Lizzie rang up a bouquet of flowers for a customer and walked him out. “Thanks for coming in.” She inhaled the cool afternoon air, admiring Sky’s tattoo shop next door. Sky had recently renovated Inky Skies and painted the outside bright yellow. It fit in well with the other vibrant shops on Commercial Street, like the graffiti-covered Shop Therapy and bright orange sweets shop down the street. Lizzie’s shop was painted pale blue with flowers and greenery winding around the columns.
She waved to Sky through the open door. Her friend was absolutely beaming as she came outside wearing one of her long skirts and a soft purple sweater. Her dark hair was piled on top of her head in a messy bun, with long tendrils framing her face. But it was the mischievous look in her eyes that had Lizzie also grinning like a fool. She knew Sky wanted details about her evening with Blue, and just thinking about him made her insides go wild. It had been Sky’s text she’d missed last night when she and Blue were making out, and when she’d finally returned it two hours later, after editing her webcast, she’d still been confused about how to handle things with Blue, and she’d been vague in her reply to Sky.
“Is your place as crazy as mine today?” Sky asked, eyeing the tourists milling about in the streets. “Don’t they know it’s October? I mean, I’m thankful for the business, but sheesh! What a busy season it’s been.”
“It’s been insane. This is my first break, and I’m beat.” She’d been on such a high after kissing Blue that working through her edits hadn’t been as exhausting as normal, but then she’d lain wide-eyed in bed, her body vibrating, her mind reeling with thoughts of Blue, until she finally drifted off to sleep in the wee hours of the morning. She was surprised she had any energy at all.
“I bet you are.” Sky raised her brows. “You didn’t text me back until three fifteen. I guess you and Blue had a really good time.”
Lizzie laughed. “Not that good of a time. He fixed my oven and then I just couldn’t sleep.”
“Fixed your oven. Seriously, Lizzie? This is me you’re talking to, remember?” Sky smiled and nudged her shoulder. “Details, woman. Come on.”
“I don’t have details. We kissed. Once.”
“One kiss? Was it that bad?” Sky’s disappointment was evident in her flat tone.
“No. It was that good.” She pulled Sky away from the busy sidewalk to the doorway of her shop and lowered her voice. “The man kisses like it’s his profession. I think he’s perfected the art of seduction through one mind-blowing kiss.”
“That’s good, right? So why did you stop? When Sawyer and I first kissed, I could barely think, much less stop.”
“Yeah, well, it definitely wasn’t easy.” That was putting it mildly. She’d kicked herself all night for dragging her lips away from his. She wished she had a normal life, without secrets hanging over her head, but she’d made her bed—alone, unfortunately—and now she had to sleep in it. “But Blue is your best friend. Well, he was until you met Sawyer, and we both know that he’s not a player, and he’d give the shirt off his back to a stranger. He’s…perfect.”
“And?”
“And he doesn’t need me complicating his life.”
Sky rolled her eyes. “You’re the best thing that ever happened to him. You’re the total package. You’re gorgeous, smart, a great big sister to Maddy. You’re an amazing friend, and I’m sure you’ll be an incredible girlfriend.”
Lizzie smiled at a couple as they stepped inside her shop to admire the string gardens hanging in the front window. She wondered how incredible a girlfriend or friend Sky would think she was if she found out about her secret.
“I better go in and help them, but I did tell Blue I’d see him again tonight.”
“Really?” Sky hugged her. “That’s great. Perfect. See? Blue knows you’re the best woman around. You two will be great together!”
Lizzie wasn’t worried about their being great together. After last night’s kiss, she knew they had amazing chemistry. It was the rest of her life colliding with his that she worried about.
She headed inside to greet the young couple that was admiring her string gardens. The woman reached up and touched the ball of moss. Her long dark hair was tied back in a low ponytail, and when she went up on her toes, the man touched her back in the same manner Blue had touched Lizzie. She had to work hard to push past the jolt of desire that ran through her at the memory of his touch.
“Those are called string gardens. Are you familiar with them?” Lizzie asked.
“No,” the woman answered. “But they’re really cool.”