you needed any last-minute help."

"You've already been a huge help."

He'd dropped in a couple of times already this week. She'd taken  advantage of that time, peppering him with questions about the launch of  the Midnight Lily, looking for details that would give her clues about  what they'd be looking for this time. Dylan had answered all her  questions. She wondered, though, if he was also keeping an eye on  her-he'd suggested her for this job, so if she messed it up, it would  reflect badly on him.

He made himself busy clearing the bench where she'd been working.

"You don't have to do that," she said, her gaze on the white iris in  her hand. "I've left enough time to clean up before the others arrive."

He flashed her a smile. "But I'm here. I may as well do something to help."

She paused, watching him clearing the bench with bold, sweeping  movements, fixing things. Making things better for her. Dylan Hawke was a  mystery in many ways. She'd worked for several florists and had quite a  few bosses over the years, but never had she found any who were happy  to roll up their sleeves and get their hands dirty. They usually  preferred to have their underlings do the menial tasks.

She popped the flower back into the jug of water and turned so she  could see him more clearly. "Why is it that you're the only boss I've  ever had who was willing to do this?"

His broad shoulders lifted, then dropped, as if it were no big deal.  "Someone's got to do it. Don't see why it shouldn't be me."

"Because your time is more valuable." He opened his mouth, and she  could tell there was a denial on his tongue, so she held up a hand.  "Seriously, your hourly rate must dwarf mine."

"I might get paid more, but I can't create something like that," he  said, gesturing to the design she had almost finished. But there was  something else in his eyes, something he wasn't admitting to.

She crossed her arms under her breasts. "Tell me what the rest of that story is."                       
       
           



       

"Don't you have work to do?" He tried to frown, but the corners of his mouth were twitching.

"Conveniently, someone just cleaned up my work area, so now I have a  few extra minutes to play with. And I'd like to spend them hearing the  real story behind the line you just tried to feed me."

"A line?" His hand went to his heart. "You wound me."

"Wow," she said, hoisting herself up to sit on the bench. "You really don't want to talk about this, do you?"

He arched an eyebrow, leaning on the bench only a hand span away. "You really want to know the truth?"

"Yeah, I really do."

Something changed in his face, his demeanor. She couldn't quite put her  finger on it, but she knew without a doubt that he was baring himself  to her. Trusting her. The knowledge squeezed her heart tight.