Mary wasn’t familiar with Thai food, so she gladly deferred to Aidan and let him order for her.
Lexi sipped her herbal iced tea. “I hope you don’t mind, but when Aidan told me about your flower shop, I went online and checked out your website, Mary. I was impressed. Your designs are beautiful.”
“Thank you,” Mary said, obviously pleased with the praise. Aidan silently cursed himself. Why hadn’t he thought to do that? Then again, when he thought of Mary, he was usually thinking of things besides her job.
“Andrew did a great job with the site, didn’t he?” Mary asked. “He makes me look better than I am, though, I think.”
Andrew? Who the fuck was Andrew? Before he could ask, Lexi did it for him. Except what came out of her mouth sounded a lot nicer than what he might have said.
“Is he your partner?”
Aidan choked on his drink. Mary automatically reached over to rub his back. “Yes. Andrew and I have equal shares in the business.”
“I didn’t know you had a business partner,” Aidan commented when his throat cleared.
“Oh, yes. Andrew is wonderful; I couldn’t do it without him. He handles the business side of things and lets me concentrate on doing the stuff I love – working with the plants.” She grinned shyly. “I guess I never quite grew out of the joy of playing in the dirt.”
Aidan made a mental note to check up on this Andrew guy. In his mind, he was already trying to think up ways to buy him out. Lexi, as always, was one step ahead of him.
“Are you contracted with any businesses?”
Mary blinked. “Um, I’m not sure what you mean.”
“Do you do special designs and arrangements for professional businesses?”
“Oh, well, no,” she said, seemingly surprised by the question. “Just the usual. Local weddings, funerals, that kind of thing.”
“But you did the arboretum at the new corporate complex over in Dunns River, didn’t you? And designed the hanging gardens at the Birch Falls Retirement Community Center?”
What the hell? Aidan glanced over at Lexi. The twinkle in her eye was as plain as day, and yet she very deliberately refused to look at him. Ian’s arm hung casually over the back of his chair, watching Aidan and looking more amused than ever. It all became clear. Lexi probably had Ian “research” Mary the moment Lex found out about her. Lexi was every bit as protective of Aidan as he was of her, he realized.
“Yes,” Mary answered, stunned. “But how did you know that?”
“Oh, there’s a whole page of testimonials from various clients on your website.” Lexi smirked triumphantly.
“There is?”
Clearly Andrew hadn’t kept Mary in the loop when designing that page. Then again, Mary wasn’t the type to toot her own horn; she was squirming and blushing even now just hearing about it.
“Oh, yes. It’s quite impressive, actually. Has anyone from the Goddess ever approached you?”
“Um, I don’t think so,” Mary said, her blush darkening.
“That surprises me,” Lexi said slyly. “The Goddess tries to incorporate as many local business people as they can. They’re truly community-centric.”
Aidan glowered in Lexi’s direction. Mary reached for her wine and took a healthy swallow. “I’m sure we’re too small for their consideration.”
“I wouldn’t be too sure about that. You’d be surprised the local treasures our CEO manages to find.”
Lexi was having too much fun at his expense. Aidan shifted beneath the table in an attempt to nudge her foot, but connected with Ian’s size fourteen footpad instead. Ian’s eyes flashed across the table in warning.
“And sometimes, if the business is really small, the Goddess contracts with them to expand so that it can handle demand.”
“Is that what you do?” Mary asked.
“No,” Lexi laughed. “I work in the kitchens.”
“Did you have anything to do with the food Aidan brought over last weekend? It was amazing.”
“Guilty,” Lexi confessed. “And thank you.”
“Have you and Aidan known each other long?”
“Seems like forever sometimes,” Aidan grumbled, making Lexi laugh again. She really was enjoying herself.
“Yeah, he’s right, it does.” Lexi sat back, resting against the arm her husband had slung over the back of her chair.
Their meal arrived, and for a little while, the conversation quieted. The food was delicious, but Aidan barely noticed. He was too focused on the woman beside him and all the knowledge he’d gained tonight. While he’d seen evidence of her green thumb in and around her own home, he hadn’t known she’d done things on a grander scale.
He would definitely have to do some research. Especially on this Andrew guy. Then again, maybe he would just bite the bullet and ask Ian, since he’d probably already compiled a complete bio at Lexi’s request.
The thought irked him. Mary was his. His to discover. His to admire and enjoy.